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Reddit plagued with 1-star App Store reviews over API debacle as users search for 0-star button

Reddit

Despite site-stopping protests by mods and users, Reddit leadership chose to brute force its way through any reasonable way of continuing third-party app support. Instead, the company hopes its luxury-priced API will be its secret shortcut to an overvalued IPO. As a result, Reddit’s official iOS app is being torpedo’d in the App Store.

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Here’s why Apple’s latest effort to bring games to macOS is a big deal

Apple and games | Game Mode | macOS Sonoma lets developers port Windows games to the Mac | Game Porting Tool

Although Apple has always tried to sell the idea that its devices are great for gaming, the company’s platforms lack many popular console-level titles – partly because Apple has super-restrictive App Store guidelines. In recent years, however, Apple has been trying to change this – and the latest effort to bring games to macOS is a big deal.

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Former App Store director criticizes review process, blames Phil Schiller for app rejections

Apple App Store

Phillip Shoemaker is a former App Store director who was responsible for leading app approvals until he left the company in 2016. Since then, Shoemaker has publicly criticized Apple for its strict App Store rules. In a new interview with MobileGamer.biz, the executive – now the CEO of Identity.com – said that the App Store guidelines are tricky and blamed Phil Schiller for rejecting many apps.

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Fake ‘Trezor Wallet’ Bitcoin app reaches the top of iOS App Store search results [U]

Fake 'Trezor Wallet' Bitcoin app reaches the top of iOS App Store search results

One of Apple’s key arguments in favor of making the App Store the only way to download apps on iOS is the app review process, which ensures that users are not exposed to scams. Even so, some of these apps bypass the App Store guidelines without being noticed. That’s the case with a fake Trezor Wallet app, which leads users to believe that it’s an official app for managing Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

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Apple threatened to remove Damus from App Store for letting users tip each other with Bitcoin

Apple threatened to remove Damus from App Store for letting users tip each other with bitcoin

Damus is the first iPhone app for the Nostr social network, which is based on a decentralized platform and is supported by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. After being removed from the Chinese App Store earlier this year, Damus was almost banned worldwide by Apple – but this time for a different reason. That’s because the company wasn’t happy with a feature that let users tip each other using Bitcoin.

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iOS 17 beta has no sideloading, but Craig Federighi says Apple might comply with EU

Apple App Store sideloading iOS

Apple has come under scrutiny as governments around the world, especially the European Union, accuse the company of anti-competitive practices because of the App Store and iOS not allowing users to install apps from other sources. A report last year revealed that Apple was working on allowing sideloading with iOS 17, but it didn’t happen.

However, Apple’s vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi has said that the company might comply with the EU in its decisions on sideloading.

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Apple shares its first ‘App Store Transparency Report’ with data on app rejections, gov requests, more

Apple may keep track of everything you tap while browsing the App Store

Earlier this week, Apple shared an in-depth look at how the App Store helped prevent fraud and protect developers and customers alike. Now, the company has shared more details in what it’s calling the “2022 App Store Transparency Report.” This report offers granular information on app removals and appeals, developer account terminations, government requests for app takedowns, and more.

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UK antitrust case against Apple fails again; one more appeal possible

Antitrust case against Apple | 'No' slide from Apple keynote

A UK antitrust case against Apple has once again been thrown out, after an appeal tribunal ruled that the original decision was correct – that the UK’s competition watchdog had missed a legal deadline.

The ruling stands despite the fact that two Apple App Store policies were found to be anticompetitive, and even though the tribunal appeared to agree that its own decision was likely to have “undesirable or unfortunate results” …

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Elon Musk and Spotify’s CEO team up against Apple’s ‘absurd’ App Store rules

Tim Cook and Elon Musk

Both Spotify and Elon Musk have previously spoken out against Apple’s App Store guidelines in the past. In a new exchange on Twitter this weekend, Musk and Spotify CEO Daniel Ek again questioned Apple’s guidelines, with Ek referring to them as “absurd” and Musk saying they present a “serious scaling problem.”

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Apple VP talks about App Store and teases ‘new ways to connect with Apple’ ahead of WWDC

Apple VP talks about App Store and teases 'new ways to connect with Apple' ahead of WWDC

Susan Prescott became known for her role as vice president of developer relations at Apple. Over the past few years, she has appeared during some of the company’s keynotes. In an interview with The Independent, Prescott discussed the importance of the App Store and even teased “new ways to connect with Apple” coming at WWDC 2023.

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Apple discloses number of monthly active users for the App Store in Europe

In order to comply with the European Digital Services Act, Apple has been forced to reveal the number of monthly active users for the App Store in Europe, across iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS.

The company said the iOS App Store has 101 million users in Europe, whereas iPadOS has 23 million. The Mac App Store has 6 million, the tvOS App Store has 1 million, and the watchOS App Store has under 1 million. The disclosure was first spotted by iGeneration.

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Apple will be subject to Digital Services Act, affects App Store recommendations and ads

Digital Services Act | App Store recommendations

The European Union has now confirmed that Apple is one of 19 tech giants to be subject to the Digital Services Act. Specifically, the online safety and transparency legislation will apply to the App Store.

Apple has four months to comply, which will likely require changes to App Store recommendations and ads – though it looks like pre-installed iPhone apps won’t be affected …

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Exclusive: iOS 16 has new hidden system to restrict specific features based on the user’s location

exclusive: iOS 16 has new hidden system to restrict specific features based on the user%E2%80%99s location

You can use an iPhone or iPad almost anywhere in the world, but some iOS features are only available in specific places. In some cases, these restrictions are related to local regulations (such as FaceTime not being available in the UAE). 9to5Mac has now learned that Apple has been testing a new, more modern system hidden in iOS 16 to restrict features based on the user’s location.

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Spotify says Apple’s DMA compliance must include these changes

Apple EU third-party app stores

As European Union officials work on the implementation of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) that formally went into effect last fall, a stakeholder workshop was held today by the European Commission to get input on “app store related provisions.” Spotify was one of the panelists and it shared three changes it feels Apple must be forced to make in the EU.

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