app store 25 billion1
Apple has posted its list [iTunes Link] of the top 25 bestselling apps of all time, following the download of the 25 billionth app from the App Store.

The list, transcribed by MacStories, gives some insight into the types of apps that users are buying, and how those differ between the iPhone/iPod Touch and the iPad.

The top 9 apps on the bestselling paid iPhone list are all games, with photography app Camera+ coming in tenth. In the entire top 25, there are only 5 non-games on the list.

The bestselling free iPhone list does include a number of games, but includes many more app-versions of popular websites and services. Facebook, Pandora, Skype and The Weather Channel are all in the top 5, with Words With Friends Free and Angry Birds Free the only games in the top 10.

Showing how the iPad differs from the iPhone in more than just screen size, the bestselling paid iPad list includes a large number of productivity applications. Apple's Pages word processing app comes in first, with sketching app Penultimate, GoodReader, Numbers, and Keynote all show up in the top 15.

The bestselling free iPad list looks similar to the free iPhone list, with a number of app-versions of popular websites and services, as well as a good number of free games as well.

The full bestselling lists can be viewed on iTunes, or at MacStories.

Top Rated Comments

InfoTime Avatar
166 months ago
I've always wished there was a checkbox in the App Store so I could filter out games and just see the top ten lists of all the other categories.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Xenomorph Avatar
166 months ago
You'd think with *multiple* calculators showing up as some of the top apps of all-time on the iPad, Apple would realize that people WANT those missing "iPhone apps" on their iPad.

Where are Calculator, Stocks, Weather, etc, etc?
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nagromme Avatar
166 months ago
Interesting, but logically the list HAS to be game-heavy; that really doesn’t say anything meaningful about how people use their devices.

Why would it be game-heavy? Because games as a genre are so varied and you can have fun with many similar games.

You’re probably not going to buy, use and recommend ten different word processors or calculators, even if you spend a ton of time using your favorite one or two.

But you may well buy and play ten dual-stick shooters or ten word games! Some you’ll use for hours at a time, some not, but you get value and enjoyment from the variety.

Put another way: there’s a good reason to stop buying apps in any productivity category: you’ve found a great one and now you’re happy. There’s no good reason to stop buying games....
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
troop231 Avatar
166 months ago


Angry birds has got to be the first. Hands down.
I remember in the days before Angry Birds came along that Doodle Jump was the classic must have app. :)
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ProVideo Avatar
166 months ago
I wish there was a way to look at the Top app list for all the categories with games excluded. They just dominate the Top list so heavily, and I rarely ever download game apps when compared to other categories. There might be a way already, but I don't know of one.

Edit: Yeah, what InfoTime said.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RickyB Avatar
166 months ago
It seems to be country specific. The list I get here in the UK is different from MacStories' list
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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