App Store unofficially passes 300,000 titles

(Update: not quite) Apple has quietly passed a key milestone in the past day as it reached 300,000 fully available iPhone and iPad apps on the App Store. New data from Mobclix has shown that, as of Saturday evening, Apple had 300,975 total apps available. A correlating report from 148Apps has Apple at 334,498, though this may include apps that have since been pulled either by Apple or their developers.

The company hasn't formally acknowledged the count, but it may do so at its October 20 event. Apple presentations have usually opened with a status update including iOS devices even when the focus of the presentation was solely on the Mac.

The growth is rapid for Apple, which passed 250,000 less than two months ago. It also serves to widen the gap between iOS and competing platforms. Android is unofficially thought to have passed 100,000 apps but may be seeing cooling demand: an update from unofficial tracker Androlib has shown the app submission rate declining from August after months of large increases. RIM also only just reached 10,000 BlackBerry apps 1.5 years after App World's opening and has had to overhaul its app policies to persuade developers that were otherwise focusing on easier and faster Android and iOS hardware.

The bias of Apple's platform may have helped create the discrepancy. For Apple, the two largest categories are a virtual tie between book apps and games that play into the iPhone's advantages of a large touchscreen and fast graphics. Games have become a more important factor in Android, highlighted by the launch of Angry Birdson Friday, but RIM's old processors, smaller screens and lack of a significant graphics framework have left the BlackBerry with reduced interest in app support.

Update: An update from 148Apps' detailed statistics shows that there are currently 278,691 active apps. At the current, the company may not be able to claim 300,000, but it could now safely claim at least 275,000 by the October 20 event. [thanks to Fortune]

by MacNN Staff