App Store

Apple has announced today that all developers can now offer their applications for pre-order via the App Store. Apple made the announcement on its iTunes Connect blog, alongside a few other tidbits of news…

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Live game show app HQ Trivia has taken the world by storm in recent weeks, climbing App Store charts and attracting over 400,000 viewers during peak streams. Not wanting to miss out on the trend, competing apps are beginning to spring up. One of the more notable offerings comes from an early developer of the former viral app Yik Yak, and is about to leave beta on the App Store.

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A fake app pretending to be from MyEtherWallet somehow made it through Apple’s app review process and became the third most popular finance app over the weekend.

At this point, it’s not clear whether the app is just trying to make money by selling a $4.99 version of open-source software, or is a scam attempting to steal ETH and other crypto coins …

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Apple has been working diligently over the last year to clean up the App Store and rid it of spam and clone applications. A new report from TechCrunch, however, outlines the effect that Apple’s newfound efforts are having on apps built around templates…

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Apple has announced its Best of 2017 apps and games, this year utilizing the Today cards in the iOS 11 App Store to feature the winners. Apple says its app of the year for iPhone is Calm, a meditation and sleep app, and Splitter Critters is 2017’s iPhone game of the year. Apple says the title “radiates imagination and originality”.

For iPad, Apple has chosen Affinity Photo, the desktop-class photo editor, and the game The Witness. It has also announced most popular apps, music, movies and more …

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Twice a day, my afternoon and evening are punctuated by an eagerly awaited push notification inviting me to join a growing crowd of fans all over the world playing HQ Trivia, a modern take on the classic TV game show. The brief, fifteen minute games usually end for me with a “savage question” that eliminates my chance of winning a growing cash prize, but leaves me excited to try again tomorrow. The thrill of the game is no accident; it’s all part of the app’s clever design.

9to5Mac asked Rus Yusupov, co-founder of HQ Trivia and the former social network Vine, just what makes the new game so captivating.

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Apple has reportedly removed from the App Store a number of games said to glorify the extrajudicial killings of suspected drug dealers and users in the Philippines. A number of the games feature Philippine National Police director general Ronald dela Rosa and the country’s president, Rodrigo Duterte, shooting people.

Apple’s action follows an open letter to Tim Cook signed by a strangely-named organization said to represent victims of illegal drugs …

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As part of its redesigned App Store with a focus on curation and editorial content, this evening has launched a new “This Weekend Only” weekly promotion. This will offer discounts on things such as apparel, travel, food, and other categories. Apple is kicking it off with five stellar offerings from HotelTonight, Chipotle, and more.

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Apple is introducing a new App Store pricing feature for developers starting with iOS 11.2. Apps that use auto-renewable subscription pricing will soon be able to offer special introductory pricing for new customers.

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New data is out today from Apptopia on how iOS 11‘s App Store and its new app of the day and game of the day features are influencing downloads. With an app of the day feature, the company found a boost in downloads of up to 2,172%, while games saw an increase of up to 963%.

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Facebook is introducing a new way for publishers to monetize content using its Instant Articles format, but the feature won’t be coming to iOS anytime soon according to Recode. That’s because the service will require a paid subscription, and Apple wants its usual cut for revenue generated through the App Store.

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We learned earlier this year that the average smartphone user spends 2h 15m a day using apps, and new data suggests that more of this time than ever is spent using shopping apps.

App Annie data shows that time spent in digital-first retailer apps like Amazon increased by 44% year-on-year in the first half of 2017 …

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Apple has today announced that it is removing the Catalogs category, as well as the Educational and Dice subcategory (under Games) from the App Store.

Apple has sent out emails to developers who are affected by this change, those that have apps currently listed under the Catalogs category or Dice subcategory.

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Following the release of iOS 11 to the public yesterday, Apple has shared a new series of videos on YouTube that highlight the all-new App Store design. The four videos all highlight new features and capabilities of the iOS 11 App Store.

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Apple has updated its developer app review guidelines for the iPhone and iPad App Store this week with new clauses addressing the appropriate usage of Face ID, ARKit and more.

Apple says that ARKit apps must provide a rich experience; they don’t want the store flooded with simple apps displaying single objects. There are also limits on how developers can use Face ID and a new crackdown on scammy iOS apps like so-called virus scanners …

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