It's universal because it's the only language that runs in the browser, not on its merits though. That alone made it big and ubiquitous. If Python had been picked as the scripting language for the web, or even Lua or Ruby, they would be the "universal" languages.
And how many new native apps were submitted that day?
Calling it a "trend" is a bit over the top, imho.
Also consider the nature of the app — basically to display some content.