MacPaw - page 2

Subscription service lets you binge on 60-plus Mac apps

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Setapp lets you binge on macOS apps.
Setapp is like Netflix for Mac apps.
Photo: MacPaw

The way Mac users get apps is about to become a lot more like Netflix, thanks to a service launching today called Setapp.

Created by the folks at MacPaw, Setapp is a new app subscription service that provides Mac users with an alternative way to try and buy apps instead of going through the Mac App Store.

Its not filled with loads of crap either. Top apps like Ulysses, Blogo, CleanMyMac, iMazing, Pixa, Polarr and Flume are all included. Instead of buying apps individually though, Setapp lets users pay a flat fee for access to hundreds of popular apps.

Pro tips for improving your app reviews

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App Store reviews
Here's how to harness the power of app reviews (even bad ones).
Image: MacPaw

Our App Business section is brought to you by MacPaw, maker of proven Mac apps.

Getting a bad app review is a definite bummer. When some faceless user trashes your labor of love in the App Store or some other public venue, it can really sting. But if you’re smart about it, you can turn negative reviews into positive opportunities for improving your app and winning committed customers.

Here’s how to spin bad app reviews into developer gold.

Mac app licensing is the headache you don’t want to DIY

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app licensing
For Mac developers, handling app licensing can be a huge hassle.
Image: MacPaw

Our new App Business section is brought to you by MacPaw, maker of proven Mac apps.

For independent Mac developers, one of the big, daunting tasks that the Mac App Store efficiently handles is app licensing. You just submit your app, then the store manages the actual app license through its user accounts. But this unquestionable convenience comes with a few critical downsides.

‘Netflix of Mac software’ lets you binge on apps

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Mac App Store
The email app BlueMail finds itself on the outside of the "closed garden."
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s Mac App Store has been a desolate wasteland of mediocrity for years, but a new service called Setapp wants to breathe new life into macOS apps.

Setapp app claims it’s an “Unstore” alternative to the Mac App Store. Instead of paying for apps individually, you’ll pay a monthly subscription fee for access to 300 popular apps.

DigiDNA devs make apps that rock by thinking like a band

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The indie developers at DigiDNA scored their first hit with iMazing for Mac.
The indie developers at DigiDNA scored their first hit with iMazing for Mac.
Photo: DigiDNA

Our new App Business section is brought to you by MacPaw, maker of proven Mac apps.

Sometimes you’ve got to think small to hit it big. For DigiDNA, a Swiss development team that makes popular software for managing iOS devices, that means functioning more like a tight rock ‘n’ roll band than a sprawling orchestra.

The arms race to protect apps from cracking

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Protect apps from crackers
Protecting apps from crackers can be a daunting task for developers.
Image: MacPaw

Our new App Business section is brought to you by MacPaw, maker of proven Mac apps.

App developers put a lot of time and effort into preventing their apps from being cracked or pirated. But for every coder taking a step toward making an app more secure, there’s someone on the march to crack it. The integrity of any app is subject to an ongoing arms race.

The most popular and useful apps are the most likely to release the cracken (I’m so sorry), so finding out that a bunch of people have downloaded your app illegally can be worn as something of a badge of pride. But that’s cold comfort when you’re losing customers, so let’s take a look at a couple of the most likely app-cracking approaches developers should protect against.

If Macs don’t need cleaning, why does macOS Sierra come with cleaning tools?

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macOS Sierra offers new tools to clean your Mac.
macOS Sierra offers new tools to clean your Mac.
Photo: StockSnap/Pixabay

This is a guest post by Vera Tkachenko, a software team lead at MacPaw.

For the first time, the Mac operating system comes with cleaning tools. The new Optimized Storage feature in macOS Sierra might not sound like much at first, but its very presence in the new Mac operating system undermines the long-held notion that OS X is self-cleaning and remains fast and glitch-free on its own.

Why did Apple add this functionality? Let’s check under the hood of the new macOS cleaning tools to find out what they do, why they do it — and how they might have done it better.

How much does in-house app development really cost?

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How much does in-house app development really cost?
Putting a price tag on in-house app development can be tricky.
Photo: MacPaw

Our new App Business section is brought to you by MacPaw, maker of proven Mac apps.

If you’re developing a Mac app, you’re faced with a major either/or decision: whether to distribute inside or outside of the Mac App Store (MAS). Sticking to the MAS means you’ve got access to tools for licensing, hosting, crash reporting and other necessary tasks. However, Apple’s tools may not be what’s best for your app.

How to launch a Mac app and succeed

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MacPaw DevMate
You need a game plan if you want to successfully launch your Mac app.
Image: MacPaw

Our new App Business section is brought to you by MacPaw, maker of proven Mac apps.

So you’re going to launch an app for Mac. Congrats! Now you’ve got to figure out an app marketing strategy that will get it to the widest audience possible.

There are many ways to approach the birth of a new product, but even in a field as fast-growing and dynamic as the world of apps, experience has yielded accepted wisdom about the best ways to start and maintain a successful campaign. Here are great rules of thumb for maximizing impact and customers for your app.

10 reasons to release your apps outside the Mac App Store

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DevMate
The Mac App Store isn't the only way you should distribute your apps.
Image: MacPaw

Our new App Business section is brought to you by MacPaw, maker of proven Mac apps.

Like death and taxes, distributing your new app through the Mac App Store can seem inevitable. It’s widely considered the easiest way to get the widest exposure for an app, a centralized marketplace for software with a captive audience of buyers.

But ever more developers are looking beyond the Mac App Store (MAS) for distribution options that best serve their app. MacPaw, maker of DevMate, performed an interesting survey of developers to ask if they prefer MAS or another app store alternative, and why.

CleanMyMac 2 Will Scrub All The Useless Files Off Your Harddrive [Macworld 2013]

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cleanmymac2

macworldbugSAN FRANCISCO, MACWORLD/iWORLD 2013 – Maintaining a Mac is a lot easier than a PC but it still requires some work. After a few years of use, your hard drive space starts to shrink and finding the right files to delete isn’t always obvious.

MacPaw is releasing a new app to help people free up more space on their Macs. It’s called CleanMyMac 2 and it will dive deep into your harddrive to clean out all the crap you don’t need.