If you’re like us, you probably live your life on Instagram. Even though your feed may look very different this year (possibly missing your usual vacation photos and concert photos from years past), Instagram still makes it easy to keep in touch with friends and family around the world.
As we reach the end of 2020, it’s a perfect time to look back on the past year, and if you’re a die-hard Instagram user, there’s no better way to do it than by using Instagram’s Top Nine. It’s yet one of our favorite features for Instagram, and it seems more popular than ever this year.
But if you’re not familiar with Top Nine, you may not know where to start. Let’s take a look at what Top Nine for Instagram is, how to make it and what you can do with Top Nine.
What is the Top Nine?
Top Nine for Instagram is a tool built for the popular social network that allows you to automatically create a photo montage containing the nine most popular photos of the year. The app has been around since 2015 and has exploded in popularity and has become a popular end-of-the-year tradition for many Instagram users, regardless of follower count.
From minimal Finsta accounts to celebrities with the largest following on Instagram, Top Nine has become a real sensation – so much so that, in fact, you might be surprised to learn that the app isn’t made by Instagram.
Both the trend and the tool itself were created by Beta Labs, a development team working on a set of apps built for social media. Apps like Truth or Dare breathe new life into parties around the world, while Canvasar and Designar have created marketplaces for artworks and helped sellers bring AR experiences to their showcases through Spotify.
None of these apps has gained the popularity of Top Nine with millions of iOS and Android users all over the world. In fact, more than 17 million Top Nines were created in 2020 alone, and we’re not even halfway through December yet.
What Do The Top Nine Do?
At its core, Top Nine exists to create the collage I mentioned above, which features your nine most popular photos throughout the year in grid format. That’s not all, though, as you’ll see when you build your Top Nine.
The app also collects the number of likes you’ve earned over the year and the average number of likes per post. This is a great feature if you really want to see how many likes you get on a post. If not, don’t worry – you can turn it off before sharing your Top Nine on your social media.
Top Nine can also create a video of your posts instead of a customizable grid to your liking. You’ll still need to log into the app first, so follow the steps below to get started.
How Do I Create?
Start by downloading the app from your phone’s app store. Top Nine is available on both iPhone and Android, so follow these links to download the app on your respective platform.
Once downloaded to your device, open the app to begin the installation. Start by entering your Instagram username. If you don’t know what this is, jump into the Instagram app on your phone and click the profile tab at the bottom of your screen. Your username is at the top of your profile.
When your username is entered, Top Nine will ask you to send your email. It’s not actually a necessary app, but entering your email gives you some extra benefits. On the FAQ page on Top Nine’s website, the company recommends entering your email so you don’t have to wait in the app for your Top Nine to be created.
The company states that December is a surprisingly busy time for its servers, and by entering your email you can exit the app without having to leave it open on your phone. Beta Labs also notes that while receiving your Top Nine notification via email is the main use case, providing your email also gives you access to their support team.
If you don’t feel comfortable having the company hold your email, going to TopNine.co/forget-me will allow you to remove your email and related data from Top Nine’s access.
After entering your email (or skipping the process entirely), you will be redirected to your phone’s browser and asked to log into your account. Top Nine will then ask you to access your basic Instagram information, including your media and profile information.
Press Authorize and you will be redirected to Top Nine. After that it’s just a waiting game. It took about four seconds for the app to generate my Top Nine – that is, my Top Four, as I don’t usually use Instagram for actual posts – and once it was ready, I had several options before I shared it.
First, as mentioned above, tapping Create Video turns your Top Nine from a fixed grid into a shareable slideshow displaying both your total likes and your top nine photos.
Meanwhile, if you want to stick with the grid, the Customize button lets you customize your Top Nine before exporting with options including:
- Total Likes
- Likes per post
- statistics
- Summary title
You can turn them on or off at any time and your changes will be applied when you go to share your post.
Where Can I Share My Top Nine?
Press Share and you will see several options appear in the app. The primary way to share your Top Nine is to use your Instagram Story, but it’s far from the only option.
You can save your grid to your phone’s photo library or click More to open your phone’s local sharing menu. This lets you send your Top Nine in a text message, post to Twitter, AirDrop to a friend, and even post to Instagram’s primary competitor app Snapchat.
If you don’t see the app you want to use to share your Top Nine, be sure to save the photo to your camera roll. From there, you can share it on any platform you want.
Are There Any Other Nine Best Apps?
Of course! While Beta Labs’ Top Nine started the trend, many other developers have done the same. Searching for Top Nine in the App Store will show you lots of apps that do the same task, for example:
- Top Nine
- Top 9 for Instagram
- Best Grid for Instagram
Best Nine is the only other truly popular app in the App Store with over 10,000 reviews. If you prefer to use Best Nine instead of Top Nine, you can get the app from the link above.
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Looking back at the past year is always fun, and since 2020 marks one of the toughest years in modern history, that’s all the more important. Top Nine makes it easy to revisit and reshare your favorite memories from the past year, while inviting your friends to do the same.
Haven’t made your Top Nine yet? Let us know in the comments your favorite moments from the past year!