Google Anounces 2016 Play Award Winners For First Time

The ongoing Google I/O saw the announcement of the inaugural Google Play Awards where Google announced the best apps and games for the year. The announcement was made at a session today which comprised ten categories and the winners were chosen by the Google Play team based on app quality and innovation by apps that were launched or updated in the past 12 months.
 
Google has a special section for best apps on the Play Store but it seems that this year the company wanted to follow the footsteps of Apple. Most of the winners were games with majority of them being free with in-app purchases. The overall winner for the best app category was Houzz which is a home decor and renovation application. It is said to come with a fast and smooth interface, features a variety of design ideas and is overall designed to a very high level of standard, one of the reasons it got the award.

Here is a full list of the winners:

Best App:                 HOUZZ

Best Early Adopter: WORLD AROUND ME

Best Families App:  ThinkRolls 2

Best Go Global:       Pokemen Shuffle Mobile

Best Game:              Clash Royale
 
Most Innovative:      NYT VR


Best Use of Material Design: RobinHood

Best Standout Indie:  AlphaBear

Best Use of Google Play Game Services: Table Tennis Touch

Best Standout Startup: Hopper