App developers must focus on creating fresh, original content rather than parroting existing ideas in order to stand out, says an Australian developer whose app has just been named one of Apple’s best of the year.

The list comes just as Google released its long-awaited Maps app, after being banished by Apple in favour its infamous home-grown option. The app has rocketed straight to number one on the most-downloaded list.

The annual Apple list of best iOS apps includes a number of Australian apps, including Virgin Australia Flight Specials, Sydney Food Trucks and OzTV, developed by young programmers Alex Johnston and Jeff Tan-Ang of Apps Perhaps.

Getting mentioned on these lists has become increasingly important, as developers struggle to stand out in the burgeoning app market.

Johnston told SmartCompany this morning the apps which tend to get noticed allow users to create, or at least consume, original content that hasn’t been copied.

“When I look at the apps this year, one thing that stands out to me is that apps which have content seem to do extremely well,” he says.

He points to the Apple app of the year – a program that allows users to add special effects to their video clips. “It really ticks all of those boxes,” he says.

“You have the ability to create content, but it comes with content itself. Certainly, I know when we’ve made and shared videos with the app, people enjoy seeing what we’ve done.”

“If you’ve got content that isn’t currently available, or you put a spin on it that people will find interesting, then it’s going to stand out.”

Johnston has identified a number of trends in this year’s winners, including minimalist design – like the bare-bones structure seen in a reading app like Pocket – or more social elements like in the Pinterest app.

Another big trend this year has been free-to-play, Johnston says. Many games and apps will offer the initial program for free, and then encourage users to buy small upgrades that only cost a minimal amount that builds up over time.

“I think Apple this year has been more selective in what they’ve chosen to award,” he says. “Previously you’ve seen the apps be awarded in each category, but you can see themes that have appeared this year.”

Usually, Apple awards the best apps based on a category, but this year Apple has chosen its own, such as “free to play”, “discover with friends” and “photo and video magic”.

As for OzTV, Johnston’s television guide app, the developer says his team’s effort to include a social layer may have earned them a mention in this year’s awards.

“We’ve tried to do that in a way that gels with the experience of the app, and we didn’t try to make a social app, but something you could use and then share with your friends.”

“I think it helps we don’t have any affiliations to any of the major networks and we’re not trying to promote any sort of agenda.”

The full list of apps:

• App of the year: Action Movie FX
• Runner-up: Figure

Disruptive services:

• Sydney Food Trucks
• Airbnb
• Virgin Australia
• Cards
• iTranslate Voice
• OzTV

Photo and video

• iPhoto
• Vyclone
• Vintique
• GroupShot
• Cinemagram
• Fuzel Pro

Intuitive Touch

• Clear
• Prismatic
• Languages
• Any.DO
• Flipboard
• Weathercube

Discover with friends

• Pinterest
• StumbleUpon
• Snapguide
• Pose
• Showyou
• Study Break!

Hidden gems

• WhoSampled
• Dandelion
• DM1 for iPhone
• Pocket
• Ocarina 2
• Fleksy 

Ever since iOS 6 debuted and Apple gave Google Maps the flick, in exchange for its own mapping platform which it worked on with TomTom, people have made fun of Apple’s maps. They’re often wrong, don’t show detailed information, and generally feel less reliable than what was previously offered when Apple used Google’s.

It’s probably not hard to see that the iOS 6 maps were nowhere near as ready for prime time as Google’s own, which have years of development behind them, compared to what was revealed for iOS.

In fact this week, Victorian police actually urged people to be more careful when using iOS 6 maps after people became stranded in the Murray Sunset National Park while trying to reach Mildura.

Samsung took advantage of the situation this week (above) with a little four-wheeled drive promotional stunt outside various office blocks in Australia.

Regardless, this week, iOS users can get their feel of the proper Google Maps, at least on iPhone and iPod Touch devices, with an app now available through the App Store that brings it back, and even logs you into your account to find your older maps.

It won’t actually replace your own iOS maps app, so if you’re looking to make it your proper mapping system, just move your iOS 6 supplied one to a folder somewhere and put this in its location.

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Is This the iPad Mini?

Alleged photos of Apple's 7-inch tablet surface on Chinese and French sites. Looks like - you guessed it - a slightly shrunken iPad.

Contents

1. 1 Is This the iPad Mini?
2. 2 Alleged photos of Apple's 7-inch tablet surface on Chinese and French sites. Looks like - you guessed it - a slightly shrunken iPad.
3. 3 Either this is a 7-inch tablet or this guy's hand is HUGE.
4. 4 Here's what we think we know:
5. 5 Here's what we don't know:

Either this is a 7-inch tablet or this guy's hand is HUGE.

Here's what we think we know:

The iPad mini will have front- and rear-facing cameras. It will feature Apple's new "Lightning" dock connector, and the same wake/sleep, volume up/down and home buttons, and mute/lock orientation switch as its larger cousin.

It also looks like the bottom of the case, on either side of the dock-connector, will have perforations for better sound output. You'll be able to buy it in white or black, because this is Apple. And there appears to be a small hole an inch or two above the Apple-logo on the tablet's backside.

Here's what we don't know:

What's that little hole on the backplate for? We have no clue. Also, there's no way of telling for sure what the resolution of that 7-inch screen will be (though it will probably keep pixel density above 220ppi to hang onto the Retina moniker). In both series of photos, icons for Youtube and Google Maps make it pretty obvious the tablets in these photos aren't running iOS 6, which means we're probably looking at mockup display.

And of course we don't know what Apple will try to cram inside. Will it get the latest iPad's A5X processor or the iPhone 5's A6? Will it be priced to under-bid Microsoft's 10.6-inch Surface tablets or to compete more directly with the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD 7"?

Given two separate, consistent leaks, we do think these photos show an actual iPad mini - at least the frame. But there's a lot they can't tell us. Like, maybe most importantly, when will it hit the market?

As TechCrunch points out, it makes perfect sense that Apple waited to announce the iPad mini till it was sure it wouldn't steal the iPhone 5's spotlight. And given that we've already heard about the big iPod refreshes and iTunes update, it would also make sense for Apple to announce the device in lieu of its customary October music event.