App Store

2020 saw a record App Store spend as coronavirus lockdowns saw people forced to seek more at-home entertainment, according to analytics data. With less time spent with family, and fewer entertainment options outside the home, more time has been spent using apps.

The holidays alone have seen consumers so far spend an estimated $407M on iOS and Android apps, some 34% up on the same period in 2019 …

While 2020 was all about social distancing and staying at home, there was a controversial app promoting secret private parties during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thankfully, the iOS app was removed from the App Store this week.

We reported yesterday that eligible developers were notified by Apple about the App Store Small Business Program going live imminently. According to some developers, Apple is already charging a lower commission on App Store sales.

Apple is in the process of purging “thousands of video game apps” from the App Store, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal. This comes as China cracks down on unlicensed games in the country, but the removals extend beyond the gaming category in some cases.

Eligible developers are now beginning to receive their App Store Small Business Program confirmation emails from Apple after submitting their applications earlier in the month.

The iPhone maker launched the program to help it fend off antitrust pressure, by halving the commission rate on the apps sold by most developers from 30% to 15% …

Apple has rolled out its new iOS app privacy labels (the nutrition label equivalent for apps) for both first-party and third-party apps. Read along for how to check iOS app privacy details for apps in the App Store as well as those that come preloaded on iPhone and iPad to fully understand how your information is being used.

The Coalition for App Fairness was formed back in September by founding members Epic Games, Spotify, Tile, and more. The goal is to draw attention to their issues with Apple’s App Store practices to create change. In a big development, major US news publishers including The New York Times, NPR, ESPN, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, and many more have joined the coalition to push against what the coalition calls the “Apple tax.”

We’ve known for some time that Apple along with the other tech giants have been on the European Commission’s “hit list” of companies it wants to regulate more tightly. Now, new legislation has been proposed in the EU that could mean serious changes to how Apple runs the App Store and its preinstalled, first-party apps.

Apple has made a handful of privacy announcements today. The company is rolling out new ‘App Privacy’ labels in the App Store, providing a more detailed and easy to read view of app privacy practices. It has also refreshed its Privacy webpage with new details and updated its privacy policy. Here is all of the information on today’s changes.

Apple and Google are both cracking down on applications that integrate the X-Mode Social tracking software. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, Apple has informed developers that they have two weeks to remove X-Mode’s trackers from their applications.

WhatsApp shared criticism for Apple’s new app privacy label requirement today, saying they are unfair for two reasons. Now Apple has addressed arguably the biggest issue raised by detailing what it will be doing with privacy disclosures for its own apps.

A new report from App Annie today highlights some of the mobile app trends of 2020. TikTok has booted Facebook from its reign as the most-downloaded app while iOS and Android downloads are expected to hit 130 billion with global spending forecasted to hit $112 billion this year.

The Tripadvisor app has been pulled from Apple’s App Store, along with 104 other apps. The Chinese government said that this was part of a ‘clean up’ of the Internet – though it has likely been done for political reasons.

Apple has also sent an email to Chinese games developers who have not yet provided proof of approval from the government, warning them that their apps will be removed on January 1 …

Widgets have become a mainstream hit and are only limited by the imagination of those developing them (okay and a few rules from Apple). Now a new app from Aaron Pearce called Barter brings some great functionality to the developer community to easily keep track of metrics with App Store sales widgets on iPhone and iPad.

Apple this week officially announced its 2020 App Store Best award winners, recognizing outstanding apps and games for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and Mac. This year, Apple also the winners with a physical award. Here’s what it looks like in the real world.

Apple will begin requiring developers to provide more privacy details about their apps starting December 8, as we reported here last month. While this feature is not yet available to users, developers can already submit their privacy reports to the App Store.

Earlier this year at WWDC 2020, Apple announced a major change to its in-app purchases system that would let users share in-app paid content with the family. This option is now officially available for developers and users running iOS 14 and macOS Big Sur.

Apple today announced the winners of the 2020 App Store Best award, which recognizes outstanding apps and games for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and Mac. The company also shared its traditional list of the most popular apps of 2020.

Just before Thanksgiving, Apple made the big move to cut its App Store commission for all developers earning under $1 million annually from 30% to 15%. We expected that would account for the vast majority of devs and now a new report says that is indeed the case with just 2% of Apple developers allegedly earning more than seven figures a year. Another interesting finding is that most of the developers earning more than $1 million earn less than $2.5 million. Read on for the full report.