Apple's top 9 iPad and iPhone apps

We've given you plenty of suggestions for Apple iPhone apps and plenty of iPad apps here at Pocket-lint, but what ones does Apple, the creator of the devices, think are the best?

The Apple Design Awards are held during WWDC and nominated apps need to be on the App Store and should demonstrate excellence in Technology adoption, Design and user experience, Innovation, and Performance.

That's great, but what are the final 9 winners really like? We've downloaded them all from the App Store, and had a play, in order to give you our hands-on opinion, rather than just regurgitating what the blurb says.

Doodle Jump

If simple is your game, then this is for you. All you've got to do in Doodle jump is keeping jumping your little alien thing-me-bob further up the screen. The higher you go the better score you get.

There is little to this game to be honest, however like Canabalt and all those flash games that you've lost an afternoon in the office too, this can become incredibly addictive.

Apple no doubt loved the fact that to control the movement of your little critter you've got to tilt the iPhone from side to side. Tilt too far and you'll miss that all important ledge.

Device iPhone

Price 59p

Rating 9/10

iTunes link Doodle Jump

Financial Times

Before you get too excited about this app being free, it is only currently free until 31 July 2010. However that said the FT shows us what a newspaper app can and will be like when it comes to consuming news on the go.

Complete with its trademark pink paper, stories are displayed in traditional newspaper column format with you working your way left to right to read more.

Of course its not all about words, there is video and photos too, although some of the FT journo's are clearly scared by the idea that having been able to hide behind their typewriters now they are having to read off autocue.

Nothing that a website won't give you, but if you like your media consumption old fashioned with a hint of new age cool, this is worth checking out.

Device iPad and iPhone

Price Free

Rating 8/10

iTunes link Financial Times

Brushes for iPhone

You can get both an iPhone and iPad version of this app, and annoyingly unlike some dual apps you'll have to buy this one twice.

What you do get though is an app that lets you paint to your hearts content on your Apple device with a variety of brushes, layers, blend modes, and then the chance to undo or redo if you make a mistake.

As an artist's tool you can create some amazing pictures, as long as you've got the artist within you to do so. Don't forget you are only as good as your imagination and this is just a tool to help you tell the story, or something like that.

Device iPad or iPhone

Price £2.99 (iPhone) / £4.99 (iPad)

Rating

iTunes link Brushes for iPhone

TabToolkit for iPad

TabToolkit is a guitar tablature and music notation viewer that lets you see how tracks are played out so you can learn the moves to your favourite songs.

Off the bat you'll get a handful of tracks to listen and watch, and although they are pretty basic - Star Bangled Banner anyone? - they do give you an idea of how it all works before you go about importing your own sheet music.

The app supports Guitar Pro, Power Tab, PDF and text formats as well as providing playback tempo control, and a metronome.

The app is a perfect fit for guitarists and musicians of all skill levels looking to learn.

Device iPad and iPhone

Price £5.99

Rating 9/10

iTunes link TabToolkit for iPad

Articles

Available for both iPhone and iPad, Articles is basically a way to look at Wikipedia pages from your Apple device rather than head over to the site itself.

While there are a plethora of Wiki apps in the Apple App store, Apple has rated this one the best from the applications they received for the awards.

With virtually every article hyperlinked to other articles and it all easily accessible to your within the app and flapping around through different stories is incredibly quick.

It's simple, there are cheaper and free options that do virtually the same thing, but there are some nice features here too like the ability to search for articles related to where you are, or just to surprise you if you are bored

Device iPad or  iPhone

Price £1.79 (iPhone) / £2.99 (iPad)

Rating 7/10

iTunes link Articles

Jamie's 20 Minute Meals

If the cook book is to go digital this will be how they are done.

Yes it costs £4.99 but if you find Jamie the happy go lucky chap that he, we are told, is, then this is going to have you rustling up something "special" in the kitchen, in well, 20 minutes.

Each recipe has three elements to it; the summary, what you'll need, and the steps that you need to take.

In the what you'll need section there is a shopping list for ingredients and for equipment and for the ingredients you then email that to yourself for when you hit the supermarket.

Aside from the recipes, and there are a lot, you can check out videos of Jamie telling you how to chop an onion to details about stuff you should have in your larder.

As we said, pricey if you're thinking of taking the punt, but there is plenty in here. Now all iPad users need is an iPad version.

Device iPhone

Price £4.99

Rating 9/10

iTunes link 20 Minute Meals

Star Walk for iPad

So you're interested in the stars, but aren't really sure where Orion is or how many stars make up Cassiopeia. Hoping to give you a helping hand is Star Walk, an iPad and iPhone app that will let you see where the stars are in the sky.

What makes this perfect for the iPad is the large screen as all you have to do is point the device upwards towards the sky and as you move it around it will do the rest; showing you what's what and mapping out the stars.

Failing to use it as a star chart, the app comes with other information like sunset and sunrise data for the Earth, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn as well as the phases of the moon.

There's a picture of the day feature, the ability to bookmark events, as well as see your exact location (thanks to GPS locking) or select another point on the planet to get a different view of the sky.

Those hoping to use it at night will also be pleased to hear that there is a night mode (turns everything red) so you can still see the stars you are looking at.

Top stuff if you are just starting to find your way into the world of astronomy.

Device iPad

Price $1.79 / $3.99

Rating 8/10

iTunes link Star Walk for iPad

Real Racing

Apple have been touting this one for ages as a popular app so it's no real surprise that it made it in to their top list for winners of the awards.

It's also pretty well acclaimed by most of the gaming industry which is always a good sign and therefore worth you checking out if you like racing games.

You get the usual array of tracks (12), cars (38 of them) as well as 3 divisions to play in with your tilting the iPhone or iPad to steer your way around the course.

If you're looking for an easy ride then go elsewhere, there are six cars on screen, as well as online league leaderboards to keep you on your toes.

Device iPad or  iPhone

Price £2.99 (iPhone) / £5.99 (iPad)

Rating 9/10

iTunes link Real Racing

Pinball HD

Yep - it's the classic pinball machine re-jigged for the iPad. You'll get three pinball tables to begin with - Wild West, The Deep, and The Jungle, with the option to buy more tables from the app store when and if you want.

The game play is incredibly simple with two views available to suit your gaming style. You can either choose to follow the ball around the table or have the table zoomed out so it's the size of your iPad screen (either landscape or portrait). Tapping the screen flaps your paddles while two thumbs swiping upwards changes the view. Whichever view point you opt for Pinball HD is not only addictive, but also great fun too.

Scores, presuming you've done well, can be shared with the community, however we would recommend you put in some practice first. The leader board is pretty hard to crack.

If you like Pinball, but have always known that you'll go through a stack of coins faster than a bagatelle set then this might be just the thing you are looking for.

Device iPad

Price £1.79 / $2.99

Rating 9/10

iTunes link Pinball HD