Apple Posts “Best Of App Store 2012” Lists

In today’s weekly refresh of the App Store, Apple posted a list called “Best of 2012”, highlighting the apps they “loved the most” this year. Day One, a journaling apps we reviewed on MacStories several times, wins as “Mac App of the Year”; “Deus Ex: Human Revolution” wins as “Game of the Year”. The Mac section is also viewable on the web here. On the iOS side, Paper for iPad and Action Movie FX win as Apps of the Year; Rayman Jungle Run and The Room win as Games of the Year for iPhone and iPad, respectively.

Over the past year, the Mac App Store was packed with impressive new apps and games. Some were dazzling debuts, while others were existing apps updated to leverage new features in OS X Mountain Lion or to take advantage of the Retina display of the new MacBook Pro. Browse the apps and games we loved most in 2012.

The list is organized in Runners-Up, Best Apps of 2012, and Best Games of 2012. Below, the full list, recompiled from the Mac App Store, iPhone App Store, and iPad App Store. My personal congratulations to the Day One team, an app that has completely changed the way I archive my memories on iOS and OS X.

Other notable winners in iTunes categories include:

David Sparks’ Paperless for Books Made with iBooks Author

The Talk Show with John Gruber in Best New Technology podcasts

Amplified in Best New Technology podcasts

Mac App Store US

Runners-Up

CameraBag 2

Splice: Tree Of Life

Best Apps of 2012

Tweetbot (our review)

SketchBook Pro 6

Clear (our review)

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom

Things (our review)

Mint QuickView

Living Earth HD

Snapheal

Coda 2

Pocket

Snapseed

Evernote

CrazyTalk7

Gemini

Cobook

Diptic

Sketch

Sandvox

Redshift

Flutter

Best Games of 2012

LEGO Batman 2

LIMBO

Bastion

Call of Duty: Black Ops

Dungeon Defenders

BioShock 2

Empire: Total War

Trine 2

RAGE: Campaign Edition

LEGO: Harry Potter Years 5-7

Sky Gamblers

W.E.L.D.E.R.

Small Street

Cubemen

Pocket Planes

Battle Nations

SpellTower

Botanicula

Amnesia: The Dark Descent

4 Elements II

iPad

App of the Year: Paper

Game of the Year: The Room

Runner-Up, Apps: Action Movie FX

Runner-Up, Games: Walking Mars

Casual Games

Catapult King

OLO Game

Mini Mot0r Racing HD

Tiny Wings HD

Shark Dash

Skylanders Battlegrounds

Best of Newsstand

NYTimes for iPad

Bloomberg Businessweek+

TIME Magazine

Vogue

National Geographic Magazine

Martha Stewart Living Magazine for iPad

New Ways To Play

Splice: Tree of Life

Tentacles: Enter the Dolphin

Finger Tied

Outwitters

Autumn Dynasty

Beat Sneak Bandit

Sous Chef

Panna

Nigella Quick Collection for iPad

Hello Cupcake!

Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Pat LaFrieda’s Big App for Meat

Appetites’ Easy As Pie

Fun Runners

Ski Safari

PITFALL

Punch Quest

Agent Dash

Granny Smith

Roo Roo Run

Post-PC Creation

Cards

Adobe Photoshop Touch

DM1

DocuSign Ink

vjay

iA Writer

Free To Play

CSR Racing

Monster Life

Happy Street

Pocket Planes

Jurassic Park Builder

Clash of Clans

Lifelong Learning

iTunes U

Barefoot World Atlas

Brian Cox’s Wonders of the Universe

Creatures of Light

The Sonnets of William Shakespear

NOVA Elements

Showpiece Games

Walking Dead: The Game

Need for Speed Most Wanted

DEAD TRIGGER

Bastion

Chaos Rings II

Horn

Hidden Gems: Apps

Readability

Travel Channel Layover Guide

Madefire

The Silent History

zeebox

Unstuck

Hidden Gems: Games

Eufloria HD

Triple Town

Nihilumbra

Gasketball

Ghost Trick

Incoboto

iPhone

App of the Year: Action Movie FX

Game of the Year: Rayman Jungle Run

Runner-Up, Apps: Figure

Runner-Up, Games: Letterpress

Casual Games

Mini Motor Racing

Catapult King

Shark Dash

Bad Piggies

Supermagical

Super Monsters Ate My Condo!

Disruptive Services

AirBnb

Uber

Square Wallet

TaskRabbit

Hotel Tonight

PaperKarma

New Ways to Play

Lili

Slingshot Racing

Total War Battles

Hero Academy

Puzzle Craft

Call of Snakes

Photo & Video Magic

Vyclone

Fuzel

iPhoto

Cinemagram

Game your Video

GroupShot

Fun Runners

Ski Safari

PITFALL

Punch Quest

Agent Dash

Granny Smith

Run Roo Run

Intuitive Touch

Clear

Prismatic

Languages

Any.DO

Summly

Weathercube

Free to Play

CSR Racing

Monster Life

Happy Street

Pocket Planees

Clash of Clans

ZOOKEEPER BATTLE

Discover with Friends

Pinterest

Snapguide

Ness Dining Guide

Highlight

Pose

Showyou

Showpiece Games

The World Ends with You: Solo Remix

Need for Speed Most Wanted

ORC:Vengeance

DEAD TRIGGER

Sky Gamblers: Air Supremacy

Air Mail

Hidden Gems: Apps

National Parks by National Geographic

Pocket

Songza

iTranslate Voice

Griftly

Chefs Feed

Hidden Gems: Games

Nihilumbra

The Sandbox

Triple Town

Sir Benfro’s Brilliant Balloon

GHOST TRICK: Phantom Detective

Wizorb