After removing Parler from the App Store back in January, Apple has reportedly decided to allow the app to come back. According to a new report from CNN, Apple has approved Parler’s latest attempt to return to the App Store follow improvements to the moderation system…
Expand Expanding Close
Developer Kosta Eleftheriou has developed a knack for finding App Store scams over the last few months. And the latest one he’s exposed is quite interesting. The app disguises itself as a kids’ game but in reality, it’s an online casino that bypasses Apple’s in-app purchase system and appears to be scamming users out of unknown sums.
Expand Expanding Close
Apple has shared a Newsroom post today featuring four Canadian App Store developers as well as highlighting the growth that the platform has seen in the country over the last year.
Expand Expanding Close
At the end of last week, it was reported that Apple had refused to send a witness to a senate hearing on the state of app store policy and industry competition. Representatives from the US Senate Judiciary Subcommittee said that Apple had “abruptly declared” it would not provide a witness, and that lack of participation was unacceptable.
However, Apple says that this is inaccurate and Apple had simply asked for more time to arrange scheduling matters. The company will in fact be sending chief compliance officer Kyle Andeer to the proceedings.
Expand Expanding Close
Internal documents released as part of the Epic Games lawsuit reveal an Apple anti-fraud engineer suggesting that App Store checks were grossly inadequate.
Epic cited two particularly damning quotes from Eric Friedman, head of the company’s Fraud Engineering Algorithms and Risk unit, in internal documents …
Expand Expanding Close
FlickType and Fleksy founder Kosta Eleftheriou has been pretty busy over the past few months exposing scam iOS apps, some of them bringing in millions of dollars of revenue. The latest of these is a VPN app that is promoting itself as “recommended by Apple” and which is estimated to be earning a million dollars a month.
Eleftheriou highlights six eye-opening aspects of the app, which not only made it through Apple’s vetting process, but was given significant visibility in the App Store thanks to the number of (fake) reviews …
Expand Expanding Close
The UK government’s introduction of digital taxes on companies like Apple and Google could provoke a new trade war between the US and UK.
The digital taxes apply to online products sold within the UK such as App Store purchases, and have been estimated to total of almost a billion dollars a year …
Expand Expanding Close
Earlier today, we shared a report about the record spend on apps during the pandemic, and now a Sensor Tower research shows that iPhone users really have been spending more than ever in the App Store ecosystem. iPhone users in the US spent an average of $138 on apps in 2020, which is 38% more than in 2019.
Expand Expanding Close
The pandemic saw a record spend on apps last year, and App Annie reports that this has continued into the first quarter of this year.
The analytics firm says that demand for entertainment during lockdown saw developers enjoy the biggest quarter since records began…
Expand Expanding Close
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced today that it’s going to launch a COVID passport for test results and vaccine certificates for the iPhone in mid-April, reports Reuters.
Expand Expanding Close
An Arizona app store antitrust bill has been officially withdrawn, following lobbying by Apple and Google. The bill would have allowed developers in the state to bypass app store payment systems, and thus avoid the 15% or 30% commission the companies charge.
The bill was narrowly passed in the Arizona House of Representatives, but a planned vote in the state Senate did not take place, and it now appears that the bill is dead …
Expand Expanding Close
Update: Apple’s System Status website now indicates that services are back to normal.
Apple has updated its System Status webpage this afternoon to note that a variety of its services are experiencing issues and downtime today. The company says the App Store may be “slow or unavailable” for some users, while other services such as iCloud Mail and iMessage are also down.
Expand Expanding Close
While you wait for the Apple Arcade original Fantasian, by the Final Fantasy’s creator, Square Enix has brought Final Fantasy VIII Remastered to the iPhone and the iPad for the first time ever.
Expand Expanding Close
A new report from The Information this morning highlights that Apple is hosting a number of apps on the App Store made by a Chinese paramilitary group that’s been blacklisted by the US government. Apple says that it’s complying with US law but the news comes as the company is facing more pressure to cut any possible ties to abuse and genocide against the Uyghur Muslim people in the Xinjiang region.
Expand Expanding Close
Apple has responded to an Australian antitrust complaint by claiming that it is already possible for iOS developers to bypass the App Store.
The company says developers can use the web to sell services like subscriptions. Amusingly, the company goes on to suggest that progressive web applications are a viable alternative to iOS apps …
Expand Expanding Close
Apple has been accused of doing some kind of backroom deal to prevent a vote on an Arizona App Store bill that was scheduled to happen yesterday. The vote failed to happen, despite being listed as the first item on yesterday’s Arizona State Senate agenda.
Had the bill passed, it would have made it legal in the state for developers to bypass the app stores of both Apple and Google …
Expand Expanding Close
Researchers at Avast discovered a total of 204 fleeceware apps with over a billion downloads and over $400 million in revenue on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. This comes as Apple faces increased scrutiny over scam apps in the App Store.
Expand Expanding Close
The Epic Games versus Apple dispute is not the David versus Goliath battle the game developer wants people to believe, said the Cupertino company: It is instead a battle of two Goliaths.
Apple asked an Australian court to rule against a trial in the country, arguing that Epic agreed to terms that clearly state that any legal challenges need to be made in California …
Expand Expanding Close
Apple’s executive responsible for the App Store developer relations has retired after two decades at the company, according to a new report by Bloomberg. The role is being handed over to a veteran Apple marketing executive.
Expand Expanding Close
Apple has defended the App Store app review process following formal complaints lodged by Epic Games and other developers to the Australian antitrust watchdog.
In addition to complaining about Apple’s 30% cut, Epic had told the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) that the app review process could delay the launch and update of apps; apps could be rejected by Apple without proper cause; and that it was hard to engage with the company when this happened …
Expand Expanding Close
Last month, we saw FlickType developer Kosta Eleftheriou take to Twitter to call out App Store scams with some reportedly lasting years and making millions of dollars. He later shared a detailed thread on how some developers abuse and game the App Store with fake ratings and reviews. Now Eleftheriou has filed a lawsuit with the claim that “Apple systematically flexes its monopoly muscle against potential competition through the App Store,” has breached its contract with developers, and more.
Expand Expanding Close
The developer behind the Twitter client Aviary is launching a new app today. Vinyls is a minimalist app that displays a spinning vinyl when playing a song, and it’s built for Apple Music subscribers.
Expand Expanding Close
Google has copied Apple’s 15% commission level for smaller developers in the App Store, offering almost exactly the same deal in the Play Store.
However, the way Google has done it is actually fairer, and is how Apple should have implemented the program in the first place …
Expand Expanding Close
Apple announced the App Store Small Business Program last year, which allows small developers to pay a reduced commission for each sale made through the App Store. While it may seem like the company is giving up a significant amount of money, new estimates from analyst firm Sensor Tower show that Apple’s revenue is expected to decrease by only 5% with the program.
Expand Expanding Close