Google unveils 'Best of 2016' Google Play winners

By Julian Chokkattu December 2, 2016

20th Century Fox

Google’s giving presents a little early this year — the company announced the best apps, books, movies, and shows of 2016 on Google Play.

The winners represent global top-trending content and they span six categories.

Deadpool gets a special nod for coming first in two categories — the 2016 film is the best in the Movies category, and Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe is number one in Books. There are a few unsurprising winners, though. Pokémon Go, for example, was the top-trending game of 2016. The top movies of 2016 include such box office heavy hitters as Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Captain America: Civil War, and Zootopia. Game of Thrones gets the crown for being the number one TV show, beating out The Walking Dead.

Three out of the top five apps happen to revolve around selfies, and another is an emoji keyboard. Take a look at the top five winners in each category:

The top trending apps of 2016:

The five most streamed songs of 2016:

Stressed Out, Twenty One Pilots
Sorry, Justin Bieber
One Dance (featuring WizKid & Kyla), Drake
Don’t Let Me Down (featuring Daya), The Chainsmokers
Me, Myself & I, G-Eazy

The top trending games of 2016:

The top five movies of 2016:

The top five TV shows of 2016:

The top five books of 2016:

Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe by Cullen Bunn
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts One and Two by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, Jack Thorne
The Girl on the Train: A Novel by Paula Hawkins
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
Me Before You: A Novel by Jojo Moyes

For a more expansive list of winners, head over to the Google Play Store.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Julian Chokkattu

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Julian is the mobile and wearables editor at Digital Trends, covering smartphones, fitness trackers, smartwatches, and more…

Mobile

These are the best Android 15 features you need to know about

Android 15 has entered its latter leg of testing among developers, and in the coming months, a beta build will finally be released for the masses. So far, across the two Developer Preview builds that Google has released, we’ve encountered a handful of new features that will make life easier for smartphone users in meaningful ways.

Among them is a notification cooldown system that shields you from a barrage of audio alerts from your apps. Google has already detailed the changelog to a healthy extent, but not all new tricks have been implemented yet. But there’s still enough to unpack in Android 15, and some of those notable additions are detailed below:
Partial screen sharing

Entertainment

The best shows on Peacock right now

A man flexes in Orlando Bloom: To the Edge.

Month after month, Peacock, owned by NBC, releases exciting shows. Sometimes they are originals, and other times they are series from other networks for which the streaming service acquires rights. This works perfectly for subscribers, who always have a fresh, new selection of content to choose from. Some Peacock favorites include Poker Face, Ted, and even fun reality TV competition shows like The Traitors.

If you have a subscription or you're thinking of getting one, this list of the best shows on Peacock right now will give you a good idea of the variety of content available on the streaming service. Pick a few winners to add to your watch list and queue them up once you have the time to sit back, relax, and enjoy. If you're already familiar with Peacock's offerings, a few new titles were added this month, so make sure you don't miss out.

Mobile

Google Pixel 9: news, rumored price, release date, and more

The Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro are Google's latest and most powerful devices, but it won't be that way for long. Rumors of the Google Pixel 8a mean this pair of flagships will be supplanted as the latest Google phones fairly soon — but they'll be able to hold on to the title of "most powerful" for a little while longer. The Google Pixel 9 range, while definitely on the way, isn't due to arrive any time soon.

But when it does, it's sure to be a pair of blockbusters. Leaks for the Pixel 9 family are a little thin on the ground at the moment, but it seems as if Google is planning on making some big changes this time around. If leaks are correct, we expect a new look and some exciting new AI features that go beyond what we've seen before.