Not many days are left in 2017. So, like always, Apple has come up with its annual list of the most popular media content (apps, music, movies, TV shows, books and podcasts) across the App Store, Apple Music, iTunes, iBooks and Apple Podcasts.
Top apps for 2017
Talking about the top apps, Apple has named Calm, a meditation and sleep app, as the app of the year for the iPhone. For the iPad, it was Affinity Photo, a desktop-class photo editor. It must be noted that Affinity is a paid-up-front app, while Calm is free. A similar trend was noticed with the game of the year with Splitter Critters named as the iPhone game of the year, while for the iPad, it was The Witness. Both the games are not freemium titles.
“App Store editors identify four breakout trends in app culture for 2017: the introduction of AR (augmented reality) apps and games, the rise of real-time competitive gaming, apps focused on mental health and mindfulness and apps transforming storytelling and reading,” Apple said in a blog post.
On Apple’s annual list of the most downloaded free iTunes apps of the year, the Bitmoji app, owned by Snap, bagged the top spot. Next was Snapchat, which was the top app last year. The Bitmoji app, which is used to design avatars, was not even in the top ten last year. The rest of the list was mostly similar to last year. Google’s YouTube was at third (up from sixth in 2016), followed by Facebook Messenger (at second last year), Instagram (same as last year), Facebook (same as last year), Google Maps (same as last year), Netflix (ninth in 2016), Spotify (up from tenth) and Uber (new entry in the top 10).
Last year, Pokemon Go was a new entry to the top 10, but this year, it failed to make it to the list of the free top apps and even in the free games category, which is led by Super Mario Run. Pandora, a music streaming service, also dashed out of the top ten, but was able to get a place among the top fifteen apps. Apps that come pre-loaded on devices, like core Apple apps such as Apple Music and Pages, are not counted in Apple’s year-end charts.
Top songs, movies and TV shows
According to Apple, the top song of the year is The Shape of You by Ed Sheeran, while Drake’s More Life is the top album. Other albums in the list are Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN, Taylor Swift’s Reputation, Ed Sheeran’s Divide, and Starboy from The Weeknd.
“Apple Music Up Next 2017 artists Khalid, Daniel Caesar and 6LACK all earned GRAMMY nominations as part of their success this year,” the iPhone maker said.
Coming to the top TV shows, there are not many surprises with Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, The Big Bang Theory, The Americans, and Rick and Morty leading the charts. Top movies for the year included names like Wonder Woman, Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2, Moana, Sing and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
To view the complete list, visit this link.
