Your 2021 IG Top 9 Might Look A Little Different Than Past Years
It’s not exactly how you remember it.
The new year is quickly approaching, which means it’s time to wrap up 2021. One of the easiest ways to reflect on the past year in photos is by checking out your best moments on Instagram. The company has a new official year-in-review feature called Playback for 2021, but the apps you’ve come to rely on are back with a way to stroll down memory lane on IG in a few steps. Here’s how to get Instagram Top Nine and Best Nine apps to see which of your posts reigned supreme.
To give you a refresher, the annual Top Nine and Best Nine collages of your Instagram account feature your top IG posts from the year (usually based on likes and comments), reminding you of a summer getaway with your BFFs or your best Halloween costume yet. You can get your top nine posts using the two of the most popular third-party apps — Top Nine and Best Nine. Both apps have been around since 2016 and 2014, respectively, according to info on their websites, which means finding your best posts has been annual tradition for some time.
Keep in mind that with all these apps you need to allow access to your Instagram account and they may use data tracking, which you can turn off for both iPhone and Android devices. You can also check how Apple and Google determine which apps are allowed in their respective app stores to keep your phone secure. If you’re ready to get started, here’s how to check out your 2021 results.
How To Get Instagram Top Nine
When it comes to the Top Nine app for 2021, you’ll have to get creative if you want to see your wrap-up before the official update hits the app. As of Dec. 11, you have to make your own collage by choosing from among your Instagram posts, meaning you can pick stand-out moments from the year that don’t take into account likes or other factors — but you won’t be able to get a curated Top Nine from the app like in past years. According to a spokesperson for Top Nine, there will be an update coming to the app that will do the work for you, so you’ll want to keep an eye out for changes coming soon.
If you can’t wait and want an app to find your top nine for you, there are plenty of options in the App Store. Top Nine 2021 - Video Collage doesn’t specify how the photos are chosen, but from the results, it appears number of likes is a big factor.
To use the Top Nine 2021 - Video Collage app, you’ll first need to log in to your Instagram account. Once you do that, you'll see the collage of your Top Nine photos, which you can share it directly to IG from the app or save it to your phone's photo gallery. You can also make a free video with your results. Simply tap “Make Video” below the grid and you’ll be able to choose which filter you’d like and share the final video to IG.
There don’t seem to be official Top Nine apps from either of the aforementioned companies in Google Play, but there are plenty of similar apps.
How To Get Instagram Best Nine
If you’re a Best Nine stan, you can download Best Nine for free in the App Store and a similar version in Google Play. You can also get your best nine photos right from the Best Nine website. The app doesn’t have a clear method for how its algorithm works, but it's likely based on your most-liked photos from the year.
To use Best Nine, open the app, select 2021, and tap "Continue." From there, log in to your IG account. Wait until the app generates the collage, and then you’ll be shown the top photos from your year in a collage. You have the option edit the positions of your photos from the "Edit Grid" page by moving photos around or stretching them to fit by tapping the "Scale/Fit" toggle. Once you're done editing, hit "Next" and tap the "Share" button to post it to IG.
There's an option to purchase a custom date range of the year for your Best Nine for 99 cents. iOS users can also pay 99 cents to export a video version and edit their Best Nine video in the app.
FWIW, the Top Nine 2021 - Video Collage app appeared to be most accurate in pulling posts that had the most likes as compared to Best Nine, but that may vary by user. Now that you have plenty of ways to look back on the year, it’s time to see which IG posts came out on top.
