A former head of the App Store’s approvals process has shed some light on the sometimes opaque review process of new apps.
In an interview, Phillip Shoemaker revealed how the system evolved over his time running the process, from 2009 through 2016.
Apple has kicked a popular iOS game out of the App Store after a Chinese company stole its name.
Clicker Heroes, which first made its debut on iPhone and iPad back in 2015, is a highly-rated idle RPG from Playsaurus. It’s usually free to download, but it’s no longer available on iOS.
There’s currently no word on if or when it will return, but it doesn’t look good.
Worse Than Death, the new game created by horror title Home creator Benjamin Rivers, has a release date in the App Store.
The pixel art action-adventure game, which combines puzzle solving and exploration with plenty of scares will debut on June 26. Check out the trailer below.
The lack of trial versions on the App Store makes it risky to take a punt on any app that costs more than a few bucks. $50 is a fair price for a pro-level app, but it’s a lot to drop without testing it out first. No amount of videos or reviews will tell you if it’s right for you. Fortunately, there’s a workaround. Kind of. You can request a refund for any app you buy, and often you’ll get it.
Apple’s iPhone sales in the U.S. are starting to flatline, according to data from the Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.
Growth of the iPhone install base in the U.S. has been on a downward trend for years now, but CIRP’s latest report reveals that growth was at its slowest rate ever during the first quarter of 2019.
Find out what’s going on in this week’s free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine for iOS.
Or read on to get the rest of the week’s best Apple news, reviews and how-tos in your browser.
TikTok may be a bit of a head-scratcher for older users, but there’s no denying its popularity. According to a new report, the video-sharing app was the most popular iOS app for the first quarter of 2019.
That means beating out giants like YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which have the backing of either Google or Facebook. In total, TikTok was downloaded an astonishing 11.7 million times in the quarter.
With its innovative Flyover feature for Apple Maps, Apple gave users an eye-popping way of exploring real life places in three dimensions.
Now it’s reportedly leant its AR expertise to a new iOS app for the new Statue of Liberty Museum. For those visiting the iconic location, the app provides a location-based audio tour. For those elsewhere, it provides a way of checking out an AR recreation of Lady Liberty from the comfort of their couch.
Apple has finally given us the ability to pay for App Store, iTunes, and Books purchases with Apple Pay.
The company’s own mobile payments system can also be used for Apple Music and iCloud storage subscriptions. Here’s how to set it up.
A lawsuit targeting Apple and the App Store will be allowed to proceed, the U.S. Supreme Court has decided.
The case involves whether or customers technically buy apps from Apple, or whether Apple is a middleman connecting app developers with consumers. The Supreme Court ruled against Apple on Monday by 5 votes to 4.
There’s a bit of myth that’s trotted out every now and then suggesting that gaming hasn’t really taken off in the App Store in the way some people hoped.
A look at the top 10 downloaded iPhone apps worldwide for the month of April tells a different story, however. It shows that seven of the top 10 iPhone apps were games. Altogether, these were downloaded a massive 74 million times in April alone.
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.
Apple has booted three dating apps out of the App Store on the advice of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The three apps, all created by the same developer, allowed kids to sign up under the age of 13.
Several people reportedly face criminals charges for contacting kids through the apps.
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.
One of the parental control apps removed from the App Store has hit out at Apple’s “misleading comments.”
A New York Times report initially claimed that Apple had removed apps offering similar features to its own Screen Time tool. Apple then issued its own statement, saying that it removed them due to privacy and security risks.
But the makers of OurPact says it’s not that simple.
Apple has responded to a New York Times report, claiming that it has removed various parental control apps from the App Store. Apple allegedly removed apps which offered similar features to its own Screen Time tool.
In response, Apple confirms that it did remove “several” such apps — but says that this was done due to privacy and security risks.
A court in India has lifted its ban on popular video-sharing app TikTok, which resulted in it being temporarily booted from the Indian iOS and Google Play app stores.
The app was ordered removed after accusations that it encouraged pornography and could pose a danger to kids from sexual predators. However, the decision was overturned on Wednesday afer a plea from developers Beijing Bytedance Technology.
Two Saudi sisters who fled the country for the U.S. have renewed attempts to get Apple and Google to delete an “inhuman” tracking app from the App Store. The app, called Absher, allows men to receive alerts about the whereabouts of wives or daughters.
Apple previously said that it was looking into the app to see if concerns were warranted. However, it still remains available in the Saudi version of both the Apple and Google app stores.
Some users report that they are not able to buy new apps or download updates to existing ones through the App Store. This appears to be the result of a bug which locks users in an endless cycle, requesting that they agree to new terms and conditions.
Update: Apple and Google have both removed TikTok as requested. While the app is no longer available for download, those who have previously downloaded it can continue using it.
TikTok, the popular — albeit controversial — Chinese video-sharing app, has run into problems in India. The country’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has reportedly asked Apple and Google to remove the app from their respective app stores.
The issue will be heard in the Supreme Court on April 22, but the app could potentially vanish from stores before then.
A Swedish publisher has accused Apple of acting like a “whimsical feudal lord” in its monopolistic App Store practices.
In an open letter, publishing giant Schibsted says that, while Apple presents itself as being a more ethical company than other tech titans, it “constitutes a threat as big as Facebook and Google.”
Apple is increasingly moving toward subscription-based Services as a major source of income. However, it’s also doing the right thing by making sure that users actually want the subscriptions they’re purchasing — and aren’t just subscribing by accident.
To help cement this, it has added a new step into the App Store subscription process. Before subscribing to an app, users must now confirm a “Confirm Subscription” popup.
Dutch regulators are investigating complaints by developers that Apple promotes its own apps over others in the App Store.
News of the anti-trust probe comes on the heels of Spotify filing a formal antitrust complaint with the European Union.
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.
Apple could be among the companies having to censor certain apps and websites as a result of new proposed U.K. laws. Designed to combat “harmful” content online, the new laws would give censorship power to independent regulators tasked with overseeing apps and websites.
The view of “harmful” content is a broad one, including terrorism, self-harm, hate speech, child abuse, and more. It would mean that the U.K. government could have a say on the content that Apple sells or offers to customers in the United Kingdom.