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App Store - page 29

Sky Gamblers: Infinite Jets, and other awesome apps of the week

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Awesome Apps
Have an 'appy weekend!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

A fun dogfighting flight sim that sees you shoot down enemy jets and gunships in scintillating styles is just one of our picks for this week’s “Awesome Apps” roundup. We’ve also got a superb grammar-oriented third party keyboard, a brilliant augmented reality update to a big retail app, and a fun RPG that’ll keep you busy for days.

Check out our picks below.

Apple’s earnings call will be the calm before iPhone X superstorm

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Apple is worth more than the entire US energy sector combined
Apple is worth more than the entire US energy sector combined
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple will give investors their first insight into iPhone 8 sales, right on the eve of the iPhone X launch.

The final Apple earnings call of 2017 takes place Thursday, November 2, at 2 p.m. Pacific. Apple’s fourth fiscal quarter ended right after the iPhone 8 started shipping. The results aren’t expected to be record-breaking, but this first glimpse should give us a better idea of how monstrous Apple’s holiday season will be.

This is what to watch for:

How to buy an app on iPhone X using Face ID

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face id scan
Face ID still requires a button-tap to make an App Store purchase.
Photo: Aditya Doshi/Flickr CC

There’s one big conceptual difference between Face ID and its predecessor, Touch ID. With a fingerprint, you have to explicitly touch the home button to confirm an action. When unlocking a password-protected app, or unlocking the iPhone itself, it’s hard to do it unintentionally. But what about buying an app? The old Touch ID way is to tap the buy button, and then use your fingerprint to confirm the purchase. What happens with Face ID? How do you cancel a purchase after tapping buy? Do you look away? Close your eyes?

No. It’s much simpler than that, although much less discoverable than touching a fingerprint scanner.

Nintendo disappointed with Super Mario Run profit

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Super Mario Run on iOS
200 million downloads haven't pulled in enough cash.
Photo: Apple

Super Mario Run was the hottest game on iOS for months after it hit the App Store. It has now been downloaded more than 200 million times on mobile, and yet, the title is yet to reach “an acceptable profit point,” Nintendo says.

That’s bad news for fans of Nintendo’s mobile games.

App Store redesign gives (some) downloads a big boost

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bookmark wish list
The App Store looks all-new in iOS 11.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The redesigned App Store has been a boon for developers, based on new third-party data that shows getting a little promotion goes a long way when it comes to downloads.

With the launch of iOS 11, Apple made some big changes to how iPhone and iPad users browse apps in the App Store. App Store shoppers are now greeted by big promotions for the App of the Day and Game of the Day which has become worth a lot of money to developers if you’re lucky enough to be selected.

Apple comes under fire for banning anti-abortion app

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app
The "banned" app lets you pray in real-time.
Photo: Human Coalition

Apple has reportedly banned an anti-abortion app from the App Store after complaints were made about it from “left-wing bloggers.”

Among the features of the Human Coalition app is a “Prayer Feed,” where users can access a real-time map of the United States, allowing them to join in with the prayers of other users on behalf of “abortion-determined families.”

Sci-fi puzzler Returner 77 lands on iOS this week

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games
A treat for the brain and the eyes alike.
Photo: Returner 77

I’m a big sucker for iOS puzzle games, and I love beautiful, sweeping sci-fi games which show off the graphical capabilities of the iPhone and iPad by creating otherworldly space vistas to explore.

Imagine my excitement then at the upcoming Returner 77, an intriguing blend of both genres which will be arriving in the App Store this week. Check out the stunning trailer below.

Google Opinion Rewards, The Talos Principle, and other awesome apps

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Awesome Apps
'Appy weekend everyone!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

A Google app which lets you earn real money for basically no work is just one of the picks we’ve made for this week’s “Awesome Apps of the Week” roundup.

In addition, we’ve got a great artificial intelligence-themed puzzle game, a nifty email app update, and a camera app which lets you double the number of videos you can store on your iOS device. Check out our selections for the week’s most notable apps below.

ARKit downloads dominated by games so far

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ARgames
AR games account for the majority of app downloads and revenue made.
Photo: Sensor Tower

The vast majority of augmented reality ARKit apps released so far have been games, according to a breakdown release by analytics firm Sensor Tower Intelligence.

Combing over the AR apps released since iOS 11 launched on September 19, reveals that games represent around 35 percent of ARKit-only apps worldwide, followed by utilities (19 percent), other entertainment (11 percent), education (7 percent), photo and video apps (6 percent), and lifestyle (5 percent). The “other” category — for those apps which don’t fall into any of these genres — accounts for the remaining 8 percent.

Google’s most underrated app finally comes to iPhone

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Google Opinion Rewards
Google Opinion Rewards pays real cash for your opinion.
Photo: Google

Google Opinion Rewards, the company’s most underrated app, has finally landed on iPhone.

For the first time, iOS users have the chance to answer surveys that earn them real cash. More than 10 million people are already using the service on Android.

Why you shouldn’t trust Apple ID prompts in third-party apps

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Not all Apple ID prompts are created equal.
Not all Apple ID prompts are created equal.
Photo: Jan Vašek/Pixabay CC

It’s not uncommon to see a random popup that asks you to “Sign In to iTunes Store” on iOS. They sometimes appear unexpectedly, but they’re usually genuine. However, one developer is warning users not to enter their password when the popup appears in third-party apps.

There is a chance that the app’s developer is phishing for your Apple ID password. Luckily, there’s an easy trick to distinguish legit popups from phishing attempts.

Trump administration will weigh in on Apple antitrust case

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App Store
The Supreme Court's ruling could have a huge impact on the App Store.
Photo: Apple

The highest court in the U.S. is debating whether or not it should hear an appeal from Apple on a class-action lawsuit that it lost in a lower court.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court asked the Trump administration’s Justice Department for its opinion on the case. Apple is accused of charging illegally high commissions on the sale of apps in its App Store, but the group suing Apple isn’t developers, it’s a bunch of consumers who purchased the apps.

Steven Soderbergh’s Mosaic iOS app is a new type of storytelling experience

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Mosaic
It's like a "pick your own adventure" experience.
Photo: HBO

An innovative new “branching narrative” TV app is being launched by HBO and Academy Award-winning movie director Steven Soderbergh, which will let audiences make active decisions that will help shape the story’s outcome.

A linear version of the show, Mosaic, is set to debut on TV in January 2018. However, the app version isn’t just a bit of advance promo, but a fully-fledged part of the experience, which reportedly took three years to develop.

Apple’s ‘Free App of the Week’ is gone in iOS 11

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iOS 11 iPad Pro
Look out for the changes next month.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple appears to have dropped its “Free App of the Week” promotion.

Users have been unable to find the giveaway since the introduced of the all-new App Store in iOS 11. Apple now has “App of the Day” and “Game of the Day” highlights, but unless its picks were already free, you have to pay for them.

Stranger Things: The Game and other awesome apps of the week

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Awesome Apps
'Appy weekend everyone!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

A fun, appropriately retro game retelling of the first season of Netflix hit Stranger Things is just of one of the picks for this week’s “Awesome Apps of the Week.”

In addition, we’ve got a great action-packed top-down blaster, a superb upgrade to a popular iOS camera app, and… YouTube? Check out our picks below.

Microsoft is bringing its Edge browser to iPhone

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Microsoft Edge for iPhone
Get the latest version of Edge today.
Photo: Microsoft

Microsoft is bringing its Edge web browser to iPhone.

Windows users will feel right at home with its design, which looks as close as possible to that of Edge on the desktop. They will also enjoy the ability to send websites to their desktop when they want to view them on a larger screen.

New ResearchKit app helps cancer patients cope with stress of diagnosis

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ResearchKit
ResearchKit is as useful for monitoring mental health as physical health.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s ResearchKit platform isn’t just about physical wellbeing, it’s also being used to help track mental health.

With that in mind, Duke Institute for Health Innovation has launched a new HomeKit-compatible app designed to help cancer patients, survivors, and their caregivers manage the stress accompanying a cancer diagnosis. The app is profiled on Apple’s official ResearchKit blog.

Flower, RoomScan Pro, and other awesome apps of the week

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Awesome Apps
'App weekend, everyone!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

An ethereal, relaxing game unlike almost any other I’ve across is one of the picks for this week’s “Awesome Apps of the Week.”

In addition, we’ve selected a massive price reduction and big update of a great original Nintendo game for iOS, an app which uses ARKit to help create floor plans of your house, and a Cedars-Sinai medical app for Apple Watch. Check out our picks below: