Candy Crush among top Apple apps of 2013 [Photos]
Apple has announced its top apps of 2013, and they include addictive games, a free language learning service and an app that shows how users’ favorite Disney movies were animated.
The Cupertino, Calif., tech company names its top apps at the end of every year, and for 2013 the company chose Duolingo and Ridiculous Fishing as the top iPhone apps while Disney Animated and Badland won the awards for the iPad. Candy Crush was the most downloaded free app for the iPhone and iPad while Minecraft - Pocket Edition was the most downloaded paid app for both devices.
Here’s more background on the six winners.
iPhone App of the Year: Duolingo - Learn Languages for Free
Duolingo is an app that helps users learn Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian and English for free and without ads. The app is free because Duolingo teams up with websites to have its students translate their content to other languages. Students are presented with the option to help translate content when they use Duolingo.com. Translations will be coming to mobile soon, Duolingo said.
iPhone Game of the Year: Ridiculous Fishing - A Tale of Redemption
Ridiculous Fishing is a $2.99 game in which users cast their fishing line and have it go as deep as it can. On the way back up, users reel in as many fish as possible. Upon submerging, the fish are flung into the air and users are challenged to shoot as many as possible. The number of fish shot determines how much money a user gets, which is used to upgrade equipment for future levels.
iPad App of the Year: Disney Animated
Disney Animated, a $9.99 app, won the award for best app this year by giving fans a peak into how their favorite animated movies were made. The interactive app is perfect for users who love Disney and want behind-the-scenes information.
iPad Game of the Year: Badland
Badland is a beautifully designed side-scrolling game that users play by simply tapping their fingers on their iPad screen. The $3.99 game currently features 80 levels of game play. Tapping pushes forward a cute bird-looking creature that users must protect from horrific forms of death that include getting squished, buzz-sawed and exploded.
Top free iPhone, iPad app: Candy Crush Saga
Known for its addictive nature, Candy Crush Saga topped Apple’s charts for most downloaded free iPhone app. The point of the game is to line up similar colored pieces of candy together to crush them and get points. You need a certain amount of points to advance beyond each level, but you only get a limited number of moves per level. And as you might expect, the levels get harder as you progress. The game is free, but users can make in-app purchases to gain extra lives and moves.
Top paid iPhone, iPad app: Minecraft - Pocket Edition
Minecraft - Pocket Edition, a limited version of the popular PC game, was the top paid iPhone app of 2013. The app lets users create worlds using blocks, sort of like a digital version of Legos. The app is available for $6.99.
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