Mac App Store - page 3

10 reasons to release your apps outside the Mac App Store

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DevMate
The Mac App Store isn't the only way you should distribute your apps.
Image: MacPaw

Our new App Business section is brought to you by MacPaw, maker of proven Mac apps.

Like death and taxes, distributing your new app through the Mac App Store can seem inevitable. It’s widely considered the easiest way to get the widest exposure for an app, a centralized marketplace for software with a captive audience of buyers.

But ever more developers are looking beyond the Mac App Store (MAS) for distribution options that best serve their app. MacPaw, maker of DevMate, performed an interesting survey of developers to ask if they prefer MAS or another app store alternative, and why.

6 things the Mac App Store can learn from iOS

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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.

We rounded up some of the very best apps for Hacking your Mac [Deals]

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This bundle of apps offers 10 different ways to maximize your Mac's performance.
This bundle of apps offers 10 different ways to maximize your Mac's performance.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Beneath the keyboard of your Mac lies a vast ocean of untapped potential. We’ve assembled some of the best deals on the most powerful apps for drilling deep into those hidden reserves of functionality. From productivity-enhancing programs. to comprehensive hard-drive maintenance and unlocking hidden Mac OS functions, these app bundles are power-packed and priced to move.

How Apple treats Mac App Store developers like second-class citizens

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The world wide web would like you to pay attention.
Photo: Apple

When it comes to the App Store and the Mac App Store, the two software dispensing platforms are not treated equally.

Not only do top 10 Mac App Store apps make a whole lot less than the chart toppers on iOS, but developers are noticing that Apple’s not even giving Mac app developers some of the same critical tools their counterparts enjoy on the App Store.

iTunes 12.1 gives Mac users a sexy new Notification Center widget

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iTunes 12.1 gives Yosemite a new widget. Photo: Buster Hein/Cult of Mac
iTunes 12.1 gives Yosemite a new widget. Photo: Buster Hein/Cult of Mac

It’s been six months since Apple unveiled iTunes 12, the latest version of its multimedia mega-app. Updates since then have been few and far between, but today Apple released the first big one: iTunes 12.1, which introduced a swank new media control widget for Notification Center.

Tweetbot for Mac disappears from the Mac App Store

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Tweetbot for Mac has been pulled from the Mac App Store. Photo: Tapbots
Tweetbot for Mac has been pulled from the Mac App Store. Photo: Tapbots

In 2013, Twitter introduced a new policy that was designed to prevent third-party Twitter clients from gaining too much popularity. The design to the Twitter API basically capped the number of API “tokens” a third-party developer have. Each token is tied to a user, so the effect is that if a third-party Twitter client gets too popular, Twitter will stop allowing new users of that app into the service.

Over the weekend, it appears that Tapbot’s third-party Twitter app, Tweetbot for Mac, finally ran up against its token limit… and as of right now, has been pulled from the Mac App Store.

SimCity: Complete Edition is a glorious, city-building time suck

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Lose yourself in a city of your own making. Photo: Electronic Arts
Lose yourself in a city of your own making. Photo: Electronic Arts

I launched SimCity: Complete Edition last night at around 8 p.m. I played around with my new city, getting a feel for the controls, zoning for residences, commercial ventures and industrial centers.

I zoomed in and out to get up-close and bird’s-eye views of my own private Idaho (well, Squifton, if we’re being literal). I checked out the various data views, gave my city police buildings and power, water and fire departments. I added parks, more residential areas, roads and even created a neighboring city — a sleepy little hamlet that purchases power and water from the main city. Just a quick little foray into a game that I’ve been itching to play.

When I glanced up at the clock, it was three hours later.

Mac App Store gets a visual makeover for Yosemite

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Spot the difference! The Mac App Store has received the OS X Yosemite treatment. Photo: Cult of Mac
Spot the difference! The Mac App Store has received the OS X Yosemite treatment. Photo: Cult of Mac

The public release of OS X Yosemite rolled out three weeks ago, and since then Apple has been gradually bringing all of its own services in line with the look and feel of its new operating system.

Having previously tweaked the iTunes Store and its iWork suite, Apple is now updating the Mac App Store, adding the thinner fonts, simple white backdrop and gray separators synonymous with Yosemite.

As of now, only some tabs feature the newer design, while not everyone is seeing the redesign. Some users have reported not seeing it at all, others are seeing it intermittently, and yet others permanently. You can launch the Mac App Store from Yosemite to see if you currently reflect the update.

The Mac App Store is broken, and developers are sick of it

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You now have to pay more to become an App Store developer. Photo: Apple
The Mac App Store is broken. Photo: Apple

First launched in January 2011, the Mac App Store promised to give developers the same sort of centralized marketplace to sell their apps that had made the iOS App Store such a success. Instead of making developers rich or giving them a better place to market their apps, though, an increasing number of developers are actually leaving the Mac App Store in what Milen Dzhumerov, one of the devopers behind Monodraw, has called a “subtle exodus.”

Why? It all has to do with Apple’s Mac App Store policies.

OS X Yosemite now available as free download in Mac App Store

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yosemiteOSX
Photo: Apple

After announcing new iPads and Macs today, Apple has unleashed OS X Yosemite on the world as a free download in the Mac App Store. Yosemite is a major upgrade to OS X that’s been in developer and public beta for the past several months.

“OS X Yosemite is the most advanced version of OS X we’ve ever built, with a brand new design, amazing Continuity features and powerful versions of the apps you use every day,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering, in a statement. “OS X Yosemite ushers in the future of computing, where your Apple devices all work together seamlessly and magically. It’s something only Apple can do, and it’s available today.”

Before you install Yosemite, make sure your Mac is supported.

Write’s smart toolset makes note-taking easier on your Mac

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Write, the distraction-free note-taking tool that’s been a great success on iOS, is ready to make writing easier on your Mac.

Whether you’re a student, a blogger, a novelist, or simply too forgetful to remember what you need to pack your holiday, Write’s incredibly simple design and clutter-free user interface can make writing a more enjoyable experience. But don’t let its minimal beauty fool you — Write is packed with handy features.

Get great apps and support a cause with The Name Your Own Price Mac Bundle 5.0 [Deals]

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Cult of Mac Deals regularly offers “name your own price” bundles, and we’ve got another here for you that assembles 9 apps and an iOS course that really deliver the goods…and the savings!

These types of bundles are time-limited opportunities to buy a collection of apps for whatever you want to pay! The bundles are exclusively constructed and are made for anyone looking to discover the best apps from around the globe. And The Name Your Own Price Mac Bundle 5.0 is no exception.

Why the Mac App Store is Shangri-La for developers

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Mac App Store
Coding for the Mac App Store could be your ticket to professional bliss.

The iOS App Store gold rush might be played out for all but the luckiest developers, but there’s another part of the Apple empire where coders can find breakout success: the Mac App Store.

“Compared to iOS, it’s definitely easier to have a hit in the Mac App Store,” says Andreas Hegenberg, the creator of successful gesture-based Mac app BetterTouchTool. “I think it’s still pretty easy to develop a Mac App Store app that can feed you very well. But it all depends on how you define a ‘big hit.'”

While games rule the increasingly cluttered roost in the iOS store — with many unimaginative developers looking to get rich quick with yet another Flappy Bird clone — the Mac App Store is home to more pedestrian offerings like accounting software and productivity tools.

The Mac App Store might not mint a new millionaire each day, but the developers we spoke with said writing this type of bread-and-butter software can provide a reliable source of income. Here’s why.

Swift Publisher 3: Easy Page Layout On Your Mac [Deals]

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When an app reaches the Top Ten Grossing List in the “Graphics and Design” category of the Mac App Store, and remains there since its March 2012 launch, there’s a good reason behind it. The app we’re offering this time around through Cult of Mac Deals fits that description…and then some.

Need to quickly lay out documents and get them ready for publishing? Swift Publisher is a page layout and desktop publishing app that is designed to streamline your workflow – and you can have it for just $9.99.

Get Over $600 Worth Of Photography And Design Assets With The SuperStacked Mac Bundle 2.0 [Deals]

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This Cult of Mac Deals is the perfect software stack for any creative. It’s so perfect, you could even call it a “super” stack.

Cult of Mac Deals has assembled $650 worth of creative resources in one massive package, featuring software that is ideal for the designer and photographer. We’ve even planted an app in there that many bloggers and online writers use. And you can get all of these apps – 9 in total – for just $29 during this limited time offer!

Art Text 2: Photoshop For The Non-Technical Designer [Deals]

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One of the best-selling apps in the Mac App Store designer category, Art Text 2 is a layer-based design application that will help you turn text into art. Whether it’s for business or personal needs, you can create logos, web graphics, and buttons – all in professional quality – without the steep learning curve of Photoshop or Illustrator.

And Cult of Mac Deals has it for 54% off the regular price – only $9!