Apple Shares the 'Best of 2018' Highlighting Top Apps, Games, Music, TV Shows, Movies and More - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple Shares the 'Best of 2018' Highlighting Top Apps, Games, Music, TV Shows, Movies and More

Apple today presented its best of 2018 lists, highlighting the apps, games, music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, books, and audiobooks that "shaped entertainment and culture around the world this year."

Apple shares its top lists for the App Store, iTunes Store, and more each and every year, and this year's lists are available via the Apple Newsroom.

applebestapps2018
According to Apple, the App Trend of the Year is "Self-Care," featuring wellness apps like Fabulous, Shine, and Calm. The Game Trend of the Year was, unsurprisingly, "Battle Royale-style gaming" so named because of the popularity of apps like Fortnite and PUBG.

Apple's other top app and game lists are below, with Apple offering up separate winners for the iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Mac.

  • 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

Apple named Drake as the top artist of the year, while "I Like It" from Cardi B was named the song of the year. Kacey Musgraves' "Golden Hour" album was named album of then year, while Juice WRLD took the breakout artist of the year title.

As for movies, Apple named "Annihilation," "Black Panther," "Crazy Rich Asians," and "Eighth Grade" as some of the best movies of the year, while "The Americans," "Atlanta," "The Good Place," and "The Handmaid's Tale" were named some of the best TV shows.

Apple's full Newsroom article has a complete list of the winners for each of its services, along with top charts and other data that's worth checking out if you're looking for music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, books, and apps you might have missed in 2018.

Popular Stories

Apple Event Logo

Apple's Next Era Begins September 1

Thursday May 7, 2026 10:36 am PDT by
Apple recently announced that Tim Cook will be stepping down as CEO later this year, after 15 years of leading the company. Effective September 1, Apple's hardware engineering chief John Ternus will become the company's next CEO, while Cook will become executive chairman of Apple's board of directors. In his new role, Apple said Cook will assist with "certain aspects" of the company,...
Instagram Feature 2

PSA: Instagram Encrypted Messaging Ends on Friday, May 8

Tuesday May 5, 2026 8:24 am PDT by
Instagram will remove end-to-end encryption for direct messages between users from May 8, 2026. When the date comes around, Meta will potentially be able to see the contents of all messages between users on the social media platform. Encrypting messages has been an optional feature in Instagram since 2023, but in March of this year the social media platform quietly updated a help page to say ...
macbook neo launch day

Apple May Drop Base $599 MacBook Neo as Chip, DRAM Costs Climb

Thursday May 7, 2026 4:55 am PDT by
Apple is considering dropping the cheapest MacBook Neo configuration as one possible response to the rising cost of building the popular laptop, according to Taiwan-based tech columnist and former Bloomberg reporter Tim Culpan. The Neo currently starts at $599 for a 256GB model, with a 512GB version at $699. Writing in his latest Culpium newsletter, Culpan says cutting the entry-level...

Top Rated Comments

97 months ago
Procreate Pocket sounds like a fertility tracking app.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
97 months ago
The "Good Place" is a very deep show, well portrayed by seemingly shallow characters. The one NBC show worth its time.
My wife and I started watching The Good Place on Netflix last month, after seeing a few GIFs of it (I know), and now we're almost caught up with the current season.

I can't say enough good things about it. Such a fresh concept, compared to all the standard sitcoms out there.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
97 months ago
The "Good Place" is a very deep show, well portrayed by seemingly shallow characters. The one NBC show worth its time.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MakeAppleAwesomeAgain Avatar
97 months ago
Ladies and gentleman, iPad app of the year:


Froggipedia, an engaging, interactive, powerful constructive learning Apple AR which helps explore and discover the unique life cycle and intricate anatomical details of a frog.
What’s a computer?
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
charleswhalley Avatar
97 months ago
Bit of a snooze fest on the Mac this year, then?

Pixelmator Pro is hardly any different to Pixelmator, which itself is an old app now.
Snoozefest - that is an understatement. Looking forward to the highlights of hardware - oh silly me - there aren't any!!!!
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
frou Avatar
97 months ago
Bit of a snooze fest on the Mac this year, then?

Pixelmator Pro is hardly any different to Pixelmator, which itself is an old app now.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)