SAN FRANCISCO — The Game Developers Conference is an odd beast, less a trade show and more a topical conference that caters to the folks actually making the games you while away the hours with on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac, plus that console under your TV.
Cult of Mac will be on the scene when a gaming tribe of 23,000 comes to town — that’s about the population of Poughkeepsie, N.Y. — and here’s what you can expect.
One week after seeding the first beta of OS X Mavericks 10.9.3 Apple has released a second beta build of the update to developers this afternoon.
The last beta added support for a full range of Retina scaling modes for 4K monitors, but release notes for the second beta are light on details of new features – if there are any at all. However, it does ask developers to focus on graphics drivers and audio.
OS X 10.9.3 build 13D17 is available for devs in the Mac Dev Center or via the Mac App Store.
Apple has released a fifth beta build of iOS 7.1 to developers this morning, two weeks after dropping the last iOS 7.1 beta was seeded.
iOS 7.1 beta 5 is available to developers in the Dev Center or via an OTA update for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. Like last time, Apple has also released a new beta for Apple TV as well as XCode 5.1.
The release notes only mention the addition of new natural-sounding Siri voice for English (Australia), English (United Kingdom), Japanese, and Chinese (Mandarin – China). We’ll update you on any other new changes once we get it downloaded on our devices. Feel free to yell at us on Twitter (@cultofmac) if you come across anything yourself.
Here are the download links:
Apple has reportedly seeded its fourth iOS 7.1 beta build to testing partners ahead of a possible developer release tomorrow. The update is said to include “various fixes” for keyboard issues and problems with the Contacts app, as well as some more changes to the user interface inside the Phone app.
Apple released the second beta build OS X 10.9.2 to developers today, nearly a month after the first beta was released. Developers can grab Build 13C39 from the Mac Dev Center, or by running a software update if you’re already running the first beta.
The seed notes don’t list any new features, but ask devs to focus on Mail, Messages, graphics drives, VoiceOver, VPN and SMB2. The last beta added FaceTime over audio to the Messages and FaceTime apps. Apple also seeded the first beta of Safari 6.1.2 to developers that looks like it’s mostly filled with bug fixes.
Source: Apple
Apple has just posted its iOS 7 Tech Talks videos online for streaming by information-hungry developers. The videos show the full sessions of the roving, mini-WWDC sessions that have been taking place throughout the world since October.
Apple seeded the second beta of iOS 7.1 to developers nearly a month after 7.1 beta 1 was released. Once again, Apple’s beta doesn’t contain any major new features but there are a couple useful tweaks that you’ll enjoy hidden among all the bug fixes, performance improvements and speedier animations.
Here are the five biggest changes Apple made to iOS 7.1 today:
Following last week’s first beta of OS X 10.9.1, Apple has seeded a new version of the beta – Build 13B35 – to developers this afternoon.
The new build of OS X 10.9.1 packs a couple of bug fixes for Gmail integration in the OS X Mail app. There are also some fixes for an emoji bug and improvements to Safari’s sharing capabilities. Developers can grab the new beta from the Mac Dev Center.
Apple also released second beta builds of Safari 6.1.1 and Safari 7.0.1 along with some firmware updates for the AirPort Extreme and AirPort Time Capsule base stations.
Source: Apple
Isn’t it frustrating when you spend your whole weekend trying to reach the top of the Game Center leaderboard in your favorite game just to find that the top spot has already been claimed by a cheat, whose score couldn’t possibly be beaten by playing the game properly?
Unfortunately, it’s a common problem because Game Center has long been far too easy to hack. But Apple has finally done something about it. Developers now have the power to delete fake Game Center scores and block gamers who persistently cheat.
Would you pay for your favorite app more than once? App Store developers are betting that you will.
When Apple unleashes iOS 7 on September 18th, hundreds of thousands of apps will be revamped for the new operating system in the days and weeks to come.
Each major 1.0 release of iOS marks an opportunity for app developers to go back to the drawing board. And with its radically new design language and hundreds of new APIs, devs are seeing iOS 7 as not only a clean slate, but a chance to earn more money off their existing apps.
Apple’s new 64-bit A7 processor promises to make the iPhone 5s one of the fastest smartphones the world has ever seen, and with its launch day looming a mere four days away, Apple is making sure developers get their 64-bit apps submitted in time for launch.
A new note was posted in the Apple Developer Center this afternoon alerting developers that they can submit 64-bit apps for iOS 7 starting today:
Apple seeded a the latest beta of OS X 10.8.5 to developers this afternoon with Build 12F36. Devs can pick up the update from the Developer Center or Mac App Store.
The latest beta build comes more than a month after Apple’s last beta for OS X Mountain Lion. The seed notes asks developers to focus on Wi-fi, Graphics, Wake From Sleep, PDF viewing, and Mobile Device Management. Developers will also find a new beta of Safari 6.1 in the Mac Dev Center that’s focused towards testing extensions for compatibility with Safari 6.1.
Source: Apple
Apple has released the sixth beta build of OS X Mavericks to developers this afternoon. The update comes a full two weeks after the release of the fifth beta, which brought iBooks to the Mac along with a new version of iPhoto.
Developers can download the new beta build by checking for software updates in the Mac App Store, or directly from the Mac Dev Center. OS X Mavericks is scheduled to release later this fall.
We weren’t expecting Apple to drop a new iOS 7 beta so soon, but Apple just dropped iOS 7 beta 6 in our laps this late Thursday afternoon. Developers can download the new beta build from the Dev Center or as an OTA update.
Once we dive into the beta we’ll let you know if there are any big changes, but it looks like it’s mostly just a fix for an issue with iTunes in the Cloud.
Here are the direct download links:
Almost half of the top 50 apps on iPad are unavailable or have not been optimized for competing devices that run Google’s Android operating system. That’s according to a new report from Canalys, which believes Google should be doing more to encourage top developers to build high-quality tablet apps for its platform.
Apple just sent developers an email stating all developer program services are finally back online.
The developer center went down on July 18th, which prevented developers from accessing documentation need to code apps for iOS and OS X, as well as beta builds for Apple’s platforms.
A Turkish security researcher by the name of Ibrahim Balic came forward shortly after the outage and claimed responsibility as the intruder that breached the Dev Center’s database. No personal data was stolen from users, but Apple decided the breach warranted a complete rebuild of the backend.
There’s always some scumbag who is willing to try to take advantage of a bad situation. Take Apple’s prolonged outage of the Apple Developer Center, for example. It’s a bad situation for everyone — Apple and developers alike — which is why, of course, someone’s now launched a phishing attack to try to trick people into thinking the Developer Center is back up.
Apple is expected to seed its third iOS 7 beta to carriers and registered developers on Monday, July 8, according to “trusted sources” familiar with its plans. If the date is accurate, it suggests the Cupertino company is planning to release iOS 7 betas in two-week intervals.
Apple is expected to seed its second iOS 7 beta to developers today, two weeks after it released the first during the Worldwide Developers Conference, according to carrier sources. The update it expected to fix bugs that were present in the first beta, and address things like performance and battery life. We may even see some more new features.
This somewhat blurry image of a game controller built by Logitech is believed to be one of the first Apple-approved controllers for iOS 7 that will join the “Made for iPhone” program. It’s built for the iPhone 5, and it’s been designed to meet Apple’s new guidelines for Mac and iOS game controllers.
iAd has not been a big hit for Apple. Although the service was launched with a lot of fanfare about ads that you truly want to play around with and unheard-of levels of engagement, iAds hasn’t really taken off.
Part of the issue was Apple’s strategy: they focused on targeting large companies and demanded they make huge minimum buys-in. There was no dipping a toe in iAd: you either didn’t use it at all, or plunged right into your neck for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Apple’s waffled on that before, allowing ad developers to start hocking their own apps on the iAd network starting in 2010. Today, however, Apple has added an iAd Workbench, making it even easier (and way, way cheaper) for developers to advertise with the network.
Apple announced during its WWDC keynote that iOS 7 will finally bring support for third-party game controllers, and the Cupertino company has followed that up with a new set of guidelines which detail a standard for iOS and OS X game controllers.
The document is designed to ensure all game developers are working with the same specifications, so no matter who your favorite title was built by, it should be compatible with your controller.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Top developers at an AltWWDC panel conference gathered to openly discuss Apple’s keynote announcements on iOS 7, Mac Pro, and Mac OS X. The overriding feeling from the main panel is that while many are happy about iOS changes, most are disappointed with the lack of focus on actual news of tools for developers.
In the words of Apple itself, iOS 7 is the biggest change to their mobile operating system since the introduction of the original iPhone back in 2007. It’s more functional then ever, it’s prettier than ever: it’s the very definition of digital design purified and clarified down to the very basics of form merged with function.
Understandably, that means that many people are tempted to install it on their devices, either by forking over $99 for an Apple developer account or paying five or ten bucks to someone online to register your UDID for you.
We know it’s hard to wait, but you really shouldn’t do it. Here’s why.
How much interest is there in Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference?
Enough to stage an alternative free five-day conference with over 40 speakers and hands-on labs that WWDC attendees may want to check out for all the topics Apple isn’t likely to cover. For the second year running, AltWWDC will be hosting the have-nots (as in have no WWDC tickets) for a gathering cloned from the official conference.
Just a few blocks from Moscone Center at the San Francisco State downtown campus, devs from around the world will be hanging out and helping each other out. There will be a volunteer lab to tackle things like crash debugging as well as talks on game development and “marketing you won’t hate.”
Around 1,500 people have signed up, meaning, yeah, even free/freewheeling AltWWDC is technically “sold out.” No worries: if you don’t have a ticket, as long as there’s room to plant your laptop, you’re in.
Cult of Mac talked to Rob Elkin, a London-based software engineer and one of the four founders of AltWWDC about what constitutes an “alt” keynote breakfast, talks Apple doesn’t want you to hear and sponsors.
