We’re just one week into 2015, and already the App Store is setting new sales records. Apple today announced that during the first week of January alone, customers around the world spent almost half a billion dollars on apps and in-app purchases, with New Year’s Day 2015 the single biggest day in App Store sales history.
This week, on our maiden episode of 2015: The story of an iOS developer who gave a gift so generous, it went viral; discovering new apps and podcasts on iTunes is an awful experience, but we know how to fix it; plus, how Steve Jobs contributions helped rebuild a struggling Disney…
And stay tuned for an all-new CultCast 2nd Hour, where pro photographer David Hobby shares his favorite tips and tactics for taking great travel photos, his bag-worthy gear, plus his street photography advice will help you not get punched…
Our thanks to lynda.com for sponsoring this episode! Learn virtually any application at your own pace from expert-taught video tutorials at lynda.com.
Full show notes ahead!
Apple Pay is a pretty seamless service for the most part — until you have to restore your iPhone, that is.
Over on the Apple Support Communities forum, a number of users are complaining that they’ve been unable to add credit cards back into Apple Pay after performing a factory restore — despite the fact that doing so should remove their cards completely.
When users try and reload their cards, they receive a message saying, “Could not add card. Try again later or contact your card issuer for more information.”
New York residents may soon be able to pay their collective 8-10 million annual parking tickets using Apple Pay, according to a new report from MarketWatch.
Currently parking tickets can be paid online (with a 2.5% charge), via mail, on in person at a courthouse. The city’s finance department is supposedly looking at change this up, however, and could embrace Apple Pay in the process.
Pumping your gas is about to get a touch quicker, now that Chevron says it’s planning to bring Apple Pay to its gas pumps next year.
Chevron was the only gas station to officially support Apple Pay when it launched in October, but the bad news was you had to go into the store if you wanted to use your iPhone 6 to pay for petrol. However, according to Chevron’s Twitter account, the gas giant is working alongside Cupertino to bring Apple Pay to the pump by early 2015.
Apple Pay is set to arrive in the U.K. during the first half of 2015, according to a recent report from The Telegraph newspaper, which states that Apple is in talks with top banks in the country.
If true, this report backs up what Cult of Mac wrote recently, noting that Apple recently advertised for a new employee to help “drive the roll-out” of mobile payments in Europe and elsewhere.
But there are likely to be a few teething problems along the way.
2014 was an absolutely monumental year for Apple. Haters will hate, but one thing can’t be denied: This is a company that refuses to rest on its laurels.
Under Tim Cook’s leadership, Apple debuted a new product category with the Apple Watch, sold a record number of new iPhones, made the biggest acquisition in its history, and successfully sent its suffering stock price back into the stratosphere.
The company wasn’t without its missteps, but all in all, it’s hard to call 2014 anything short of a blow-away year for Apple.
We know that Eddy Cue has used Apple Pay to buy Frozen toys before, and from December 24 he can take his Disney love to the next level, thanks to the news that the Walt Disney World Resort is set to begin accepting Apple Pay on Christmas Eve.
Initially, payments using the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus will work in the majority of stores, quick service restaurants, bars and ticket sales booths. Locations which use portable payment terminals (such as table service restaurants) will be added later.
A job ad that made a brief appearance on Apple’s website before being taken down has confirmed that Apple Pay is on its way to Europe. The listing called for a London-based intern who would “drive the roll-out” of Apple’s new mobile payment system across Europe, the Middle East, India, and Africa.
Apple Pay made its debut in Major League Baseball just in time for the world series. Now the NBA is about to get its first look at how Apple’s mobile wallet can speed up concession stand lines, as the Orlando Magic plan to be the first team to offer Apple Pay support.
Apple Pay’s list of supporters is continuing to grow this week, as Apple announced this morning that dozens of new banks, retailers, and start-ups have signed up to bring Apple’s mobile wallet to their customers.
The company’s new e-commerce product hasn’t even been out for two full months, but thanks to its aggressive launch, Apple Pay now supports so many credit cards and banks that it covers about 90% of the US credit card purchase volume.
The New York Times reports that Apple Pay is coming to ten new banks today, and starting on Friday, Orlando Magic basketball fans will be able to use Apple Pay at any of the Amway Center retailers and food and beverage stands.
The wallet-free future Apple promised with the iPhone 6 might finally be upon us in 2015, but only if you live in Iowa.
The state’s Department of Transportation says it will be the first state to ever allow citizens to use an official state app that will serve as a drivers license and ID. Iowa’s mobile app will reportedly contain all the same information found on the plastic license in your wallet, plus they’re adding a scannable bar code that links to DOT databases so all your info is up-to-date.
Apple is still trying to get a license for Apple Pay in China, but its new friends at Alibaba are bringing Touch ID payments to the mainstream in China today, with an update to the popular Alipay app that gives iPhone owners the power to make purchases with a fingerprint.
Alipay, which boasts over 300 million users in China, is the e-payment branch of Alibaba which just had the biggest global IPO ever this year. Tim Cook and Alibaba CEO Jack Ma met this year to talk about an Alipay + Apple Pay partnership, and the addition of Touch ID support is a strong sign that Apple’s mobile payments solution could be added in the future.
MasterCard is keeping the Apple Pay party going with a new ad featuring Gwen Stefani who’s been armed with a ‘Surprise launcher’ to blast cardholders with sweet prizes each time they use Apple Pay.
The ad is part of MasterCard’s new Priceless Surprises campaign that rewards customers with everything from handbags and golf clubs, to concert tickets, or a chance to hangout with the No Doubt queen herself. Gwen’s new single “Spark the Fire” is featured in the playful new ad directed by Sophie Muller that also includes a cohort of fashionista minions to help hone her aim.
Check out the full ad below:
In between dessert and the traditional food coma on the couch, Thanksgiving offers everyone a great opportunity to take stock of the past year’s accomplishments.
When it comes to looking back at the previous year, sure you can stew over your failures and missed opportunities, but that’s for losers. And coming off one of Apple’s most successful years in history, Tim Cook is no loser.
So what’s Apple’s CEO going to be thinking about when he sits back in a carbohydrate-induced daze? Here are our best guesses.
NFC payments might be easy, but up until now it’s fairly safe to say that they’ve never been cool in the conventional sense. Hoping to change that perspective is a new TV spot by Chase bank, which shows Apple Pay being used by super-cool indie band Bleachers.
The ad shows the indie band travelling around Los Angeles, buying items with their iPhones. In a sense, it’s a bit similar to Eddy Cue’s recent Apple Pay demo, except instead of being a middle-aged man buying Frozen toys, it’s a rockin’ pop band buying custom guitars, cool haircuts and nachos.
Check out the ad after the jump.
The launch of Apple Pay last month was seen by many as a possible deathblow to Square’s mobile payments service, but CEO Jack Dorsey told CNN today that he doesn’t view Apple Pay as a competitor at all. In fact, Dorsey says his company is open to all forms of payment methods, and they plan to start accepting Apple Pay next year.
Although tech watchers have known about Apple Pay for some time now, for a large percentage of the general public the concept of NFC transactions is still new — and potentially scary.
Hoping to change that perception, Eddy Cue made an appearance on KTLA’s Tech Report yesterday, where he took host Rich DeMuro on a “shopping spree” to show off Apple’s “new way to pay.”
Want to see one of Apple’s top executives buy oatmeal and Frozen toys using his iPhone? Well, now you can.
How big of a success is Apple Pay? Just three weeks after its launch, Apple’s mobile payment system is already a player at Whole Foods, where it represents almost 1 percent of all transactions.
Apple is talking to Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba about bringing Apple Pay to China, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal.
“Right now, I think what we can say is that this is focused on the China market for Apple,” senior Alibaba executive Joseph Tsai is quoted as saying. “We are positive about the potential cooperation, but it depends on the details being worked out.”
Frequent Apple Store shoppers will love the company’s latest credit card partnership with Barclaycard and Visa. Like rewards cards from Amazon and others, you earn points when you spend that add up to free money.
“The Barclaycard Visa with Apple Rewards” card also offers special financing deals for new Apple product purchases.
MXC has been in full damage control mode ever since its partners began blocking Apple Pay at stores, and while the consortium behind CurrentC claims there aren’t any fees for supporting Apple Pay, its partners should think twice before defecting.
In an interview with The Verge, MXC CEO Dekkers Davidson revealed what happens to stores that ignore the Apple Pay ban, stating merchants have to ultimately make the best decision for their businesses, but there are consequences for breaking ranks.
CVS and Rite Aid kicked off the Apple Pay War last week by disabling Apple’s mobile wallet solution from working at stores, even though it was supported at launch, but a team of class action lawyers are helping fanboys fight back by hitting the companies with an antitrust investigation.
Schubert, Jonckheer & Kolbe announced that it is launching an investigation into the conduct of CVS and Rite Aid, and if they violated federal antitrust laws by colluding with one another and other MCX members to boycott competing payment systems at the same time.
The seemingly never-ending saga of Apple vs. CurrentC may come to an end sooner than expected. When CVS and Rite Aid turned off NFC support to block Apple Pay, it became clear that were backing CurrentC, a rival mobile wallet service coming in 2015.
Despite repeatedly denying any sort of enforced Apple Pay ban, MCX, the consortium behind CurrentC, is holding its merchant partners to an exclusivity agreement. The good news is that the agreement is set to expire in less than a year.
A group of banks added support for Apple Pay today, including USAA, PNC Bank, US Bank, Barclaycard and Navy Federal Credit Union.
USAA and PNC had previously said Apple Pay wouldn’t be supported until November 7, but their cards have already started working in Passbook as of this morning.