App Store

Vonage Offering Free Calls to Facebook Friends

Guest Author ∙ Updated May 11, 2018

So you've probably added all your old friends from your hometown via Facebook. While it's fun to "like" their latest pictures and status updates but you really don't want to waste your minutes on them, your problem is solved. Vonage has teamed up with Facebook, creating an app for your iPhone, (& Android), entitled Vonage Mobile for Facebook that allows free calls over Wi-Fi or 3G to anyone domestic or overseas, for free.

After you download the free app, just sign in with your Facebook account and you'll see a list of your friends who've done the same, and are ready to be called for free. You will also see whom you can chat with over IM. If you don't have unlimited 3G, or a Wi-Fi subscription, your first move should be checking with your carrier to figure out any charges that may apply to you.

Of course the program has its own Facebook page, which will allow you to invite your friends to the download the free app. This all sounds great, but I have one question. How many people are actually going to do this? Are you?

OpenAppMkt is a New App Store Alternative [No Jailbreak Required]

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated March 18, 2016

OpenAppMkt is a new App Store alternative that takes full advantage of iPhone web apps, which means that no jailbreak is required.

Remember when the iPhone first came out and Steve was praising those web apps? Well OpenAppMkt gathered some of them and packed them up in a nice and convenient web app.

To install OpenAppMkt simply point Safari to http://www.OpenAppmkt.com/ and follow the onscreen instructions.

Installing OpenAppMkt won't install anything but a Safari bookmark on your iPhone homescreen. Hitting the bookmark will take you to OpenAppMkt web app from where you'll be able to browse web apps and install their bookmarks on your homescreen.

To be clear, these are just web apps. by installing any of these apps, you aren't actually installing anything but a Safari bookmark on your homescreen.

I love the concept and its implementation. You sure are limited to what you can do with a web app but OpenAppMkt is a nice and convenient alternative to the App Store or even Cydia.

Update: A few people are missing the point here. I'm going to quote Mike Masnick from TechDirt who sums up why OpenAppMkt is good and different:

Overall, this fascinates me for two reasons. First, it's good to get more people realizing that HTML is already pretty damn good at creating app-style experiences, without having to create special compiled code and, second, it's a really clever way to totally route around Apple as a gatekeeper (without requiring a jailbreak), and is a reminder that even on "closed" systems, openness will often find a way.

[TechDirt via B00b1]

App Store Hacked… Again!

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 23, 2016

Do you remember last week when the App Store was hacked? Well, the App Store was hacked, again, as uncovered by 9 to 5 Mac.

In an article I wrote a few days ago, I explained how Apple was downplaying the situation by saying only 400 accounts were hacked, which to me didn't make sense, and was way less than it could possibly be. It seems that I was right.

This week's shady developer is from China and goes by WiiSHii. All the fraudulent apps are in the travel section which contains over 11,000 applications. That means these apps didn't make it in the Top 100 because they were so few to compete with. People who thought I was wrong about this whole situation won't be able to argue on that point.

They clearly used some cheating mechanism to get their apps in the top 100. Additionally, Ars Technica reports about a user who was falsely charged for a bevy of apps from the same WiiSHii development company.

Your turn now, Apple. How do you fix this?

Turn Your iPhone 4 LED Flash Into A Flashlight

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 23, 2016

This was only a matter of time until someone figured out how to use the LED flash of the iPhone to turn it into a useful flashlight. It's not a pretend flashlight, it's the real deal and definitely a must-have for iPhone 4 users.

Download LED Torch Flashlight for free in the App Store.

Apple Blatantly Lying About the App Store Hacking Issue

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated February 6, 2016

After issuing a somewhat weak statement about the App Store hacking situation, Apple is now blatantly lying to our face and downplaying what seems to be a massive criminal activity.

Apple recently told Dayton Morris that around 400 or so iTunes users were impacted by the fraud, which, considering there are over 150 million iTunes users, only represents 0.0003% of them.

Oh great, they seem to have this under control, you might think. Wrong, and it doesn't take a genius to figure it out. Here is why...

Thuat Nguyen, the developer who was first caught taking advantage of the the iTunes App Store got 41 of his applications rank in the top 50 of the book category. Now tell me, how can 400 iTunes accounts boost an app sales all the way up to the top 50? Right, they can't. You need muh more purchases than that to rank at the top of your category. Each app needs to be downloaded thousands of times on a period of time to rank that well.

Let's use conservative numbers and assume that to rank at the top of the Books category you need 1,000 downloads for 30 days. So each app would need to be downloaded 30,000 times (1,000 downloads x 30 days) in order to take the top spot because one account cannot buy the same app over and over again.

All the sudden, we are far from the 400 accounts Apple claims were impacted by the fraud. I might not be exactly right about these numbers, but I'm sure I'm not too far from the truth.

Apple impassiveness has been pretty flagrant lately and I'm not really sure the "no-talk policy" Apple has been maintaining for years now is a good things for both the company and its customers.

Thoughts?

Apple Issues Weak Statement On App Store Hacking

Sébastien Page ∙ July 6, 2010

Over the weekend, reports started showing up revealing the iTunes App Store had been hacked. The hack seemed to be on 2 levels. Someone hacked into people's iTunes account and purchased applications without their consent. The goal was to buy a bunch of apps from a developer named Thuat Nguyen in order to help his apps rank in the top of their category.

Apple kinda fixed it by removing Thuat Nguyen's apps from the App Store. Today the company issued an official statement:

The developer Thuat Nguyen and his apps were removed from the App Store for violating the developer Program License Agreement, including fraudulent purchase patterns.

Developers do not receive any iTunes confidential customer data when an app is downloaded.

If your credit card or iTunes password is stolen and used on iTunes we recommend that you contact your financial institution and inquire about canceling the card and issuing a chargeback for any unauthorized transactions. We also recommend that you change your iTunes account password immediately. For more information on best practices for password security visit http://www.apple.com/support/itunes.

Did Apple actually fix anything? Not really, and that's what bothering me here. Apple doesn't admit being responsible for people hacking into your account. Basically Apple is saying that you're on your own and if you have a problem you should get in touch with your credit company.

Apple's apathy has been pretty obvious lately. If you thought Apple cared about you as a customer, the way they handled the iPhone antenna issue and these App Store hacks might make you change your mind.

The App Store Was Hacked

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 23, 2016

Two iPhone developers have uncovered what seems to be a massive hack of the App Store. After seeing the rating of their apps dramatically drop, Patrick Thomson and Alex Brie looked more into it and realized someone had been hacking into people's iTunes account to buy apps developed by someone called Thuat Nguyen.

By hacking into people's account and buying his own apps, he was able to rank 41 of his apps in the top 50 of the Books category, which seems to be the only category affected.

None of the apps contain legit reviews except for one app, which has 2 reviews from people complaining they had never purchased this app and that their App Store account had probably been hacked. Someone even mentioned his App Store account showed purchases he never made for $200.

By the time you read this, I'm sure Apple will have been alerted and removed these fraudulent apps from the App Store. I also assume Apple will give the money back to people who were hacked.

For the time being, a safe thing to do would be to change your iTunes Store password.

I think this is the first case of App Store hacking publicly revealed. Unfortunately, I also think this is just the beginning, and with the success of the App Store, we'll see more and more of these.

[via The Next Web]

App Store Now Features an iOS 4 Category

Sébastien Page ∙ June 25, 2010

Up until now it wasn't convenient finding those apps that are optimized for iOS 4, which is why Apple created a new category in the App Store called iOS 4.0.

This category includes all apps than can work in the background and/or apps whose graphics have been improved for the new iPhone 4 Retina Display.

You can access the new iOS 4.0 category in the App Store from here.

[Thanks Justin for the tip]

iMovie for iPhone 4 Now Available for Download

Sébastien Page ∙ June 24, 2010

iMovie, Apple's own video editing app for iPhone 4 is now available for download in the App Store. With the new iPhone 4 bringing HD recording in our hands, iMovie for iPhone becomes a must-have.

iMovie lets you create video postcards, movies, and more right from your iPhone. The app also lets you use preset themes and you can even add music from your iTunes library. After creating your movie, you can decide to share on YouTube, via email, MMS, or simply sync it with your computer.

The downside? iMovie is only available for iPhone 4. You can download iMovie from the App Store for $4.99.

Facebook for iPhone Gets An Update. You Can Now Watch Facebook Videos

Sébastien Page ∙ June 19, 2010

Facebook for iPhone has been updated to version 3.1.3. From the largest social networking in the world, you would expect more than this disappointing update that brings very few new features:

You can now watch Facebook videos. You can now view and write on walls of events. Uploaded photos are now 720px wide.

Facebook still hasn't updated their application to be compatible with the iPad. It's not a big deal to me as I usually go to Facebook directly from Safari to get the full experience.

Remove Unwanted Details From Your iPhone Images with CaPix

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 23, 2016

CaPix is a new application in the App Store that will help you remove unwanted details from any of your pictures quickly and easily.

Because a picture is worth 1,000 words, here are 3 screencaps of CaPix in action.

You can download CaPix from the App Store for $1.99.

Mover+ Transfers Videos, Photos, Contacts and More Between iPhones Over The Air

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated May 11, 2018

Last week I told you about myPhoneDesktop, an application that can send images, URLs, phone numbers and text wirelessly to your iPhone from a desktop computer. Today I want to briefly introduce a somewhat similar app called Mover+.

Mover+ is an application that lets you transfer videos, photos, contacts, web bookmarks and text clippings from an iPhone to another, or from an iPhone to an iPad, all this over the air.

If for example you shoot a video at a dinner party with friends, instead of showing the video on the tiny iPhone screen, you can just move it to your iPad for everyone to watch it on a larger screen.

In order for this to work, you have to have Mover+ installed and running on both devices. Put what you want to send on the Mover table, connect via wifi or Bluetooth, and flick it offscreen where you want it to go!

You can download Mover+ from the App Store for $1.99.