App Store - page 71

Apple’s App Store review policy has received a lot of criticism in the past. Often times it rejects apps for a good reason, like if they contain nudity or they’re offensive. But on the odd occasion, its decision to reject a certain app leaves us puzzled. Here’s a good example of that.

Nuskha Labs recently submitted its new app to the App Store. Called Steve Jobs Timeline, it documents the life story of Apple’s co-founder, and includes famous quotes and images. It sports a nice, creative user interface; it’s not offensive, and it doesn’t break Apple’s App Store terms. But the Cupertino company rejected it anyway.

EA’s free Theme Park game for iOS broke down yesterday, and gamers were unable to access the parks they’d spent time building. The company managed to get everything working again, but once the game was back online, users found that all of their progress had been wiped.

The parks they’d build, the achievements they’d earned, and worse, the items they’d bought using in-app purchases were gone.

Each time Apple’s made a significant update to a device this year it’s received a significantly larger screen size or resolution. First the iPad came out with a Retina display along with the MacBook Pro, and now the iPhone 5 has a bigger display as well.

That’s great for your eyeballs, but it also means that the average size of apps is growing too, which may end up costing you more in data fees in the long run.

The violent driving sensation that is Carmageddon makes its debut on iOS today, 15 years after it was first released — and subsequently banned for its twisted mix of automotive killing machines — on Mac and PC. It’s available to download right away from the App Store, and it’s free for today only — so grab it quick.

Sega has turned its hand to vertical jumping games with a brand new title called Sonic Jump that’s coming to the App Store tomorrow. The title looks a lot like Doodle Jump, only it features Sega’s beloved blue hedgehog instead, and rather than being just an endless jumper, you’ll have to beat new and familiar stages in pursuit of the infamous Dr. Eggman.

There are an unlimited number of ways a developer can manage to get their new game rejected by the App Store police. Terry Cavanagh’s free game was rejected for probably the silliest reason you’ve ever heard – he told users that in-app purchases are complete nonsense.

The maker of Super Hexagon submitted his new iOS game, Don’t Look Back, to the App Store a few weeks ago. The game itself is a very basic retro scrolling adventure type game with blocky pixel art. The game is supposed to be free, so in the app description Cavanagh tried to point out to people that they can play Don’t Look Back without having to worry about purchasing items in the game. The game description submitted to Apple read:

It looks like Apple has started rejecting apps which offer Flickr export. More specifically, it is rejecting apps which allow you to authenticate your Flickr account using an in-app browser view.

Why? Because it is possible to navigate away from the authentication page and find a page from which you can buy a Pro Flickr account. This violates rule 11.13, which we last saw when Dropbox-enabled apps were rejected last year.

It often seems that many of Apple’s competitors decide to launch products based upon what Cupertino is rumored to do, hoping to get a head start on Apple. It’s funny how often this fails. Remember when all of Apple’s competitors announced their own “slates” ahead of the 2010 debut of the original iPad? Or how Amazon launched a crappy cloud locker service for MP3s ahead of iTunes Match?

With rumors swirling that Apple is planning on launching its own streaming music service, it seems curious that Microsoft is now choosing to relaunch their own answer to iTunes, the Zune Music Store, under the Xbox brand, while simultaneously introducing their own… wait for it… streaming music service. And it’s coming to iOS.

Kicking off this week’s must-have apps roundup is a brand new Newsstand publication that’s “loosely about technology,” from Instapaper developer Marco Arment. We also have an awesome new email client that turns items in your inbox into tasks and to-dos, a great little iPhone app for remembering recommendations, the ultimate unarchiver, and more.

This week’s must-have apps roundup includes two classic console games that have been reborn on iOS, including Sega’s hugely enjoyable Crazy Taxi, and Acclaim’s 1999 classic Re-Volt — both of which first made their debut on the Dreamcast. It also includes a great little action platformer called Ivy The Kiwi?, a wonderful puzzle game called Girls Like Robots, and more.

Instapaper developer Marco Arment has announced The Magazine for Newsstand, a new publication that’s “loosely about technology, but also gives tech writers a venue to explore other topics that like-minded geeks might find interesting.” The Magazine will get four articles every two weeks, and it costs $1.99 per month to subscribe with a 7-day free trial.

Say what you want about Rovio, that Finnish firm sure knows how to milk a good cow. It’s been nearly three years since Angry Birds made its debut on iOS, and since then we’ve seen a handful of sequels reaching numerous platforms — plus the spin-off, Bad Piggies — Angry Birds plushes and toys, costumes, books, amusement park attractions, snacks, and even an Angry Birds cartoon (coming soon).

Now Rovio is tackling… cookbooks! Announced at the Frankfurt Book Fair today, Bad Piggies’ Best Egg Recipes is a new interactive cookbook packed full of egg recipes that’s available now on the iPad.

Google has updated its official Google+ app for iOS to deliver support for iOS 6 and the iPhone 5’s larger 4-inch display, and to add a number of new features — including the ability to view, post, and comment on Google+ pages, and save images to the camera roll.

The Washington Post’s WP Politics app for the iPad is an excellent resource for anyone interested in United States politics. I spent a few days with this free app and found it to be an excellent tool for tracking and understanding the 2012 election season. While not without its flaws, this app does two critical things exceedingly well. First, it aggregates media and information from a broad range of sources into one tool. Whether you’re looking for the latest news about a particular candidate or economic data from years ago, it’s all here. Second, it organizes and contextualizes the information in a way that helps the casual user to understand it. It classifies news articles by genre, organizes Twitter feeds by source, and breaks candidates down by their stances on the issues.  If you’re looking for an app to help you follow the upcoming election, or politics in general, look no further.

OS X developers are reportedly becoming frustrated with the lengthy delay they must endure to have their applications approved for the Mac App Store. Average wait times have increased to 27 days over the past month, whereas approval for the iOS App Store takes just 7 days on average. Some are blaming the influx of iOS updates for the iPhone 5 and iOS 6, but claim that Apple should be over the worst of it by now.

Sega has announced that arcade classic Crazy Taxi is coming to iOS devices this month. It hasn’t given us a whole lot of information on the game — none at all, in fact — but it’s expected that the title will be a complete port of the original Dreamcast hit, with the original (and awesome!) Offspring soundtrack.

Back in early September, we reported that Acclaim’s classic radio-controller car racer, Re-Volt, was coming to iOS, and today it has landed in the App Store. The title is an exact port of the original game released on the PC and Sega Dreamcast back in 1999, only it’s been visually optimized to look great on Retina display devices, and adapted for the touchscreen.

Re-Volt boasts “fast paced, exciting driving, with explosive weapons and unique track designs [that] deliver a larger than life racing experience like no other.

While the App Store has listed Things as an “amazing app” for iPhone 5 for the past week or so, the app didn’t actually support the new handset’s larger display. But it does now, thanks to a brand new update, which also delivers the ability to create new to-dos using Siri.

It’s pretty much an open secret that I can’t stand Twitter, and about the only thing I really like about Facebook is photo sharing, so I really love Instagram. In many ways, it’s against my better instincts, since I’ve always hated the romanticizing of Polaroid and other low-grade cameras of the 1970s by millennial hipsters… a romanticizing Instagram is pretty much built around.

But Instagram’s a lot more than that, and I think this video by Casey Neistat nicely illustrates why: regardless of what filters you use, Instagram is about sharing your life openly, honestly and without being disingenuous. While Twitter is all bluster and sanctimony, and Facebook is all mindless affirmation, Instagram at its best is about sharing the essence of your life.

There are also some great tips in Casey’s video on how to not be an annoying jackass on Instagram, so that helps too. If you love Instagram, check it out.

Via: Laughing Squid

Apple’s developer guidelines have always had weird caveats that Apple uses to protect the quality fo their own products first. Their newest strategy is to protect the App Store by putting in place a new guideline that might kill any app that promotes other apps. App recommendation apps, like FreeAppADay, and Daily App Dream might soon find themselves banned from the App Store if Apple begins to enforce the new guideline.

The iOS App Store has seen unprecedented success since its launch in 2008. Apple undoubtedly boasts the largest and most vibrant app ecosystem in existence, but the App Store’s success has come at a cost.

Apple’s ‘walled garden’ approach gives the company complete control over which apps are published in the App Store. If an app doesn’t follow Apple’s playbook, it doesn’t get in. You may work for months and months on an app only to get it rejected. Publishing in the App Store can be a huge gamble. But if you get lucky, the payoff can be huge.

Aaron Ash kicked off JailbreakCon with a talk on developing for the App Store vs. Cydia, the alternative storefront for jailbreakers. Ash has an unusual perspective because he has seen incredibly success has a developer in Cydia, and he is also a developer in the App Store.

Kicking off this week’s must-have apps roundup is an awesome new Twitter client that reminds me of the old (and awesome) Tweetie app — before Twitter bought it and ruined it. It’s accompanied by Camera+, which now supports the iPhone 5’s larger display, and comes to the iPad; an awesome new update to Mixel; and more.

FIFA 13 kicks off this week’s must-have games roundup, delivering a much-improved version of everyone’s favorite soccer sim. In addition to new visuals and optimization for the iPhone 5, FIFA 13 finally boasts an online multiplayer mode, allowing you to play against friends and random opponents over the Internet.

We also have Rovio’s latest release, Bad Piggies; a stunning adventure RPG called Lili, a new Monsters Ate My Condo game, and more.

Apple did something unprecedented today.

I’m not talking about Tim Cook’s apology for iOS 6 Maps. While it’s rare, Apple has apologized before, especially recently: see John Browett’s admission that the company had “messed up” when cutting shifts among Retail Employees, and Apple’s public about-face when pulling out of the EPEAT rating system. One of the things that makes Apple great is they’re not afraid to be as harsh on themselves as they are on the competition when they’ve fucked up.

No, what Apple did today is far more uncharacteristic than an apology. They suggested that you use a third-party app instead of their own.

The iPhone 5 has been a massive success for Apple. It’s only been out a week, but it’s already the fastest-selling iPhone in history, racking up 5 million units sold during its first three days of availability. But this isn’t just having a positive affect on Apple’s revenue; it’s also big business for iOS developers, who are seeing massive boosts to their download figures.