Apple reveals the Best of 2018' list across apps, music, movies and more
As the year comes to a close there are so many unanswered questions: Who is Kiki, and does she love me? Should I start a podcast? Where is Donut County? Why didn’t Offred escape Gilead (again!)? Today, Apple reveals the Best Of 2018, a global collection of top charts and selects from our editors across every category highlighting all of the amazing things to watch, read, listen to and play across apps, music, podcasts, books, TV and movies. It’s an invariable list of the who’s who and what’s what from the past year that is certain to help answer at least some of the most burning questions and make for fun conversation around any holiday dinner table.
The App Store
This year, Battle Royale-style games like Fortnite and PUBG Mobile dominated global gaming culture with exciting, last-player-standing action, while innovative apps like Fabulous, Shine, 10% Happier and Headspace expanded the practice of wellness around the world to make self-care more accessible than ever before.
Best Apps of the Year
- App Trend of the Year - Self-care
- Game Trend of the Year - Battle Royale-style gaming
- iPhone App of the Year - Procreate Pocket
- iPhone Game of the Year - Donut County
- iPad App of the Year - Froggipedia
- iPad Game of the Year - Gorogoa
- Mac App of the Year - Pixelmator Pro
- Mac Game of the Year - The Gardens Between
- Apple TV App of the Year - Sweat
- Apple TV Game of the Year - Alto’s Odyssey
- Favourite Watch Apps of the Year
iPhone users running iOS 11 and later will view iPhone charts below; iPad users running iOS 11 and later will view iPad charts.
Apple Music
To close out an extraordinary year, Apple Music’s editors have awarded highest honours to the artists who truly represent the very best of 2018. Drake owns the Artist of the Year category while country’s Kasey Musgraves scores Album of the Year for her dynamic Golden Hour. The fiery collaboration between Cardi B, J. Balvin and Bad Bunny made “I Like It” an easy choice for Song of the Year and Breakout Artist Juice WRLD has been giving everyone “Lucid Dreams” all year long. But these all-stars weren’t the only stars: Apple Music’s global year-end charts and editorial playlists are packed with the year’s biggest hits and favourites from all over the world.
Best Music of the Year
- Artist of the Year: Drake
- Breakout Artist of the Year: Juice WRLD
- Song of the Year: I Like It - Cardi B featuring Bad Bunny & J. Balvin
- Album of the Year: Golden Hour - Kacey Musgraves
Top 10 Songs (India)
- Atif Aslam - Dil Diyan Gallan
- Badshah & Qaran - Tareefan
- Camila Cabello - Havana (feat. Young Thug)
- Ritviz - Udd Gaye (Bacardi House Party Sessions)
- Drake - God's Plan
- Ed Sheeran - Shape of You
- Zack Night & Jasmin Walia - Bom Diggy Diggy
- Maroon 5 - Girls Like You (feat. Cardi B)
- Charlie Puth - Attention
- Post Malone - rockstar (feat. 21 Savage)
Apple Podcasts
This year, investigative reporting underpinned the immersive storytelling of shows such as American Public Media’s In the Dark, The New York Times’s “Caliphate,” along with historical deep dives like Slate's “Slow Burn.” News and Politics grew as podcast genres in 2018 with The New York Times's “The Daily” and Crooked Media’s “The Wilderness,” while celebrities and a healthy mix of independents topped this year’s new shows, including Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert,” “Oprah’s Master Class” and Parcast Network's “Conspiracy Theories” and “Unexplained Mysteries.”
Best Podcasts of the Year
- In The Dark
- Caliphate
- The Dream
- Everything is Alive
- Slow Burn
- Dr Death
- Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
- Bubble
- Bundyville
- A Very Fatal Murder
- Wolverine: The Long Night
- Serial
- The Daily
- This American Life
- 99% Invisible
TV and Movies
The movies and TV shows of the year represent a rich mix of genres and topics ranging from indie, documentaries and animation to drama, horror and action. “Black Panther” and “Killing Eve” are the top picks of the year; they, along with other notable titles such as “Won’t You Be My Neighbor,” “Hereditary” and “Pose,” have been praised by critics and fans alike and fuelled pop culture conversations and die-hard fandom around the world.
Best Movies of 2018 on Apple TV and iTunes
- Annihilation
- Black Panther
- Crazy Rich Asians
- Eighth Grade
- Green Book
- Hereditary
- Incredibles 2
- Minding the Gap
- A Star is Born
- Won’t You Be My Neighbor
- Best Movies - India
- Soorma
- Raazi
- Hichki
- Ocean’s 8
- Deadpool 2
- The Shape of Water
- Jumanji Welcome to the Jungle
- Justice League
- Tiger Zinda Hai
- Tomb Raider (2018)
Best TV Shows of 2018 on Apple TV App and iTunes
- The Americans
- Atlanta
- Barry
- The Expanse
- The Good Fight
- The Good Place
- The Handmaid’s Tale
- Killing Eve
- The Marvelous Mrs Maisel
- Pose
Apple Books
In 2018, Apple Books launched as a brand new app, making it effortless for iPhone and iPad users to discover and enjoy books and audiobooks. This year Apple Books celebrates works from a diverse group of authors, including Tommy Orange's debut There There; Tayari Jones’s American Marriage that is both the Book and Audiobook of the Year; and Rachel Hollis's Girl, Wash Your Face. Politics dominated the US charts this year with Fire and Fury, Fear and A Higher Loyalty all appearing in the top 10 best-selling non-fiction books. On the fiction front, readers remain rabid for books adapted for the screen, including Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians and Gillian Flynn’s Sharp Objects.
Best Books of the Year
- Book of the Year: American Marriage
- Best Non-fiction: The Library Book
Best Mystery: The Witch Elm - Best Thriller: Light It Up
- Best Bio/Memoir: Educated
- Best Romance: Too Wilde to Wed
- Best Science Fiction/Fantasy: Spinning Silver
- Best Feel-Good Fiction: When Life Gives You Lululemons
- Best Literary Fiction: There There
- Best Young Reader Book: Harbor Me
Best Audiobooks of the Year
- Audiobook of the Year: American Marriage
- Best Non-fiction: 21 Lessons for the 21st Century
- Best Mystery: Something in the Water
- Best Thriller: Long Road to Mercy
- Best Bio/Memoir: Becoming
- Best Business Audiobook: Dare to Lead
- Best Health, Mind, Body: Girl, Wash Your Face
- Best Family Audiobook: Rebound
- Best Humour: Calypso
- Best Historical Fiction: The Great Alone
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