The European Commission today gave its approval to Apple’s $3 billion takeover of Beats Electronics and Beats Music. The regulator concluded that the two companies are not close competitors, and that the headphones they sell are “markedly different in function and design.”
Though our iPads can be great for relaxation, sometimes it’s crucial to use these mobile workhorses for business. Luckily, when there is a lot being asked of you and deadlines are to be met, there are applications that can help save the day.
In today’s video, we reveal our top three must-have applications that will help you get your work done more efficiently. Take care of your documents, get your to-do lists organized and more with these functional apps.
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While Android has a significantly larger user base, iOS has always been the more profitable platform for app developers. That’s expected to change over the next three years, however. One analyst believes that by 2018, Google Play will bring in more revenue than the App Store for the first time ever.
CloudMagic, the best third-party email client for mobile, just got even better thanks to a major new update that’s available right now on Android and iOS. In addition to adding quick filters for things like unread and starred messages, the release brings customizable alert tones, account nicknames, access to spam folders, and lots more.
The FTC came down hard on Apple earlier this year for its lack of parental controls for in-app purchases on iOS, so Apple did what anyone caught red handed would do — they ratted out the competition too.
A week after news of the FTC’s investigation broke, Apple’s SVP of legal, Bruce Sewell sent an email to FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez and Commissioner Julie Brill, linking to a scathing Consumer Affairs report that claimed Google Play kids could spend money like drunken sailors.
Apple has been focusing on improving App Store discoverability as of late, and now it has added a “Best New Updates” section for games, which introduces users to notable updates of top-selling titles.
Prior to this addition, Apple included game updates as part of its curated “Best New Games” section, which resulted in a long list that took ages to scroll through. By separating updates from entirely new games, users can now more easily browse through the list to discover games that they might otherwise miss.
Apple’s constantly evolving set of Apple Store policies cracked down on apps earlier this month that incentivize users to watch crappy video ads for certain rewards. Two weeks later and Apple has already reversed course.
Developers who monetize their apps by offering rewards for sharing to social sites or viewing videos ads were sent packing by Apple’s Review Team, but according to a report from TechCrunch, Apple had a change of heart and is allowing those apps back in the App Store, but there’s a catch.
Apple has the best App Store on the planet. Thousands of developers. Millions of apps. Billions of sales. But no one can find a damn thing.
Since 2008, iOS users have downloaded more than 75 billion apps. How we locate a winner from among the App Store’s 1.2 million apps hasn’t changed much, but Andy Baio thinks Apple could revolutionize the way we discover and consume apps. And he’s got a brilliant concept Apple should borrow.
Having recently clarified its position on virtual currencies in the App Store (hint: Apple doesn’t hate them as much as you thought it did!), we’re starting to see certain iOS apps which deal in Bitcoin being approved for availability in the App Store again.
One of the first is CoinPocket, an app which allows users to send and receive Bitcoin, as well as collect private keys into a single spot and encrypt them. It’s very similar to Blockchain and Coinbase: two Bitcoin wallet apps which were previously given the boot by Apple.
Back in 2008, basketball star LeBron James received a small stake in Beats Electronics in exchange for promoting the company’s headphones. Now that Apple has bought Beats, guess how much James is set to make? You really don’t want to know, but watch our news wrap anyway. The rest of it, including updates on split-screen iPad multitasking and the future of the iPhone 5c. will cheer you up.
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Purchasing media across iTunes accounts can fuel household arguments. Add in parents having to share their Apple IDs and passwords with children, and you’ve got a perfect recipe for irritation. In today’s hands-on video, we’ll give you a look at a new iOS 8 feature called Family Sharing, which remedies these common problems.
Family Sharing lets up to six people share movies, music, TV shows, books and apps purchased from iTunes, iBooks and the App Store. It also offers other useful features, like photo and calendar sharing. See how it all works in the video above.
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When browsing the App Store, it’s easy to get lost in an endless sea of apps. Apple tries to make it easier to find the best apps with a team of editors that handpick the best options in different categories, like productivity and health.
In Europe, Apple now has editors curating seven more categories of the App Store, reports The Guardian. Adding more kinds of apps that are curated puts European App Stores on a closer level to the U.S. and Canada, where every category has human editors.
We’ve been seeing reports on Twitter of the iTunes Store not working, and it does indeed seem that Apple’s cloud servers are acting up. Both the App Store and iTunes Store are having trouble loading for a lot of people.
SAN FRANCISCO — You created an app. You think it’s awesome. Your friends say so too. Something nags at you, though: You have zero reviews, your downloads don’t outnumber your Facebook pals, and you need to make rent.
There’s a fancy name for your problem: “discoverability.” Millions of good apps face it, gathering dust between bogus fart apps and Flappy Bird clones.
“It’s hard to make a living in the App Store,” says Michael Yacavone, founder of Individuate, which makes personal-development apps Ace It! and Affirmable.
But there is definitely money to be made in the App Store, to the tune of $15 billion Apple has paid developers so far. Apple recently vowed to improve discoverability by adding an “explore” tab to the App Store, but whether users will search for new and exciting apps remains to be seen. The basic problem remains for most developers: Nearly everyone is ignoring you. Journalists can help, but you have to know how to deal with them.
Apple could be looking to make the Maps app more of a social experience. TechCrunch reports that Apple has bought Spotsetter, a service that let users search for places based on recommendations from friends.
Spotsetter worked kind of like Foursquare, expect that it pulled from a host of other social networks, including Twitter and Facebook. The startup allegedly had big plans for wearables as well, which could bode well for an imminent iWatch.
Despite pulling various Bitcoin trading apps from the App Store, Apple hasn’t previously made clear its stance on virtual currencies and how it plans to handle them in future.
Following the unveiling of iOS 8 at yesterday’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), the company has issued a revised set of its App Store Review Guidelines, complete with a section specifically dealing with virtual currencies. If we’re interpreting it correctly, it appears that Apple will accept apps for review which deal in the transmission of digital funds — at least to a degree.
Readdle today rolled out its biggest update yet for PDF Expert 5, one of the finest PDF editing apps for iOS. It adds support for continuous scrolling and calculations, improves performance, and makes PDF Expert a universal app — so you only have to buy it once to use it on both iPhone and iPad.
Apple has made a slight but also important update to the way the App Store handles apps that have been refunded by developers to customers.
While you used to be able to request a refund for a paid app and continue getting updates, that is no longer the case. Once a refund has been granted, the customer is unable to get support for the app or download it again.
Controversial cannabis-growing game Weed Firm has been booted out of the App Store.
Essentially Farmville for stoners, the app put you in the role of a marijuana dealer, as you try to grow your business (literally) and stay one step ahead of “thugs and cops.” Somehow making it past Apple’s usually stringent guidelines for adult content, the app had made it to the top of the App Store’s Top Free iPhone games prior to its expulsion.
Apple is finally giving iOS developers the opportunity to provide promotional codes for in-app purchases. EA will be one of the first to take advantage of the new scheme with a Real Racing 3 promotion that will allow players to redeem free in-game gold that would usually cost $1.99.
The most addicting game to ever hit the App Store will make its triumphant return in August. Flappy Bird creator Dong Nguyen tells CNBC that he has a new version in the works, but this time it won’t be as addictive.
Nintendo won’t bring its popular game franchises to iOS, and Apple won’t allow emulators in the App Store. In order to play titles like Super Mario and Zelda on your iPhone, then, you have to look at unofficial alternatives. GBA4iOS was one of the most popular — but after its creators received a DMCA notice from Nintendo this week, it is no more.
Remember Facebook Poke? It’s become nothing more than a faint memory since its introduction in December 2012. But for some reason the iPhone app has stayed on the App Store until now.
Today Facebook decided to do some spring cleaning in the App Store by pulling not only the Poke app, but Facebook Camera as well.
Apple has launched a new section of its iOS App Store, offering a roundup of the past month’s best mobile apps as selected by an Apple editorial team.
The “Best of April” selection is split into two categories: “Great Games” and “Amazing Apps.” These include titles such as Monument Valley, Fantastical for iPad, Duolingo, and Hitman GO.
ComiXology has long been one of my favorite iOS apps, but I’m not a big fan of the latest update, which makes it impossible to purchase comics from within the app.
For the longest time, ComiXology was the easiest and best way to buy comics on a mobile device. Now the app has become solely a comic book reader: You must visit ComiXology’s website to buy new issues. You can still browse comics in the app, and download free ones, but the actual payment part must be done elsewhere.
Why has ComiXology gone all supervillain on us?