Winners of the Best App Ever iPhone App Awards Announced

San Francisco, CA – The winners of the 2009 Best App Ever Awards have now been announced in the second annual competition honoring the best iPhone apps and games released in the iTunes App Store.

148Apps created the Best App Ever awards in 2008 to celebrate the efforts of app developers and to raise user awareness about the best apps available (not just the top selling ones). The apps are nominated and then voted on by the people who know the best apps, the users of the apps themselves.

“The goal of the awards was to help publicize some applications that people may never have seen. Some of the best apps have never been featured on the iTunes front page or in an iPhone TV ad, yet they deserve recognition and publicity for the great work the developers have done.” said Jeff Scott, founder of 148Apps and the Best App Ever Awards.

Nominations were opened in early December for both the public and our handpicked group of iPhone industry experts. From nearly 27,000 initial nominations, we selected the 560 final nominees.

For our 2009 awards, we have expanded to 56 categories covering both applications and games. New this year are categories specifically targeted to the burgeoning iPhone education market and more categories for the already huge games segment.

During the month long voting phase in January, we saw over 300,000 votes cast for these amazing apps.

Winners in each category:

Best App Ever: Pocket God by Bolt Creative

Most Innovative App: Tweetie 2 by atebits

Most Useful App: Instapaper Pro by Marco Arment

Best Productivity Enhancer: Dropbox by Dropbox

Best Productivity Killer: Canabalt by Semi Secret Software

Best Use of Bluetooth: Wawame Business Card by Wawame, Inc.

Most Creative Use of iPhone Hardware: Sonar Ruler by Laan Labs

Best Use of Location Services: AroundMe by Tweakersoft

Best Visual Design: Momento by d3i

Best Educational App: iStudiez Pro by Andriy Kachalo & Michael Balashoff

Best Just for Fun Kids App: SmackTalk! by Marcus Satellite

Best App for Toddlers: Peekaboo Barn by Night & Day Studios, Inc.

Best App for Pre-schoolers: iWriteWords (Tracing Game) by gdiplus

Best App for Primary School Kids: Dictionary.com – Dictionary & Thesaurus by Dictionary.com

Best App for Middle School Kids: Dictionary.com – Dictionary & Thesaurus by Dictionary.com

Best App for High School Kids: Stanza by Lexcycle

Best App for Parents: 2Do: A Stunning To Do List with Push and Sync by Guided Ways Technologies Ltd

Best Feel Like A Local App: Where To? – GPS points of interest by FutureTap

Best GPS Navigation App: MobileNavigator North America by NAVIGON AG

Best Outdoor Use App: EasyTrails GPS by Zirak s.r.l.

Best Social Networking App: Facebook & Twitter Fun Status – iGift4u by SiVola, LLC

Best Twitter App: Tweetie 2 by atebits

Best News App: NPR News by NPR

Best Road Warrior App: WorldMate Gold – The Must-have App for Road Warriors by WorldMate, Inc.

Best Time Management App: 2Do: A Stunning To Do List with Push and Sync by Guided Ways Technologies Ltd

Best Musical Instrument App: iBone – the Pocket Trombone by Spoonjack

Best Musical Synthesizer App: I Am T-Pain by Smule

Best Photography App: QuadCamera – MultiShot by Art & Mobile

Best Photo Manipulation App: ColorSplash by Pocket Pixels Inc.

Best Artistic Expression App: SketchBook Mobile by Autodesk Inc.

Best Augmented Reality App: Pandemica by XMG Studio Inc.

Most Innovative Game: Eliss by Steph Thirion

Best Casual Game: Canabalt by Semi Secret Software

Best Game Graphics: Real Racing by Firemint

Best Game Controls: Squareball by Drmsynt

Best Use of Social Gaming Platform Game: Charadium by On5

Best Multiplayer Game: Words With Friends by Newtoy Inc.

Best Retro Reborn Game: Space Invaders Infinity Gene by TAITO Corporation

Best Action Game: Minigore by Chillingo Ltd

Best Adventure Game: Gomi by Kevin Calderone

Best Arcade Game: Labyrinth 2 by Illusion Labs

Best Board Game: Words With Friends by Newtoy Inc.

Best Card Game: UNO by Gameloft

Best Casino Game: World Series of Poker Hold’em Legend by Glu

Best Dice Game: Monopoly by Electronic Arts

Best Family Game: Toki Tori by Chillingo Ltd

Best MMO Game: Epic Pet Wars by Miraphonic

Best Music Game: Beat It! by Glu

Best Puzzle Game: Cross Fingers by Mobigame

Best Racing Game: Real Racing by Firemint

Best Role Playing Game: Inotia 2: A Wanderer of Luone by Com2uS Corp.

Best Simulation Game: Real Racing by Firemint

Best Sports Game: Homerun Battle 3D by Com2uS Corp.

Best Strategy Game: TowerMadness by Limbic Software

Best Trivia Game: Trivial Pursuit by Electronic Arts

Best Word Game: Words With Friends by Newtoy Inc.

The list of winners and nominees is available on the site and also as a PDF and text file. For those attending Macworld Expo, a list of winners will be available at the iPhone Life booth, #567. The Best App Ever Awards will return in the fall to help honor the best apps of 2010.

2009 Best App Ever Winners – Text
2009 Best App Ever Awards – PDF
Best App Ever Awards Site
148Apps

The mission of 148Apps is getting the word out about the very best in iPhone OS applications through editorial reviews and news. In addition to the reviews and news, 148Apps keeps track of what’s currently popular, new, trends, and app prices changes in the iTunes App Store. Copyright (C) 2008-2010 148Apps. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.