The 100 biggest software developers on the Apple App Store took in a whopping 64 percent more than the highest-earning Android app makers during the first the first three months of this year.
And the iPhone devs saw a 12 percent average year-over-year increase in revenue during Q1, according to a market research firm.
A law firm is looking for iOS developers to join a class-action suit against Apple for the way it runs the App Store. The lawyers accuse the company of “anticompetitive practices.”
One of their goals is to open up distribution of iPhone and iPad apps, which currently can only be downloaded through Apple. The lawsuit also wants a decrease in the commissions devs must pay.
The official System Status page for all Apple’s services shows that three of the most important ones are having problems The iOS App Store, the Mac App Store and the iTunes Store are all affected.
Update: Full service has been restored.
For the rest of this week, Apple will chip in an extra 10 percent to funds added to App Store accounts. This is essentially free money for those willing to commit some cash to buying apps or other services at some point in the future.
The European Union decided that there’s enough evidence to justify a formal investigation into Apple’s business practices. This is a result of Spotify’s accusation that Apple is using its control of the App Store to squeeze out competition.
The monthly YouTube TV subscription fee is going up to $49.99. And it will be even higher for those who pay for this streaming video service via the Apple App Store.
This is apparently YouTube’s way of partially offsetting the cut Apple takes from all subscription fees. And it’s something other companies might emulate.
The number of downloads from Apple’s iOS App Store declined slightly last quarter, according to a report from market analysis firm Morgan Stanley.
However, revenue from iOS software is increasing, up 15 percent year-over-year.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s campaign for U.S. president has taken a hard line against big tech, and she has Apple in her sights. On Friday she proposed breaking up a number of large tech firms, and the iPhone-maker made the list.
Now she’s shared more details on why she thinks dividing Apple into at least two parts is necessary.
iPhone users in the US spent, on average, $79 last year on software. That’s up 36 percent from 2017, according to figures from a market analysts firm. Spending on premium apps and in-app purchases has more than doubled since 2015.
Of the 2018 total, $44 was spent just on games, a 22 percent increase year-over-year.
The Apple App Store had its best week ever between between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. And New Year’s Day was the best single day of sales ever.
This is just the kind of news the company needs, as Pres. Trump’s trade war with China is hurting iPhone, iPad, and Mac sales in that country.
Tumblr’s exile from the iOS App Store is over, but the company behind it had to kick all forms of pornography off the platform to be allowed to return.
While that decision is controversial, it did mean that this blogging app can be again be downloaded to iPhone and iPad.
Apple continues to remove third-party applications from the Chinese version of the App Store for violating its terms of service. It reportedly removed 718 apps this week.
This isn’t the first time there’s been a purge from this software store. But this time none of the applications were breaking Chinese law, just Apple’s own rules.
Tumblr is gone from the iOS App Store, but exactly why remains a mystery. Still, there’s speculation that Apple cracked down on the blogging app for being used to disseminate content that violates Apple’s guidelines for third-party software.
Oath, the developer of Tumblr, promises that it’s working on the “issue.”
Alex Jones and Infowars Official have been permanently banned from the iOS App Store.
An Apple spokesperson said it was because company guidelines prohibit software that’s “offensive, insensitive, upsetting, intended to disgust or in exceptionally poor taste.”
Apple wants developers to stop selling iOS applications and start renting them instead. The reason is simple: this forces users to pay more for software.
Apple held a secret meeting in New York City last year to convince developers to give up charging users a one-time fee for apps, and go instead to reoccurring charges.
Ten years ago, Apple co-founder and then-CEO Steve Jobs understood that smartphones were going to be a big deal. And he realized software would be an important part of that.
With 20/20 hindsight, it’s easy to dismiss that vision. But Jobs was talking in August 2008, a year after the release of the first iPhone, and only a month after the iOS App Store debuted. Most people had flip phones, and PCs dominated the computing landscape.
In the battle of the mobile software stores, Apple has a huge lead. Consumers spending in the iOS App Store during the first half of this year was almost double that of rival Google Play.
But there’s good news for both companies, as each experienced solid year-over-year growth.
We’re all accustomed to paying a simple, one-time fee for our iOS apps. But developers are increasingly turning to subscriptions. In fact, there were billions paid in app subscription fees in the past year.
Apple reported today that revenue from subscriptions is up 95 percent over last year.
Amazon FreeTime Unlimited just made the jump to to the Apple App Store. This service for children ages three to twelve offers thousands of books, movies, and games for a flat monthly fee.
The service launched years ago on Amazon’s own tablets, but only became available for iPad and iPhone today.
Software developers filed a lawsuit years ago claiming Apple uses the App Store to enforce a monopoly on iOS software. Apple argues that developers don’t have the right to bring this lawsuit, only consumers do.
The legal maneuvering has dragged on, but U.S. Supreme Court just announced that it will take up the question during its next term, which starts in October.
Four coders have come together to found The Developers Union, whose primary principle is “people who create great software should be able to make a living doing it.”
The group’s first cause is asking Apple to allow free trials for everything in the App Store. The union has plans to advocate for additional changes in the future.
The iOS App Store got a new look last fall, and the change has greatly benefited developers of third-party applications, as Apple intended. A new study found that getting named Game of the Day results in an 800 percent increase in downloads.
Inclusion in the other segments of the App Store Today screen brought improved performance as well.
I followed the advice of an App Store optimization expert last year in an attempt to promote my iPhone app. Big mistake. It felt wrong at the time, and it did more harm than good. Now I’ve learned to trust my gut instincts instead.
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