App Store

Although the Mac has its own App Store, it’s not exactly as popular as the iOS App Store since Mac users can install apps from third-party sources. And while some developers trust their apps to the App Store, Apple’s platform lets them down in some ways. This time, developers of the Kaleidoscope app wrote a letter complaining about App Store bundles and the lack of paid app upgrades.

Today, Substack has launched its first-ever iOS app for readers and writers. The app makes content more accessible to readers and aims to further direct the relationship between readers and authors. As users increasingly consume content on mobile devices, this app sounds like the perfect way to do just that.

Many iOS apps sell your location data to data brokers, despite Apple’s privacy policies and clampdowns, says a new report today.

It says that while both Apple and Google have cracked down on one sneaky approach used by companies that buy and sell user data, a simple workaround is in widespread use …

Apple has written a letter arguing that the change it has offered in the Dutch App Store complies with the law, despite that fact that the antitrust regulator has rejected the proposal as ‘not serious.’

The latest development follows the European Union suggesting that Apple was happy to pay fines rather than properly comply with antitrust rules …

Apple in 2020 announced a new App Store Small Business Program, which allows developers to qualify for a commission rate of 15% if they earn up to $1 million. However, Apple had been rejecting developers who transferred apps from one account to another – which is fortunately no longer the case.

Worldwide consumer spending in mobile apps reached an all-time high in 2021. Data from Sensor Tower shows that App Store users spent more than double the amount of money on subscription services that Google Play users did. 

Brazil’s Carnival starts this Saturday. Although the traditional parties in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are not expected until April, due to COVID-19 cases rising, Apple is celebrating this holiday by promoting Apple Music playlists and games available on the App Store.

Apple doesn’t care about the fact that it is regularly being fined €5M ($5.7M) by Dutch antitrust regulators, and would rather pay the fines than comply with the law, it is claimed.

The accusation was leveled by the European Union’s competition regulator Margrethe Vestager, after Apple was fined for the fifth time …

After Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled in the Epic v. Apple case that the Cupertino company must allow App Store devs to redirect users to other payment systems last year, Paddle announced what it called the industry’s “first alternative in-App Purchasing system for iOS.”

Even though Apple hasn’t changed App Store policies in these past five months, Paddle’s CEO is now saying the company signed up 1,500 developers with over $1 billion in volume for his rival payment system.

Apple has been fined for the fifth time over the App Store regulation controversy in the Netherlands. The country’s antitrust watchdog is charging the Cupertino company over $5.7 million again – for the fifth week in a row – over the lack of third-party payment options for dating apps subscriptions.

Update, Feb 22: Apple removed Authenticator’s copycat apps from the App Store.

Another day, another complaint about the App Store review process. This time, 2FA app Authenticator by 2Stable is facing copycats from multiple scammers. Not only the app is being copied, but scammers are charging subscriptions up to $335/year if you forget to cancel the weekly in-app purchases, raising questions about Apple’s long-flawed App Store review process.

A description of the Coinbase App Store policy makes very clear the disproportionate power Apple holds over the tech sector, argues a new piece today.

The company’s CEO says that whatever Apple wants, it gets – which doesn’t exactly help Apple’s antitrust argument that its App Store is simply one platform…

One of the biggest antitrust issues facing Apple has been around its monopoly on the iOS app market. One proposed solution has been to allow competing app stores, while another has been for Apple to allow sideloading of iOS apps in exactly the same way it does on Macs.

Apple argues that sideloading would be dangerous, opening up the iPhone to malware and scam apps – but Jason Snell has put forward an interesting argument that it could make iOS apps better, rather than worse …

The new head of the federal broadband administration has revealed that part of his role will extend to reviewing competitiveness in the mobile app ecosystem, adding yet another source of antitrust pressure to Apple’s App Store.

This reflects an executive order from President Biden stating that ‘it is the policy of my Administration to enforce the antitrust laws to combat the excessive concentration of industry, the abuses of market power, and the harmful effects of monopoly’…

Earlier today we reported that Apple was fined $5.6 million for not complying with a new regulation in the Netherlands that forces tech companies to let dating apps offer alternative payment methods. Now another Dutch group has joined the fight against the App Store, claiming that Apple charges high commissions from developers.

Apple has been hit with its fourth fine of $5.6 million for failing to comply with new App Store payment regulations in the Netherlands. In a statement, the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets says that the “revised conditions that Apple has imposed on dating-app providers are unreasonable, and create an unnecessary barrier.”

Developers reacted with astonishment and anger at Apple’s 27% commission policy as a minimal form of compliance with a new antitrust law regarding the App Store.

One leading developer described the move as ‘vile,’ while another said Apple is deliberately ensuring it would cost developers more to opt-out of Apple’s payment system than it would to remain within it …

Despite Apple’s intense lobbying efforts, the Open App Markets Act has officially passed out of the Senate Judiciary committee today. The advancement of the Open Markets Act out of committee comes after the committee passed the American Choice and Innovation Online Act just two weeks ago.

WWDC21 Scholar and iOS developer Richard Qi is releasing today ‘Log’, a clever way for iPhone users to manage multiple job applications.

South Korea has stated that it is still not satisfied with Apple’s App Store plans to comply with a new antitrust law requiring developers to be able to choose third-party payment platforms.

The regulator has also expressed concern at Google’s plans, which include just a 4% reduction in the company’s app store commission if a developer uses a different payment processor …