Happy anniversary iPhone app store!

July 10, 9:10 AMiPhone ExaminerKristina Allen

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55,000 apps available for the iPhone

Apple's iPhone App Store is celebrating it's one year anniversary!

In this past year Apple has added over 55,000 apps and has reached a milestone of over a BILLION apps downloaded. However, according to Marketing Vox the average usage of an app is only 9.6 minutes with less than 20 uses during the apps lifecycle. There are of course some apps that get daily usage such as social networking apps like Tweetie and some business related apps.

Apple's app store has become the model for app stores across the mobile device world, but it was not the first store of its kind. Hangdango, a download platform for Windows Mobile and Blackberry users,  celebrated its 10th anniversary in January this year. 

Despite its 10 year run, Hangdango hasn't reached the fame that the Apple app store has enjoyed this past year, some say due to the sheer fact that it is accessible by so many devices; Apple's store is exclusively for the iPhone and the excitement that comes from that exclusivity is exciting for many users.

Google's Android mobile operating system has opened an app store of its own. While it runs in a similar fashion to the iPhone app store, the Android app market is more selective when it comes to approving applications. One of the biggest negatives against Apple's app store is that while it hosts over 55,000 apps - the majority are useless and are incapable of reaching a wide audience base. So while some apps enjoy worldwide fame, maximum usage, and a large user base, the masses are lucky to get the average 9.6 minutes of play 20 times during their lifecycle.