Happy birthday iTunes App Store. After realizing that native apps were better than web apps, Apple announced and introduced the App Store last year. People finally had access to apps for business, entertainment, finance, games, healthcare & fitness, lifestyle, music, navigation, news photography… you get the picture.

Front page apps, although it may differ between countries, for the US currently include MLB at Bat, BeejiveIM 3.0 with Push, Stanza, Instapaper Pro, and eight others. Front page games include 2XL Supercross, Zen Bound, Baseball Slugger: Home Run Race 3D, geoDefense, and eight others.

Apple wrote on the App Store birthday splash page:

Light a candle and cue the music. Okay, forgive us for sounding like doting parents, but we’re just so proud–having watched the App Store go from promising newcomer to full-fledged revolutionary. To celebrate its first birthday, we’ve gathered some of our favorite games and apps. Part fun. Part function. Entirely amazing.

There are now over 56,000 apps in the Store right now, with Hero of Sparta at number one for Top Paid Apps and iHandgun for the number one Top Free Apps.