Apple reveals most popular apps of 2010

 At the end of another phenomenally successful year for Apple, the American technology giant has revealed the top ten lists for most downloaded paid-for app, most downloaded free app and the overall highest grossing apps downloaded from the iTunes store in 2010.

 

The headline news is that the highly addictive and undeniably enjoyable Angry Birds game is the number one bestseller of the year. Familiar to millions of Apple gamers around the world, Angry Birds is a simple cartoon game app in which birds are fired from a slingshot towards balancing pigs who are knocked off faltering structures, as high scores are built up.

 

The top paid-for apps of 2010 in full are as follows: 1. Angry Birds, 2. Doodle Jump, 3. WhatsApp Messenger, 4. TuneIn Radio, 5. Cut the Rope, 6. Talking Carl, 7. FatBooth, 8. Tetris, 9. Fruit Ninja, 10. Bejeweled 2 + Blitz.

 

With regard to the highest grossing apps of 2010, the popularity of the paid for Angry Birds app also took it to number three in that chart, with two TomTom navigation applications at number one and two – the pair retailing at £50 each in comparison to Angry Birds at almost one hundredth of that price.

 

According to Apple, TomTom UK and Ireland was the highest grossing app and TomTom Western Europe was number two, and after Angry Birds at three CoPilot Live UK and Ireland features at number four and TuneIn Radio at number five. Many Angry Birds players will have downloaded old school favourite Tetris which was the sixth highest grossing app of 2010. Doodle Jump, Bejewled 2 + Blitz and Call of Duty: Zombies were also top ten entries.

 

Interestingly the lite version of Angry Birds, a trial version which gives potential buyers the chance to try out the game before paying 59 pence for the real thing, was also the second most popular free app of the year, behind Facebook’s free app at number one.

 

The eBay Mobile app was the third most popular free app of the year, with mobile shopping, or m-commerce as it is known in the industry, expected to be massive in 2011. Telecommunications service Skype saw its app at number four in the free chart, whilst Paper Toss, Bump, Sky Sports Live Football, Shazam, Met Office weather application and Windows Live Messenger completed the top ten.