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SALT LAKE CITY — Every year, Apple selects a small number of apps that they believe "raise the bar in design technology, and innovation."
The Utah Bloom Built team that created Day One, a journaling app, took home the prestigious Apple Design Award from the 2014 ceremony Monday. The awards ceremony followed the Worldwide Developers Conference, where Apple announced the rollout of iOS 8, and was attended by more than 5,000 people, according to Day One creator Paul Mayne.
He said in true award show fashion, the team didn't know they were getting the award until their name was called out to come onstage and accept it. Overall, 12 apps were honored, out of the more than 1 million apps available in the App Store.
"Ben Dolman, our lead developer, and I were so excited we could hardly believe it," he said. "This highly coveted award is Apple’s most prestigious design award. It was a dream come true and something I’ve strived for my entire career."
Day One lets users "easily capture, organize, and share their favorite memories and photos," according to a description on the Apple website.
The app automatically records details like weather and location and lets journalers search their entries.
Mayne said the inspiration for Day One came from a need to log short notes throughout the day to create a personal timeline of his work and personal thoughts. He thinks one of the things that makes app unique is that it is private.
"So much of what is written now days is shared on social media, it’s liberating to know you can write about your life but only for your own personal history and personal reference," he said.
He said the app has had a very positive response, and since the team won the design award his phone has been vibrating nonstop with kind comments from social media. The app previously won the "Mac App of the Year" award in 2012, but Mayne said he thinks the Apple Design Award is a bigger honor.
Future plans for the 3-year-old app include integrating new technologies Apple announced at the conference, like location-based reminders.
