App Store - page 13

Apple must avoid following a path blazed by Google. Years ago, the search giant touted its “don’t be evil” policy. But somewhere along the line, Google lost track of that — and ended up getting sued Tuesday by the Justice Department.

Apple, which faces similar scrutiny by a variety of governmental bodies, has a chance now to drop some of its questionable policies. If it doesn’t, Cupertino could end up facing its own lawsuit(s).

The encouraging news is, Apple is mostly a good company, so a few tweaks now could easily head off much larger adjustments down the line. Court-ordered changes — like a forced sale of the App Store — could prove painful.

Here’s why Apple needs its own “don’t be evil” policy, along with some concrete steps Cupertino can take to prove that it’s actually a force for good in the world.

Ex-App Store review boss Phil Shoemaker told the congressional antitrust subcommittee that Apple creates “arbitrary” rules which it uses as a “weapon” against competitors. One such example is allowing Apple Arcade, while blocking Xbox Game Pass.

Shoemaker’s testimony appears in the antitrust subcommittee’s 449-page report published this week.

The House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee revealed its recommendations for dealing with Big Tech Monday in a 449-page report, following 16 months of investigation.

While the report has recommendations for Amazon, Facebook and Google parent company Alphabet, it also focuses on Apple — and what needs to change to make Cupertino antitrust-compliant.

Despite far fewer installs than the Google Play app store, Apple’s iOS App Store raked in $19 billion to Google’s $10.3 billion in the third quarter of 2020, according to a new report by Sensor Tower.

Overall spending grew 32 percent in the quarter across both platforms. Meanwhile, overall installs increased 23.3 percent to a total of 36.5 billion. These record-breaking numbers likely had a lot to do with the coronavirus pandemic, which shut down large parts of the economy, but caused a spike in interest for developers while people were stuck home.

Apple’s default apps could potentially be banned from coming preinstalled on new iPhone and iPads in Europe, according to draft European Union legislation.

The so-called Digital Services Act is intended to level the playing field for smaller companies wanting to compete with “gatekeeper platforms” (aka tech giants). The EU currently has two investigations into the App Store and one into Apple Pay.

Apple has reportedly removed a pair of RSS reader apps, Reeder and Fiery Feeds, from the App Store in China due to their ability to allow users to access information the country would rather they not see.

It’s not clear exactly what prompted this particular banning, but China has been cracking down on RSS feeds since 2007. That year, it initiated a blanket ban on all web-based RSS feed aggregators. In 2017, Apple removed RSS reader app Inoreader from the App Store in China.

In other words, this may be less a case of “What did Reeder and Fiery Feeds do wrong?” than “how did they manage to survive as long as they did?”

Apple is giving businesses which host paid events online via the App Store reprieve on having to pay Apple a 30 percent cut.

Apple reversed the policy late last week, although it will reportedly only do so for three months as businesses reel to try and come up with new ways to make money during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Spotify, Match, and Fortnite developer Epic Games have joined a nonprofit that advocates for regulatory and legal action against Apple for what they claim is it unfair control of the App Store.

Their main objection is the way that Apple charges up to 30 percent for in-app payments. Apple lays out a detailed set of rules which apps must follow in order to be allowed in the App Store.

It still blows my mind that Doom and Doom II, games I remember being awestruck at the existence of on a home computer, can now fit onto a device the size of a deck of playing cards.

Now, thanks to an update by developer Bethesda, the iOS ports of these two classic titles are now better than ever. Here’s what they’ve added to this duo of gaming classics.

Apple laid out new rules for streaming games services hoping to be listed the App Store. But it’s not clear if the changes will result in Microsoft, Google Facebook and others actually introducing iPhone and iPad versions of their services, which are already available for other platforms.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg thinks Apple’s control of the App Store should be scrutinized. In an interview for Axios on HBO, the Facebook overlord said that Apple has “unilateral control of what gets on phones, in terms of apps.”

Zuck went on to say that this power meant that there are questions that should be asked about whether this is “enabling as robust of a competitive dynamic.”

Despite the challenges it continues to face, TikTok was the most downloaded non-gaming app worldwide on iOS and Google Play in August, a new report by app analytics platform Sensor Tower claims.

In total, TikTok was downloaded upward of 63.3 million times during the month. That is a slight increase of 1.6% from the same month last year. Indonesia and Brazil were the most popular growing markets for the app during the month.

The Epic Games v. Apple fight got a bit uglier on Tuesday. For the first time, the iPhone-maker asked that Epic Games pay damages for breach of contract. The two companies are arguing over whether Apple has the right to 30% of in-app purchases in the wildly-successful game Fortnite.

It will soon be possible for developers to give out codes to customers that bring discounts on subscription fees for software or services in the Apple App Store. The goal is to help app creators “acquire, retain, and win back subscribers” with these one-time use codes that people can then easily redeem, according to Apple.

The App Store ecosystem created almost 300,000 new U.S. jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic, Apple said Tuesday. It now supports more than 2.1 million people across all 50 states.

Apple pointed out that apps have become even more critical to Americans’ everyday lives as they adapt to new ways of working, learning and connecting during the coronavirus outbreak.

If a law proposed on Tusday to the Russian State Duma gets enacted, then Apple would only be able to collect a 20% commission on software sold through the App Store. And it would force Apple to allow iPhone users to install apps from other software stores.

Apple instituted new policies to make the App Store a bit friendlier for developers. On Monday, it stopped blocking “bug fix” updates because of minor violations of its rules.

Also, when an application is accused of violating the guidelines, developers have the option to suggest a change to the rules.

Apple terminated Epic Games account on the App Store on Friday. This is the latest move in a battle between the two companies over revenue from in-app purchases in the popular game Fortnite.

Fortnite itself had already been booted from the App Store, and today’s move means other offerings from Epic Games are also unavailable to iPhone and iPad users.

Apple’s lead story on the App Store Today screen is about the upcoming season of PUBG Mobile. The iPhone-maker also recently did a similar promotion for Butter Royale.

It’s clear Apple wants everyone to know that while Fortnite was kicked out of the App Store, there are other battle royale games.

Facebook claims Apple stopped it from telling users about the 30% commission that Cupertino takes from sales in a new online events feature.

According to a Reuters report published Friday, Apple said its rules stop developers from showing “irrelevant” information to users.

In an order issued Monday night, a U.S. district judge blocked Apple from revoking Epic Games’ developer accounts as the legal battle between the two companies moves toward trial.

The move protects Unreal Engine, Epic’s software suite that is widely used by other game developers, from becoming collateral damage in the high-profile legal battle.

Apple won’t be forced to boot messaging app WeChat out of the App Store in China, Bloomberg claims in a weekend report.

According to the publication, the Trump administration is “privately seeking to reassure” American companies like Apple that they can still do business with WeChat in China. Two weeks ago, Trump ordered a U.S. ban on WeChat, although the details were not clarified.

Apple on Friday asked a judge to deny Epic Games’ request for a court order forcing Apple to return Fortnite to the App Store. In a filing, the iPhone-maker said Epic Games brought the ban on itself by its own actions.

The court’s decision will determine whether this wildly popular game will be available for iPhone and iPad users while a potentially lengthy court battle between Apple and Epic Games goes on.

This week on The CultCast: It’s a battle of the titans! Fortnite developer Epic Games takes Apple to court over its App Store policies, and the dev just might get its way. Plus: Apple and its stock hit another astonishing milestone; Jon Prosser was right — Apple has begun rebranding Beats; and Apple TV+ finally makes the move we’ve been waiting for: bundling premium channels for one low price.

Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. Easily create a beautiful website all by yourself, at Squarespace.com/cultcast. Use offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

Several major news outlets are throwing their hats into the ring with Epic Games and others in pushing back against Apple’s App Store commission.

According to the Wall Street Journal, a trade body that represents the New York Times, Washington Post, WSJ and other publishers has sent a letter to Tim Cook asking for better terms for digital subscriptions sold through the App Store.