Christmas Day turned out to be one of the biggest moneymaking days ever for Apple and Google as far as app sales go.
SensorTower published its latest report of holiday app sales revealing that overall spending on the App Store and Google Play topped $277 million on Christmas Day. Thanks to consumers who had just been gifted new devices and gift cards, spending rose 11% compared to last year, and games were the biggest winner.
Go to AppStore.com and it will connect you with, well, the App Store. And you’ve got Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff to thank for it.
In his recent book Trailblazer, Benioff tells the story of how Steve Jobs gave him the idea for what became the first enterprise app store. And how Benioff later thanked Jobs by signing over the AppStore.com domain.
The co-founder of a messaging app Apple and Google banned from their app stores has made a plea for its reinstatement. Apple and Google gave ToTok the boot following a report that it is a United Arab Emirates spy tool used for spying on its users.
Giacomo Ziani posted a message on Twitter, tagging both Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google’s Sundar Pichai. Ziani said that the ban was, “seriously hurting our company and putting all of our efforts at risk.”
Apple is giving App Store customers free digital treats over the holidays.
Users in Australia, where it is now Christmas Eve, are waking up to a new App Store story that promises “a new surprise every day” from December 24 to December 29.
“Come back daily to discover which treat we have waiting for you,” Apple says.
Apple has given the boot to a messaging app called ToTok. This app was reportedly an United Arab Emirates spy tool used for tracking users’ conversations and movement.
ToTok has been very successful in the UAE. The country limits access to other popular messaging apps including WhatsApp and Skype. The UAE also bans FaceTime from Apple devices sold in the region.
If you’ve beaten the computer a thousand times on Mario Kart Tour (which, let’s face it, is pretty tough not to do), you can finally pit your Mario and Luigi-steering abilities against other flesh-and-blood players.
That’s because Nintendo has launched the eagerly anticipated multiplayer online beta for Mario Kart Tour. You’ll need to sign up to the Gold Pass to play it, though.
Apple has given the App Store boot to an app which transformed your iPhone into an iPod Classic, complete with virtual clickwheel.
However, the Rewound app’s developers say that they aren’t planning to go quietly into the night. Instead, they’re aiming to release a web app for their creation.
Facebook owns the top 4 most downloaded apps of the last decade, analytics firm App Annie reports.
The app analytics platform runs down its list of the most downloaded and highest grossing apps of the past decade. This covers both iOS and Android. While Facebook may have had a tough time PR-wise recently, there’s no doubting its levels of downloads dominance.
YouTube’s biggest star just dropped a brand-new game for mobile devices, but you won’t be playing it on iPhone. Poopdie is a “poopcrafting adventure” from PewDiePie that’s too disgusting for the App Store.
Its developers this week confirmed the title was rejected by Apple for “crude imagery” — despite its cartoon visuals aimed at kids.
The Last Remnant Remastered, an updated version of Square Enix’s 2008 RPG for Xbox 360, has received a surprise release on iOS.
The game depicts a world divided into multiple city-states, inhabited by four different species. The player controls Rush Sykes, a human who is searching for his sister during a war between the different groups, who are battling over magical artifacts. It was developed by many of the team members who worked on the SaGa and Final Fantasy games.
Check out a teaser trailer below.
Some Apple customers have stopped receiving email receipts for their App Store and iTunes transactions.
The issue appears to have arisen in late October, and it affects all purchases made through Apple’s digital storefronts — including subscriptions. But there is a way you can request receipts manually.
You’d think that, of all businesses out there, you could trust a bank, right? According to a shocking new report, the answer is a disappointing no.
UK banking chain the Royal Bank of Scotland has been accused of writing fake reviews for its new banking app in the App Store. The minor slip-up that gave the game away: the fact that the five-star reviews were published before the Bó app went live.
Don’t have anyone to play board games with over the holidays? Now you can enjoy one of the biggest by yourself with the brand-new Monopoly game for iPhone and iPad.
It takes the timeless classic, enjoyed by more than a billion people worldwide, and brings it to life in your palms. And it’s exactly as Hasbro intended it.
It seems like Craigslist has been a cornerstone of the Internet for practically forever. The site pretty much single-handedly killed white pages during the rise of the world wide web, but for some reason, it took until the end of 2019 for Craigslist to finally create its own iPhone app.
As you’d expect, it’s totally basic.
As 2019 draws to a close, Apple has revealed its picks for the year’s best apps and games. All available through the App Store, of course.
“We are excited to announce such a diverse group of 2019 App Store winners, showing that great design and creativity comes from developers large and small, and from every corner of the world,” said Phil Schiller, Apple’s SVP of Worldwide Marketing. “We congratulate all the winners and thank them for making 2019 the best year yet for the App Store.”
Check out Apple’s picks below.
Apple is now offering customers 10% in bonus credit when they add funds to their Apple ID.
The promotion offers a maximum bonus of $20. It can be spent in iTunes and the App Store, or on services like iCloud, Apple Music, Apple Arcade, and app subscription fees.
Apple will pay $467,000 to settle allegations that it violated U.S. laws by dealing with a blacklisted app developer for more than two years.
The company hosted, sold and facilitated the transfer of apps made by a Slovenian software company blacklisted by the United States.
More than 1,500 complaints of unwanted sexual approaches have been made against random chat apps in the App Store. Many of these targeted children.
Random chat apps connect users randomly with strangers. The majority of the apps do not request users register with them. Lots of these apps have age restrictions of 17+. Minors can still access them, however.
Apple is removing all 181 vaping-related apps from the App Store. This is the result of mounting health concerns about the impact of e-cigarettes.
At least 42 people have died as the result of vaping-related lung illnesses. Apple, it seems, does not want to be in any way responsible for contributing to any more.
The Disney+ app is officially available to download through the App Store. The subscription service features an extensive back catalog plus new shows, including the Star Wars spinoff The Mandalorian.
And, just like that, the streaming war just got a whole lot more intensive!
Apple is ready to unveil its last earnings report of 2019 this week, and investors are anxiously waiting to hear some good news on iPhone sales.
All early indications point to sales of the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro performing even better than expected. But because the new devices were only on sale for the very tail end of the quarter, they might not have given Apple the growth Wall Street is desperate to see.
Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri are set to divulge all the details for Apple’s fiscal Q4 2019 earnings on Wednesday, October 30, at 2 p.m. PDT. Per usual, Cult of Mac will be analyzing all the data right when it drops and there are a couple of areas and metrics that are key to keeping Apple’s stock price soaring.
You must update to iOS 10.3.4 if you want to continue using your iPhone 5.
Apple says the handset’s GPS location and features that rely on the correct date and time — like iCloud — will stop working properly on November 3 if the update is not installed.
Apple quietly removed 17 sketchy apps from the App Store for delivering malware. All made by one developer based in India, the apps secretly generated money by clicking ad links and opening background windows without users’ knowledge.
Although less malicious than some other malware, the apps still threatened to slow down devices or drain batteries.
Plenty of us want to learn a new language. But no matter what app or book we study, there’s no substitute for conversations with native speakers.
Famed 2000AD lawman Judge Dredd has arrived in the App Store. Get ready for Judge Dredd: Crime Files: a collectible card-based strategy adventure RPG.
Boasting all your favorite Dredd characters and a story written by current writers of the comic, this should be a hit with anyone looking for a zarjaz gaming experience!