Apple announced that it set a new sales record for its App Store in the first week of January. The company claimed that App Store customers spent close to half a billion dollars on paid apps and in-app purchases during the first seven days of the year, with New Year’s Day being the best day ever in terms of sales.

The company also revealed that developers offering products in the App Store have earned a cumulative $25 billion to date.

Billings rose 50 per cent in 2014, with more than $10 billion in revenue generated for developers during the year. The App Store is now home to 1.4 million titles.

Apple attributed the record-breaking start to the year to the introduction in September of iOS 8, which added new features, such as the HealthKit and HomeKit functionality, and was accompanied by a host of developer tools.

There were issues with the introduction of iOS 8 in September, including a glitch in HealthKit and a botched update to correct the issue. Apple is also being sued in the US for allegedly misleading consumers about how much storage capacity the update requires when installed on devices.

Apple also talked up its role in developing the app industry, claiming that the “iOS ecosystem” has helped create 627,000 jobs in the US alone.

Referring to the initiative in which Apple partnered with developers to create special versions of popular apps with proceeds going to the (RED) AIDS charity, Apple revealed it donated $20 million to the cause during the fourth quarter of 2014.