A lot of people thought that if Windows Phone 7 failed to make an impact in the smartphone market, this might spell the end of Microsoft’s mobile adventure. Contrary to this belief though, 2012 saw the announcement and release of Windows Phone 8. While WP8 is pretty much a whole new OS, you can’t say that it is fundamentally different from its predecessor. Unfortunately, even WP8 hasn’t fared significantly better than Mango so far, but that isn’t from lack of trying on the part of its manufacturers and people who develop apps for the Windows Phone Store. During the course of the year, the platform’s app collection grew past the 100,000 mark and is now on its way to even bigger milestones. While some of the releases were rather disappointing, the overall quality of apps in the WP Store definitely seems to have improved compared to what we saw in 2011. Here is a list of the best free Windows Phone apps that were covered here on Addictive Tips in 2012.

1. Skype (The Mango version of Skype was released earlier this year, while Windows Phone 8 came out with native integration of the service)

2. Photosynth (Despite being limited to only high-end devices, Photosynth is a great app; one of the best 360-degree panorama capturing apps out there)

3. Speaktoit Assistant (Customizable talking personal assistant that can fetch videos, images and pages from the web; also capable of performing calculations and managing calendars)

4. Audible (This app was released with the announcement of Windows Phone 8; brings the biggest collection of audiobooks on the planet to Windows Phone)

5. City Lens (This Lumia-exclusive app puts augmented reality to good use. Just point your device’s camera at your surroundings and City Lens displays all hotels, restaurants, malls and other noteworthy places within view.)

6. LinkedIn (Although Windows Phone has native integration with LinkedIn, its official client is a must-have for all avid users of the social network)

7. Endomondo (Tracks your workout stats, fitness history and other health-related data, comes incorporated with a music player of its own and can be used offline for a variety of workouts)

8. PhotoBeamer (Use your Nokia phone to stream any image onto a computer’s screen by simply scanning a QR code)

9. GetThemAll (The only downloader for Windows Phone that works in conjunction with Internet Explorer; lists different media types separately for easy downloading)

10. SilverDict (Lets users add any web dictionary they want to the app’s sources and shows additional details related to searched words including Wikipedia pages)

11. PayPal (The official PayPal app lets you manage account details and make payments)

12. Vimeo (The famous video hosting service released its official Windows Phone client this year. The app lets you watch and upload videos easily.)

13. CNN (View news stories, video and audio feeds from CNN. This official client can also be used to submit your own videos to the news network via the iReport feature)

14. Bing Translator (Translates almost all major languages of the world through both text, visual and audio input, even while offline)

15. SaveIt! (Import contacts, videos and photos from other smartphones to a Windows Phone; also good for creating a backup of device data)

16. Square (Creates QR codes out of contact cards and photos so that you can easily share them with any smartphone)

17. Pictomaphone (A photo editor with filters and a comprehensive set of image adjustment options)

18. Bookviser (A customizable ePub reader with a library of free books)

19. Palringo (The famous chat client first came out for Windows Phone while it was still in its beta, but has improved a lot since then. You can use it to share audio clips and images with your friends without having to go through much hassle.)

20. Box (The official client for cloud storage service Box)

21. Viber (If you own a Nokia Windows Phone, Viber can make VoIP calls for you, while on others it can only be used for text chat and quick media sharing)

22. PrimeTube (YouTube client with a refreshing interface and video upload capability)

23. 7digital (Purchase MP3 songs at a cheaper price than the Windows Phone Store; also offers free streaming of songs belonging to a variety of genres)

24. Newser (A news client that lets you view users’ feedback and reactions for each story)

25. FastMall (Offline indoor maps for all the major shopping malls of the world, complete with deal alerts and navigational help)

26. Photo Genius (A photo editing app by Aviary that includes effects, stickers and image adjustment options)

27. Markets & Me (Keep a handle on the current stock exchange situation and manage your own shares)

28. Kaliki (A customizable news client that generates a personalized podcast for you each day; available for Nokia devices only)

29. SoundGecko (Converts any article or RSS feed you want to an audio file so that you can listen to on the go)

30. Wolfram Alpha+ (Unofficial Wolfram Alpha client that lets you perform complex calculations and fetches answers to any question from the popular search engine)

31. Create Your Game (Lets you design and play your own Windows Phone games)

32. AppDetective (Keeps searching for the apps you really want on Windows Phone and alerts you as soon as they are released)

33. AUPEO! Radio (Music discovery app that learns your preferences with the passage of time)

34. Trapster (Just like Waze, Trapster uses user feedback to provide suggestions for the best eating places and other locations in your vicinity)

35. NickWrite (A text editor with predictive input and templates for messages and mails)

36. Album Flow (A music library replacement app with an iOS-like cover flow view)

37. Wunderlist (To-do list app with a comprehensive set of filters and cloud syncing)

38. Academic Search (Developed by Microsoft Research, this app suggests books and references that can actually help you in researching a topic or writing your thesis)

39. Augmented Colors (Just point your phone’s camera at any object and you will see the exact RGB value of its color)

40. Mobizy (A perfect business companion for small business owners, this app lets you manage client details, and can incorporate a database for products, sales and financial records.)

Since Windows Phone 8 wasn’t even announced when the year started, you won’t find any distinction between Mango and Apollo apps in the above list. If any of your favorite free Windows Phone apps didn’t make it to our Top 40, use the comments section to let us know.

You might also want to check out our other end-of-year compilations:

150 Best Windows Apps Of 2012

35 Best Windows 8 Store Of 2012

100 Best Mac Apps Of 2012

150 Best Android Apps Of 2012

100 Best iOS Apps Of 2012

50 Best Cydia Tweaks Of 2012

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