Apps

Early App Store Search Ads adopters seeing $0.40 CPA and 49.4 percent conversion

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 14, 2016

Announced in June of this year, first ads started cropping up in search results on the App Store beginning October 5. Aside from a few launch hiccups, App Store search advertisements seem to be performing pretty well in their early days.

A new study by mobile data intelligence firm Mobile Action—based on a random and anonymous sampling of 77 Search Ads campaigns—has determined that the average Conversion Rate (CR) is 49.4 percent while Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) sits around $0.40.

Search Ads, the survey concludes, is “the biggest opportunity in app marketing right now.”

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Instagram now has an app for Windows 10 tablets, but still not for the iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 17, 2018

Popular photo-sharing service Instagram yesterday catered to the 'Other' category of mobile users by releasing an app for Windows 10 tablets. So what the heck is going on here? Last time I checked, Apple was still king of the hill in terms of tablet shipments and iOS (26 percent) was second only to Android (65 percent) in terms of tablet operating system share, while Windows tablets captured the remaining nine percent share.

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Apple’s free app of the week: Shadow Bug

Cody Lee ∙ October 13, 2016

Apple on Thursday updated its App of the Week promotion with the game Shadow Bug. This means that for the next 7 days you can pick up the popular platformer for free on both iPhone and iPad—a handsome savings of $4.

In Shadow Bug, you play an underdog ninja hero that must save your home forest from the evil factory by taking out monsters. The game has been praised for its mesmerizing, parallax graphics and breathtaking soundtrack.

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You can now stream Facebook videos to your TV while browsing your News Feed

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 13, 2016

Facebook today announced that users of its mobile app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch can take advantage of some newly expanded options that let them stream any native video from Facebook to their television through devices like the Apple TV or Google's Chromecast HDMI dongle.

Wait, haven't we always had the ability to stream any video from an iOS device to the Apple TV or an AirPlay-enabled device via Apple's AirPlay feature?

Yes, but this is different in that you can watch Facebook videos on the big screen while browsing the News Feed on the device you're streaming at the same time.

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Periscope update brings camera and sharing improvements & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 13, 2016

Periscope, Twitter's live video-streaming app, has been refreshed in the App Store this morning with a few new features related to in-app camera, sharing and more. For starters, you'll notice improved tap-to-focus while broadcasting live video, plus you can now follow a broadcaster from the viewers list with one tap. There are also improvements to Persicope's VIP Program and more.

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Google Photos for iOS gains new features that suggest rotations, resurface images & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 13, 2016

Google yesterday announced a pretty interesting update to its free of charge Photos application for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch which brings out four features driven by artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm.

The new version will be rolling out today in the App Store, making it easier to fix some of the pesky sideways photos in your library by suggesting rotations, resurface your forgotten photos for you and more.

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Snapchat launches Story Playlist, no longer automatically loads the next Story

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 11, 2016

Snapchat is removing the Auto Advance feature to give users control of their Story viewing experience once again. It was about goddam time, if I might add. Shortly after Auto Advance debuted in March of this year, folks began complaining that Auto Advance made it impossible to individually choose Stories to watch. The updated app has now replaced Auto Advance with an all-new feature they're calling Story Playlist.

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Dropbox for iOS gains iMessage app, PDF signing, iOS 10 widget, PiP video & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 11, 2016

Cloud storage startup Dropbox today announced a major update to its mobile application for the iPhone and iPad, bringing new iOS 10-focused features that will make you more productive. Dropbox 18.2 for iOS packs in a brand new iMessage app for sharing Dropbox files through Apple's Messages app.

You can now sign legal PDF documents with your finger, and see newly updated Dropbox files on your Lock screen via a new Today widget, and much more.

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Skype for iOS picks up new contact notifications & iOS 10 CallKit toggle

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 10, 2016

Two weeks ago, Microsoft-owned Skype launched a major update with Siri, Phone, Contacts and Lock screen integration, courtesy of iOS 10's new CallKit framework which allows calls from VoIP apps to behave like normal phone calls.

Today, both Skype for iPhone and Skype for iPad received a minor refresh which brings out a toggle for enabling or disabling CallKit integration, the ability to get new contact requests as a notification and under-the-hood fixes and improvements to make the app run more reliably on iOS 10 devices.

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8 great iPhone and iPad games to get you in the Halloween spirit

Anthony Bouchard ∙ October 10, 2016

It’s October, and that means Halloween is just around the corner!

Keeping everyone in the spooky spirit of Halloween, we’ve got a list of fun and thrilling games you can download from the App Store and play on your iPhone or iPad to prepare yourself for the onslaught of zombies and monsters that are sure to be ringing your doorbell this year.

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