There are now more than 300,000 apps available on Apple’s App Store, and despite the advances made by Android this year, iTunes is still the largest and most popular mobile app marketplace. As 2010 winds down, it’s the perfect time to reflect upon the apps that have bested the competition and risen to the top of the charts this year.

Apple have just recently announced the names of the Best Apps of 2010 as part of their annual Rewind feature. Hipstamatic was hand-selected as the best iPhone app of the year, while Plants vs Zombies took out the honors in the gaming category. Osmos and Flipboard were named the overall favorite game and app for iPad, respectively.

The best performing apps of the year are also listed below by device and category. 2010 was a very good year for Rovio, developer of the hugely popular game Angry Birds, the top-selling iPhone game of the year. Angry Birds also managed to make its way on to five out of six of the top 10 lists. Unsurprisingly, Facebook was the most popular free iPhone app this year.

While games clearly dominated the iPhone charts, most of the top-selling iPad apps of the year were productivity-based and included GoodReader, WolframAlpha as well as Apple’s own releases; Pages, Numbers and Keynote. iBooks also ranked as the most-downloaded free iPad app of the year.

Showing the power of the in-app purchase, the top-grossing iPhone app of the year was MLB.com At Bat 2010, a free download.


Top iOS Apps of the Year


Top 10 Free iPad Apps

1. iBooks
2. Pandora Radio
3. Netflix
4. Google Mobile App
5. Solitaire
6. Movies by Flixster –with Rotten Tomatoes
7. IMDb Movies & TV
8. Kindle
9. Google Earth
10.Virtuoso Piano Free 2 HD

Top 10 Paid iPad Apps

1. Pages
2. GoodReader for iPad
3. Numbers
4. Angry Birds HD
5. Keynote
6. Glee Karaoke
7. WolframAlpha
8. Pinball HD
9. Friendly Plus for Facebook
10. Star Walk for iPad

Top 10 Grossing iPad Apps

1. Pages
2. Numbers
3. Keynote
4. LogMeIn Ignition
5. SCRABBLE for iPad
6. Documents To Go Premium–Office Suite
7. Angry Birds HD
8. Real Racing HD
9. Plants vs. Zombies HD
10. Proloquo2Go

Top 10 Free iPhone Apps

1. Facebook
2. Angry Birds Lite
3. Words With Friends Free
4. Skype
5. Tap Tap Revenge 3
6. The Weather Channel
7. Paper Toss
8. Bing
9. ROCK BAND FREE
10. Talking Tom Cat

Top 10 Paid iPhone Apps

1. Angry Birds
2. Doodle Jump
3. Skee-Ball
4. Bejeweled 2 + Blitz
5. Fruit Ninja
6. Cut the Rope
7. ALL-IN-1 GAMEBOX
8. The Moron Test
9. Plants vs. Zombies
10. Pocket God

Top 10 Grossing iPhone Apps

1. MLB.com At Bat 2010
2. Angry Birds
3. Call of Duty: Zombies
4. Bejeweled 2 + Blitz
5. FriendCaller 3 Pro
6. Zombie Farm
7. TomTom U.S.A.
8. TETRIS
9. Plants vs. Zombies
10. Doodle Jump