Apple today published its top 2016 content picks for the iTunes Store and the App Store, choosing the best apps, music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, and books of the year.
"One Dance" from Drake was named Apple's Top Song of 2016, while Drake's "Views" Album was named the Top Album of the Year. Other top songs, which are available via an Apple Music playlist, include Rihanna's "Work," Flo Rida's "My House," The Chainsmokers' "Don't Let Me Down," Justin Timberlake's "Can't Stop the Feeling," and Calvin Harris' "This is What You Came For."
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Apple's full Top Songs playlist includes a total of 100 songs, while a separate Top Album list includes albums from Rihanna, Adele, Frank Ocean, Justin Bieber, Chris Stapleton, twenty one pilots, Ariana Grande, G-Eazy, The Weeknd, Taylor Swift, and more.
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As for movies, Apple's editorial staff made the following picks:
- Best Blockbuster: Deadpool
- Best Comedy: Sausage Party
- Best Hollywood Romance: La La Land
- Best Animated Movie: Kubo & the Two Strings
- Best Documentary: Weiner
- Best Feel-Good Movie: Sing Street
- Breakout Star of the Year: American Honey
- Best New Filmmaker: Moonlight
Top selling movies included Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Deadpool, Zootopia, The Martian, and Captain America: Civil War, while top selling Indie movies included Spotlight, The Hateful Eight, Room, Brooklyn, and Eye in the Sky.
Apple's chose the following TV shows as the best of the year:
- This Year's Obsession: American Crime Story: People v. O.J. Simpson
- Late Night Rule-Breaker: Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, Vol. 3
- Best New Comedy: Atlanta, Season 1
- Most Original Kids Show: Steven Universe
- Extravaganza of the Year: RuPaul's Drag Race All-Stars, Season 2
- Most Consistently Great: The Americans, Season 4
- Best New Drama: This Is Us, Season 1
Top selling television shows included Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Downton Abbey, The Americans, and Big Bang Theory.
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Apple's choice for novel of the year is Michael Chabon's Moonglow, with additional picks as follows:
- Novel of the Year: Moonglow - Michael Chabon
- Nonfiction of the Year: Evicted - Matthew Desmond
- YA Novel of the Year: If I Was Your Girl - Meredith Russo
- Debut of the Year: Homegoing - Yaa Gyasi
- Mystery: Charcoal Joe - Walter Mosley
- Thriller: Behind Closed Doors - B.A. Paris
- Popular Fiction: Sweetbitter - Stephanie Danker
- Literary Fiction: What Is Not Your Is Not Yours - Helen Oyeyemi
- Fantasy: The Fate of the Tearling - Erika Johansen
- Kids: Raymie Nightingale - Kate DiCamillo
- Cookbook: Everything I Want to Eat - Jessica Koslow
- Graphic Novel: March: Book Three - John Lewis
Best selling fiction books included "The Girl on the Train," "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," "Me Before You," and "After You," while best selling non-fiction books included "When Breath Becomes Air," "Killing the Rising Sun," "The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo," "Alexander Hamilton," and "Hillbilly Elegy."
Apple's last set of top picks includes its choices for best podcasts:
- Revisionist History
- How I Built This
- In the Dark
- Jocko Podcast
- Anna Faris is Unqualified
- NPR Politics
- My Favorite Murder
- 2 Dope Queens Accused
- FiveThirtyEight Elections Heavyweight
- Pardon My Take
Top overall podcasts based on most downloads were Fresh Air, Stuff You Should Know, Serial, This American Life, and The Joe Rogan Experience.
Apple's picks for top apps, which include Prisma and Clash Royale, can be found in a separate App Store article.
Top Rated Comments
I liked Kubo but I wasn't a Coraline fan at all. Stylistically they're both great but the content of Coraline didn't speak to me.
I'm not as in alignment with them on the TV selections though but we have the wonderful challenge of having SO MUCH great television content today that it makes for a lot of fantastic picks and what makes one's top won't necessary match with another while both being excellent programs.
I'm also a Radiolab and Invisibilia fan, makes me think I should check out a couple of the other podcasts you've listed that I haven't thus far. I'm going to subscribe them now... :)
Giving up social media 4 years ago has been great but this list shows that I just don't have the exposure anymore that I used to. I'm undecided on this being a good thing or not.