The European Commission fined Apple more than 1.8 billion euros Monday for “abusing its dominant position on the market for the distribution of music streaming apps.”
The ruling follows complaints by music streaming service Spotify. In a lengthy response to the fine, Apple said Spotify pays absolutely nothing for the array of services Cupertino provides. Apple also said it will appeal the EC’s decision.
The best Vision Pro apps, games, demos and experiences showcase the AR capabilities of Apple’s headset.
If you own a Vision Pro and don’t know where to start, I put together a list of apps and games to try out first. Alternatively, if you can’t afford a headset (or if you live outside the United States), you can live vicariously through me as I show you all of the most interesting Vision Pro apps I’ve found.
I highly recommend you check out the companion video to this article to see these apps in action. Alternatively, you can continue reading below.
A day ahead of Vision Pro’s release, Apple put a spotlight on more than 600 new “spatial” apps and games made specifically for the headset. They join more than a million Vision Pro-compatible apps Friday in the App Store.
“Apple Vision Pro is unlocking the imaginations of our worldwide developer community, and we’re inspired by the range of spatial experiences they’ve created for this exciting new platform,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of worldwide developer relations.
iOS developer Riley Testut, the brains behind AltStore (the original alternative App Store), has a great take on Apple’s plans to open up the App Store in the European Union
This is “everything I’ve been wanting for the past few years,” he said after Apple laid out its plans last week. “Even reading the announcement I was tearing up.”
Testut, who lives in Texas, has a vested interest in Apple loosening its grip on the App Store to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act. He’s the co-creator of AltStore, a hacky skunkworks project that enables sideloading of iPhone and iPad apps. Now he’s working to transition AltStore into an officially sanctioned app marketplace that complies with Apple’s new rules.
In an exclusive interview with Cult of Mac, Testut talks about the hidden upside for iPhone owners around the world; the downsides of Apple’s strict new framework and fees; and the joys of making AltStore one of the first legit third-party app marketplaces in the EU.
Testut’s take on Apple’s plans for opening up iOS is perhaps the best to date, and well worth a read.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Vision Pro preorders didn’t exactly go smoothly last week. In our post-mortem, we discuss what went right, what went wrong, and why we can’t wait to finally get our hands on Apple’s headset.
Also on The CultCast:
Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.
Apple is bringing sideloading and alternate app stores to the iPhone — but with significant restrictions.
Apple gave EU developers guidelines and access to the tools needed for sideloading — installing applications that don’t go through the App Store. But the new rules require these apps to be approved by Apple before they can be installed by iPhone users. And they need to be in alternative marketplaces, not directly available for download.
In other words, sideloading won’t be the free-for-all some people had hoped.
This is part of sweeping changes to iOS, Safari and the App Store required by the European Union’s Digital Markets Act. And Apple’s announcement of these changes in Thursday is loaded with warning about how sideloading brings risks for users.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Apple Vision Pro preorder week brings interesting new details about the mixed-reality headset. Will it be a sellout success? An amazing entertainment device? A $3,499 pain in the neck?
Maybe all of the above! We go over the last-minute pros and cons.
Also on The CultCast:
Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.
Following the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear appeals in the Epic Games v. Apple lawsuit, Apple is making significant changes to its U.S. App Store guidelines.
Developers can now link to an external in-app payment method. However, they still will need to pay Apple a commission of 12% to 27% on these transactions. And the mechanism for allowing such external payments might prove so onerous that developers take a pass.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney called it a “bad-faith ‘compliance’ plan” Tuesday — and vowed that his company will contest Apple’s plan in District Court.
The U.S. Supreme Court effectively upheld a lower court’s ruling that Apple must allow third-party iPhone app developers to point customers to their websites when making purchases. This means the company is forced to drop its “anti-steering” rule for such applications — a major change.
It’s the primary result of Apple’s long-running legal battle with Epic Games.
Apple listed App Store’s most-popular free and paid apps and games of 2023, citing year-end charts in more than 35 countries and regions.
App Store’s Today hub lists all those popular choices (also below) as well as the 2023 App Store Award Winners.
Apple has announced the 2023 App Store Awards winner after highlighting the 37 finalists earlier this month. The iPhone App of the Year went to AllTrails, while Prêt-à-Makeup won the iPad App of the Year.
Photomator was crowned as the Mac App of the Year. Unsurprisingly, generative AI was the Trend of the Year, with App Store Editors highlighting some apps that used it to deliver an innovative app experience.
The new Meet with Apple Experts program helps Apple developers easily find and join workshops, labs and one-on-one consultations to help them build great apps, Apple said Tuesday.
The new dedicated resource builds on other programs for developers, incorporating their programming.
Apple quietly added a helpful new “Apps by Apple” section to its website last week. Cupertino’s new guide breaks down the world of great Apple apps into helpful sections all in one place.
Some people wonder if it’s part of Apple’s response to the European Union’s moves to force sideloading of apps on iPhones.
Now that iOS and the App Store have been labeled “gatekeepers” by the European Commission, the EU’s Digital Markets Act requires Apple to allow users to install applications directly onto iPhones. And sideloading is just one of the sweeping changes resulting from the DMA. Users apparently will be able to replace Siri with one of its rivals, for example. Other services, like iMessage, might require modification later.
One thing’s clear: The iPhone won’t be the same after the Digital Markets Act goes into effect in spring 2024.
There certainly will not be a dearth of apps for the Vision Pro when it launches — Apple said Tuesday that every compatible iOS and iPadOS application will be automatically listed in an upcoming App Store for the AR headset.
That means there’ll be “hundreds of thousands” of apps for Vision Pro at its debut early next year, according to Apple.
The U.S. National Park Service turns 107 on Friday. And, as usual, Apple is running its donation campaign to the National Parks Foundation to celebrate.
Each purchase made with Apple Pay in the Apple Store and on Apple sites through Sunday, August 27, donates $10 to the National Parks Foundation.
The U.S. Supreme Court denied a request by Epic Games that would have required Apple to immediately get rid of its “anti-steering” rule for third-party applications — a major change. Instead, the Mac-maker can wait until there’s a final decision by the high court.
This means Apple doesn’t have to change its policy that prevents developers from sending customers from their applications to their websites to pay for subscriptions or services … yet.
Elon Musk wants creators on X to make more money. And for this, he plans to talk to Apple CEO Tim Cook about lowering the App Store fees for creators on Twitter X.
The billionaire wants Apple to only charge its 30% commission on the amount that X keeps, not the money a creator receives.
Apple warned all App Store developers that it’s starting a crackdown on using device fingerprinting for user tracking.
As a means of preventing this invasive tracking, Apple will soon require devs to justify the inclusion of all APIs in software submitted to the App Store.
Apple is hoping to take its lawsuit with Epic Games all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, and on Monday received permission to hold off on making a significant change to the App Store ordered by lower courts until there’s a final decision by the high court.
This means the Mac-maker won’t have to change its App Store policy that prevents developers from sending customers to their websites to pay for apps or services… yet.
An independent study found App Store developers generated $1.1 trillion in total billings and sales last year as part of the system’s robust year-over-year growth of 29%, Apple said Wednesday.
More than 90% of the money went to developers, without any commission paid to Apple, the company said.
Apple has announced several tax changes for the App Store that go into effect starting May 31. The new rules will affect app developers in Ghana, Lithuania, Moldova, Brazil and Spain.
In Spain and Ghana, taxes on the proceeds earned from apps and games have increased. While in Lithuania and Moldova, the VAT rate on e-books and audiobooks has gone down.
Keeping bad applications out of the App Store is a monumental task — Apple says it denied 1.7 million apps submitted for approval in 2022. That’s out of 6.1 million, and it’s an increase from the previous year.
And Apple also blocked nearly 3.9 million stolen credit cards from being used to make fraudulent purchases on the App Store. Plus, the iPhone-maker blocked millions of fake reviews.
Small developers around the world saw revenue from Apple’s App Store grow 71% between 2020 and 2022, according to researchers.
Revenue growth over that span for small devs in the United States was even higher: 83%.
Apple reports that the App Store is has a problem that might prevent users from buying applications. That includes the iOS and Mac App Stores. And the same issue could affect attempts to buy ebooks.
A similar problem is causing problems with buying subscriptions.
UPDATE: Fixed after about 14 hours.