Apple today released a new version of its iTunes Connect app for iOS during a demo of new features for the iTunes Connect developer portal at the company’s WWDC 2016 conference.
During its presentation, Apple noted that app review times “have gone way down” and offered a brief overview of changes it made to App Store policies. Apple recently completely revised guidelines to include easier to read language and an overall improved experience.
We learned this week that Apple shipped 74.8 million iPhones globally during the recent holiday quarter, which is just slightly up from the 74.4 million shipped during the same quarter the year prior and just under the 75 million that analysts expected.
Today Strategy Analytics has released new data showing how Apple’s last two years of shipments compare to competitors like Samsung and Huawei. The data also breaks down how Apple’s global smartphone marketshare stacks up to those same competitors.
A day before the announcement of the new iPhones, analytics company Localytics has provided a picture of the iPhone market today. It shows that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus between them account for a full 40% of all iPhones in use, with the iPhone 5s trailing behind at 23.7%.
The same data also backs our report that the iPhone 5c is being discontinued, showing that it accounts for just 8.5% of active iPhones, putting it below the iPhone 4S. This can only add to doubts about whether the often rumored and debunked iPhone 6c (beautiful concept images below) could succeed … Expand Expanding Close
Data from Appsee claims to have identified information regarding the as-yet-unannounced larger iPad Pro, expected to feature a display ranging between 12.3 and 12.9 inches. The app analytics firm says an iPad with identifier ‘iPad6,8’ appeared in its logs with a reported screen resolution of 2732×2048. Internally, the larger iPad models are referred to as J98 and J99. The resolution is especially notable as it was previously spotted within code for iOS 9. For comparison, the current iPad Air 2 has a screen resolution of 2048×1536 with a ‘iPad5,1’ model identifier.
The jump in pixels for both axis is substantial although somewhat expected given the screen will also be increasing in area by about 80%. AppSee says its logs indicate the device has been used to open several apps from the App Store. The company has also identified ‘iPhone 8,1’ and ‘iPhone8,2’ devices corresponding to the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus.
With more than 3,000 apps for the Apple Watch already on the App Store for Apple’s new device, two major analytics platforms today announced support for Apple Watch apps through their respective SDKs.
Yahoo shared that its Mobile Developer Suite has added support for Apple Watch app analytics for developers at no cost through Flurry Analytics, the platform it acquired almost a year ago. By implementing Yahoo’s analytics system, developers of Apple Watch apps gain access to several metrics… Expand Expanding Close
Apple has started offering registered developers the chance to sign-up and test its upcoming App Analytics feature first announced last year at WWDC. Developers have been awaiting the service since it was announced following Apple’s acquisition of TestFlight (and FlightPath), a service which offered its own analytics features. Expand Expanding Close
Google Analytics for iOS has received an update this evening that bumps it to version 1.2.0. The update includes a handful of features, such as new comparison capabilities and some small interface tweaks.
After announcing its first dev con last December, Yahoo today kicked off its mobile developer conference in San Francisco where it unveiled five new products for mobile app makers. As suspected, Yahoo revealed the latest tools from Flurry, the mobile ad and analytics firm it acquired last July.
This includes Flurry Analytics Explorer, a new dashboard for the Flurry Analytics system which it says enables developers to discover more insights with than before, and Flurry Pulse, which lets app builders “share app signals with partners using their existing Flurry SDK implementations and the click of a button.” Expand Expanding Close
Update 1/20: App Store Distribution Data updated today revealing iOS 8 adoption has climbed 1% from its previous measure at 68%. iOS 8 adoption now measures at 69% of active devices according to App Store data captured January 19th. The rate increase is in line with MixPanel’s increase to roughly 71% now up from roughly 70% toward the start of the month.
Apple has shared its latest App Store Distribution Data on iOS 8 adoption to report that some version of its current mobile operating system is installed on 68% of iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches. Apple tracks the rate of iOS 8 adoption based on devices accessing the App Store with the current data being captured on January 5th, 2015. Expand Expanding Close
A suite of new MSN apps for iOS isn’t the only news out of Microsoft this morning. HockeyApp, the popular beta app distribution and analytics service, announced today that it has been acquired by Microsoft. HockeyApp supports several software platforms including iOS, OS X, Android, and Microsoft’s Windows Phone.
Following an announcement earlier this year that Apple was teaming up with IBM to deliver a number of enterprise solutions, today Apple has officially announced the first wave of iOS apps being released through the partnership. As part of IBM’s “MobileFirst for iOS,” Apple and IBM today announced 10 new apps designed specifically for businesses including banking, retail, insurance, financial services, telecommunications and for governments and airlines.
“This is a big step for iPhone and iPad in the enterprise, and we can’t wait to see the exciting new ways organizations will put iOS devices to work,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The business world has gone mobile, and Apple and IBM are bringing together the world’s best technology with the smartest data and analytics to help businesses redefine how work gets done.”
The apps launching today through the partnership include Plan Flight and Passenger+ for the travel industry, Advise & Grow and Trusted Advice for the banking and financial industries, Retention (insurance), Case Advice and Incident Awarefor government, Sales Assist and Pick & Pack for retail, and Expert Tech for telecommunications industries. Apple notes that the apps offer customizable experiences and are “managed and upgraded via cloud services from IBM specifically for iOS devices.”
In addition to the new apps, which Apple described in more detail in its press release below, Apple noted other services that will go hand-in-hand with the apps. Those include integration with IBM’s Mobile Platform and Enterprise solutions as well as AppleCare for the Enterprise, Apple’s new business specific tech support service introduced as part of the IBM deal.
Yahoo announced today that it will be hosting its first ever developer conference, The Yahoo Mobile Developer Conference, early next year in February. Yahoo confirmed it plans to use the event to unveil a new suite of developer tools for mobile apps that will “help developers better understand their users and improve, grow and monetize their apps.”
Today, Americans spend more time on their smartphones than watching TV – making the mobile experience, and the job of mobile developers, more important than ever. Join us as we announce a suite of tools that will help mobile developers better understand their users and improve, grow and monetize their apps… Breakout sessions will help developers solve some of the biggest issues they’re facing in today’s crowded app market.
Yahoo didn’t give many clues regarding what exactly those tools will include, but it did say that VP of Flurry products, the mobile analytics and advertising company that it acquired earlier this year, will appear at the event with a “State of Mobile address.” It’s likely we’ll see the latest solutions from the Flurry team since joining Yahoo. Currently the company offers analytics services for tracking app performance and a mobile app advertising platform for both advertisers and publishers.
Developers and others interested in learning more about The Yahoo Mobile Developer Conference scheduled for Feb. 19, 2015 in San Francisco can sign up here for updates.
New data released by mobile analytics firm MixPanel (via TechCrunch) has revealed a trend in adoption rates of the 4.7-inch iPhone versus the 5.5-inch model. According to the report, the smaller model appears to be outperforming the larger one is deliveries today, and by no small margin. While the larger model has claimed about .30% of hits in MixPanel’s survey, the smaller version has achieved an impressive 2.46%.
However, that doesn’t necessarily mean the 4.7-inch version is outselling its counterpart by such a large gap, if at all. It’s entirely possible (though unlikely) that more of the larger version have been sold or ordered overall, but weren’t available for delivery or in retail stores today. Of course, this makes a lot of sense given the ongoing reports of extremely limited iPhone 6 Plus supplies both in retail stores and online, even during the pre-order phase.
Google has added yet another official application to its iOS App Store portfolio: Google Analytics. Analytics is Google’s popular service that allows website owners to manage and view data such as page views, demographics, and the technologies users utilize to access the website. The iPhone app also has the neat Real Time reports feature that allows website owners to view how many people are on the website at the current time. Google launched an optimized version of the Analytics app last year on Android and debuted a related AdWords app on iOS just last week. Like all Google apps, the Analytics program is on the the App Store for free.
Last week, we revealed Apple’s decision to drop Google Maps in iOS 6 in exchange for its own in-house solution branded simply as “Maps.” At the time, we told you many versions of iOS 6 have been floating around Apple’s campus, which indicated Apple is likely on track for a mid-June unveiling at this year’s World Wide Developers Conference. Shortly after, references to an upcoming iOS 6 beta were found in the code strings of the iCloud.com beta website.
One app developer informed us today that it has recently noticed users running iOS 6 using its app. The developer observed the “iOS6” string when collecting the OS version from analytics software. It has not been able to trace exactly when the iOS 6 users started appearing, but it was sometime over the past week. Other developers that we spoke to began seeing hits in late April. There is a good chance that this means Apple is amidst iOS 6 compatibility testing with higher-profile applications from the App Store. The process of next-generation versions of iOS appearing in developer usage logs occurred last year too.
Although Apple’s new Maps app and its 3D mode will likely be pushed as a major feature of iOS 6, we noted previously that anyone anticipating major home screen changes or Android-style widgets will likely be disappointed. Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal reported Apple was preparing to unveil an upgrade to iCloud at WWDC that would include new sharing and commenting features for photos, as well as video syncing capabilities that will likely be the Video Stream feature we told you about last year. Expand Expanding Close
