So, why won’t most apps reach the top 100? What do you need to change before you have a shot at success? Let’s take a look.

1. Always remember, your app is a product. If you want to sell something, it needs to be worth people’s time and money. It needs to be fresh, exciting, innovative, intriguing. The idea can be the hardest part of all. But, if you want to break into the “big time” you have to remember that the end user experience is what will ultimately decide your success or failure.
2. Like any great product, yours needs to meet a need, function well and look good. You may have a revolutionary idea, but if the execution looks like a 7th grade power point presentation, no one will want to fork out money for it. If you stop by WalMart, and see a new product on the shelf, a number of key factors play a role in whether you decide to purchase that product. Will it fill a need in your life? Will it entertain you or your family? Is it aesthetically pleasing? Does it do something other product don’t? Is it just plain fun? Study your competition. Strategize how to blow them away and attract consumers to what your app will offer. If customers begin to associate your brand with quality apps, you are on the road to success.
   
3. I can’t stress this point enough: If your app has competition, it needs to offer at least one great/creative feature that the competition doesn’t deliver.
4. The simplicity of user interface needs to be at an irreducible minimum. Can a child easily navigate it? If not, rethink it. One principle Steve Jobs always pushed for that of simplicity – software should be so easy to figure out that instructions aren’t necessary.
5. Don’t release an app before it’s ready for the masses. Many developers get so anxious to get their product to market that they skip important testing and review steps. This can kill your product before things really gets started. Also, remember that the better an app is at launch, the better chance it has of being featured by Apple. Enlist knowledgeable app connoisseurs and friends to pick your app apart to find any flaws. This is also a time to put on your thick skin and ask for honest opinions for improvements that should be made before launch.
6. Interaction with consumers before/during/after launch is critical. Build excitement. Be friendly. Ask for feedback. Accept criticism well.
7. Never stop improving your app. If launch flops, don’t give up hope. Launch is only the beginning – as time goes on, take the feedback you get and use it to fuel greatness.

If you’re stuck and think you’ve accomplished all these things but still aren’t achieving sales, get an honest appraisal by a mobile app marketing specialist for an honest, professional opinion.

Machinarium is without a doubt an adventure puzzler that will hook problem-solvers from the first frame of the story. The star of the story, an adorable, simple robot, exudes personality even though he doesn’t speak any human language. The adventure begins in the midst of a robot populated junk yard of sorts. Our mechanical hero isn’t in one piece and it’s up to players to re-assemble him.

The music is mysterious and each of the settings is a single-screen masterpiece of dark, robotic proportions. Players can move their robot friend by tapping various destinations, make him short or tall, touch objects to have him swallow them for future use and even interact with characters that are within his reach. Swallow objects, figure out when and where to use each piece to navigate “robot” from one end of the screen to the other and into the next puzzling level.

There are no explicit instructions during gameplay. This is part of the fun. Players must figure things out on their own. If players are stumped, the game provides a help option. When this option is used, a speech bubble appears onscreen and reveals a pectoral clue depicting what gamers must help their robot friend accomplish in order to enter the next level.

Anyone who loves a good mystery will find their curiosity stoked. It’s enough puzzling to drive anyone at least a little bit nuts. The controls work decently well, but there were time when testing the game that I had to tap objects or try to perform actions multiple times before our adorable robot complied. This may be done purposefully so players cannot simply tap all over the screen only to accidentally solve the level. Maybe the developers want to make sure players are intentionally performing actions, but this quirk in the game did get frustrating.

Machinarium is truly a masterpiece. It transports players to another world of mystery and wordless communication. In an app store filled with thousands of mindless games, Machinarium is a breathe of fresh air and a proverbial obstacle course for the mind. Potential customers may hesitate to purchase it simply because costs a bit more than many apps for the iPad, but – rest assured – it’s worth every cent.

The interface for ABC Food isn’t much different than it’s predecessors’. The main menu consists of an alphabetical list of cubes filled with pictures and names of foods. Once a food is selected, a gorgeous photo displays the chosen food, adorable characters hold up letters at the bottom of the screen spelling the food’s name. An interactive icon appears in the top left.

Peapod Labs has made things a bit more interactive this time. In the past they’ve paired carefully chosen videos with photos of the object at hand. This time, many foods offer the chance to “slice,” “peel”, “cook” and other fun activities for just a bit more fun. I can tell you, my kids found this a welcome addition. My two-year-old wanted to slice the JA3MRRN6HTYP watermelon over and over and over. I, of course, don’t let him cut anything with knives in the kitchen so the app is the closest thing he has to cutting food and he liked feeling like a grown up.
As far as graphics are concerned, all the photos and videos are carefully chosen and simply stunning. Even though I’m well beyond the target age group of ABC Food, I couldn’t help but stare at the beautiful colors and feel almost like I was in a colorful market full of enticing food. Warning, this app will probably make your children beg for snack time.

Many of the foods featured are fruits and vegetables, but there are some kid favorites included as well. If you have an aspiring chef on your hands, she’ll no doubt enjoy learning about new foods and find the included YouTube clips especially entertaining.

Two features I do hope are added in the future are related to both phonics and interactive features. While each letter is pronounced before it’s corresponding word, there is little emphasis on letter sound. As an educator I am more concerned with little ones learning the phonics of RALXEXH7MP34 letters than their names. As far as interactive features, the option to play with the food is a great improvement, but I feel there could be more.

ABC Food is the ideal app for parents to play alongside their kids. This educational tool will offer up opportunities to play with virtual food since you won’t let them do it with their real food. Parents will also find ABC Food a great tool to teach your little one about both phonics and food.

Though SPY Mouse is essentially a line-drawing game, it’s incredibly engaging, entertaining and progressively challenging. Each level is presented from a top down perspective as if one is looking into the building Squeak has infiltrated from the roof.

Players must draw lines to maneuver Squeak to the cheese while avoiding sight lines of cats and staying out of traps.

Once all the large wedges of cheese are gathered, a yellow exit door becomes visible and Squeak must sneak to it with the cheese. Once he reaches the exit, he is safe. The more ground covered and spy tricks played, the better the score.

There is loads of content to keep the inner spy in anyone busy for a while. There are 6 worlds and 70 levels or cheese-sneaking fun.

At the end of each world is a fun boss battle. Squeak must dash through color-coded mouse holes or simply use his speed to outsmart big kitties, conquer that world and move onto the next.

Almost everything about SPY Mouse is perfect. The artwork is cartoonishly appealing, the soundtrack reminiscent of comedic spy movie classics and the gameplay is surprisingly engaging.

The controls are not difficult to master – how hard is it do trace a line with a finger – which means learning the game takes all of a few seconds, but the levels still manage to get progressively more challenging.

While the controls aren’t difficult to master, the way the game reads the line isn’t always accurate. It’s easy to override a current line, but players with larger fingertips might find this a bit frustrating.

The graphics are intricate and it the game would be much more suited to the iPad’s larger screen. It’s not currently available in an iPad native version. It looks great on the iPhone, but would be so much better and easier to control on the big screen.

Gamers who love a lighthearted puzzler will fall in love with Squeak. SPY Mouse is smooth, graphically inclined and will have humans puzzling over and chasing after cheese like never before.

†Prices accurate at time of posting but are subject to change without proper warning on the App Store.

Before I get into what the app can do, I want to make a note of my first impressions of iMapMyFitness. I have a thing for apps that track my workouts when I run and my expectations are high. I’m pleased to say that immediately I noticed that the developers of the app have worked to make it very user friendly and keep the important stats very easy to access and see. If it’s one thing runners (or cyclists, or whatever you preferred mode of outdoor workout is) do not want to do during a workout, it’s staring at your iPhone the entire time trying to read tiny numbers while running into telephone poles.

So, what does iMapMyFitness actually track during an actual workout? If you’re outdoors and have a good GPS signal, the app tracks your route, distance, pave, speed, calories burned and elevation. Regardless of GPS signal, it tracks the duration of your workout.

If you’re like me, you love reveling in every juicy detail of your workout once it’s completed. iMapMyFitness allows you to look over your route and stats of past workouts both on your iPhone and on your online proile (which you can easily set up on their site and link to your account on the iPhone. You can also use the site to keep track of your goals, throw down challenges with your friends and generally interact with the online fitness lovers who also use the site.

Another fun option is a social networking option. Once your workout is complete, you have the option to share your progress on Facebook or Twitter. This is a great way to let your friends keep you accountable and see if you’re following through on your goals.

While iMapMyFitness doesn’t necessarily offer anything revolutionary or new, it’s a solid GPS app for outdoor fitness enthusiasts and it gets the job done. Best of all, it’s free. There are other good, free GPS options (such as RunKeeper) that offer many of the same features, but if you like a simple interface and easily accessed stats, iMapMyFitness is most definitely worth a try.

As a side note, I did explore the app and try it out for myself, but due to my personal privacy did not want to use pictures of my GPS location. I opted to post the iTunes store images instead but I can assure you that the images are an accurate representation of iMapMyFitness.

Yes, Little Pim Spanish is an educational app but PBS knows kids learn best through play. Hence, there are many fun mini game’s that act as quizzes to reinforce the learning taking place. The main menu presents several categories children can choose. Do they want to learn about Spanish words for: eating and drinking, playtime and wake up smiling. Each category present three levels of difficulty (which can only be played once the previous level has been mastered). All the levels and categories contain 60 new Spanish words for little linguists to master.

Quizzes consist of pictoral representations of the words just learned. Little Pim asks the child to touch the object that represents the word he pronounces (in Spanish). The settings vary to keep things interesting.

All educators know that repetition is the key to learning and the makers of Little Pim Spanish have tastefully incorporated plenty of it. The words and corresponding photo are repeated several times before the quiz games can be played. Several new words are learned at a time, but not too many. Children learn, then take a few fun quizzes to help remember the new Spanish words they’ve learned.

Here’s the official trailer for a closer look at Little Pim Spanish:

There are two specific areas I would love to see this game improve. First, there are many pauses within the learning portions and the quizzes. Pim says a word, waits several seconds, repeats the word, waits several second, then moves to the next word. The pauses are just too long and children want to keep things moving along. Also, Pim is adorable but lacks a bit of personality, but after a few minutes I found myself wanting to see other characters or see Pim be just a bit silly for the kids’ sake.

This wonderful little app represents the hard work and educational innovation of three organizations: PBS, Little Pim and Tribal Nova. Little Pim is a wonderful organization that has won 22 industry awards and uses the Entertainment Immersion Method. The method works and if parents want their little ones playing with an app that is well-crafted to help them learn and remember Spanish words and phrases, Little Pim Spanish fits the bill.

Please note: Little Pim Spanish is being distributed by PBS in the US and by Tribal Nova for the rest of the world.

†Prices accurate at time of posting but are subject to change without proper warning on the App Store.

In lieu of this impending reality, the question I’ve heard lately is: “Are there any apps that can help me stay organized in regards to my kid’s school schedules and assignments?” And my answer is, “Absolutely.” Below I’ve listed some of my favorite picks.

Spellboard ($4.99 iPad) by Palaware provides a wonderful solution for an annoying task. Weekly spelling words. Every parent knows how much of a test of their sanity this weekly battle can be. Thankfully, Spellboard is here to take the edge off for everyone.

Quickly and easily enter in the week’s spelling words, record yourself pronouncing the word, add details for the list (like grade level) and even an optional sentance containing the word and, once you’ve gone through the list, you’re done. Your child can now go use the app to quiz himself for the rest of the week. The app keeps track of troublesome words so kids can word on they particularly struggle with.

In short, Spellboard spells r-e-l-i-e-f for everyone. There’s also an iPod Touch/iPhone buddy app so kids can practice on the go! For more about this wonderful app, go here.
Mathboard ($4.99 iPad) by Palaware is a wonderful math tool from children from kindergarten through elementary school. It generates up to 250 random problems for the following concepts: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, squares, cubes and square roots. Quiz your kids and see where their problem areas lie by viewing their correct and incorrect answers. Time them to see how fast they can solve problems.

This app is even perfect for classroom use and has gotten some great reviews from the teaching community. This solves the problem of printing out dozens of speed drills and automatically does the grading for parents. This app simply adds up to success.
The Elements ($13.99 for iPad) by Element Collection makes the periodic table come to life like never before. This mesmerizing eBook inspires even the most lukewarm minds to feel a spark of curiosity about science. If you have a high schooler who will be studying the periodic table this year, this app is a great supplemental learning tool to invest in.

Of course The Elements includes all the essential facts and figures you’d expect to find in a virtual textbook about elements, but it goes much farther than that. The iPad version presents gorgeous, 360 digital renderings of each element for students to twist, turn and scrutinize. Read fascinating facts about each element while you explore the beautiful accompanying picture.

This app is a must-have for visual learners. If you have a budding scientist on your hands, it’s worth the investment.

iHomeWork ($1.99 universal app) by Paul Pilone could just safe you from sanity if your child isn’t quite organized enough to keep track of assignments that are due. Or, if you like helping them stay on track, this is the perfect tool for you. While it’s ideal for college students, it’s useful for any grade. Keep track of due dates, assignments, and anything else pertaining to the school calendar. Set up alerts for everything, color code the calendar by subject, keep track of school reading and much more. iHomework is thorough, organized and very easy to use. If your youngster has an iPod touch, they can easily learn to use it for themselves. There’s even a companion Mac app for easy backup and syncing.

Simple Physics (Free, universal) by Andrew Garrison gives kids a chance to have fun with physics. Kids can create and design structures in very little time in the blueprint design. If the structure fails, they can try and try again until they get it right. This app is a great way for kids to explore the world of physics – it might even inspire your little einstein to become an engineer.

If you have a child who tends to hate all things mathematical or scientific, this app can get them excited about what they thought they hated.

Wunderlist (Free, iPhone) by 6 Wunderkinder is a great way to stay organized. Keep that to-do list short and stay on task.

The Wunderlist mobile app for iPhone and iPod Touch will boost your productivity. Organize your to-do lists on the go and synchronize them with your free Wunderlist account. View and modify your tasks on Windows, Mac, iPad, Android and the Web. Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide use Wunderlist everyday. Wunderlist – your tasks anywhere, anytime.
Snoozzerr Recordings ($.99 for iPhone) by Hsin-Ju Chuangis an incredible lecture recorder that does much more than simply record voices. If you have a child who struggles with a particular subject, this app could be a major asset. Not only will it record the lecture from their teacher, it also has integrated time-links, voice data and picture files users can add. Quickly snap photos of the corresponding notes taken during any particular part of the lecture for easy reference.

This can be invaluable for students who are serious about learning, auditory learners, or even students with learning disabilities. While, in theory, it’s geared toward the college crowd, it can be a wonderful resource for kids with iPod Touches – though I am positive it will require special permission from school teachers and other school officials . If user of this app within the classroom is granted, parents can re-listen to lectures with their children in order to help them re-hash concepts they are struggling to grasp.

Do you have a favorite not listed here? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Hannah is an educator, mom to three wonderful children ages 3 and younger and proud wife of an Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran. She is the founder of MyAppinions.com. My Appinions is a site where she posts reviews of iOS apps of all kinds but with a heavy emphasis on ones with educational and practical value. You can find her on Twitter @MyAppinions and Instagram as Banjonomad.

As with all Oceanhouse digibooks, this digital version of the beloved classic portrays all the illustrative brilliance of the original. All those zellars and wosets and yurtles look just as bright and intriguing as they did the day Dr Seuss first drew them to life. Nothing added, nothing taken away. The beauty of this version is that your little one won’t be able to unintentionally tear the pages or wear the cover out.

There are three modes of play. Read to Me, Read to Myself and Autoplay. During each of the three story options, children can at any time touch on individual words or photos to hear the word pronounced. This helps increase word-object association.

Thankfully the interface is designed with little fingers in mind. The controls are simple and intuitive for children. In a matter of seconds they’ll know how to turn pages and discover the name of objects and how to prompt a word when they get stumped during their read.

Perhaps I was conditioned by the audio copy of this book my parents bought for me as a child, but the narrator’s voice used for this version, Karen Kripalani, somehow doesn’t seem to fit the mysterious tone of the book. Her voice has a positive, motherly quality – which is by no means a bad thing. However, the entire way through the book, I felt the tone didn’t fit the content and the audio quality felt as if it was lacking a bit.

Thankfully, Oceanhouse is always good at keeping the distractions to a minimum. As with any digital storybook, they’ve added nice enhancements, but keep the integrity of classic stories that had no problem winning over children back in the day when illustrations and words were their only assets. You won’t find any skeletons in this closet in this Oceanhouse remix of the Dr Seuss classic…but you may find a few wosets instead.

†Prices accurate at time of posting but are subject to change without proper warning on the App Store.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore by Moonbot Studios (iPad $4.99) is hands down my favorite digital storybook available on the iPad. This is a highly-interactive story which includes bits of stunning animation. We’re talking Pixar-level stunning. The story is charming and original and there’s plenty for little fingers to discover in the pages. It’s worth every penny and, trust me, you’ll have just as much fun with this ones as your kids will! To read more about this digibook, go here.

The 3 Little Pigs: A 3D Fairy Tale by Nosy Crow (sold separately for iPhone $3.99 and iPad $5.99) is an absolutely charming rendition of the original fairy tale. It’s 3d nature really shines through on the iPad – no glasses needed. The story sticks closely to the original but add fun, quirky elements to keep things interesting. The characters are voiced by adorable young British children and it’s kept lighthearted enough for the littlest of children to enjoy. To read more about this digibook, go here.

Cozmo’s Day Off by Ayars Animation (universal app $3.99) is incredibly interactive, engaging and creative. This digibook focuses on the day in the life of an adorable, busy little alien who has forgotten it’s his day off. Each page is packed full of interactive games and fun animation. The graphics are incredibly gorgeous and detailed. It’s been one of our kids’ all-time favorites and is always one I recommend when parents ask about what book app they should consider buying for their children. To read more about this digibook, go here.

Jack and the Beanstalk by Ayars Animation (universal app $3.99) is yet another classic book that has been brought to new life. It’s not quite as interactive as some books are, but if parents don’t like too much distraction within a book app, but don’t want to sacrifice quality and stunning graphics, this app fits the bill. There are still fun, interactive games within the story, but not too much so the kids will forget the story. This is the perfect bedtime story app for parents and kids to read and explore together. To read more about this digibook, go here.

The Monster at the End of This Book by Sesame Street (universal app $3.99) takes a classic story and makes it available in an adorable, interactive app. My kids fell in love with it from the first seconds they heard Grover’s voice reading the story to them. The story plays on your child’s curiosity and Grover continually tries to stop them from reading the book (which, of course, encourages them to keep turning the pages) because “There’s a monster at the end of this book!” Kids have a great time destroying the contraptions Grover builds to stop them from turning the pages and, when the pages come to an end, the monster ends up being Grover himself. This book is so adorable that I just can’t stop giggling when my kids read it.

Do you have a favorite not listed here? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!