App Store - page 41

Rovio has churned out more sequels to its Angry Bird franchise than any developers on the planet. They even have sequels to the sequels (we see you Angry Birds Star Wars II), but six years after the original was released, Angry Birds 2 is finally here.

The thirteenth title in the Angry Birds franchise is packed with new puzzling towers to topples, missile birds, and boss piggies. There’s also a new feature that lets you challenge your friends over Facebook to see who’s the true master at flinging birds.

Check out the first gameplay teaser:

When it comes to the App Store and the Mac App Store, the two software dispensing platforms are not treated equally.

Not only do top 10 Mac App Store apps make a whole lot less than the chart toppers on iOS, but developers are noticing that Apple’s not even giving Mac app developers some of the same critical tools their counterparts enjoy on the App Store.

In what will surely be met with a sigh of relief from developers, Apple has stopped people running beta versions of iOS from writing reviews of apps in the App Store.

Many of these reviews tend to be negative because developers have yet to optimize their apps to run the latest prerelease software version. As a result, apps run on a beta version of iOS are far more likely to crash, or feature bugs.

Fans hoping to catch MTV’s announcement of this year’s VMA nominees on Beats 1 this morning got a rude awakening as Apple servers crashed right before the artists were revealed.

We’ve been trying to access Beats 1 radio all morning but keep getting “Request timed out” errors on all our devices. Other services have been impacted as well: People on Twitter have reported a number of issues with Apple services, including problems accessing the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iTunes Match.

Here’s a list of Apple services affected:

You can’t choose between Android and iOS without taking Google Play and the App Store into account. They’re the largest mobile marketplaces on the planet, and they both have their strengths and weaknesses — especially when it comes to control.

Apple has strict App Store guidelines, and every title is tested by a human before being approved. In comparison, Google is happy to let most things fly — so long as it’s not offensive or harmful — which gives us access to things like emulators and file downloaders that aren’t available on other platforms.

But is “open” really better, and could Apple benefit from loosening its grip on the App Store?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we battle it out over that very question.

Fallout Shelter, the terrific vault-building game from Bethesda, raked in a whopping $5.1 million during its first two weeks availability.

The payday is even more staggering when you take into account that the game is totally free to download and play, only offers one virtual add-on, and isn’t even available on Android yet.

Android’s massive lead in market share is translating into a staggering number of app downloads, with Google Play serving 85 percent more apps than the App Store during the second quarter of 2015. But despite that, iOS is holding onto a significant lead where it matters most — in revenue.

Apple has launched a new promotion, entitled “Amazing Apps & Games,” offering 24 different apps from a variety of different genres for just 99 cents each.

Ranging from games such as Goat Simulator, Blek and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 to productivity tools like Scanner Pro 6 and Clone Camera Pro, and even throwing in educational apps like the STEM-related Simple Machines, it’s a great chance to pick up some excellent apps at some low, low prices.

Based on changes in taxes and foreign exchange rates, Apple is set to increase the prices of App Store apps in Mexico, South Africa, South Korea and Turkey.

It’s been over 150 years since the South lost to the Union army in the American Civil War, but only recently has the call to finally remove the Confederate Flag from public places picked up steam. Now Apple is getting in on the action too by banning all Civil War games from the App Store that display the Confederate Flag in “offensive and mean-spirited ways.”

If you ever dig into the privacy policies of app developers, be prepared for a shock. This is where they confess their sins: invading your privacy, selling your data, and pestering you with popups and unwanted ads.

As the App Store becomes increasingly crowded and competitive, many developers struggle to make a profit. Some turn their attention to alternative sources of revenue, and the quality of their apps suffer as a result.

It doesn’t have to be that way. Here are the 10 rules for developers to keep things “classy.”

Apple’s rolled out some much-needed changes to how Apple Watch preview screens look in the App Store.

Have you looked at those shots lately? They look weird. And depending on which version of iOS you’re currently running, that could mean “horrible” or “way better than before, holy crap.”

A group of six university researchers claim to have successfully bypassed Apple’s tight App Store approval processes to publish Mac and iOS malware apps. According to the report, the team presented the zero-day vulnerability to Apple back in October 2014 and were told to keep quiet about it for at least six months.

Luyi Xing, a security researcher who helped expose the zero day vulnerability, still has yet to hear back from Apple on a possible fix.

Pebble Watch fans have been absolutely freaking out on Twitter the last few days due to a delay with the Pebble Time app for iOS getting delayed in the App Store approval process.

After sitting in ‘pending approval’ since May 22nd, Pebble fans rallied around the #FreeOurPebbleTime hashtag to get their voices heard by Apple, but everyone can stop their whining, because the Pebble Time app for iPhone is finally available for download.

Apple and Google boasted that they paid over $17 billion to app developers over the last year. What they left out is that they also made a tidy $7.3 billion off those sales, thanks to the 30/70 split pioneered by Steve Jobs with the launch of iTunes in 2003.

That split could coming to an end soon, though, according to a new report claiming Apple plans to make a departure from its old pricing formula in an effort to make Cupertino’s devices more appealing to media companies.

When you’re choosing between Android and iOS, you also have to choose between the App Store and Google Play; apps are so important to us these days that they must come into consideration when we’re buying new mobile devices.

Android has caught up with and even overtaken the App Store in sheer number of apps, but Apple’s marketplace continues to rake in lots more revenue. But which offers better titles, a greater user experience, and more features?

In this week’s Friday Night Fight with Cult of Android versus Cult of Mac, we pit the App Store against Google Play to find out which is the best mobile marketplace.

A social-media campaign hopes to put pressure on Apple to release the Pebble Time smartwatch app for iOS.

The to-do started after an update on the Time’s Kickstarter page yesterday.

Pebble Time, the new smartwatch from the Kickstarter superstar, might be headed to wrists soon, but if you own an iPhone, you might be out of luck.

According to an email sent out to Time backers on Kickstarter, the version of the Pebble iOS software needed to connect and use Pebble’s newest iteration is still sitting in the gray no-man’s land of Apple approval; it’s been there for 43 days with no end in sight.

An iOS developer claims the latest version of their app has been rejected by Apple solely because a screenshot dared to mention the forbidden word “Android.”

It’s hardly noticeable — you’ll need to squint to see it — but Apple allegedly wants it gone just in case it reminds iPhone and iPad users that other platforms are available.

This week: Why the iPhone 6s could be the best “s” update yet; Nintendo promises five top-notch titles coming to iOS; the paltry earnings of top Mac App Store apps; and just when we thought we’ve seen it all … a new iPhone accessory helps you deal with your major gas issues.

Our thanks to Automatic for supporting this episode. Plug Automatic into your car’s data port, and their beautiful app will show you where you parked, how to save fuel with tips based on your actual driving, and even diagnose and turn off your car’s check engine light.

Full show notes ahead!

How much profit do you think you’d make per day if you coded a Top 10 paid app in the Mac App Store? $10,000? Maybe even $20,000 a day?

While the iOS App Store has been a gold mine for developers, the paychecks aren’t nearly as fat on OS X. Sam Soffes is an app developer whose Mac app Redacted reached No. 8 top paid in the United States and No. 1 top paid in Graphics at the end of launch day. It also sat at the top of Product Hunt with 538 votes.

All those eyeballs surely meant big bucks, but when friends on Twitter tried to guess how much Soffes had raked in — the average guess was $12,460.67 — the real number was much, much lower.

Unlock the secrets of developing apps for the Apple Watch for only $19 with the Mammoth Interactive WatchKit Developer Course from Cult of Mac Deals. Saving 93% on the retail price, you’ll learn how to create a variety of essential app types, showing you how to get the most out of the technology and kick-start your development future.

Today Apple gave access for developers to try its new App Analytics tool for the App Store. Originally announced last year at WWDC, developers can now use Apple’s analytics service to track everything from how people find their apps to how long they use them.

Based on early reactions, developers are pretty excited.