Apple releases its best of podcasts, apps, books, and games of 2020

Dec 2 2020, 2:00 pm

It’s the most wonderful time of the year because Apple just released its annual “Best of 2020,” featuring the most downloaded apps and games, as well as books and podcasts of the year in Canada.

First up, the apps that made 2020.

Of course, this was a year unlike any other. And because of that, Apple’s winners recognize apps and games that proved “to be essential for making life easier, healthier and more connected this year.”

“This year, more than ever before, some of our most creative and connected moments happened in apps. This was thanks to the amazing work of developers who introduced fresh, helpful app experiences throughout the year,” said Phil Schiller, Apple Fellow.

“Around the world, we saw remarkable efforts from so many developers, and these Best of 2020 winners are 15 outstanding examples of that innovation. From helping us stay fit and mindful, and keeping our children’s education on track, to helping fight hunger, their impact was meaningful to so many of us.”

From Apple Arcade’s Canadian-made Sneaky Sasquatch, which delivered a great escape to endless meetings and family calls through Zoom, these apps helped us live our best lives at home.

Best of 2020 Apps Charts 

Top Free iPhone Apps 

1. ZOOM Cloud Meetings
2. TikTok
3. Disney+
4. Instagram
5. YouTube
6. Messenger
7. Microsoft Teams
8. COVID Alert 🇨🇦
9. WhatsApp Messenger
10. Facebook

Top Paid iPhone Apps 

1. TouchRetouch
2. Procreate Pocket
3. AutoSleep Track Sleep
4. The Wonder Weeks
5. Forest — Stay focused
6. Facetune
7. Sky Guide
8. Go Snowmobiling Ontario 2019 🇨🇦
9. SkyView
10. iMotoneige 🇨🇦

Top Free iPhone Games 

1. Among Us!
2. Brain Out
3. Call of Duty: Mobile
4. Subway Surfers
5. Woodturning 3D
6. Brain Test: Tricky Puzzles
7. Roblox
8. Magic Tiles 3: Piano Games
9. Ink Inc. — Tattoo Drawing
10. Mario Kart Tour

Top Paid iPhone Games 

1. Minecraft
2. Plague Inc.
3. Heads Up! — Trivia on the go
4. Monopoly
5. Bloons TD 6
6. Geometry Dash
7. True Skate
8. The Game of Life
9. Stardew Valley
10. NBA 2K20

Top Free iPad Apps 

1. ZOOM Cloud Meetings
2. Disney+
3. Netflix
4. YouTube
5. Google Chrome
6. Amazon Prime Video
7. TikTok
8. Microsoft Teams
9. Messenger
10. Google Meet

Top Paid iPad Apps 

1. Procreate
2. GoodNotes 5
3. Notability
4. Duet Display
5. Teach Your Monster
6. LumaFusion
7. Affinity Designer
8. Toca Life: Neighborhood
9. Affinity Photo
10. Toca Life: Hospital

Top Free iPad Games 

1. Among Us!
2. Roblox
3. Brain Out
4. Magic Tiles 3: Piano Game
5. Ink Inc. — Tattoo Drawing
6. Fishdom
7. Homescapes
8. Brain Test: Tricky Puzzles
9. Dancing Road: Color Ball Run!
10. Save The Girl!

Top Paid iPad Games 

1. Minecraft
2. Plague Inc.
3. Bloons TD 6
4. Geometry Dash
5. Monopoly
6. Stardew Valley
7. The Game of Life
8. Terraria
9. Five Nights at Freddy’s
10. The House of Da Vinci 2

Top Apple Arcade Games 

1. Sonic Racing
2. Skate City 🇨🇦
3. PAC-MAN Party Royale
4. Hot Lava 🇨🇦
5. Sneaky Sasquatch 🇨🇦
6. Oceanhorn 2
7. SpongeBob: Patty Pursuit
8. WHAT THE GOLF?
9. LEGO Brawls
10. Outlanders

Next up, we have podcasts, books, and ebooks.

Here are the best in podcasts, books and audiobooks of the year according to Apple Podcasts and Apple Books, as well as the most popular fiction and non-fiction titles.

Apple Podcasts Show of the Year 2020 (Canada — CA):

The Hopeful

Apple Podcasts Biggest Shows of 2020 (CA)

Call Her Daddy
The Daily (The New York Times)
Spittin’ Chiclets
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Canadian True Crime
Stuff You Should Know
Unlocking Us
This American Life
Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations
Uncover (CBC Podcasts)

Apple Podcasts Biggest New Shows of 2020 (CA)

Unlocking Us
Smartless
Sofia with an F
Rabbit Hole (The New York Times)
Chasing Cosby
Nice White Parents
The Don Cherry’s Grapevine
The Dating Game Killer
Coronavirus: Fact vs. Fiction (CNN)
Dying for Sex

Apple Podcasts: Our Favourites this year:

Hustled
Notes from the Frontline
This is Not a Drake Podcast (CBC Podcasts)
Cityline Real on Race
Recall : How to Start a Revolution (CBC Podcasts)
History of the 90s
Jay de Temple Discute
We Are Not the Virus
Unreserved (CBC Podcasts)
More with Anna Marie (CBC Podcasts)
Parkdale Haunt
Avec son Sam

Apple Books: Best books of the year
CANADA (EN)

Seven, Farzana Doctor
The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett
They Said This Would Be Fun, Eternity Martis
Rage, Bob Woodward
Ridgerunner, Gil Adamson
Long Bright River, Liz Moore
The Roommate, Rosie Danan
Black Sun, Rebecca Roanhorse
Don’t Stand So Close to Me, Eric Walters
Little Stranger, Fred Caron

CANADA (FR)
Consent, Vanessa Springora
Em, Kim Thùy
Comment devenir antiraciste, Ibram X. Kendi
La Source, Félix Séguin, Éric Thibault
Civiére 41, Catherine Cloutier-Charette
Brasiers, Marc Menard
La vie rêvée des chaussettes orphelines, Marie Vareille
La Mort ou la gloire, Nicholas Eames, Olivier Debernard
Deux fleurs en hiver, Delphine Pessin
Petit étrange, Fred Caron

Apple Books: Best audiobooks of the year
CANADA (EN)

Untamed, Glennon Doyle
Humankind, Rutger Bregman
The Skin We’re In, Desmond Cole
The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett
The Sub-Tweet, Vivek Shraya
Missing from the Village, Justin Ling
Fair Warning, Michael Connelly
Take a Hint, Dani Brown, Talia Hibbert
Hench, Natalie Zine Walschots
More Myself, Alicia Keys

CANADA (FR)
Méditer pour être heureux
Quiproquos, Malcolm Gladwell
Canot Western. Laurette Laurin
Nickel Boys, Colson Whitehead
La bête intégrale, David Goudreault
Mafia, Inc, Andre Cedilot
Ghetto X, Patrice Robitaille
Pauline Marois, Élyse-Andrée Héroux
Hunger Games – La Ballade du serpent et de l’oiseau chanteur, Suzanne Collins
La mort immortell, Liu Cixin

Daily Hive StaffDaily Hive Staff

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