Apple hopes third-party developers will ramp up app development related to Apple Intelligence. Photo: Apple
Hoping to spur innovative software development, Apple plans a strategic move in the artificial intelligence space by allowing third-party developers to access its AI models, according to a new report.
Applications for the fifth Apple Entrepreneur Camp are now open. And it will include in-person sessions for the first time. Photo: Apple
Apple just opened applications for its fifth annual Entrepreneur Camp, and for the first time since it started in 2019, it will feature in-person sessions, Apple Developer said Tuesday. Until now it’s been all-virtual, mainly due to COVID-19 pandemic precautions.
Apple called the camp “a one-on-one, product-focused technology lab designed to empower underrepresented founders and developers, elevate their app-driven businesses and build dynamic communities.”
The EU's Digital Markets Act causes plenty of headaches for Apple. Photo: European Commission
Apple is making changes to its App Store policies in the European Union to comply with the Digital Markets Act. It’s essentially easing linking rules for developers, so they can send customers elsewhere than the App Store for purchases. And it’s attaching new fees for sales that result from the links.
More developers seem to say the honeymoon is over with the service, launched in 2019. Photo: Apple
Frustrated game developers continue to vent about working on Apple Arcade titles, in a new report citing anonymous sources. In the story, a follow-up to one from earlier this year that noted “the smell of death around the service,” devs complain about poor communication with Apple, slow payouts, and big problems working on Vision Pro games.
The opinions expressed in the new story aren’t entirely negative, but they paint a pretty ugly portrait of Apple Arcade from some developers’ perspectives.
BenQ says these displays are easy on the tired eyes and challenged postures of coders. Photo: BenQ
If you’re a software developer or frequently find yourself hip-deep in code for some other reason, BenQ just released five new computer displays just for you. It called its new RD Series “the world’s first line of monitors custom crafted to meet the unique and extensive needs of programmers.”
The displays use versions of BenQ’s Fine-Coated Panel plus anti-glare and anti-reflective properties to enable long coding sessions.
Devs can easily find programming tailored to their time zone and language. Photo: Apple
The new Meet with Apple Experts program helps Apple developers easily find and join workshops, labs and one-on-one consultations to help them build great apps, Apple said Tuesday.
The new dedicated resource builds on other programs for developers, incorporating their programming.
Apple said Wednesday that the App Store makes a lot of money for developers. And they keep almost all of it. Photo: Apple
An independent study found App Store developers generated $1.1 trillion in total billings and sales last year as part of the system’s robust year-over-year growth of 29%, Apple said Wednesday.
More than 90% of the money went to developers, without any commission paid to Apple, the company said.
Developers are getting a lot more options for app pricing. Photo: Apple
Apple said Tuesday the App Store is undergoing “the most comprehensive upgrade to pricing capabilities” since its launch, allowing prices to be set as low as 29 cents and as high as $10,000.
It will start offering developers 700 new price points to apply to the apps they sell, plus new tools to make international selling easier to manage.
This year’s Swift Student Challenge winners include (left to right) Josh Tint, Jones Mays II and Angelina Tsuboi. Their coding helps their communities. Photo: Apple
Apple showcased three Swift Student Challenge winners Friday — out of 350 total — who solve problems in their communities with their coding skills.
The three teens were all first-time participants in the annual app-coding competition for young developers using Swift Playgrounds. The challenge takes place at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference.
WWDC Bingo is back ahead of next week’s Apple Worldwide Developers Conference. The crew behind the Flighty flight-tracking app put together the contest, which doubles as a survey about what participants expect during Monday’s WWDC22 keynote.
Unlike your granddad’s bingo, where something like five correct numbers in a row constitutes a win, WWDC Bingo serves up 74 possible outcomes to vote on. Contestants strive to achieve the highest percentage of correct answers.
And both the biggest winner and the biggest loser get prizes, sort of.
The Apple Design Awards recognize apps in six categories. Photo: Apple
With its Worldwide Developers Conference coming up, Apple revealed the finalists Tuesday for this year’s Apple Design Awards.
The Apple Design Awards, to be bestowed at WWDC22 next week, showcase apps with outstanding design, innovation, ingenuity and technical achievement, the company said.
Developers can connect with Apple staff and other attendees in Digital Lounges. Photo: Apple
Ahead of Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference next week, the company has opened registration for its Digital Lounges. The virtual spaces let developers and other WWDC22 attendees connect with Apple engineers and designers as well as other conference-goers.
WWDC goes virtual again this year. Does that mean no April product launch event? Photo: Apple
Apple will kick off this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference on June 7. And, for the second year running, this will be an all-virtual event, the company said Tuesday.
The WWDC festivities will run through that week, offering what Apple calls “unique insight into the future of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS.”
Apple’s Transporter app is designed to make uploading apps to Apple Store Connect a breeze. Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac
Apple posted a Transporter application to the Mac App Store to make it easier for creators to send content to the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Books or the iTunes Store.
Previously, this was a Java-based command-line tool, so an app should be much more user friendly.
It’s going to take dozens of people to replace Jony Ive. Fortunately, Apple is hiring them. Photo: Apple
Jony Ive told the world in June he’s ready to stop being Apple’s Chief Design Officer but it seems likely he told his employers months before that. New research shows Apple went on a hiring spree in its design department early this year.
At the same time, the company has apparently been following a general “fewer suits, more hoodies” hiring strategy.
iPhone app development can be very profitable, and Apple has a new program to help more women get in the business. Photo: Apple
Since the iOS App Store launched in 2008, Apple has paid developers $120 billion. And more than a quarter of that came in the past year alone, according to the iPhone maker.
To increase diversity in software developers making all that money, Apple today opened the first of what will be quarterly Entrepreneur Camps for female-founded app development companies.
AltConf 2018 is the unofficial rival to Apple’s WWDC. Photo: AltConf
Tim Cook won’t be at AltConf 2018, but then attendees of this alternative Apple developer conference will pay a wee bit less. The official WWDC is $1,599, while AltConf is free.
It's basically a free app development course! Photo: Apple
Each year, the Worldwide Developers Conference offers a golden opportunity for developers looking for an inside scoop on making the most of Apple’s technology. Luckily, you don’t need to attend to gain all that knowledge: Apple just made the 100-plus WWDC 2017 developer sessions available online.
Anyone can watch the videos for free — and even search a massive database of full WWDC session transcripts.
iOS 10.2 brings new wallpapers to iPhone 7. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
The third beta build of iOS 10.2 is now available to developers, just a week after Apple released the last update.
iOS 10.2 beta 3 is accompanied by the third betas for macOS Sierra 10.12.2 and tvOS 10.1. The previous versions of the beta updates added support for dozens of new emoji, an SOS feature and much more.
Apple Watch apps were conspicuous in their absence at this week's Apple event. Photo: Apple
At this week’s “Let us loop you in” keynote, Apple revealed a major shift in its smartwatch strategy. Tim Cook tried to dress it up by announcing new Apple Watch bands and a price drop, but the most significant aspect was what he did not say: There was no mention of third-party Watch apps.
After Monday’s keynote, Apple updated its website with a new marketing proposition that represents a tacit acknowledgment that, right now, Apple Watch is only good for three things: notifications, fitness and health.
What happened to the idea that there is an app for everything?
The Mac App Store could use some support. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
This is a guest post by Karthik Suroju, a digital marketer at CloudMagic.
The iOS App Store is a one-stop destination for everything consumers need on the iPhone and iPad. However, that’s not the case with the Mac App Store. At the beginning of January 2016, there were 1,234,267 apps for iPhones, 662,984 for iPads and a mere 27,011 for Macs.
Apple’s analytics tools are invaluable to developers who want to gain better insight into who is downloading their apps and how well they’ll be monetized. They’ve previously been available to iOS and Mac developers, but tvOS devs were second-class citizens, with no analytics tools to draw on.
Now Apple is finally making its App Analytics dashboard available to Apple TV devs as well.
Time to find a great programmer. Photo: Graham Bower
My friends, family and even complete strangers are constantly asking me how to get their million-dollar app idea in the App Store.
This is always a shocker for me because, after countless hours of hard work over the past two years, my app is barely breaking even.
But I can offer one solid piece of advice for anybody hoping to turn a clever idea into a world-beating app: Find yourself an amazing developer and hold on tight.
Apple has updated its Developer website to advise designers on how best to create iOS 7 optimized apps.
iOS 7 brought radical changes to Apple’s mobile OS when it was released in September 2013. In December, Apple announced that all new apps submitted to the App Store must be optimized for iOS 7 by February 1 — and this new tutorial helps explain just how this should be done.
Although some of the content has previously been available to access at Apple’s Developer website, a number of new documents address iOS 7 specifically. Some require users to be registered iOS developers, while others are available for public access.