Apple offering $10,000 gift card to celebrate 50bn app downloads

50 shoppers will also get gift cards worth $500; reveals top UK iPad and iPhone apps

Apple is offering a $10,000 (£6,440) iTunes gift card to one lucky person to celebrate its 50 billionth app download.

It has also said that the following 50 buyers will also receive a free $500 (£320) iTunes gift card.

The company also revealed the most downloaded paid and free apps since the app store opened.

Video games dominated the paid charts, holding eight out of the top ten apps, and 17 out of 25 places overall. However, the top place went to cross platform messaging app WhatsApp.

All time top 25 paid iPhone apps
1. WhatsApp Messenger
2. Angry Birds
3. Doodle Jump
4. Fruit Ninja
5. Cut the Rope
6. Angry Birds Seasons
7. TuneIn Radio Pro
8. Monopoly
9. Draw Something
10. Sleep Cycle alarm clock
11. Scrabble
12. Where's Wally? in Hollywood
13. Tiny Wings
14. Angry Birds Space
15. Camera+
16. Flight Control
17. Color Splash
18. The Sims 3
19. Angry Birds Star Wars
20. Sleep Talk Recorder
21. Keith Lemon's Mouthboard
22. Plants vs Zombies
23. Moto X Mayhem
24. Sonic the Hedgehog
25. AgingBooth

Meanwhile, in the free apps charts, social media and communications, shopping and Google dominated. Google alone holds four places in the free charts, while Facebook holds the top position, and 11th.

All time top 25 free iPhone apps
1. Facebook
2. Skype
3. eBay
4. YouTube
5. Twitter
6. Instagram
7. Temple Run
8. Draw Something Free
9. Google Search
10. Google Earth
11. Facebook Messenger
12. Viber
13. Shazam
14. Bump
15. BBC iPlayer
16. Amazon Mobile
17. Paper Toss
18. Talking Tom Cat
19. Pac-Man Lite
20. BBC News
21. Sky Sports Live Football Score Centre
22. Angry Birds Free
23. Spotify
24. 4 Pics 1 Word
25. Google Maps

Meanwhile, on the iPad things look a lot different. While games still dominate, Apple's own productivity apps Pages, Numbers, and Keynote take positions 1, 7, and 10. Apple's GarageBand also appears in the top ten, taking position 4.

The iPad maker's own apps iPhoto and iMovies also make an appearance, coming in at 20 and 24.

All time top 25 paid iPad apps
1. Pages
2. Angry Birds HD
3. Scrabble for iPad
4. GarageBand
5. Monopoly for iPad
6. FIFA 13
7. Numbers
8. Fruit Ninja
9. Angry Birds Star Wars HD
10. Keynote
11. Angry Birds Seasons HD
12. Angry Birds Space HD
13. Cut the Rope HD
14. Minecraft – Pocket Edition
15. The Room
16. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 for iPad
17. Grand Theft Auto 3
18. Disney's Where's my Water?
19. Real Racing 2 HD
20. iPhoto
21. Draw Something
22. Star Walk HD
23. Plants vs Zombies HD
24. iMovie
25. GoodReader for iPad

When it comes to free apps on the iPad though, it's clear that TV and games reign, taking up ten and six positions respectively.

All time top 25 free iPad apps
1. BBC iPlayer
2. Skype for iPad
3. ITV Player
4. eBay for iPad
5. 4oD
6. Calculator for iPad Free
7. Angry Birds HD Free
8. Sky Go
9. Kindle
10. Facebook
11. Google Earth
12. YouTube
13. Temple Run
14. Sky Sports for iPad
15. TVCatchup Live TV
16. Temple Run 2
17. Fruit Ninja HD Free
18. Twitter
19. Sky News for iPad
20. BBC News
21. Candy Crush Saga
22. Netflix
23. 4 Pics 1 Word
24. Weather+
25. Draw Something Free

"Apple has revolution has revolutionised the way we play video games, consume news, do business, educate, communicate, create art and so much more," the company said in a statement on its website.

"As we approach 50 billion app downloads, we'll be awarding a $10,000 App Store Gift Card to the lucky customer who downloads the 50 billionth app, and a $500 App Store Gift Card to each of the next 50 people to download an app."