Bad news for iTunes users in Europe this afternoon. Several reports are coming in that Apple has upped the pricing on App Store apps, with base prices increasing from €0.79 to €0.89 in several markets on the continent. The change has been confirmed in Italy, Germany, France and several other European countries...
In its never-ending quest to improve app discovery, Apple with iOS 6 added to its App Store on the iPad, iPhone and Mac something called App Collections, a curated section which lists apps that the company personally tested. As of recently, App Collections are now prominently featured on iOS devices and Macs via a dedicated section nested within the Categories menu of the App Store and iTunes. All of the apps featured in App Collections are basically recommendations by Apple's editorial team...
While the jury is still out on whether or not Apple will approve Google's rumored standalone Maps app, it seems clear now that the company doesn't want any copycats in the App Store.
Reports started surfacing this morning that Apple has pulled ClassicMap, a Google-powered mapping application that looks a lot like the Google Maps app Apple replaced in iOS 6...
A few days ago, Sega announced that it would be bringing its popular Crazy Taxi title to the iOS platform. It posted a short video of gameplay footage, and said that its release date would be sometime in October.
Well it looks like "sometime in October" meant "later this week," because Crazy Taxi showed up in the App Store this morning. Now you can play the classic open-world driver on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch...
It's been widely reported that Apple dropped stock YouTube and Google Maps app in iOS 6. I'm not really sure how nobody noticed this before, but it's been reported that Apple did kill another handy feature: the ability to gift apps.
The removal of the gifting capability affects mobile App Store storefronts running on iPhones, iPads and iPod touches as users can still gift apps using desktop iTunes on a Mac or PC. Apple itself confirmed the change and it's unknown when (or if, for that matter) the feature will return to iOS 6...
Apple's really determined to right the mapping wrongs. In addition to posting a public apology on its web site and offering instructions on accessing mapping web apps from Google and Nokia, the Cupertino, California-headquartered designer of gadgets just posted a curated recommendations section in the App Store, listing third-party Maps alternatives for the iPhone and iPad...
Online retailer Amazon has asked a federal judge to throw out Apple's legal maneuvering seeking to challenging Amazon's use of the "Appstore" term due to similarities with Apple's App Store trademark. The contention erupted in March of last year, when Apple sued Amazon over the App Store moniker. The online retailer was using the ‘app store’ term in their developer portal and other marketing materials, with Apple arguing the similarity with its own App Store name may have led to customer confusion...
Google is creeping up on Apple, announcing yesterday on its Android blog that its Play Store now has 675,000 apps which have been downloaded 25 billion times. It was just recently that Google bragged about half a billion cumulative Android activations and on September 5 the search Goliath announced it was activating 70,000 tablets and 1.3 million Android devices each day.
At this rate, Google should have no trouble surpassing Apple's platform by year's end. By comparison, Apple's App Store carried over 750,000 apps and the company sold a total of 425 million iOS devices, as of September 12. The iPhone maker said earlier at WWDC that customers downloaded over 30 billion apps as of June...
Back in April, a handful of developers launched the HackStore, an alternative to the Mac App Store. Similar to Cydia for iOS, the HackStore hosts third-party Mac applications that for one reason or another didn't make it past Apple's approval process.
In our first take, we noted that while the Store looked good, it needed some work. It was a bit buggy, and only contained around 50 apps. But after nearly 6 months and a number of updates, we figured it was time to give the HackStore another run-through...
Unless you've been sleeping under a rock for the past 24 hours, you are aware that crappy Apple Maps in iOS 6 provoked a very public backlash. We told you earlier today that a Google executive hinted in a brief interview with Bloomberg TV that iPhone 5 users can go download Google Maps, an unusual wording given that a rumored native Google Maps app couldn't be found on the App Store yet.
Adding fuel to fire, The Guardian newspaper reports that Google submitted the program and that it is now in Apple's sole discretion to approve it. Whether or not club Cupertino greenlights the nsoftware or throws it down the toilet over duplicate functionality remains to be seen.
At any rate, a native Google Maps experience akin to the recently released YouTube app would be more than welcome given the controversial downgrade that is Apple's in-house mapping solution in iOS 6...
An interesting unintended consequence of a downgrade that is Apple Maps in iOS 6: people will grow to rely on transit apps and other third-party software to help get back some of the Google Maps functionality (until Google releases a widely rumored standalone iOS Google Maps app).
And with Passbook debuting in iOS 6, we should increasingly download and use shopping programs (like the Target app) that produce Passbook-compatible coupons, invoices, loyalty points, tickets and other digital items.
As a result of the new Passbook functionality and lacking Maps experience in iOS 6, cumulative App Store revenue for the calendar year 2012 could top nearly five billion dollars, a research firm has forecast...
If you're a developer running iOS 6, try opening up the App Store app and open the Featured tab. As 9to5Mac points out, chances are you'll be greeted with a new page promoting five free Apple apps.
The free apps include iBooks, iTunes U, Podcasts, Find My Friends, and Find My iPhone, and all can be installed at once using the "Download Free" button at the top of this new page. Take a look inside for more info...