iTunes

Apple patents sees iDevices becoming DJ for silent discos

Ed Sutherland ∙ August 27, 2013

Combine the huge iTunes library of songs with the social aspect of sharing and you have a bit of an idea what might be behind a patent granted to Apple Tuesday by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The patent, which describes a 'Coordinated group musical experience,' takes a riff off a trendy activity known as 'silent discos,' where people gather to listen to a DJ's music wearing headphones, rather than blaring mega-decibel volumes. Does the patent address a glaring technology need? No, but it does remind us of Apple's own quirky roots...

Apple seen testing new App Store ranking scheme based on user ratings

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 26, 2016

Ever since Apple in February 2012 bought Chomp, an app discovery engine, and subsequently killed both its Android and iOS apps, the rumor-mill has been abuzz with the supposed improvements to the App Store discovery stemming from the acqui-hire.

Disregarding the occasional tweaks to the App Store search algorithm here and there, the experience of discovering popular software beyond the apps Apple exposes on the main App Store pages remains a very tedious affair.

To put it perfectly bluntly, it often feels like finding a needle in the haystack. But according to a new report out Friday, things could soon improve as the company's apparently been experimenting with new algorithms for iTunes and App Store rankings...

The iTunes Radio effect: Pandora will no longer cap free mobile listening

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 27, 2016

Pandora's 40-hour limit on mobile listening went into effect in February, quickly becoming the most hated "feature" of the otherwise stellar streaming music service. The firm argued it felt compelled to introduce the capping due to rising royalty costs, even if the 40-hour limit affected only four percent of its avid listeners. Backflipping now, Pandora said Thursday it will be removing the 40-hour free listening on mobile devices real soon.

The good news conveniently coincides with Apple's impending launch of its ad-free iTunes Radio, a streaming music service set to arrive next month as part of the iOS 7 release...

Star Trek Into Darkness now available on iTunes, three weeks ahead of DVD release

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 21, 2013

Apple's selection of blockbuster releases on iTunes is constantly growing. Though not quite yet a match for other digital services, Apple typically beats the other guys in terms of pre-releases, exclusive launches and even early pre-theatrical releases, provided you're willing to pay a bunch of money to watch a movie on iTunes before it even hits the silver screen.

JJ Abrams's Star Trek Into Darkness has been available for pre-order on iTunes for well over a month. Yesterday, the digital download has finally hit iTunes, three weeks ahead of its September 10 DVD release...

Apple seeds iTunes 11.1 beta 2 to developers

Cody Lee ∙ August 16, 2013

As expected, Apple has seeded iTunes 11.1 beta 2 to developers this afternoon. The release comes shortly after the company released iTunes 11.0.5 to the public, which included a fix for iTunes in the Cloud.

Today's update also comes a little more than two weeks after Apple released the first beta for iTunes 11.1, which included support for iTunes Radio, Apple’s ad-driven music service. More details after the fold...

iTunes 11.0.5 is out with fix for iTunes in the Cloud issue

Cody Lee ∙ August 16, 2013

Apple has just released an update for iTunes, bringing the software to version 11.0.5. The update features a fix for a known iTunes in the Cloud issue, where some purchases would download or play unexpected media items.

Today's update comes just a little more than two months after the previous iTunes update, 11.0.4, which brought about improved syncing, and just a day after iOS 7 beta 6 landed, which fixed a similar iTunes in the Cloud issue...

Apple exploring NFC-based digital media gifting between iDevices

Ed Sutherland ∙ August 15, 2013

One of the hangups with Apple's iTunes is that currently there is no way for you to directly 'gift' digital media to a friend or family member. Though you can easily trade, re-sell or give away a music CD, you can't do that with movies, books any other digital content types offered on Apple's iTunes Store.

A patent application published Thursday could solve this dilemma, thanks to near-field communications (NFC) technology, which has yet to be deployed across Apple devices.

According to the filing published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, instead of a second party receiving an email from iTunes that a song or video has been purchased, an item could be gifted to a nearby iOS device simply with the press of a button...

Apple updates App Review guidelines with new rules for kids apps

Cody Lee ∙ Updated December 4, 2013

Apple has updated its App Store Review Guidelines this week, introducing a number of new and revised rules for developers. Perhaps the most notable change is the addition of a new section to the Guidelines on children's applications.

The move likely has something to do with Apple's recent push to get iPads into classrooms. The company recently revised its iTunes terms of service to allow children under the age of 13 to set up educational iTunes accounts...

Apple hosting massive iTunes movie bundle sale

Cody Lee ∙ Updated November 29, 2016

Ok movie buffs, listen up. Apple just launched a major iTunes movie bundle sale that would put the $4.99 Blu-Ray tub at Walmart to shame. There's dozens of different bundles available, of various genres, starting at just $9.99.

I myself have already grabbed the Matrix Trilogy for $9.99, as well as Taken 1 and 2 for the same price. There's also the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the Jurassic Park trilogy, and several other movie sets/bundles to choose from...

Breaking Bad fans not happy with the way iTunes handles final season

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

AMC's hit TV show Breaking Bad, starring Bryan Cranston, returned last night for the highly anticipated second half of its final season (5). I wasn't able to find specific numbers, but it's believed that the premier could have broken several ratings records.

But while cable viewers turned out in droves, many iTunes users were met with disappointment when they logged in to view the episode. As it turns out, folks who purchased a Season Pass for the first half of the season don't get access to the second half...

Apple’s iPhone activation servers knocked offline, all over again

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 8, 2013

"Your iPhone could not be activated because the activation server is temporarily unavailable," used to be the unmistakable declaration of crazy high demand.

Each time an influx of buyers rushed to simultaneously power on their brand spanking new iPhones on launch day, Apple's iTunes servers struggled to keep up.

Nowadays, it's just plain embarrassing.

Just as Apple is coping with bringing the remaining Dev Center systems back online and less than 24 hours after a two-hour outage had knocked offline Apple's App Store and other iTunes content stores, the Apple cloud is acting up - again.

This time around, users on Twitter and elsewhere are reporting not being able to activate their brand spanking new iPhones because iTunes activation servers are experiencing another outage...

Apple rolls out Movies in the Cloud to Japan, Italy and more

Cody Lee ∙ August 8, 2013

Apple has rolled out movie support for its iTunes in the Cloud service to a number of new countries this morning. The list features Japan and seven additional European countries including Italy, Lithuania, Austria and Spain.

For those unfamiliar with the service, it allows you to stream and re-download previously purchased iTunes content on all of your registered iOS devices. It's available for all content, but today's rollout is restricted to movies...