App Store

Apple to launch yearly ‘Back to School’ promo tomorrow

Cody Lee ∙ June 30, 2014

MacRumors is reporting that Apple is set to launch its annual ‘Back to School’ promotion in the US and several other countries beginning tomorrow—Tuesday, July 1st. The company runs the promo at various times in different regions, depending on their respective educational calendars.

According to the site, Apple will be offering up iTunes Store/App Store gift cards to students that purchase a Mac, iPad, or iPhone. Similar to last year, it sounds like students will receive a $100 App Store gift card for the purchase of a new Mac, and a $50 card for new iOS device purchases...

Apple adds ‘Best New Game Updates’ section to App Store

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Apple has introduced a new section on the App Store called "Best New Game Updates" for showcasing recently updated games for iPhone and iPad. The new category accompanies the long-existing "Best New Games" section, which is now exclusively for promoting new game releases. Plants vs. Zombies 2 and FarmVille 2 are among the first lineup of updated games featured.

App Store discovery has been a growing problem for developers, as the total number of apps available has eclipsed the 1 million mark and counting. This new section should provide at least one additional way for iOS gamers to uncover the best new content updates, and I personally recommend reading our daily App Recap roundup on top. Take a look at the first 16 apps featured ahead…

App Store gets dozens of awesome new iOS games in massive refresh

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

Thursday is always expected to be a busier day on the App Store each week, as several developers release new apps for iPhone and iPad. But when I awoke this morning, I was pretty shell-shocked to realize just how many new high-quality games are now available. While I would normally resort to throwing most of these new titles into App Recap, our daily app roundup, the sheer number of awesome new games merits a separate post this afternoon.

Aerena: Clash of Champions, Supernauts and Monsters Ate My Birthday Cake are among the new games in this massive App Store refresh, which is something that usually only happens around the holidays. We've provided game trailers for some of the exciting new games ahead, and we'll be highlighting even more of the releases in App Recap later tonight. So grab your iPhone or iPad and check out a dozen must-have games ahead…

Google Drive for iOS updated with activity stream, incoming view, faster uploading and more

Joe Rossignol ∙ June 25, 2014

The official Google Drive app for iPhone and iPad has been updated to version 3.1 with several added features. An all-new incoming view displays files that have been shared with you as they arrive, alongside an activity stream for viewing changes to files and folders made by you and others from the details panel. We've recapped some of the other changes and have the official release notes after the break…

Facebook’s Snapchat lookalike Slingshot now available worldwide

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated March 20, 2018

After launching in the United States last week, Facebook's new Snapchat competitor Slingshot is now available for international users. I can confirm that the app is available in the Canadian version of the App Store, and it appears to be available in most other countries as well. If you haven't downloaded Slingshot yet, the app is free on the App Store for iPhone…

Path jumps on the private messaging bus, releases new Talk for iPhone app

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

Path, the private social network for families and close friends, is jumping on the messaging bandwagon with launch of a new privacy-focused, standalone messaging software for the iPhone.

Available free in the App Store, Path Talk is basically a spin-off of Path's in-app messenger. For starters, your message exchanges get automatically wiped out from the servers after 24 hours.

And, Path Talk has a nice Ambient Status feature that automatically lets your friends know when you’re in transit, in the neighborhood and even low on battery, possibly helping reduce some misunderstandings in online communication...

Every single Halfbrick Studios game is now free

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Halfbrick Studios must be in a generous mood, because it has just discounted its entire game lineup on the App Store. Its complete collection of games for iPhone and iPad are now free, ranging from Monster Dash and Age of Zombies to Fruit Ninja and Colossatron. The award-winning developer has not confirmed if this is a limited time sale, or if the games will remain free on a permanent basis. There are over 10 apps ahead, many of which were 99 cents and others that were already free…

Apple cracking down on fake App Store ratings

Joe Rossignol ∙ June 13, 2014

The latest statistics reveal that there are over 1.1 million apps and counting on the App Store, making app discovery for small and large developers alike increasingly challenging. On top of that, Apple is known to have an algorithm that makes only apps with higher ratings more easily discoverable.

As a result, a significant number of developers manipulate the position of their app in the App Store charts by posting fake reviews with high ratings, often times five stars. But according to TechCrunch, Apple is aware of the rank manipulation and is now taking action against these fake ratings…

‘ReadQuick’ goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Joe Rossignol ∙ June 12, 2014

I probably sound like a broken record at this point, but what an eventful Thursday it has been on the App Store. Lory shared her thoughts on WordWildWest, Cody told us about Angry Birds Epic and Amazon's new Prime Music service, Christian covered updates for Skitch, Flickr and Scanbot, and we've still got the App Recap coming later this evening…

App Store, iTunes and iBooks are down for some users [update: it’s back to normal]

Joe Rossignol ∙ June 12, 2014

There are multiple reports on Twitter and elsewhere indicating that the App Store, iTunes and iBooks services are either down or functioning erratically. The downtime appears to be affecting users in the United States, Sweden and possibly other regions. On top of that, the App Store appears to be loading incorrectly for some users as well. Hit the break for the latest updates…

Automation favorite Launch Center Pro 2.3 released with IFTTT integration & more

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated January 27, 2019

In the burgeoning world of iOS automation, Launch Center Pro is king. What may initially look like just a grid of icons soon turns into a world of never-ending possibilities as soon as you scratch away the surface of an app that has become the center of many iOS users' workflows. In short, Launch Center Pro is the app to install on your iPhone or indeed, iPad.

So when it was announced that a new version was in the works, Launch Center Pro 2.3, everyone took notice. Today, that update is finally in the App Store for all to enjoy and, if we're being honest, they could have easily sold this as a 3.0 release, rather than the 2.3 moniker it has taken on.

If you crave new ways to make your iOS device the true center of your digital and online life, then you're going to love the new Launch Center Pro, complete with IFTTT integration and more...

Apple clamping down on music downloading apps, ones incentivizing ad watching and social sharing

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

Apple appears to have been cracking down on iOS apps which enable users to download music and software making it possible to download other file types from file-sharing networks.

But that's not all, as the Cupertino firm is seemingly asking developers to stop with the practice of incentivizing people to watch in-game ads and share promotional messages on social networks in exchange for in-game coins, virtual items, etc.

Although iOS 8 has relaxed the rules pertaining to third-party development by providing APIs to extend system functionality and create custom keyboards, custom actions in Share sheets, photo and video editing extensions for the Photos app and more, it's obvious that Apple wants to bring order to its App Store and is now prohibiting iPhone and iPad applications that promote apps by other developers...