It seems there are never-ending top app lists at the end of the year. I enjoy reading them, it's a great way to discover some apps you might have not known existed or is a top app for a reason.

I wanted to share my 2012 top 5 favorite free iOS apps list with you and hope you'll share yours with me. I would love to see yours in the comments so we can trade with each other and hopefully add a few new favorites to our personal lists. It will help readers of Mobile & Apps get some great app recommendations from you and me, especially if you're not currently using the apps listed.

When it comes to iOS, I currently use an iPhone 5 and an iPad mini. All of the apps listed below are universal apps and can be used on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. I wanted to post my favorite free apps so they'd be easier to try if you're not already using them.

Here are my 2012 top 5 free iOS apps:

 #1. Google Maps for iOS should be installed by default by Apple. It surpasses Apple's Maps app and finally brings back Google Maps to iOS with new features and free voice-guided, turn-by-turn navigation, a feature Google has been offering Android users for years. Google wrote the new version of Google Maps for iOS from the ground up and utilizes all of the available design elements, gestures and 3D views built into the iOS. Google Maps is a must-have on any iOS device.

#2. Pocket is my favorite "Read it later" app for iOS. While Apple added off-line viewing in Safari with iOS 6, Pocket does a better job in my opinion and is better at being a stand-alone app, offering finer features than Apple's solution. It offers browser add-on extensions for almost all desktop browsers allowing you to add articles to read later on your PC or Mac and sync to your iOS device.

#3. Wunderlist is my favorite to-do list app on iOS. I can add tasks from the Wunderlist app on my MacBook Air and sync to the cloud, allowing me to always have what I need to do on all my devices no matter where I originally created the task. It's fast, simple, and intuitive, something critical to a task management app.

#4. Pulse is my favorite RSS/newsreader app on iOS. It allows me to view my RSS feeds in a feature rich, colorful panning story bar view in a way that makes it easy to see what I want to read without having to dig down and search for news.

#5. Zite is my favorite "Personalized Magazine" app for iOS. I'm a news junkie and can never get enough, Zite gets to know the type of stories you enjoy reading and adds them to the app without you having to find new sources for information on things that interest you. There are many newsreader apps that wrap your content up into a magazine view, but in my opinion, Zite does it in a streamlined way that always makes me think, "I love this app" whenever I open it.

Please share your favorite iOS apps in the comments below; I'm looking forward to checking out what your favorite apps are!