App Store

Apple has been under pressure to let developers redirect users to third-party payment systems instead of their own, but so far the company has been appealing this decision. Now the Dutch regulator is requiring Apple to allow dating apps to use alternative payment methods in the Netherlands.

Apple’s App Store can be a sea of opportunities for many people all over the world. According to a study released in June, the store facilitated $643 billion in billings and sales during 2020, a 24 percent year-over-year increase.

Although there have been a lot of controversies on the App Store recently, there is still good news about it. A Sensor Tower projection reveals that the number of publishers seeing their first $1 million or more in annual net income this year has nearly doubled since 2016.

Microsoft last year had to discard its project to bring the xCloud game streaming platform to iOS as a native app due to App Store guidelines. Now private emails from Microsoft have revealed that the company tried to negotiate with Apple to bring Xbox-exclusive games to the iPhone and iPad.

Apple last month suspended its sales in Turkey due to the economic crisis that led the local currency to crash with high inflation. Although the company has now resumed sales in the country, prices for Apple products have been raised there – and now the same will happen to App Store prices.

The mobile app market is growing more and more each year, and the numbers make this clear. New Sensor Tower research published on Tuesday revealed that users spent $133 billion on apps in 2021, which is 20% more than in 2020. Interestingly, Apple’s App Store continues to generate more revenue than Google Play.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has been investigating antitrust concerns surrounding Apple since 2019. Most recently, it was reported that the DOJ had “accelerated” its investigation amid a growing number of complaints.

Now, the Information reports that one of the focuses of the DOJ antitrust probe into Apple is on the company’s treatment of Roblox.

Apple is in a global fight to protect its App Store business model, and the latest development lands us in Russia. Apple is taking legal action after objecting to a ruling by the country’s Federal Antimonopoly Service that would allow developers to promote alternative payment methods to Apple’s in-app purchases.

A class action lawsuit alleging that Apple has an App Store monopoly has been rejected by a federal court judge, in a 34-page ruling.

Part of the ruling essentially said that the plaintiffs did a poor job in stating their case, but another element potentially puts Apple in a strong position when it comes to defending other antitrust cases against the App Store …

Apple has announced its 2021 App Store Award recipients today, and this year’s list of winners all stand out for enhancing connection and interaction throughout the year. Included in the list of 15 apps and games are LumaFusion, Carrot Weather, Among Us!, and Bumble.

An agreement has finally been reached on the scope of planned European antitrust legislation. It was previously unclear whether or not Apple would be included in the companies targeted, but it has now been confirmed that the definition will be broad enough to include the iPhone maker.

There had been significant disagreements about the appropriate targets for the EU’s planned Digital Markets Act (DMA). Some wanted it to be laser-focused on social networks like Facebook and Twitter, while others wanted it to target the very largest tech companies …

Epic’s battle with Apple, in which both sides claimed victory, is at least partly motivated by the developer’s metaverse ambitions, suggests a new report today. The term was used by Facebook, which even renamed the company to reflect its goals in this area.

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said there’s a race to be the first metaverse company to get a billion users …

Update: Apple has addressed this and said it is standard practice, and that it regularly communicates with developers about it.

Major developers have accused Apple of secretly buying ads for their apps. While that might sound like an odd complaint, they say that the company’s motive is greed, and the effect is to cost them money.

Apple is said to be costing them millions of dollars …

Apple has been facing a huge battle with developers recently, as the company is accused of forcing strict rules on the App Store — the only way to deliver apps to iPhone and iPad users. While the company argues that app sideloading is a bad thing because it helps cybercriminals, macOS has always been based on having third-party apps installed from anywhere. So what is the problem?

In the latest move to get around Apple’s 30% App Store commission, Facebook is launching custom web links for creators to take payments with “Facebook Pay.” As it stands today, it seems the maneuver is allowed via an App Store rules gray area and Facebook is even giving bonuses to creators who use the new option for the holiday quarter.

A major backlash to this week’s Notability subscription announcement has forced the developer of the popular note-taking app to make a U-turn in the way it treats existing purchasers. Some existing owners pointed out that the developer was breaking App Store rules.

The company announced a switch to a subscription model, which is rarely a change that goes down well – but the bigger controversy here was regarding those who had previously purchased the app …

After hearing rumblings about Netlifx working on its gaming service this past summer, the media giant is officially jumping into the space with its first five mobile games. Netflix launched its gaming service exclusively for Android but the company says iOS compatibility is “on the way.”

Indie developer Aaron Pearce recently launched an all-new HomeKit management app called HomeLog. Pearce has developed a suite of apps that improves Apple’s HomeKit platform over the years. The newest tool is designed to make troubleshooting HomeKit issues less frustrating. 9to5Mac recently caught up with Aaron to find out more about HomeLog and solving problems with HomeKit.

About a month ago, Apple began letting users review some built-in apps via App Store review. Now, just after the release of iOS 15.1, the company is opening up Messages, Phone, Photos, and Safari to user’s scrutiny.

The latest Apple antitrust case could see the company face an unspecified fine in Russia. This follows the company failing to meet a September deadline for allowing app developers to tell customers about alternative payment options.

While the potential size of the fine is not specified, the wording implies that it could be significant …

Apple is announcing a trio of updates to the App Store Guidelines today that focuses on giving developers more flexibility for communicating with their customers. One of the changes specifically comes to address Apple’s settlement in a class-action lawsuit from small developers in the US, first announced back in August.