The top iPhone and iPad apps of 2014

Minecraft and Clash of Clans are among the chart toppers in Apple’s annual rundown of the bestselling iOS apps of the year. The brick-building phenomenon is 2014’s biggest selling paid app for both iPad and iPhone, according to Apple’s rundown. 

However, Minecraft fails to even make it into the top 10 highest grossing apps of 2014, despite its relatively hefty £4.99 price tag. The highest grossing category is dominated by so-called freemium games, where users pay nothing to download and install the app, but can make in-app purchases to buy in-game credits or unlock extra content.

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Clash of Clans, first released in 2012, finishes the year as the highest grossing game for the iPad, followed by Candy Crush Saga and Game of War – Fire Age. The only iPad app that isn’t a game to make it into the highest grossing top 10 is The Times & The Sunday Times. 

On the iPhone, Candy Crush Saga overtakes Clash of Clans as the highest grossing app. The app for dating site Match.com sneaks into the top 10 grossing apps for the iPhone, but the rest are all games. 

The chart for the top free apps of 2014 is a little more varied. Facebook Messenger is the most downloaded free app on the iPhone, with the social network forcing users to install the separate app if they want to continue receiving messages that were previously available from within the main Facebook app. Most of the top iPhone apps are concerned with messaging, with WhatsApp, Snapchat and Skype also featuring in the top 10.

Skype was the most popular free app for Apple tablet users, but video-on-demand services dominated the rest of the top 10, with Netflix, YouTube, BBC iPlayer and ITV Player all featuring. A free calculator also sneaked into the top ten, suggesting it’s not all play for iPad owners. 

Top Grossing iPhone apps

1. Candy Crush Saga
2. Clash of Clans
3. Game of War – Fire Age
4. Farm Heroes Saga
5. Pet Rescue Saga
6. The Simpsons: Tapped Out
7. Hay Day
8. Kim Kardashian: Hollywood
9. Top Eleven – Be a soccer manager
10. Match.com

Top Paid iPhone apps

1. Minecraft – Pocket Edition
2. Minute Workout Challenge
3. Heads Up!
4. Sleep Cycle alarm clock
5. Football Manager Handheld 2014
6. Afterlight
7. Fantasy Premier League 2014/15 
8. Cut the Rope 2
9. Plague Inc
10. Facetune

Top Free iPhone apps

1. Facebook Messenger
2. WhatsApp 
3. Snapchat
4. Facebook
5. YouTube
6. Instagram
7. Spotify Music
8. Skype 
9. Google Maps
10. Tinder

Top Grossing iPad apps

1. Clash of Clans
2. Candy Crush Saga
3. Game of War – Fire Age
4. Hay Day
5. Farm Heroes Saga
6. Pet Rescue Saga
7. The Simpsons: Tapped Out
8. The Times & The Sunday Times
9. Boom Beach
10. The Sims FreePlay

Top Paid iPad apps

1. Minecraft – Pocket Edition
2. Football Manager Handheld 2014
3. The Room Two
4. Cut the Rope 2
5. The Chase
6. Terraria
7. Flightradar24 – Flight Tracker
8. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
9. Tipping Point
10. Photon Flash Player 

Top Free iPad apps

1. Skype for iPad
2. Facebook Messenger
3. Netflix
4. YouTube
5. Microsoft Word
6. BBC iPlayer
7. ITV Player
8. eBay 
9. Google Maps
10. Calculator for iPad Free