Apple has announced its favourite smartphone apps and games of the year, with a few surprises.

Taking out top honours on the list, which the tech giant releases annually, was Elevate, a brain-training app, and Threes!, a puzzle game.

Instagram’s Hyperlapse, an app for creating time lapse videos, took second place in the best apps category, while platform adventure game Leo’s Fortune came runner-up for ‘Game of the Year’.

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Many of the standout apps were very simple and practical, such as a password manager and an intuitive smart keyboard.

Health and fitness featured heavily, with a fitness app, a grocery and shopping app, and three pedometer and calorie trackers making the list.

Two news websites also made the cut – The Guardian and BuzzFeed.

Dumb Ways to Die 2, a game published by Melbourne’s public transport operator Metro Trains, was a surprise inclusion.

Top Apps

Elevate — brain training app full of “captivating mini-games”.

Hyperlapse — time lapse videos for Instagram.

Storehouse — tell stories with photos and videos.

The Guardian — traditional news website.

SwiftKey — smart keyboard that learns from you.

1Password — password manager and secure wallet.

Camera+ — photography app.

Toca Lab — learn all 118 elements of the periodic table.

Little Moments — photo editor and photo-a-day companion.

Autodesk Sketchbook — professional-grade painting and drawing app.

Zova — workouts for women.

GoodReader — PDF creator and manager.

Loopy HD — create music loops.

BuzzFeed — quirky news website.

Peak — brain training app.

Yummly — recipes and grocery shopping list.

Waterlogue — converts photos to watercolour images.

Human — activity and calorie tracker.

Stellar — tell stories with photos, videos and text.

TeleStory — write, direct and star in your own TV show.

Quip — documents, chat, spreadsheets.

Litely — photo editing app.

Breeze — pedometer, walk tracker, activity log and movement coach.

Star Walk 2 — stargazing tool for budding astronomers.

Cinamatic — create beautiful short films.

Health Mate — step tracker and life coach.

Afterlight — image editing tool.