Apple announced that the App Store has reached another major milestone; more than 40 billion apps have been downloaded. With almost half of the record 40 billion downloaded in 2012 alone.

The word "app" has become part of our vocabulary thanks to Apple's App Store, which was launched in 2008. The term is no longer relegated to computer geeks when abbreviating "application"; it has become part of everyday language around the world. Old and young alike synonymously use the term not only when speaking about apps from Apple's App Store but also when describing any mobile application regardless of the OS.

"It has been an incredible year for the iOS developer community," said Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. "Developers have made over seven billion dollars on the App Store, and we continue to invest in providing them with the best ecosystem so they can create the most innovative apps in the world."

"In 2012, the husband and wife team at Imangi Studios saw their game Temple Run downloaded more than 75 million times; Backflip Studios and Supercell, two emerging game development studios, brought in over $100 million combined for their leading freemium titles DragonVale and Clash of Clans; and emerging services including Uber, Flipboard, HotelTonight, and AirBnB attracted millions of users on iOS. Companies including Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Autodesk, Marvel and Major League Baseball continued to expand their iOS offerings, while developers like JJ Abrams' Bad Robot Interactive and Bottle Rocket Apps continued to push the boundaries of what iOS apps can do."

"The success of our game Temple Run in 2012 was nothing short of astonishing," said Keith Shepherd, co-founder of Imangi Studios. "We were simply looking to create a game that was fun and easy to play, but once it hit the App Store, the game took off. This past year, we saw more than 75 million downloads of Temple Run on iOS."

Apple broke down the numbers and in December alone there were a record breaking 2 billion apps downloaded. There were nearly 20 billion apps downloaded in 2012, a sign that app downloads are accelerating at a staggering pace. Apple's App Store currently has over 500 million active accounts, over 775,000 apps for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, with more than 300,000 native iPad apps available.