Apple Picks Instagram As The “iPhone App Of The Year”
Apple released its iTunes Rewind 2011 and App Store Rewind 2011 today, the company's annual lists detailing of the top selling apps, music, TV shows, movies and podcasts for the year. This year, the biggest winner on the apps front was Angry Birds …
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple's year-end Rewind lists have become an annual ritual: last December the company crowned Flipboard as its iPad App of the Year, and this year's App Store Rewind 2011 extends the franchise to the iPhone, where Instagram takes the top editorial honor while Angry Birds leads the sales-driven rankings. The Loop's same-day pickup shows the lists now travel well beyond TechCrunch's original report.
The split between the two winners matters: Apple is simultaneously endorsing a free social-photo app chosen by its editors and celebrating a paid game chosen by consumers, a dual signal about what the App Store rewards.
First-order effects
- Instagram gets the App Store's most visible endorsement at the start of the holiday buying season, putting a free photo-sharing app in front of every iTunes visitor browsing the Rewind feature.
- Angry Birds' top billing in the best-selling apps ranking reinforces Rovio's position as the App Store's commercial benchmark heading into 2012.
Second-order effects
- Developers of camera-and-filter apps now have a template to copy — simple capture plus social sharing is what Apple's editors rewarded — so expect a wave of lookalike photo apps bidding for the same featured placement.
- Rivals building competing app-discovery surfaces face pressure to match Apple's editorial year-in-review, since the Rewind lists double as free marketing for the App Store itself.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, Apple's annual picks become a de facto industry award whose winner gets a durable install boost — making a single editorial slot from Cupertino a structural factor in which app categories attract developer investment each year.
- The growing gap between editorial winners (social, creative tools) and sales winners (games) points toward Apple curating the App Store's identity, not just ranking it.
The trend: Apple's year-end Rewind lists are hardening into the App Store's defining editorial institution, where a single 'App of the Year' slot can redirect developer attention and user downloads for the following year.