Google reveals best Android apps of 2012

Apple has already reeled off its best apps of 2012, and now Google has donned its retrospective specs and done the same for Android.

While Apple's chart is based on raw download numbers, Google has just opted for what it reckons are the best of its platform in the last 12 months. Some apps are brand new this year, some have just been updated. "From excellent tools to objects of beauty, each of these applications represents the best of Google play," it says on the App Focus page. So let's take a look and see what's impressed the people behind Android this year.

The apps aren't ranked, so it's very much a 'best of' rather than a chart. Pinterest is there, which is no surprise, seeing as it was probably the biggest social network story of the year, as is Evernote, which is an organiser that lets you take notes, photos, and record Alan Partridge-style "Idea for a programme" voice memos.

Expedia Hotels & Flights takes care of the travel side, and genealogy app Ancestry props up the family history bar. Pocket is a "full-featured offline reader" that lets you read web pages later when you don't have an Internet connection, and Grimm's Snow White is an interactive storybook of the classic fairytale.

Fashion app Fancy lets you share your personal style with other users. SeriesGuide Show Manager turns your phone or tablet into a second screen for TV viewing, and Pixlr Express is a photo editing app. Finally, Ted brings you a host of chin-stroking lectures so you can get your learn on. It's nothing to do with the movie of the same name.

So there you have it -- a broad selection, but without any games, criminally. What are your apps of the year, Android or otherwise? And which games would you put up there? Grand Theft Auto: Vice City? Let me know in the comments, or on our Facebook page.