App Store

Apple rejects Send Me To Heaven game over smartphone recklessness

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

In today's app rejection news, Apple has shown the door to a free game called Send Me To Heaven by Carrot Pop as it promotes smartphone recklessness. The game taps the iPhone's accelerometer sensor to track how high it flies when thrown up in the air.

Apple's App Store review team rejected the software on the basis of “encouraging behavior that could result in damage to the user’s device,” in spite of an appropriate disclaimer showing up prominently upon launching the app. Indeed, what was Carrot Pop thinking?

Rovio’s ‘Bad Piggies’ game goes free as App of the Week

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Great news gamers! Rovio's popular Bad Piggies game has been named App of the Week by Apple, meaning you can download the iPhone and iPad versions of the title for free during the next 7 days.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, Bad Piggies is fairly different from Angry Birds and Rovio's other titles in that it revolves around building contraptions to get your pigs safely through levels...

Google’s Play store passes App Store downloads, Apple rules revenues

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

It may not reach the importance of the 'best-filling' versus 'tastes great' soda debate, but new numbers add fuel to the ongoing question of what's most important in measuring app store supremacy: downloads or revenue. Both those rooting for sheer demand as well as ultimate revenue figures found something to cheer about Wednesday.

Analytics company App Annie is out with second-quarter numbers showing the Android-based Google Play store had ten percent more download's that Apple's iOS App Store. However, Apple - which prides itself on being the Tiffany of technology - raked in 2.3 times the revenue.

The details after the break...

App Store is now EA’s biggest retail partner

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 24, 2013

Electronic Arts, the most prolific games publisher, during a conference call discussing its June quarter earnings, paid a nice little lip service to Apple by acknowledging that the App Store has become its biggest retail partner in terms of sales - and for the first time, too. That's another important milestone for both Apple's strides in the mobile gaming space and its application store, which last month celebrated its fifth birthday and 50 billionth app download...

Infographic: four days without apps

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 28, 2017

Mobile apps have in no time become a true addiction in our smartphone-obssesed society. We use them day in and day out - to the point where we can't imagine our lives without those lickable Home screen icons. As Apple gave each user five premium apps and games for free as part of the App Store's fifth anniversary, eBay too celebrated the occasion by conducting an informal survey that challenged 200 iPhone owners with surviving four days without their favorite apps...

Apple’s lawsuit against Amazon over ‘App Store’ name ends in draw

Ed Sutherland ∙ July 9, 2013

Apple and Amazon have taken off the gloves back in 2011, apparently deciding the 'App Store' name is big enough for both companies. An Oakland, California district court pulled the plug on the dispute at the request of the two app providers. The decision to walk away from just who owns the 'App Store' title follows Apple agreeing not to sue Amazon, according to a report this morning...

More proof that Apple’s premium iWork/iLife iOS suite could go free

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 9, 2013

Apple for years offered iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand iOS apps as a $4.99 download each.

On the Mac, those apps which comprise the iLife suite come bundled with new Mac purchases and Apple's been very actively advertising them as one of the reasons people switch to the Mac.

As for the iWork productivity suite - comprised of the Pages word processor, Numbers spreadsheet maker and Keynote presentation creator - users are expected to pay $19.99 each on the Mac side and $9.99 each on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.

Some watchers think the advent of the free iWork for iCloud web apps with full editing capabilities (currently in beta) may signal Apple's intention to make the entire iWork suite a free affair, giving people one less reason to consider rival platforms. Today, a German blog has discovered an interesting change in the first-run App Store screen in the latest iOS 7 Beta 3 that surprisingly adds individual iWork/iLife apps as free downloads...

Freemium Candy Crush game smashes revenue records at $633K per day

Ed Sutherland ∙ July 8, 2013

Candy Crush Saga could become the legal Crack of the app world. Initially belittled for its close resemblance to Bejeweled, Electronics Arts' addictive freemium game, Candy Crush is now the poster child for the freemium model, raking in a record $633,000 per day, according to one estimate. The key is simple: get players addicted to the game, then charge for larger and larger fixes. Theoretically, the company behind Candy Crush could pull in $230 million in annualized revenue from this single app, even turning the game loose on Wall Street...

5 Years of the App Store live on iTunes

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

With just two days until the official fifth anniversary of Apple's App Store, the company last week conveniently delivered a celebratory poster highlighting key moments in the application's store five-year history. A few hours ago, Apple slashed a number of premium apps and games to zero bucks and now a new anniversary section has just gone live on iTunes. Titled '5 Years of the App Store', it's accessible both from desktop iTunes and via the stock App Store app on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices...

Top iOS apps go free ahead of App Store’s 5th anniversary

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 27, 2019

As noted by several iDB readers, a handful of high profile iOS games and apps have gone free ahead of what could be a major celebration in honor of the App Store's fifth anniversary. Apple recently sent out timeline posters to major media outlets signaling the July 10 milestone.

Among the apps spotted thus far, believed to be a part of the promotion, are Chair's widely popular swipe-to-fight action title Infinity Blade II and Native Instruments' Traktor DJ for iPad—neither of which has ever been offered for free. You'll find a full list of the deals after the fold...

Apple posts App Store timeline ahead of 5th anniversary

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

With the July 10, 2008 release of iPhone OS 2.0, Apple launched the App Store to the public. And with but a week until its fifth year anniversary, the company has posted a nice timeline illustrating the most important moments in the application store's history. Tim Bradshaw of The Financial Times posted the scanned poster online. Apple apparently sent the poster to a few other major media outlets...

Real Racing 3 Prestige update adds Mercedes-Benz and Bentley vehicles, more

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 2, 2013

Developer Firemonkeys and publisher Electronic Arts thus far issued two major content updates to Real Racing 3, enriching the experience by adding hundreds of new events along with an assortment of new vehicles.

Today, the dynamic duo released a third tentatively named 'Prestige' update along the same lines. If you're a fan of high-speed racing games, the Prestige update should make you happy.

The content pack features some high speed cars from Mercedes-Benz and Bentley, more than 180 new events, twilight racing and the highly requested Time Trial mode. I've included more information and a video after the break...