How to create and share your Instagram Top 9 year in review

It’s New Year’s Eve, so chances are that your Instagram feed is full of people sharing their annual top 9 year-in-review posts. If you’re looking to create and share your own Instagram Top 9 before the end of the year, here’s how to do it.

First things first, it’s rather ridiculous that after years of the Top 9 trend being so incredibly popular, Instagram still hasn’t implemented a native way to create and share the year-in-review directly in the app. Instead, users are forced to rely on third-party applications to create their collages, some of which are less privacy-conscious than others.

Nonetheless, the Top 9 trend is back in full force for 2020. As you’ve scrolled through your Instagram feed this week, you’ve likely seen Top 9 posts from friends and celebrities. The idea is that these recaps break down your top 9 Instagram posts in terms of likes for the year.

How to create your Instagram Top 9

Because Instagram has not launched a native way to create your Top 9, there are a handful of third-party applications to fill the void. The most popular way to create and share your Instagram Top 9 this year is with the rather aptly named Top Nine for Instagram app from the App Store.

The app will ask you for your Instagram username. Enter it and select “continue.” Next, the app will ask you for your email address. If you have a dedicated “junk” email address, I would suggest using that one here (or you can enter something completely random).

After you’ve entered your email address, the app will generate your Instagram Top 9 grid based on your most liked posts of the year. You’ll see a “Top Nine” watermark over your grid, but you can remove this with a $1.99 in-app purchase if you so desire.

Another solution is the Best Nine app, which is available for free on the App Store as well. It doesn’t ask for your email address and there is no watermark on the final image. The tradeoff, however, is that it’s a rather ad-ridden experience of an app.

To share your Top 9 grid to Instagram, tap the “Share” button in either app and save the photo to your Photos library or share it directly to your Instagram. If you save it to your Photos library, you can upload it to Instagram like you would any other image.

One final piece of advice: Be wary of any apps that require you to sign in to your Instagram account. These top 9 images can be generated without that access, as you can see with the services we mentioned above.

Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news: