Apple Released “App Store Best of 2012”

2012 has been a stellar year for the iOS when it comes to apps. So many great app have made their way across the iTunes front page, many of which are from brand new developers to the mobile platform. Apple recently released their picks for best app and best game of 2012 and so we will take a look at their choices. They have categories for both iPhone and iPad apps, so first off is the iPad.

For best app Apple picked Paper by the developer Fifty-Three. Paper is considered by some to be the penultimate digital note book app for the iPad. It performs equally well as both a sketch pad for artwork as much as a scratchpad for quickly jotting down notes. Even if you don’t use a stylus, the app provides you will powerful tools that let you create and shape your notes and then store them in a series of “books”. Paper is a must have app for anyone with an iPad.

The runner-up for best app is Action Movie FX. This app embodies the philosophy of Apple to make complicated computer tasks simple. Action Movie FX lets you record a short clip of video and then apply one of a series of action scenes that will take place magically within the video. With the tap of a button you can have a helicopter crash in your front yard, or watch your friend’s car be blown to smithereens. Action Movie FX may not be a serious app for productivity, but it certainly delivers in the fun category.

For Best iPad Game Apple chose the suspenseful puzzler, The Room. As an ancestor of the genre creating gam Myst, The Room is a click and move puzzle game that is as eerie and it is challenging. With immersive graphics and sound, The Room will have you running for the light switch in no time.

The runner up for the iPad is Waking Mars by the same developer as Spider: The secret of Bryce Manor. After the smash success of their previous game, there was a lot of pressure to follow through with an equally high quality title. Waking Mars is a fluid game with cinematic qualities and a zen like flow that sucks the player into a world that they must awaken. With twists and turns throughout the game this choice is all about the journey.

For the iPhone the winner of best app goes to the runner-up of the iPad section. Action Movie FX proves to be even more effective on the iPhone with the “camera at hand” factor making it the top pick. As runner-up Apple chose Propeller’s Figure. Figure does to electronic music creation what Action Movie FX does for special effects. With taps and wipes you have a virtually limitless variety of sound tools to shape and mold your music. The beauty of Figure is that you don’t need to be Brian Eno to create some amazing jams and share them with your friends.

On the game side of the iPhone is a game that surprised many with its pick. Rayman Jungle Run brings a franchise that is somewhat unknown to many and endearing it to a whole new generation of gamers with a wonderful platformer that shows off the best of the iPhone’s gaming capabilities. As Runner-up we have the smash hit Letterpress that I now personally has diminished my productivity by a large percent since its release.

That wraps it up for 2012’s best of picks y Apple. Did you agree with these choices? Let us know in the comments and if not what are your picks for best app and game.

Check out the full list here.