In-App Purchase

Patch allows you to create a Portrait Mode effect on any iPhone

With the introduction of the iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X, Apple is putting more phones into the hands of consumers that are capable of taking photos with a bokeh effect dubbed Portrait Mode. While these phones are becoming more and more common, there are still a large number of people using phones that are not equipped to take these sort of photos. Patch is one of a few options that allow you to create photos with a Portrait Mode effect on any iPhone.

Apollo is a fantastic new Reddit client developed by a former Apple employee

Reddit users rejoice! Apollo is an astonishing new third-party client for iPhone and iPad developed by a former Apple engineer, and when you launch the app for the first time, you’ll recognize why we didn’t even have to tell you that.

The attention to detail in Apollo is stunning. Right down to the smallest details in the app’s user interface, Apollo meshes so well with the native iOS 11 user experience that you’d think Apple themselves made this app to ship with iOS 11 out of the box.

Apple now allowing developers to implement digital tip jars via In-App Purchase mechanism

Apple recently asked WeChat and other popular social networking apps in China to disable the popular tipping feature, and now we know why—the Cupertino giant has introduced an officially-sanctioned way for iPhone and iPad users to tip content creators in apps via the standard In-App Purchase mechanism.

Like with other In-App Purchases, tipping content providers is subjected to Apple's 70:30 revenue sharing scheme, meaning the company will keep 30 percent of any proceeds to itself.

According to TechCrunch, the updated App Store Review Guidelines now include a clause that deals with tips, here's a relevant excerpt:

Apps may use in-app purchase currencies to enable customers to “tip” digital content providers in the app. Apps may not include buttons, external links, or other calls to action that direct customers to purchasing mechanisms other than In-App Purchases.

According to the report, developers have the freedom to decide how much of the tips are passed to the content creators themselves (after Apple's 30 percent cut, of course).

At any rate, Apple was smart to implement this cool new feature.

Tipping content creators like musicians, comedians, e-sports athletes and others is tremendously popular in China. The company has lacked a tipping system for iOS apps, meaning it couldn't get in on the action to process such transactions through its own iTunes billing system.

With tips now being officially supported via the familiar In-App Purchase mechanism, many customers who were previously reluctant to use PayPal or their credit card for tipping their favorite content creators will now be able to do so, directly in the app.

And by taking tipping out of the grey area, as TechCrunch observes, more developers might implement digital tip jars— without fearing repercussions from Apple—as an alternative way to get creators paid without having to offer ad revenue sharing.

In turn, the feature may create a whole new revenue stream for Apple at a time when the company is monetizing its huge user base in an attempt to boost its ever-growing Services revenue.

Cydia 1.1.28 exits beta: purchases now enabled on iOS 10

Since the release of yalu102 for iOS 10.0-10.2, users of the newest jailbreak have been unable to make new purchases on the Cydia store. This is completely normal behaviour; Saurik disables purchases on new firmware versions until both Cydia and the jailbreak reach a level of stability. The reason for this is to prevent complaints, refunds, and device problems brought about by the purchase and use of incompatible tweaks.

Today Cydia 1.1.28 exited beta, and that, in combination with the relative stability of the later yalu102 beta builds, seems to have satisfied Saurik as to the platform's readiness to receive paid transactions.

Here’s what Super Mario Run would look like as a free-to-play game

A recent Nintendo survey asked a subset of Super Mario Run players who linked the game with their My Nintendo account how much they'd be willing to pay for the full game.

As you know, Super Mario Run can be downloaded at no charge, but a $9.99 upgrade is required to remove the restrictions from the three game modes and unlock its content beyond the first four levels of World 1.

Some people were so disgruntled with the high upgrade price that they wrote poor reviews on App Store, causing Nintendo’s share price to fall. Wouldn't it be great if Super Mario Run was a free to play title like Pokémon GO is? Well, PocketGamer took it upon itself to create some very illustrative mockups that imagine the parallel universe where Super Mario Run is free to play.

Apple announces ‘biggest ever’ holiday for App Store with $1.1 billion sales in two weeks

Apple on Wednesday announced that its App Store has had the biggest holiday ever with a record-breaking $1.1 billion revenue in the two weeks ending January 3, as customers increased their spending on apps and In-App Purchases, setting back-to-back weekly records for traffic and purchases.

“January 1, 2016 marked the biggest day in App Store history with customers spending over $144 million,” said Apple. “It broke the previous single-day record set just a week earlier on Christmas Day.”

Apple: yes, we now remove App Store apps pulled from sale from your Purchased history, too

Users around the world are noticing that they're no longer able to re-download older iPhone and iPad apps and games that their developers have removed from sale on the App Store.

The abnormal behavior flies in the face of Apple's policy of allowing people who bought apps from the App Store to re-download them to other devices through the App Store's Purchased tab.

As a result, questions arose as to whether this pointed toward a big problem in the App Store. Sadly, as PocketGamer points out, this is definitely a new Apple policy meaning you now have to back up your purchased mobile apps in iTunes to keep them forever.