Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. Products

Apple reveals its Best of 2018 in apps, games, music, and more

By
iphone xr app store
Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Want to play an iPhone game right now? Check out the best iPhone games.

The end of the year might technically be a month away, but that hasn’t stopped Apple from publishing its Best of 2018 list. Containing the year’s most-downloaded apps, most-streamed films and music, and a whole bunch of other stuff, it’s the definitive list of all the content that rocked iOS fans worlds this year. Here are the highlights.

Recommended Videos

We’ll start with the most obvious hit of the year. Surprising absolutely no one, Fortnite tops the list of most-downloaded free games for both iPhone and iPad, beating out some stiff competition, including popular games PUBG Mobile and Roblox. Seasoned veteran Minecraft sits atop the top paid iPad games list, but misses out on the top spot in paid iPhone games, losing to Ellen DeGeneres’ Heads Up! game. Donut County received the prize for Best iPhone Game, while Gorogoa got Best iPad Game.

Related

Drake had a strong year too, not only winning Artist of the Year, but also placing in three of the top five positions for top global songs with God’s Plan, Nice For What, and In My Feelings. Unsurprisingly, that also means his album Scorpion got the top spot in the Global Album chart — though it missed out on Best Album, coming in behind Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour. Breakout Artist of the Year was awarded to Juice Wrld, while Apple’s Song of the Year was I Like It by Cardi B (featuring Bad Bunny & J. Balvin).

In other media, Apple didn’t reveal the top streamed TV shows and movies for the year, but it did showcase its editorial picks for the top viewing experiences of 2018. Green Book, A Star is Born, Black Panther, Eighth Grade, and Hereditary topped the chart for Apple’s Best Movies of 2018 on Apple TV. The top movies on iTunes list was a little different, with A Star Is Born, Avengers: Infinity War, Call Me By Your Name, Mario, and Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivfuhrer making the cut. For the top TV shows of 2018 (as selected by Apple’s editorial staff), look no further than Killing Eve, Pose, Barry, Atlanta, and The Expanse.

In podcasts, The New York Times’s The Daily sits on the top spot, while The Joe Rogan Experience, Stuff You Should Know, Fresh Air, and The Dave Ramsey Show fill the 2-5 spots respectively.

We’ve listed some of the most popular charts below, but you can read Apple’s full list if you want to dive in for yourself. Otherwise, you can check out our picks for the best iPhone apps and the best iPhone games.

Top Free iPhone Apps

  1. YouTube: Watch, Listen, Stream
  2. Instagram
  3. Snapchat
  4. Messenger
  5. Facebook
  6. Bitmoji
  7. Netflix
  8. Google Maps — Transit & Food
  9. Gmail — Email by Google
  10. Spotify Music
  11. Amazon — Shopping made easy
  12. Uber
  13. WhatsApp Messenger
  14. Pandora — Streaming Music
  15. Wish — Shopping Made Fun
  16. TikTok — Real Short Videos
  17. Cash App
  18. Google Photos
  19. Google Chrome
  20. Twitter

Top Free iPhone Games

  1. Fortnite
  2. Helix Jump
  3. Rise Up
  4. PUBG Mobile
  5. Hole.io
  6. Love Balls
  7. Snake VS Block
  8. Rules of Survival
  9. Roblox
  10. Dune!
  11. Subway Surfers
  12. Episode — Choose Your Story
  13. Word Link – Word Puzzle Game
  14. Toon Blast
  15. Color Road!
  16. HQ Trivia
  17. Twisty Road!
  18. 8 Ball Pool
  19. Kick the Buddy
  20. Sniper 3D Assassin: Gun Games

Music — Top Albums

  1. Drake, Scorpion
  2. Post Malone, Beerbongs & Bentleys
  3. Cardi B, Invasion of Privacy
  4. XXXTENTACION, ?
  5. Travis Scott, ASTROWORLD
  6. Ed Sheeran, ÷
  7. Chris Brown, Heartbreak on a Full Moon
  8. Various Artists, The Greatest Showman
  9. J. Cole, KOD
  10. XXXTENTACION, 17
  11. Lil Uzi Vert, Luv Is Rage 2
  12. Khalid, American Teen
  13. Lil Baby, Harder Than Ever
  14. 21 Savage, Offset, and Metro Boomin, Without Warning
  15. Juice WRLD, Goodbye & Good Riddance
  16. SZA, Ctrl
  17. Dua Lipa, Dua Lipa
  18. Camila Cabello, Camila
  19. YoungBoy Never Broke Again, Until Death Call My Name
  20. The Weeknd, My Dear Melancholy

Music — Top Songs

  1. Drake, God’s Plan
  2. Drake, Nice For What
  3. Post Malone, Rockstar (feat. 21 Savage)
  4. Drake, In My Feelings
  5. Post Malone, Psycho (feat. Ty Dolla $ign)
  6. Cardi B, Bad Bunny, and J Balvin, I Like It
  7. XXXTENTACION, SAD!
  8. Camila Cabello, Havana (feat. Young Thug)
  9. BlocBoy JB, Look Alive (feat. Drake)
  10. Offset & Metro Boomin, Ric Flair Drip
  11. Lil Baby & Drake, Yes Indeed
  12. Post Malone, I Fall Apart
  13. Juice WRLD, Lucid Dreams
  14. Post Malone, Better Now
  15. Migos, Nicki Minaj & Cardi B, MotorSport
  16. Bazzi, Mine
  17. Drake, Nonstop
  18. Kendrick Lamar & SZA, All the Stars
  19. Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line, Meant to Be
  20. Ariana Grande, No Tears Left to Cry

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Mark Jansen
Mark Jansen
Contributor
Mark Jansen is an avid follower of everything that beeps, bloops, or makes pretty lights. He has a degree in Ancient &…
I hope Apple brings this Vision Pro feature to the iPhone
A concept of spatial FaceTime from Apple Vision Pro mixed reality headset running on iPhone.

Digitally crafted alternative realities can be exciting or discomforting, based on how you envision them. But Apple, among other companies invested in AR- and VR-dominant future, clearly wants you to focus on the bright side. That's why Apple spent a substantial chunk of time at its WWDC 2023 developer conference to highlight the various features of the Apple Vision Pro — Apple's extravagant new mixed reality headset.

As per Apple's surefooted narrative at the event, the Vision Pro delivers us into a new era in computing and pushes beyond the boundaries of fixed displays. The promotional walkthroughs easily convince us the headset is both visually and functionally unique in many ways.

Read more
Have an iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch? You need to update it right now
iPhone 14 Pro Max against a red background.

If you own an Apple product — be in the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, or a Mac — you should update it immediately. Why? Apple has begun rolling out updates to all of its devices with fixes for a serious security vulnerability.

The security vulnerability is known as CVE-2023-32434, and it has to do with the kernel privileges of Apple devices. Per Apple's website, the vulnerability allows third-party apps to "execute arbitrary code." In other words, if a bad actor knows how to exploit this vulnerability, they could potentially gain access to your Apple device and wreck havoc.

Read more
The 6 biggest iOS 17 features that Apple stole from Android
iOS 17 logo on an iPhone, Android logo on an Android phone.

Apple made a big splash at WWDC 2023 this year, with the big headline announcement being the Vision Pro augmented reality headset. But we also got a glimpse of what’s to come with iOS 17, iPadOS 17, watchOS 10, and macOS 14 Sonoma.

Though iOS 17 appears to be more of a quiet release this year that focuses on refinement and quality-of-life improvements, I have mixed feelings overall. To be honest, I was a little underwhelmed with the iOS 17 announcement based on what was actually shown off on stage, but there are some very cool features that Apple didn’t make a big deal out of (when it should have).

Read more