Apple has announced today that developers will be required to provide new privacy details to users in the App Store starting December 8. These privacy “nutrition labels” were first introduced at WWDC over the summer, with Apple saying the goal is to better inform consumers of the privacy practices of individual applications.
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Apple announced today that the App Store prices in Brazil, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Russia, and South Africa will be increased in the next days. Price changes affect the apps and in-app purchases available, but Apple doesn’t say if services like Apple Music and iCloud subscription will also have the price readjusted.
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Epic Games has stepped up its rhetoric against Apple, claiming that the App Store contract is illegal and that Apple’s view of what is reasonable is “crazy and misguided.”
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney yesterday tweeted his view on the dispute …
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Back in 2016, Apple let Nintendo offer Super Mario Run for pre-order via the App Store as the app was featured during the iPhone 7 keynote. Then, in 2017, the company made this feature available to all developers. As of today, developers can offer apps for pre-order on the App Store up to 180 days before the release date.
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Before Epic Games’ battle with Apple over App Store rules, the new email service and iOS app HEY fought with the company about the same issues including in-app purchases. In a new report from The Verge today, ProtonMail’s CEO has come forward and shared his account of working with Apple over the last few years, comparing the company’s business practices to “Mafia extortion.”
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Microsoft is out today with an update to its app store that features 10 new policies to “promote choice, fairness and innovation.” While detailing the changes, the company took a shot at Apple over its App Store rules. Notably, the move sees Microsoft align with the Coalition for App Fairness that’s leading the Apple antitrust charge.
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Sensor Tower last week estimated Q3 App Store revenue at $19B, up 31% year-on-year. App Annie is now out with its own data and estimates a somewhat more conservative 20% growth to $18B.
Both agree on two key points, however …
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The former Apple App Store head told the congressional antitrust committee that the Cupertino company uses its convoluted rules ‘as a weapon against competitors.’ He cited Apple Arcade as evidence of this, the company allowing its own subscription gaming service when it bans things like Xbox Game Pass.
Former App Store director Phil Shoemaker said that Apple creates ‘arbitrary’ rules which allow it to block or hinder unwanted competitors to its own apps and services …
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Apple’s App Store revenue grew 31% year-on-year in Q3, climbing from $14.5B last year to $19B this year, according to Sensor Tower analytics data.
Google Play revenue grew even faster, with 33.8% growth, but still only managed a little over half of Apple’s numbers at $10.3B …
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Draft European Union legislation raises the possibility that pre-installed Apple apps might be banned in Europe. Instead, consumers would be offered the option of installing them, creating a more level playing field between Apple and third-party developers offering competing apps.
The Digital Services Act also proposes to apply limits to the powers of ‘gatekeeper platforms’ like Apple’s App Store …
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Apple has refreshed its App Store marketing tools for developers today with the ability to create custom assets and links including new QR codes and short links.
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Apple is today responding to increasing antitrust pressure with an App Store PR blitz. This includes a complete revamp of its main App Store page, a new page promoting the benefits of the App Store to developers, new messaging, and a new program for developers of streaming video apps.
The response begins on Apple’s homepage, with a large banner at the top pointing visitors to the new App Store page. The headline message is ‘The apps you love from a place you can trust’ …
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A number of big developers who object to Apple’s App Store policies have jointly formed the Coalition for App Fairness, a non-profit intended to coordinate efforts to do battle with Apple. Founding members include Epic Games, Spotify and Tile, each of which is involved in high-profile disputes with the iPhone maker.
It will add to the antitrust pressure faced by Apple as the coalition accuses the Cupertino company of ‘taxing consumers’ and ‘crushing innovation’ …
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A series of iOS and Android scam apps identified by security researchers managed to rack up a total of 2.4M downloads and make $500k thanks to promotion on TikTok and Instagram. They came to light after a report by a child …
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Tech venture capitalist Fred Wilson – who invested in companies like Twitter, Tumblr, Kickstarter and Etsy – says that he is strongly opposed to the ‘monopolies’ Apple and Google have on the sale of mobile apps …
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Following the announcement that Apple will release software updates to the public on Wednesday, the company is now accepting apps compatible with iOS 14, iPadOS 14, watchOS 7, and tvOS 14 on the App Store.
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Following the complaints of several developers over the last months, Apple today announced some changes to the App Store Review Guidelines regarding streaming game platforms. However, it doesn’t seem that other companies have approved these changes, at least this is what Microsoft says.
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Apple has announced a variety of changes to the App Store Review Guidelines today after multiple major App Store controversies over the last several months. The new guidelines and updates relate to areas like in-app purchases, streaming game services, and personal lending applications.
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At WWDC this year, Apple announced a variety of new ways for developers to test StoreKit functionality in Xcode and iOS 14. In a new post on the Apple Developer website, Apple informs developers that the enhancements to sandbox testing are widely available.
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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerbeg has said that Apple’s App Store ‘deserves scrutiny’ when asked whether he considered it a monopoly which deserves to face antitrust action by governments.
He declined to answer the question directly, but did strongly hint that he agrees …
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Just over a week after Apple terminated the App Store account used by Fortnite, Epic Games is asking a court to stop Apple’s “retaliation.” As reported by Reuters, Epic Games has filed for a preliminary injunction seeking to have Fortnite put back on the App Store.
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While we’ve been following the dispute between Apple and Epic Games, Japanese developers have now expressed concerns about the App Store’s business model regarding Apple’s 30% commission and also how the company treats third-party apps. As the gaming market in Japan is extremely strong, the local government may soon take action against the Cupertino-based company.
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As more apps are switching to subscription models, Apple is reminding developers that they will have access to new App Store subscription offer codes later this year. These codes will allow developers to offer special deals for app subscriptions, including free or discounted prices for auto-renewable subscriptions.
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The coronavirus crisis may have been very bad news for the economy as a whole, but Apple says that the iOS app economy has been thriving, creating 300,000 new US jobs since April 2019 – and the pandemic boosting rather than hurting that progress.
The company says that iOS apps now support 2.1 million US jobs, notably on the East and West coasts, but with significant numbers in the majority of states…
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