Apple has finally settled a 2011 lawsuit with parents whose kids spent insane amounts of money on in-app purchases. A group of parents originally sued Apple after their kids raked up enormous iTunes bills on apps that were downloaded for free from the App Store.
Apple has been historically fickle about how it lets marketers and developers track iOS users through apps downloaded from the App Store. After all of the privacy concerns were raised about the UDID device identifier back in 2011, a better solution never presented itself.
Apple eventually introduced its own Advertising Identifier for iOS device tracking purposes, but marketers still favored the unique, permanent nature of the UDID. The UDID worked so well because it was a device-specific identifier that could never be changed. Athough developers were technically banned from using the UDID to track iOS devices more than a year ago, many, many apps still use the deprecated method today.
Apple is reportedly starting to reject apps that use web cookies to track user activity in iOS. Could this mean a reinvigorated push towards the Advertising Identifier again?
Jake Marsh is the designer of the stunning, minimalist iOS weather app, Conditions, which costs just $0.99 on the App Store. But because some people are so lame that they would rather go through the trouble of pirating a good app that they like than give the developer a buck for it, Jake decided to program a special ‘Pirate Mode’ into Conditions, in which users who pirate the app always get a weather report of 666 degrees in which fire and brimstone literally hails down upon them.
The prevailing conditions? “ARRRmageddon.” Absolute genius.
Via: Twitter
Street View is a new $0.99 iOS app from FutureTap that promises to bring Google Street View back to Apple’s Maps app on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Once installed, you’ll be able to access Street View from within Apple Maps with a series of simple taps. It’s not seamless, but it works.
PopCap’s beloved Plants vs. Zombies has today been made available for free in the App Store. The reduction applies to both the iPhone and iPad titles, which were previously priced at $2.99 and $6.99 respectively. If you don’t already have it, it’s well worth adding to your collection.
Twitterrific for iOS has received its first major update since it was overhauled with version 5.0 back in December. In addition to mute filters for users, hashtags, and domains, version 5.1 brings support for new image services, a new font, and a whole stack of improvements. Check out the full list of changes below.
Netflix has today introduced an enhanced player interface for iPad with version 3.0 of its iOS app. The update also brings back the zoom icon so that you can quickly switch between fullscreen and widescreen viewing modes, and better placement of the player controls.
Forget 8-megapixel pictures and HDR — if you want photos that instantly look cool, then it’s time to take a step back… all the way back to the eighties. Camera C64 is a free iPhone app that helps you relive the days when the Commodore C64 was considered cutting-edge technology by delivering authentic 16-color photos that are almost guaranteed to look good.
Dolphin, one of the best and most popular third-party web browsers for iOS, has today been updated with a number of improvements that are sure to quash some of the biggest issues and annoyances users have been experiencing of late. Not only does it fix Evernote text formatting, but it also addresses an issue that caused the save password dialog to appear when it didn’t need to, and more.
EA is today throwing a President’s Day sale that has seen it slashing the prices of its iOS games by up to 90%. Over 55 games are included in the deal — including popular titles like Need for Speed Most Wanted, Mass Effect Infiltrator, and Dead Space 3 — and everything is just $0.99.
We’ve got a complete list of reduced titles below.
Apple has posted two new iPad ads to its official YouTube channel that highlight the device’s expansive app catalog. Called “Alive” and “Together,” the videos use the iPad and the iPad mini to showcase some of the 300,000 apps available through the App Store, including iBooks, GarageBand, iPhoto, FaceTime, TED, and more.
This week’s must-have apps roundup kicks off with Real Racing 3, arguably the most anticipated racing game for iOS to date. Following its announcement last August, it’s finally — slowly but surely — making its way to App Stores worldwide. We also have an awesome new weather app called Haze, the latest game from Chillingo, and more.
The official Dropbox app for iOS has today been updated to add push notifications and an all-new PDF viewer. With version 2.1, users will now receive an alert when a folder has been shared with them. The update is available to download from the App Store now.
Intuit has today released QuickBooks Online for the iPad, a free app that allows QuickBook subscribers to manage their customers, invoices, estimates, and expenses on the go. Intuit’s customers have been increasingly turning to mobile devices to manage their finances, so its new iPad app is sure to be a big hit.
Wunderlist 2 has finally arrived on the iPad today, just under three months after making its debut on the iPhone, Android, Mac, and PC. This update introduces a whole host of new features and functionality, in addition to speed and performance improvements under the hood. And as usual, it’s completely free.
Crowd-funding site Kickstarter can be a fantastic way to make your dream Apple accessory, like the Pebble E-Watch, a reality, and now it’s even easier than ever to help fund and keep track of new projects, thanks to the arrival of the official Kickstarter app for iPhone.
Infinity Blade, the spectacular sword slinger from Epic Games studio ChAIR Entertainment, has gone free for the first time since making its App Store debut back in December 2010. The title, which is available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, has been chosen by Apple as its free App of the Week.
Vimeo — one of the last true alternatives to YouTube left in this crazy digital world — has just acquired Echograph, a nifty app to make animated GIFs, in an attempt to go to head with Twitter’s Vine, an app that deals entirely in six-second video snips.
Rdio — for my money, the best à la carte streaming music subscription service out there — just released a nice update to their iOS app, making it easier (and prettier) than ever to interact with your music.
Realmac Software, the developers behind Clear for iPhone, have been listening to your feedback, and they’ve today release an update that makes the “Edge Swipe” gesture entirely optional. In addition to this, they’re made some iCloud tweaks that promise to “improve how Clear behaves when iCloud misbehaves.”
I’ve been in love with the iPhone for the past five years. I got the original as soon as it went on sale in the U.K. in November 2007, and I’ve had every model Apple has released ever since. My job has given me the opportunity to play with plenty of other devices over the years — including those powered by Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone — but I’ve always remained loyal to the iPhone and iOS.
That was until a couple months ago, when my contract ended and it was time to decide which smartphone I wanted for the next two years. I already have the iPhone 5 — I bought it unlocked when it was launched back in September — and I wanted an Android device to replace the Samsung Galaxy Nexus I broke late last year. So I decided to pick up the new LG Nexus 4.
I was lucky; I didn’t have to wait six weeks for the device to arrive from Google Play. My carrier had plenty in stock, so a unit was delivered to my door the day after I ordered it. I was looking forward to testing it out, but I figured I’d play around with it for a little bit, then switch straight back to my iPhone 5 for everyday use. Like the Galaxy Nexus, I thought the Nexus 4 would be mostly used for work — testing apps and writing the odd tutorial for Cult of Android.
But boy, how wrong was I.
The Pokémon Company just released an official app for Android and iOS called Pokémon TV, which allows you to watch Pokémon episodes on your smartphone or tablet completely free of charge. Although this isn’t the Pokémon game you’ve been waiting for for years, it’s sure to please plenty of Pokémon fans.
British carrier O2 has released a new app for Android and iOS called O2 Tracks, which allows users to listen to the U.K.’s official top 40 singles to their smartphone. It’s available to download now from the App Store and Google Play, and O2 customers can enjoy the service for just £1 ($1.56) per week.
I’ve always been a fan of Twittelator Neue, a clean Twitter client for iPhone that’s super fast and has a unique way of handling pictures in your timeline. However, I never agreed with its pricing policy. The app costs $4.99 upfront, but users had to pay an extra $1.99 per year on top of that for push notifications.
Fortunately, its creators have had a change of heart. With its latest update, Twittelator Neue provides push notifications for free.
This week’s must-have apps roundup kicks off with Mailbox, the best third-party mail client that’s available on iOS. If you haven’t already downloaded your copy and joined the queue, do it as soon as you can. Mailbox is accompanied by AudioBox, a new player for all of your cloud-based music; the latest game from Kairosoft, and more.