AppStories WWDC 2025: The AppStories Interviews with Apple Design Award Winners
Jun 11, 2025
Nadia Thorne, a developer from Black Salt Games, shares her journey of adapting the game Dredge for mobile, discussing creative decisions and the unique challenges of touch controls. Wout Van Halderen from Playstack dives into the success story of Balatro, recounting how it gained popularity and its evolution from hobbyist to award-winning status. They also explore community-driven technology for disaster response, emphasizing the necessity of reliable information during emergencies, and the vital role indie developers play in the gaming landscape.
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Wildfires Inspired WatchDuty App
- John Mills experienced multiple wildfires near his home with little warning, inspiring the creation of WatchDuty.
- Fires spread dynamically, so community members used social media to share real-time updates when official notifications lagged.
Human Verification Trumps Automation
- WatchDuty balances the need for rapid alerts with a strict code of accuracy, relying on human verification.
- Automated prediction is avoided; instead, the app shares confirmed data to empower users' decisions.
Prioritize Human Efficiency
- Focus engineering efforts on reducing friction for human reporters doing critical work.
- Automate grunt tasks so humans can synthesize complex, ambiguous information for precise alerts.
