App Store - page 86

Earlier this week, Centrify launched an open beta of the company’s DirectControl for Mobile service. The service, which supports managing iPhones, iPads, and Android devices in business and enterprise settings, currently includes a subset of the features typical in other mobile device management (MDM) systems. Centrify, which is known for providing enterprise integration technologies for OS X as well as various Unix and Linux distributions, plans to maintain the current selection of controls as a free solution when the product emerges from beta while adding further management capabilities to a commercially licensed version.

Most MDM solutions are of the bolted-on variety – they run on a dedicated server or cloud offering that can pull information from enterprise systems like Microsoft’s Active Directory but use a separate management interface and data store for management profiles and other information. Centrify’s DirectControl does offer a cloud management system, but it uses Active Directory itself as the primary interface and data store, an approach that has several advantages including a very minimal learning curve for experienced systems administrators.

Apple has officially responded to the contact sharing debacle that was highlighted by the Path iPhone app last week. After it was discovered that Path secretly uploaded a user’s entire contact database to its own servers, the controversy sparked more discussion about how Apple needs to enforce its user privacy guidelines more to protect customers.

Third-party apps will have to ask for permission to access contact data from a user, according to Apple. The issue will be remedied with an upcoming iOS update.

A week ago, it was discovered that the popular social networking app Path uploads users entire address books to their servers. They’ve since apologized and nuked the data. But Path’s not the only ones doing this: other high profile companies like Twitter are also doing it. And Apple’s letting them.

Not so surprisingly, Congress isn’t liking what it’s hearing about the address book security issue. In fact, House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman and Commerce Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee Chair G.K. Butterfield have written Apple a letter asking some hard questions about how Apple has allowed this to happen, and “whether Apple’s iOS app developer policies and practices may fall short when it comes to protecting the information of iPhone users and their contacts.”

Apple’s iAd hasn’t received much in the way of attention since it’s announcement as part of iOS 4 almost two years ago. The platform was designed as a way for advertisers to create powerful interactive mobile ads and to make it easy for app developers to integrate those ads into their products. Of course, it was also intended to help Apple take a big slice of mobile ad spending.

Despite a big introduction in 2010, iAd quickly fell off almost everyone’s radar. Apple initially set a high barrier of entry by requiring iAd campaigns to commit $1 million. The company later cut that in half and this week lowered the required initial investment to $100,000 – one tenth of its original requirement – something that speaks volumes about the company’s mojo when it comes to selling ads.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that unauthorized iOS apps obtained from the likes of Cydia aren’t as careful with your personal data as those approved by Apple for sale in the App Store. In fact, the opposite is true. Jailbroken iOS apps respect your privacy more than those obtained from the App Store.

Beyond the sheer number of devices sold, one of the biggest ways to Apple and Google try to position themselves as having the top mobile platform is by comparing the number of third-party apps available for users to download. Apple usually takes the number of apps available one step further when comparing iOS to Android by pointing out how many apps take advantage of the iPad’s tablet features such as screen size.

This is one of the reasons that an active and developer community is crucial a mobile platform’s success. Although Android entered the app race after Apple had begun to establish a successful developer community, the platform began to catch up quickly. All that seems to have changed over the past year, with a new report showing iOS developers are now creating three apps for every single new Android app.

Ever wondered how come iOS titles make it into the App Store’s top 25 list? Some iOS developers have been using download bots to purchase their own apps and manipulate the App Store’s top 25 list, according to a new report from Inside Mobile Apps. The software has been in use for over 12 months to fraudulently promote iOS titles, and some marketing firms charge up to $15,000 a time for the service.

Tweetbot is undoubtedly the hottest Twitter client available for iOS right now, and thanks to its arrival on the iPad last week, there are thousands of new users discovering the app for the first time. If you’re one of them, the first thing you’ll want to know is how to enable push notifications.

Push notifications aren’t setup when you first install the app, so you’ll need to do it manually. Here’s how!

Zynga’s latest iOS game Dream Heights received a lot of stick when it was first announced, and there’s no denying that it was all deserved. After all, it is a blatant clone of Tiny Tower, the App Store’s best game of 2011, from a small team of independent developers called NimbleBit.

The title is now available to download from the U.S. App Store, and according to the reviews it’s already received, Zynga employees love it.

Spotify has issued an update to its hugely popular iPhone app that introduces the ability to stream music at an “extreme” 320kbps — the same quality Spotify Premium members enjoy from the Spotify applications for Mac and Windows.

Laaaaaaaaaaadies and Gentlemen, welcome to Friday Night Fights, a new series of weekly deathmatches between two no-mercy brawlers who will fight to the death — or at least agree to disagree — about which is better: Apple or Google, iOS or Android?

After this week’s topic, someone’s going to be spitting teeth. Our question: What’s Better For App Stores, Walled Garden Or Open? Apple vets every app released on the iOS and Mac App Stores, but Google lets anything in, removing apps only if they violate their terms. Which is better for developers and consumers?

In one corner, we have the 900 pound gorilla, Cult of Mac; in the opposite corner, wearing the green trunks, we have the plucky upstart, Cult of Android!

Place your bets, gentlemen! This is going be a bloody one.

One of the best things about Apple’s iPod nano is its radio app that allows you to listen to live radio anytime, anywhere. Unfortunately, we don’t get that feature with the iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad… unless we use third-party apps.

TuneIn Radio allows you to listen live to over 50,000 stations around the world, pause and rewind your favorite shows, share stations and songs on social networks, and a whole lot more. Here’s how to get started.

Microsoft has launched another version of its MSN app for the iPad to cater for U.S. customers, following its debut in Canada, Germany, France, and the U.K. late last month.

Isn’t it frustrating when you’re playing a game on your iPad and your hands keep spoiling the view? That’s the problem with virtual controls on touchscreen devices, but there is a way around this.

Joypad allows you to control a selection of iPad games using your iPhone, so you can enjoy your favorite titles without your hands blocking the view. It features a selection of control pad layouts that are individually tailored to certain games, and you can customize things like the touch radius for each button.

Here’s how to get started with Joypad.

Hackers have once again turned to cracking iTunes accounts to obtain a ton of content paid content and leave you with the bill. Once inside your account, these thieves will steal your store credit and gift cards, and make purchases with your credit card and Paypal information. But is Apple doing enough to stop them?

Apple’s concept of the App Store works well for consumers. Search for whatever apps you want or need and buy or download them with one-click shopping in iTunes of the App Store app on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. That system starts to break down when it comes to iOS devices in the workplace, particularly for companies that create internal apps that need to be rolled out to a large number of users. It can become even more complicated when dealing with employee-owned devices because IT may never see the iPhone or iPads that are being used and therefore need a specific set of apps.

The best option for addressing this need is the concept of an enterprise app store – an app that users can install from a central location on their corporate network that will allow them to peruse a selection of apps developed by their company’s IT department as well as business apps from Apple’s App Store.

Apple’s decision to shun Flash Player for its iOS devices has been well documented over the years. But with the iPhone nearly five years old now, it’s no surprise third-party developers are offering up their own solutions for accessing Flash on our iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads.

One of those developers is Skyfire Labs, which is behind Skyfire for iOS — a web browser that allows you to watch Flash videos without unauthorized jailbreak tweaks. Here’s how to get started with Skyfire.

It seems as if everyone and their uncle are building iPhone apps these days. As a result, the competition is getting fiercer and fiercer by the day, and it’s becoming tougher to stand out amongst the crowd.

That said, there are a ton of apps that just don’t “cut the mustard” and the user experience suffers because of that lack of care and quality. David Sparks, the man behind the popular MacSparky blog, said the following about what he calls “speculative developers”:

If you want to develop apps, take your time and make something awesome. Make it fast. Make it beautiful. Make something you’re proud of. Don’t make 60 crappy apps: Make one really good one.

I couldn’t agree more, but when you’re faced with the haze of substandard apps that claim to be able to deliver the goods, how can a developer get their app noticed — and adopted — over the long-term?

The latest Cult of Mac Deal may have the solution to that problem.

My parents never let me play with them as a kid because they were afraid I’d get shot by a trigger-happy cop, which is perhaps why, to this day, I get a little giddy when I hear or read the words “LAZER TAG,” and feel myself ethereally tugged away — John Carter like — to a distant world where I am a member of the Lazer Team, policing the galaxy for perps who can be non-violently terminated by aiming my ray gun at the conveniently placed sensors strapped to their back, head and torso.

So when I saw that Hasbro has just announced the next update of their Lazer Tag guns — and that these sets actually use an iPhone or iPod touch as an augmented reality display and HUD — I immediately got excited, then disappointed as I remembered my parents wouldn’t let me have one. But wait! I’m an adult now, and as an adult, I can wave around as many plastic toy guns as I want! Hooray!

EA has launched Battlefield 3: Aftershock in the U.S. App Store today, providing first-person shooter players with the opportunity to enjoy online multiplayer gaming for free on their iOS devices. However, it’s not quite the Battlefield 3 release we were expecting.

Apple sent out an interesting message to third-party developers today. iOS devs are now required to submit Retina display screenshots for their iPhone and iPod touch apps to the App Store. All updates to existing apps must also meet the 960×640 resolution requirement.

Not only does this new policy signal the death of 480×320 resolution apps, but it also indicates that the iPhone 3GS may not be around much longer.

Forgetting a password to any service is frustrating, especially if you’re itching to download the latest Angry Birds update. But when it comes to your Apple ID, it’s actually very simple to change or reset your password on your iOS device.

Here’s how to do it.

One of the best accessories you can purchase for your new iPhone is a little device that allows you to control your television and other audio/visual gear from your smartphone. It means you don’t have to search around for that lost remote, get up to change the channel, or keep replacing the batteries in all the remotes already littering your home.

The VooMote Zapper combines a universal remote control with a well designed app that allows you to control all of your equipment in every room using nothing but your iOS device. And it’s available now at Apple retail stores nationwide.

Apple has issued a reminder to developers warning them to not manipulate App Store rankings. Following Apple’s removal of a third-party developer’s collection of 68 copy-cat apps (titles like Temple Jump and Numbers With Friends) from the App Store, the issue of chart scamming has been brought into the light again.

Those handy weather widgets commonly found on Android-powered devices aren’t available to iOS users, thanks to Apple’s tight control over third-party software. But you can find some weather apps in the App Store that will display the current temperature on your home screen using the “app badges” feature built into iOS.

My favorite is called Fahrenheit. Here’s how to get it set up and get the temperature displayed on your home screen.