App Store

Nearly one-third of new iOS games are Flappy Bird clones

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

It's been nearly three weeks since developer Dong Nguyen pulled Flappy Bird from the App Store, but its presence is still very much felt in the Top Charts. It seems every other day another clone of Nguyen's hit game pops up in the list of the most popular apps.

That's not too surprising though, considering that according to The Guardian, a big chunk of new iOS games are Flappy Bird clones. How big of a chunk? Well, looking at a group of 300 new games over 24 hours, the outlet says that one-third were FB knockoffs...

‘Mini Ninjas’ goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Apple has named Square Enix's 'Mini Ninjas' game its App of the Week for this week. This means that through next Thursday, you'll be able to pick up the application for both your iPhone and iPad, for free—a nice little savings of $1.

For those unfamiliar with the game, it's an endless runner based on the console game of the same name. In it you'll play as Hiro, as you run jump and slash your way through various levels to retrieve a stolen artifact from the drag...

Apple posts update for iTunes Connect web portal

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 27, 2019

Apple has posted an update for its iTunes Connect portal this evening. Developers use this portal to track and manager their App Store apps, and tonight's update has brought about a new Sales and Trends sections that allows them to better parse sales data.

The move should appease developers, who have long-complained that the iTunes Connect portal lacked useful reporting tools. In fact, many developers have forgone using iTunes Connect entirely for app figures, opting for other analytics services like App Annie...

Apple now rejecting apps with ‘flappy’ in their title

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 17, 2014

Following Flappy Bird’s removal from the App Store, Apple is now reportedly rejecting third-party applications that have 'flappy' in their title. One developer has found his app rejected during the iTunes authorisation process because it's attempted to "leverage a popular app”.

Apple is obviously referring to Flappy Bird, which raked in $50,000 in daily ad revenue and got removed by its developer Dong Nguyen after the game, in his own words, has "become an addictive product". Other developers are reporting their apps are being removed over branding issues as well...

AppETA: an awesome way to check the progress of app downloads

Jeff Benjamin ∙ February 14, 2014

iOS 7 makes it difficult to gauge where you are with App Store downloads. With very large downloads, it's a frustrating experience to watch the progress circle slowly inch around at a snail's pace.

Wouldn't it be nice if you could get a more informational view of your App Store download progress? What about bringing back the classing download status indicators? With AppETA, a new jailbreak tweak available on Cydia's BigBoss repo, you can do all of that and more.

Pinterest app updated with the ability to view and pin GIFs

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Pinterest, the popular social scrapbooking site, updated its iOS client today, bringing the app to version 3.4. The change log for the update only says "we just made Pinterest a little better for you," but the company's blog says they've added GIF support.

Users can now pin GIFs directly to their pinboards, which will show up in feeds (on the web, or within the mobile app) with a small play button. GIFs can then be played via mobile, shared to other social networks and of course repinned across platforms...

Max Axe is App Store’s new Free App of the Week

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2019

It's Thursday and those of you who routinely follow Apple's ongoing Free App of the Week promo know what to expect. That's right, the App Store editors have cherry-picked a new iPhone and iPad application, a game this time around, and slashed it to zero bucks for a limited time.

Max Axe, a humorous arcade frenzy by ChangeYou.com (a publisher of free to play MMORPGs), is now available free of charge until next Thursday (it normally costs $1.99).

This also means that last week's free app, Toca Boca's kids driving game Toca Cars, is no longer available in this promotion...

Flappy Bird developer is pulling the game from App Store tomorrow

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated January 24, 2018

In a rather interesting turn of events, Flappy Bird developer Dong Nguyen has announced that the chart-topping game will be removed from the App Store in less than 22 hours. In a series of tweets made just minutes ago, Nguyen stated that this move is not due to legal issues, but rather because he "just cannot keep it anymore." Take a look for yourself…

Popular ‘Flappy Bird’ game earning $50k per day in ad revenue

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 9, 2018

While discussing the latest mobile gaming craze that is Flappy Bird on our recent Let's Talk iOS podcast, I wondered out loud how much money the developer was making from his newfound success. The game, which is free with ads, has enjoyed a spontaneous reign at the top of the App Store.

Apparently he's doing rather well for himself. In a recent interview with The Verge, developer Dong Nguyen says that Flappy Bird is earning an average of $50,000 per day from ads. It's been download over 50M times, and has been sitting atop iOS and Android app stores for nearly a month...

Kids driving game Toca Cars is Apple’s new Free App of the Week

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

I hope you have downloaded the excellent Spark Camera which was made temporarily free thanks to Apple's ongoing Free App of the Week promotion. Every Thursday a new paid app picked by Apple's editors goes free for a limited time in the App Store as Apple's way of thanking fans for their loyalty.

As Spark Camera today returns to its original $1.99 price, a new app has gone free until next Thursday, Toca Cars. Originally released last September and normally costing $2.99, this charming kids driving game from Toca Boca (a studio that makes digital toys for kids) has a 4.5-star rating and was never free, until today.

I wholeheartedly recommend you grab Toca Cars in the App Store now...

Apple pulls Bitcoin wallet app Blockchain from App Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2018

Apple on Thursday pulled from its App Store the last remaining Bitcoin wallet app that allowed transactions. Blockchain, the only Bitcoin trading and storage iOS app, has been downloaded 120,000 times. It can no longer be found on the App Store following the removal over an "unresolved issue".

Nicolas Cary, the CEO of London-based Blockchain.info which developed the app, told Bloomberg he didn't understand Apple's reasoning as his app's been on the App Store for two years.

Apple previously pulled Bitcoin-compatible apps from the App Store or asked their developers to remove the transfer feature because it's illegal in some countries...

How to open App Store links without leaving the app you’re currently in

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

When you tap on an app link on your iPhone or iPad using Safari or otherwise, you are automatically redirected to the App Store to make a download or learn more details. The transition is rather cumbersome, however, as it is essentially a two-step process that requires you to return to the app you were originally using via the Home screen or multitasking menu.

QuickStore 2 is a brand new jailbreak tweak that aims to solve this minor inconvenience by allowing users to launch the App Store directly from the app they are using at the time. This is achieved through a pop-up window that loads when you tap on an app link anywhere on iOS, including websites like iDownloadBlog. Details inside…