Apple has been steadily improving the tvOS App Store experience for customers and developers on the new Apple TV, and today it’s continuing by turning on support for app previews. Developers can create app previews, which are videos showing the app in action beyond just screenshots, to show customers how their apps work before they download or purchase the app.
John Gruber surprised podcast listeners today by getting Apple’s own Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi on The Talk Show to discuss a variety of topics behind Apple. Since Tim Cook took leadership at Apple, it hasn’t been unheard of for Apple execs to appear on Gruber’s show. The first occurrence was last June when Phil Schiller met John Gruber on stage during WWDC to discuss Apple’s recent announcements and decisions over the past few years. This marks the second time that Federighi has been on the The Talk Show, and Cue’s first.
In between a fashion show and album debut at his super confusing Madison Square Garden event yesterday, Kanye West also found some time to take the wraps off his upcoming video game dubbed “Only One”.
Data from App Annie suggests that global mobile app revenue will hit $50B this year, and $101B by 2020. Total annual downloads will rise from 111B last year to 284B by 2020.
Apple’s iOS is set to retain its store leadership by gross revenue over the five-year period, while Google Play and third-party Android stores will expand their lead measured in downloads due to wider proliferation of devices.
The forecast was made a month after Apple announced a new record for App Store sales, hitting over $1.1B revenue in just two weeks of the holiday season.
App Annie suggests that China will overtake the U.S. in app revenue in the first half of this year, and cites good evidence for this …
iDevices, a company that makes many popular iPhone connected household products, today announced that it’s selling its iGrill and Kitchen Thermometer brands to Weber, a longtime leader manufacturing grills and grilling accessories. The two product lines include Bluetooth, smartphone-controlled thermometer, grilling, and cooking accessories and companion apps.
In what Bloomberg describes as ‘a 90-minute interview peppered with expletives,’ Russia’s new Internet advisor has said that he wants to force Apple and Google to pay more taxes.
German Klimenko is pushing to raise taxes on U.S. companies to help level the playing field for Russian competitors such as Yandex and Mail.ru […]
Bloomberg says that he has an interesting ally in this aim …
A list of App Store and iTunes services are currently down preventing users from processing downloads, making purchases or in some cases even streaming their music from iTunes in the Cloud. Apple’s system status currently (as of 10:52AM EST) lists App Store, Apple TV, iBooks Store, iTunes in the Cloud, iTunes Match, iTunes Store, Mac App Store, and the Volume Purchase Program as potentially being unavailable for some users.
When Nintendo first announced that it would finally be launching an iPhone game, it’s safe to say, many of we children of the 90’s got a little excited. Sadly, excitement turned to bemusement once the company revealed it would be launching a weird game called Miitomo, which wasn’t exactly a game, but rather a social network.
Following its disappointing Q4 results, Nintendo has confirmed that its second title would include a “very familiar character”, and won’t be another social network attempt. It did, however, stop short of confirming exactly which character we’re going to see.
Michael Sayman, known for creating the iOS game 4 Snaps, shared a story today on what it was like growing up in the world of iOS development at such a young age. After his first app’s major success at the age of 13, an app based on his Club Penguin blog, Sayman soon gained to media attention and began to travel the world sharing his story. In the profile, he delves into the irony of being paid to travel and tell this personal story on success, all the while his parents were struggling financially at home.
Sayamn also explains how he became the primary bill-payer for the household and what that was like for a teen in school.
Google has finally launched a full-fledged iOS app for users of its AdWords advertising service. The AdWords app arrives today as the first official iOS app for the service and it’s available for both iPhone and iPad users now.
Apple today announced on its Developer Portal that its making two new lower price tiers available for developers in Canada and New Zealand. Developers in those countries can now offer paid apps and in-app purchases at $0.99 CAD and $0.99 NZD. These new options will allow for developers to offer more affordable apps and in-app purchases to users in these countries.
Delveries by Junecloud has received major updates today for both their iOS and Mac applications. For the unitiated, Deliveries is an all-in-one package tracker for both iOS and Mac. Allowing the user to track multiple packages from various couriers, the app is perfect for anyone who doesn’t want to have to jump between different delivery company sites.
According to a new report out of app analytics company App Annie, Apple’s trend of bringing in more revenue via its App Store than Google does via the Play Store continued in 2015. Google, however, continued to see far more app downloads than Apple…
Apple today released a brand new app for iOS devices called Music Memos that allows songwriters to quickly and easily record audio and develop song ideas.
Apple’s press release for the new app notes that Music Memos was inspired by the fact that many musicians have long used the iOS Voice Memos app as a way of quickly capturing ideas in audio on their iPhones and iPads:
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December is always one of Apple’s biggest months of the year thanks to the influx of new devices people receive as gifts during the holiday season. The company often reports its highest device sales during this month, and as you can figure, the more people who are using iOS devices, the more people who are downloading apps from the App Store. App Store analytics company Sensor Tower has today shared its figures for the month of December 2015, and it was another record-setting month for Apple. Sensor Tower says that revenue for games in the App Store during December was nearly $1 billion.
Users of Insteon’s connected home automation products will now be able to control their Sonos speakers directly from Insteon hardware and the company’s iOS app. The feature comes thanks to a new integration with Sonos that the company announced today at CES 2016.
With the integration, users will be able to control their Sonos speakers from the Insteon wall keypads, handheld remotes and sensors, as well as the company’s Hub app for iPhone and iPad. Instead offered some examples of how you can sync your Sonos speakers and music with lighting scenes and more:
Through this integration, music can now play a part in custom Insteon lighting scenes so that while the lights slowly fade on in the morning, gentle music resonates throughout the home and the coffee starts brewing. Alternatively, at dusk, the lights could fade on while users arrive home to their favorite dinner prep playlist.
You’ll also be able to make adjustments by assigning specific functions for Sonos (like volume up and down, for example) to the Insteon wall keypad. Sonos owners can easily control their speakers as they walk in and out of rooms or when they simply do not want the hassle of dealing with an app.
“It’s easy for homeowners to replace normal wall switches with Insteon keypads that can be used to control the existing light, while adding additional buttons for control of Sonos speakers or other lights and appliances throughout the home. Users can also pick up an Insteon wireless remote from the coffee table and instantly enjoy control at their fingertips. Insteon will be offering pre-printed keypad buttons specifically for Sonos related functions, which will make basic sound control even easier for anyone to use and understand.”
The Sonos integration for Insteon will go live some time this week via an update to the company’s iOS app on the App Store.
Apple has announced that the App Store had its best ever holiday season in 2015, setting records for Christmas and New Year’s Day. January 1st 2016 saw $144 million of App Store spending, the best day in App Store history. It beat the previous record set just a week earlier on Christmas Day.
In total, in the two weeks up to January 3, customers spent over $1.1 billion on apps and in-app purchases …
Over the last few years, indie developers have banded together just before Christmas Day to discount top iOS and Mac apps for new customers. The sale is called App Santa and includes popular apps like Tweetbot for Mac, Pcalc, Screens, Deliveries, and over a dozen other highly recommended apps for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. App Santa doesn’t last long though so check out the full list below to save some money on quality apps.
Content from shows on popular networks including HGTV, Food Network, and Travel Channel are now available with apps launching in the App Store for the new Apple TV.
The apps offer much the experience offer in their iPhone and iPad counterparts, and require users to sign-in using a cable TV account. Like the iOS apps for HGTV, Travel Channel, and Food Network, users can sign in with accounts from AT&T U-verse. Bright House Networks, Cox, Comcast XFINITY, DIRECTV, DISH, Google Fiber, Optimum, Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS, and a long list of others.
In each of the apps, users will find the usual selection of on-demand episodes and clips from popular shows on each of the networks, as well as access to a Live TV stream of what’s airing on the channels.
You can download the HGTV, Travel Channel and Food Network apps on the new Apple TV now.
Rockstar Games announced today that it’s bringing Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, the ninth game in the series originally in 2005, to iOS users.
You’ll find the full game packed into the iOS version for iPhone and iPad, which Rockstar notes in its press release was “originally designed with mobile gameplay in mind” for the PlayStation Portable (PSP). But you’ll also find some new features including some that take advantage of the iPhone and iPad’s touch display, iOS specific features like 3D Touch, and the larger iPad Pro:
Update: Mark Gurman breaks down what it all means here
Apple today announced a few leadership changes including a new COO and changes to App Store leadership. Jeff Williams, previously Senior Vice President Operations, is officially being promoted to Chief Operating Officer which is CEO Tim Cook’s old title. Williams, notably, has been heavily involved in the Apple Watch team as well as the open source ResearchKit initiative.
Phil Schiller, Apple’s Worldwide Marketing SVP, will add to his responsibilities the task of overseeing all the App Store leadership. The App Store change notably follows discontent from developers that the iPhone App Store has seen more focus than the Mac App Store, which key developers have left in recent months. The move officially acknowledges Schiller’s role as the face of the App Store going forward.
Facebook today announced it’s rolling out a new feature for its Messenger chat app that will let users book a car through Uber. The feature, it said, expands on other “integrations” it’s added recently outside of the app’s core chat functionality, like the ability to send money or use the app for customer support.
Skype for iPhone and iPad gets an update today to version 6.8 and with it comes new features for sharing content in the app. With the update, you’ll be able to quickly share links to websites and photos from your camera roll:
Skype 6.8 for iPhone and iPad makes sharing content with friends on Skype really easy. Simply tap on a share button to send links from apps and websites or photos from your camera roll directly to a Skype contact – just select the friend you want to share with and send! Perfect for sharing photos from your office party or present ideas with family members without the hassle of sending the content in an email.
The new app adds support for Skype in the system-wide iOS share sheet, meaning you’ll be able to easily share content from the web, in apps, and elsewhere directly to contacts in Skype. The company’s demo video below gives you the rundown on enabling the feature if you’re unfamiliar:
[youtube=https://youtu.be/6yVW1FHAN244]
The updated Skype app for iPhone and iPad is available on the App Store.
Hulu gets a major update today with an all-new design for iPhone alongside a few new features in version 4.7.0.
The new iPhone design looks a lot like the design Hulu was already using on the iPad with navigation tucked under a menu button in the upper left section instead of tabs along the bottom. You’ll also find mostly grid layouts with larger images when the app is displaying lists of content.
Here’s a look at the old Hulu iPhone app (left) versus the new design in today’s update (right):
And in addition to the updated design, iPhone users will find Hulu’s Kid Lock functionality now available. The parental control feature can be enabled through settings to restrict content for children using the service.
The updated Hulu app for iPhone is available on the App Store now.
