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1,949 'App Store' stories December 2010 - April 2013

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Algoriddim’s ‘djay’ apps get Audiobus support alongside new features & enhancements

Jordan Kahn Apr 3 2013 - 5:32 am PT

Following Apple’s decision to update GarageBand with support for the inter-app audio routing system known as “Audiobus”, the popular djay apps by developer Algoriddim have been updated with Audiobus support alongside a long list of new features.

On top of support for the Pioneer DDJ-WeGO and DDJ-ERGO controllers through the Pioneer DJC-WeCAi iPad Connection Cable for the iPad version of the app, both the iPhone and iPad djay apps get the following new features and enhancements:

What’s New in Version 1.6.4

✔ Introducing Audiobus support: Now you can stream live audio directly to other Audiobus-compatible apps! See http://audiob.us for more information
✔ Added support for Pioneer DDJ-WeGO and DDJ-ERGO controllers (requires Pioneer DJC-WeCAi iPad Connection Cable, sold separately)
✔ “Shuffle” setting is now also applied to Automix Queue
✔ Pause audio when disconnecting headphones or dock audio
✔ Gain is no longer reset when “Reset EQ” setting is off
✔ Allow sliding crossfader up after tapping to leave it centered
✔ Improved handling of iOS audio system errors
✔ Improved caching
✔ Improved Vestax Spin 2 mapping: allow tempo fine-adjust using Shift & +/– buttons
✔ Changed ION iDJ 2 Go jog wheels to scratch during playback (the previous pitch-bend behavior can be enabled using “Jog Pitch Bend Mode” in the MIDI settings)
✔ Fixed playback issue after loading error with specific files
✔ Fixed audio distortion when using Key Lock with Bluetooth audio
✔ Fixed lock screen audio controls starting both turntables
✔ Fixed possible crash when editing Automix Queue while Automix is active
✔ Bug fixes, performance and stability improvements

djay for iPhone is available on the App Store now for $0.99, and the iPad version is available for $4.99. The free, LE versions of the app also gained Audiobus support today.

Algoriddim even updated its vjay apps that allow users to mix music and videos with many of the new features—minus Audiobus support—included in the djay updates.

Apple updates Final Cut Pro X with new features as part of campaign to win back pros

Jordan Kahn Mar 28 2013 - 10:52 am PT

Following reports this morning that Apple was preparing to a launch a new campaign on its website to lure skeptical professionals back to Final Cut Pro X, Apple has now pushed out updates to the app in addition to smaller updates to its Motion and Compressor apps.

Version 10.0.8 of the ‘Final Cut Pro’ Mac App Store app brings a number of new features and enhancements, many of which focus on improvements for professional users. Among the updates is support for Sony XAVC codec up to 4K, the ability to view “ProRes Log C files from ARRI ALEXA cameras with standard Rec. 709 color and contrast levels,” and a long list of editing fixes, tweaks and enhancements that have been highly requested by pro users.

Apple has now updated its website with the new Final Cut Pro campaign we mentioned earlier. It includes a feature with acclaimed director Tsui Hark and Canada’s largest newspaper The Globe and Mail. The ‘What’s New’ Final Cut Pro product page was also updated to show off some of the new features in today’s update such as support for the Sony XAVC codec.

Apple also updated Compressor and Motion today with minor updates that include fixes.

A full list of what’s new in Final Cut Pro X, Compressor, and Motion is below:

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TweetDeck for Mac updated with column & content filters, advanced search, wide columns, much more

Jordan Kahn Mar 28 2013 - 8:44 am PT

Twitter today released a big update to its popular TweetDeck Mac App Store app, bringing a long list of highly requested features like enhancements to filters, columns, fonts, and key commands.

Version 2.7.1 of TweetDeck for Mac introduces new column filters, the ability to filter columns by content type, Users filters on columns, and a new ‘wide column setting’. Also included in today’s update is a new “powerful advanced search”.

When it comes to Content filters, you can now filter by “media, RTs, including and excluding terms.” Meanwhile, the new Users filters will let you view “verified users, members of a list and more.”

Other new features in today’s release include new font size settings, the ability close windows using CMD+W, verified badges when searching lists, and an option to enable infinite scroll in temporary columns. The release notes pointed out that Spacebar would also now trigger a page down event.

A full list of what’s new is below:

What’s New in Version 2.7.1

➤ Introduced column filters and powerful advanced search
➤ Added Content filters to columns and search including ability to filter by media, RTs, including and excluding terms
➤ Added Users filters to columns and search including ability to filter by verified users, members of a list and more
➤ Added wide column setting
➤ Added new font sizes to settings
➤ Spacebar now triggers page down event
➤ Cmd+W closes windows
➤ Social proof for favorites & RTs in detail view
➤ Added verified badge to list searches
➤ Enabled infinite scroll in temporary columns

Google apps take top two slots on Apple’s App Store

Ben Lovejoy Mar 28 2013 - 6:35 am PT

The two most popular non-game apps downloaded from Apple’s iOS App Store so far this year were both Google ones: YouTube and Google Maps, according to data from App Annie (via The Next Web).

Google Maps was originally installed as standard on iPhones and iPads until Apple struck out on its own with the rather ill-fated Apple Maps. Though Apple has since fixed many of the embarrassing errors in the launch version, demand for Google’s version has seemingly increased rather than decreased.

In an ironic turnabout, Google lost the top slot on its own Google Play store to Facebook.

BMW app integration, Plants vs Zombies 2, IM+, Pac-Man, StreamBoard, deals, more

Jordan Kahn Mar 27 2013 - 9:01 am PT

News:

BMW iOS app integration: Following some recent Siri Eyes Free news from Chevrolet, BMW announced today that it has partnered with handful of developers to bring similar eyes free experiences for a number of third-party iOS apps to its vehicles. BMW has partnered with Audible for audio books, Glympse for location sharing services, Rhapsody for subscription music and TuneIn for internet radio, all of which will be updating their apps in the weeks to come for compatibility with the BMW Apps system.

Plants vs Zombies 2: PopCap announced today that part two of its incredibly popular Plants vs Zombies title is finally going to land on iOS in additional to all the other usual platforms “early summer.” No clues on what might be included in the second installment, but in the meantime PopCap will launch a new version of the game on Facebook.

App Updates:

IM+ Instant Messenger version 7.7: A nice update to the very popular IM+ service today offers Beep mobile-to-mobile service as an in-app purchase, the ability to preview transferred images directly in chats, and the usual bug fixes and performance enhancements. iPad users will also now be able to capture photos and videos in the app.

StreamBoard version 5.0: The Twitter client that lets you track keywords and hashtags in real-time is updated to version 5.0 with many new features and enhancements:

For this incredible milestone, StreamBoard has been rewritten from the ground up bringing to you:
– A brand new streamlined interface powered by gestures
– A reimagined filter view featuring real-time graphs that you can interact with
– Much improved engine for faster speed!
– and many more!

Pac-Man version 3.5.0: iOS 6 support and new features for the Pac-Man iPad app.

Added support for iOS 6
Fixed Game Center issue for iOS 6
Updated More Games functionality

Deals:
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Apple adds ‘offers in-app purchases’ warning in iTunes following class action lawsuit

Jordan Kahn Mar 22 2013 - 11:21 am PT

After settling a class action lawsuit brought on by parents arguing the iOS freemium model, i.e. in-app purchases, allowed children to easily rack up thousands of dollars, Apple has made a subtle change to the App Store to make consumers more aware of apps that offer in-app purchases. The Guardian confirmed with Apple that it recently added a new “Offers In-App Purchases” warning directly underneath the download button in iTunes following the settlement (as pictured above).

Apple has always listed “Top in-app purchases” on app listings in iTunes and the App Store app, but the new warning is clearly a response to the lawsuit and an attempt to make apps that offer in-app purchases more visible to customers downloading free apps. The new warning isn’t on listings in the App Store iOS app yet, but could presumably make its way there as well.

Apple previously agreed to pay $5 in iTunes credit or a full refund for purchases above $30 to those claiming in-app content was purchased by a minor without their permission. Apple is contacting 23 million iTunes account holders that qualify to receive a cut of the settlement.

Update: As expected, the new warning is now appearing on the App Store on iOS as well:

Apple’s Podcasts app updated with custom stations with automatic updates, iCloud support for stations, playlists, more

Jordan Kahn Mar 21 2013 - 1:21 pm PT

Apple has updated its Podcasts app today with a number of new features. Among the most notable is the ability to create custom stations that update automatically as new episodes of podcasts are available. There are also a number of new enhancements for stations and playlists, including iCloud support to keep stations up to date on all your iOS devices.

The app also now includes a redesigned “Now Playing” view that shows playback controls, as pictured in the screenshots above.

Other improvements include On-The-Go playlists and support for syncing playlists from iTunes, an option to have stations begin playing with the latest or oldest episode, and other fixes and performance enhancements:
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Google’s Eric Schmidt says Google Now for iOS approval is in Apple’s court

Jordan Kahn Mar 21 2013 - 7:47 am PT

[viddler id=a66cf352 w=704 h=400]

Update: Apple responds.

Google chairman Eric Schmidt spoke at the company’s Big Tent Summit in India this morning, and, on top of claiming there are no immediate plans to merge Chrome and Android, the executive discussed the possibility of Google Now coming to iOS devices. It appears Google is in a similar situation to when it launched a standalone Google Maps app, as Schmidt claimed it’s up to Apple to approve or reject Google Now for the App Store. TechCrunch pointed us to the comment from the Google executive at around 17 minutes into the interview:

You’ll need to discuss that with Apple” (at around 17:50). “Apple has a policy of approving or disapproving apps that are submitted into its store, and some of them they approve and some of them they don’t,” he went on to say.

A video that appeared to be an ad for the debut of Google Now on iPhone and iPad landed on YouTube last week before quickly being removed. The video (above) showed that Google could implement Google Now functionality—currently only available as a Siri-like voice and contextual assistant app on Android devices—into the Google Search app.

Google already updated its Google Search app with voice recognition and Google Now-like features last October, and a number of comparison videos have since appeared online and show Siri has some serious competition with even the scaled back voice search features. Bringing the contextual assistant features that Google Now implements on Android to the Google Search app would give iOS users yet another reason to use it rather than Siri for a large number of tasks.
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BioShock Infinite, Amazon Send to Kindle, Garmin, Final Fantasy V, Reuters, more

Jordan Kahn Mar 20 2013 - 2:18 pm PT

BioShock Infinite: Mac game developers Aspyr announced today that it will be bringing Bioshcok Infinite to the Mac following its release on PC and consoles next week on March 26. It will take Aspyr until the summer to get the third instalment in the Bioshock series up and running on OS X, but the company promised us more details on pricing, preorders, and release dates in the near future. The game follows lead character Booker DeWitt and takes place in the lost, floating city of Columbia. It’s the first title in the series that doesn’t take place under water and also sees the return of the game’s original developer Ken Levine.

Amazon Send to Kindle: Announced by Amazon today, website owners can now add a “Send to Kindle Button” to allow visitors save content directly to Kindle devices and apps. That means that iPhone and iPad users can now use the function on supported sites to send content to the Kindle iOS apps. Some sites such as The Washington Post, TIME, and Boing Boing have already added the button.

Final Fantasy V: The FF-Reunion website is reporting that Final Fantasy V is making its way to the App Store, at least in Japan, by the end of March. The title is said to get the usual overhaul for iOS, but until then you can always play the Game Boy Advance port through an emulator.

Garmin USA version 2.4: Garmin updated its USA version of its iOS app today alongside many other local versions with the ability to play voice instructions through your car’s speakers over bluetooth, a new Map Manager, points of interest from Wikipedia, and much more:
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Apple updates GarageBand for iOS with support for Audiobus, better control over region and note editing & more

Jordan Kahn Mar 20 2013 - 1:33 pm PT

Apple today updated its GarageBand for iOS, bringing the app up to version 1.4 and providing support for Audiobus. Originally launched in December 2012, Audiobus is an iOS app available from developer A Tasty Pixel and described as an “inter-app audio routing system.” The app allows users to route audio from a growing list of third-party and Audiobus-compatible synths, drum machines, effects, and audio-editing apps and record them simultaneously in other supported multi-track editing apps. That means GarageBand users will now be able to use Audiobus to route audio instruments and effects from other Audiobus-compatible iOS apps into a GarageBand session.

Audiobus provides an SDK to developers that want to integrate the ability to support the Audiobus app and a long list of popular music creation apps have already taken part, including: Cubasis, Animoog, many of Korg’s apps, JamUp, Loopy, and now GarageBand. You can see a full list of apps that support Audiobus here. The Audiobus app will cost you an extra $9.99 on top of the cost of GarageBand ($4.99).

Other improvements in today’s update include the ability to turn off grid snapping to easier control the placement of regions when editing and a fix for issues with third-party audio accessories:
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Report: Twitter to launch iOS music discovery app that offers recommendations based on who you follow

Jordan Kahn Mar 13 2013 - 11:41 am PT

According to a report from CNET, Twitter might be preparing to launch a new standalone iOS music app as early as the end of this month. The report cites “a person familiar with the matter” and claimed Twitter would use technology it acquired through its purchase of music discovery service We Are Hunted to provide a music service dubbed “Twitter Music.” CNET says the service will provide customized content suggestions based on who users follow on Twitter. It would also apparently integrate with SoundCloud and carry Twitter branding unlike the company’s recently launched video sharing app Vine:

Twitter Music suggests artists and songs to listen to based on a variety of signals, and is personalized based on which accounts a user follows on Twitter. Songs are streamed to the app via SoundCloud.

The report provided a breakdown of how the app works, explaining that it will offer suggested songs and artists based on Twitter followers, links to songs people are listening to through the hashtag #NowPlaying, and popular and emerging tracks for trending and newly popular artists:
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Adobe, Google Shopper, Calendars by Readdle, Roku, Snapguide, Cubasis, Angry Birds Seasons, more

Jordan Kahn Mar 13 2013 - 8:48 am PT

News: With a heavy focus on its new Creative Cloud subscriptions lately (currently 60% off), TechHive confirmed with Adobe yesterday that it is cutting off physical, boxed sales of its Creative Suite apps.

As Adobe continues to focus on delivering world-class innovation through Creative Cloud and digital fulfillment, we will be phasing out shrink-wrapped, boxed versions of Creative Suite and Acrobat products.”

Google Shopper version 3.2: Google has updated its Google Shopper app for iOS today with new features including a new category result page, larger product images in a new slideshow mode, as well as “improvements to search locale detection, stability, and performance.”

Calendars by Readdle: Readdle has rebranded its paid Calendars app to “Calendars+” today in order to make room for a brand new free app that takes over the “Calendars by Readdle” name. The new free app features a UI and features similar to Readdle’s previous Calendars app, which the company tells us now has over 500,000 users.

Calendars lets you manage events both online and offline. Thanks to the unique interface you can move events simply with Drag & Drop, navigate quickly between dates, change event time and reminders rapidly with custom keyboards. Calendars supports everything you can find in Google Calendar: appointments, SMS reminders and more. Sync is really fast and your information is always up to date.

Roku version 2.1.2: The app that allows you to control your Roku from your iPhone gets official support for the Roku 3 player today:

• Support for Roku 3 player
• Minor fixes

Snapguide version 1.1.3: New photo editing features, search filters, and more:

– Introducing photo editing features! When creating a guide, you can now rotate and enhance images.
– Easily find guides you have liked. You can now filter liked guides by topics such as Food, Arts and Crafts and more!
– Bug Fixes.

Cubasis version 1.2: A massive update today for Steinberg’s iPad version of Cubase brings a ton of new features and fixes:
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Automatic Link brings your car’s on-board diagnostics to the iPhone, available for pre-order now

Jordan Kahn Mar 12 2013 - 6:31 am PT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_AyXNeRbpRk

Automatic Link is a new hardware dongle for your car that is launching today and will allow you to monitor on-board diagnostics directly on your iPhone. On top of monitoring on-board diagnostics, such as braking, speeding, and rapid acceleration by connecting the Automatic Link to your car’s data port, the app will also include a feature that automatically reports crashes, the ability to locate your vehicle, check engine health, and provide “subtle audio cues when you do things that waste gas.”

The Automatic Link talks to your car’s onboard computer and uses your smartphone’s GPS and data plan to upgrade your car’s capabilities. It works with just about any car sold in the United States since 1996…The Automatic Link includes a built-in accelerometer that can detect many types of crashes. Automatic uses your phone’s data connection to immediately report the crash to 911* with your name, location, and vehicle description.

The Automatic Link is now available for pre-order from the company’s website for $70, with shipments and the companion app expected to land sometime in May. You can also check the make and model of your vehicle on the pre-order page to find out if your car is compatible.

Your Drive Score: Automatic gives you personalized feedback on your driving with your weekly drive score on a scale from 0-100. The drive score is based on metrics shown to increase fuel efficiency and safety, like braking and accelerating smoothly. A high score could save you hundreds on gas every year.
Your Trips in a Timeline: The Automatic app displays detailed information about where you go and how much gas it cost to get there. It shows you the actual MPGs you achieve for all your trips, even for older cars that don’t display fuel efficiency on the dashboard.
Parking Reminders: Automatic always knows where you parked your car, helping you find it again easily.
Crash Alert: If you’re ever in a crash, Automatic alerts emergency services with your location. It can even contact your loved ones to let them know what happened and that help is on the way.
Keep Your Engine Healthy: Automatic connects with your car’s computer whenever you drive and can tell you why that “check engine” light came on. It can decode the problem and in many cases offer a solution. The app even lets you clear the light yourself and save a trip to the mechanic.

Judge orders Apple to explain why it didn’t hand over Jobs emails in location tracking suit

Jordan Kahn Mar 8 2013 - 8:35 am PT

Bloomberg reported that U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal has ordered Apple to reveal exactly how it’s complying with previous orders to hand over evidence in a lawsuit that accused the company of collecting users’ location data. It will also have to submit documents related to its process for reviewing apps. Earlier this week, Apple’s lawyer, Ashlie Beringer, told the court that the decision to not provide emails from Steve Jobs in an order from November was a “mistake.”

“Luckily for the plaintiffs, Apple has provided more than enough evidence itself to suggest to the court that it has not fully complied with the court’s order,” Grewal wrote in the March 6 order. “In light of Apple’s performance in this case, the court cannot rely on its representations that this time it really has or will produce all responsive documents.”

According to the report, Grewal said in his order today that “it was ‘unacceptable’ that Apple waited more than three months to verify whether it complied with his November order to turn over documents.”

Apple has said previously that it has guarded some documents in the case to protect customers from harm if the documents were “inadvertently released to the public or fell into the wrong hands.”

Beringer said she and her team of lawyers reviewed more than 8,000 e-mails over the previous weekend and determined that they should turn over messages involving Apple’s late co-founder Jobs, Phil Schiller, its marketing chief, and Scott Forstall, the former head of mobile software, among others.

The result is Apple will now have to give a “detailed account” by March 8 of how it went about gathering documents it was ordered to submit to the plaintiffs:
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Apple asks judge to throw out app monopoly lawsuit, says there’s ‘nothing illegal’ about a closed system

Jordan Kahn Mar 6 2013 - 6:44 am PT

Apple asked a federal judge today to throw out a lawsuit originally filed in 2011 that claimed the company has a monopoly over iOS apps by not allowing iPhone users access to an “aftermarket” of applications. Bloomberg reported that U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers did not resolve the matter today, but Apple’s lawyer Dan Wall argued Apple’s “closed” system doesn’t violate antitrust laws:

Apple doesn’t set the price for paid applications, and charging a price for distribution of a product on a new and unique platform doesn’t violate any antitrust laws, said Dan Wall, Apple’s attorney, at yesterday’s court hearing in Oakland, California.

“There’s nothing illegal about creating a system that is closed in a sense,” Wall told U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers.

“Can a consumer go somewhere else to buy Angry Birds for the iPhone?” asked Alexander Schmidt, an attorney representing seven consumers who sued. “If the answer is no, then Apple is a monopolist.”

Apple releases iBooks 3.1 with support for iBookstore in Japan, local content & improvements for reading Asian language books

Jordan Kahn Mar 5 2013 - 7:30 am PT

Update: Apple issued a press release on the matter, below the fold.

Apple released version 3.1 of iBooks today on the App Store and with it comes hundreds of thousands of Japanese books to the iBookstore in Japan. Among the local content on the iBookstore in Japan is light novels and manga, while Apple also noted that it has made “a number of improvements for reading Asian language books.”

AllThingsD reported in January that Apple was in talks with Japanese publishers to work out deals for the iBookstore, which had lacked local Japanese content since it first launched in 2010. Up until now, the store in Japan has consisted of mostly public domain content, but it appears Apple has finally come to an agreement with a many of the large publishers in the country.

What’s New in Version 3.1

The iBookstore in Japan now has hundreds of thousands of books available for purchase, including fiction,
manga, light novels and more. This version of iBooks also includes a number of improvements for reading
Asian language books.

iBooks 3.1 is available to download on the App Store now.
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Real Racing 3, YouTube, Socialcam 5.0, AVP: Evolution, DayOne, Cycloramic, Dunkin’ Donuts, Rabbit, deals, more

Jordan Kahn Feb 28 2013 - 8:10 am PT

Real Racing 3: The highly anticipated third installment in EA’s Real Racing iOS series has officially arrived in the US App Store today (via 9to5Toys). Available now for free, the game’s new in-app purchase model is getting a little bit of negative attention, but otherwise reviews of the game have been quite positive.

Trailblazing new features include officially licensed tracks, an expanded 22-car grid, and over 45 meticulously detailed cars from makers like Porsche, Lamborghini, Dodge, Bugatti, and Audi. Plus, racing with friends gets kicked into another dimension with the reality-bending Time Shifted Multiplayer™ (TSM) technology.

AVP: Evolution: Fox has released another app in the Alien vs Predators series with the release of AVP: Evolution. The game was developed by Angry Mob Games, makers of PREDATORS and Guerrilla Bob iOS titles, and takes cues from multiplayer modes in recent AVP console releases.

*Two distinct gaming experiences as you engage in the ultimate battle as both the Alien and Predator
*Vicious attacks and brutal finishing moves give players a lethal arsenal to wreak havoc on the enemy

Socialcam version 5.0: Autodesk is making some major improvements to its popular Socialcam app, which has now reached 20 million downloads, with the release of version 5 on the App Store today. The update should be hitting the App Store shortly and with it will come “a complete redesign of visual effects, 720p HD video, video High Dynamic Range (HDR), and a new icon for Socialcam.”

Major new features on the iOS platform include a complete redesign of visual effects, 720p HD video, video High Dynamic Range (HDR), and a new icon for Socialcam… Developed in collaboration with Autodesk’s expert professional video effects teams, the new 720p HD video and video HDR with one click real-time mapping and color correction enables Socialcam—with more than 20 million downloads—to continue to break through barriers to mobile video adoption by making it easy to express creativity and individuality wherever inspiration strikes—anytime, anywhere, and on any device.

Day One version 1.10: The well reviewed journal/diary app known as Day One gets new features today including new options for PDF Export and Printing, historical weather reports for 30 days, a new reminder sound, Sanchez font option, and improvements to HTML styling. There are also a number of performance enhancements include for startup time, Dropbox syncing, and more. An update for the Mac app is coming soon.

Cycloramic version 2.1: The app that received much attention for its unique use of the iPhone’s vibrating motor to snap hands-free 360 degree video gets new features today. Among them is the ability to “convert panoramic photos to 24 second panoramic HD movies.”

YouTube 1.2.1: Google updated its YouTube app for iOS bringing the Send to TV feature that it originally introduced on Android devices back in November. The app will allow users to send YouTube videos from their iOS devices to a Google TV, PS3, or Xbox and Google confirmed back in January that the feature would be coming to even more smart TVs this year.
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iCloud hasn’t had its coffee yet today folks, multiple services remain down

Jordan Kahn Feb 28 2013 - 5:55 am PT

After experiencing some outages earlier this month, iCloud users continued to experience service disruptions across a number of services today. Earlier this morning, Apple reported on its System Status page, which at the moment appears to be experiencing some hiccups, that 11 percent of iCloud users were affected, and it listed all iCloud services as impacted by the outage (pictured above).

Apple later updated the system status page and listed only three services with outages: Photo Stream, Documents in the Cloud, and Backup. It also changed the 11 percent of users affected for all services to “Multiple iCloud Services- Some users affected.”

Unfortunately, Apple’s system status page doesn’t seem to be functioning properly, and it is not displaying values for outages tracked for each hour of the day. As witnessed on Twitter, many users continue to experience issues with several iCloud services including some not currently listed as being down by Apple.

US Defense Department confirms plans to roll out 100K iOS and Android devices by next year

Jordan Kahn Feb 26 2013 - 11:38 am PT

We heard reports in October that the U.S. Department of Defense was preparing to approve a large number of iOS and Android devices for use on government networks. Those reports were followed earlier this month with news that CACI International Inc. was modifying thousands of iPads for use in U.S. government agencies. The Pentagon confirmed in a statement today that it plans to open its networks to 100,000 new devices from Apple and Google by February of next year:

The Pentagon said it wants employees to have the flexibility to use commercial products on classified and unclassified networks. It plans to create a military mobile applications store and hire a contractor to build a system that may eventually handle as many as 8 million devices.

The move comes as iPad and other iOS devices continue to be adopted by government agencies over BlackBerry. Documents from October revealed the U.S. Department of Defense planned to deploy up to 8 millions devices partially made up of iOS devices, while a number of other U.S. agencies also switched from BlackBerry to iPhones over the last year. As for the App Store and system for managing the up to 8 million devices, the DOD will select one or more companies by summer to develop the necessary software:
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Clear + Leap Motion, Runtastic, DataMan Pro, Orbitz for iPad, Adobe Muse, deals, more

Jordan Kahn Feb 26 2013 - 9:43 am PT

http://vimeo.com/60564626

News:

Clear for Mac + Leap Motion: We’ve brought you a couple hands-on demos of the Leap Motion controller before, and today popular productivity app Clear for Mac announced it is working on bringing support for Leap Motion to Clear. There’s no timeframe yet, but Realmac Software provided the short preview above.

Updates:

Runtastic version 2.10.1: Personal fitness tracking app Runtastic gets a nice update today that brings more Sport types, improved Facebook integration, and number of other bug fixes and performance enhancements.

DataMan Pro version 6.3: After some trouble getting by Apple review guidelines with its last update, DataMan Pro is back on the App Store today and is 50% off for a limited time to celebrate. The app has also been completely redesigned:

The resurrected DataMan Pro has been completely reinvented to feature a stunning new interface, an intelligent real-time data usage forecast, and most advanced app tracking… The powerful App Watch technology that users love is also back. You can see the usage statistics for all apps. This amazing capability empowers you to root out data-hungry apps… The new DataMan Pro includes Smart Forecast and the beautiful interface that were recently introduced in DataMan Next. Combined with precise real-time tracking, you can say goodbye to overage.

Orbitz Flights, Hotels, Cars 3.0: Yesterday Orbitz launched its first “fully native, in-app search and book experience” for the iPad with an update to its Orbitz Flights, Hotels, Cars app that brings support for the larger screen and new iPad-specific features:

Our award-winning app (App Store Editors’ Choice & Hall of Fame inductee) is now also optimized for iPad and iPad mini! iPad users enjoy *all* the same app features as iPhone users, plus iPad-exclusives like a dual list/map view of hotels and the ability to compare details of multiple flights, rental cars, or hotels from a single screen.

Adobe Muse: Adobe announced today that it is updating Adobe Muse with some highly requested new features:
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Apple settles in-app purchasing class action, agrees to pay $5 iTunes credit or cash refund

Jordan Kahn Feb 25 2013 - 4:01 pm PT

[vodpod id=Video.15797906&w=1000&h=350&]

Last time we checked in on the in-app purchase class-action lawsuit against Apple, courts refused Apple’s request to throw out the case brought on by parents arguing the iOS freemium model, i.e. in-app purchases, allowed children to easily rack up hundreds or thousands of dollars. Today, Law360 (via GigaOM) reported Apple has agreed to pay a settlement and will be contacting 23 million iTunes users that “made a Game Currency purchase in one or more Qualified Apps.”

According to the report, Apple will pay $5 in iTunes credit to those who claim in-app content was purchased by a minor without their permission. For purchases above $30, users will be able to request a full refund. However, credits will likely not get to users until early 2014 when the settlement meets regulatory approval:
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Facebook releases SDK 3.2 for iOS with better analytics, API improvements and more

Jordan Kahn Feb 25 2013 - 1:18 pm PT

Facebook announced on its Developers blog today that it is releasing version 3.2 of its SDK for iOS. The updated SDK makes it even easier for iOS app developers implementing Facebook features, with improvements to APIs and better tools for tracking usage and optimizing ads. Version 3.2 includes improved analytics and new metrics such as the ability to track “iOS 6 native share sheet and built-in native UI controls usage.” Facebook also noted that it is including a beta for select partners showing off upcoming support for “logging in-app purchase events.”

Better mobile analytics – We’ve added support for measuring additional usage metrics and optimizing ads to help improve an app’s quality and monetization potential
Enhanced error handling – SDK support and documentation now enabled for all classes of error responses
API improvements – A new FBAccessTokenData type makes it easier to open a session from token data explicitly, and to better handle app and deep linking

Facebook also said the updated SDK included enhanced error handling, improved web dialog support, and a several API improvements and bug fixes. Improvements to Facebook’s SDK are important, as the company’s noted over 45 percent of the top 400 grossing iOS apps are now integrated with the social network.

Version 3.2 of the Facebook SDK for iOS is available here.

iOS developer cleverly adds Street View app as a routing source for iOS 6 Maps

Jordan Kahn Feb 25 2013 - 11:09 am PT

Recently launched on the App Store, a 99-cent app from developers FutureTap called simply “Street View” will allow users to quickly access Google Street View from seemingly within the stock iOS 6 Maps app.

When Apple first launched its new Maps app with iOS 6, one of the features many users missed was Street View’s 360-degree panoramas made popular by Google Maps. Things got a little better with the introduction of the Google Maps iOS app months later, but there are still a few reasons why many have not completely migrated away from Apple’s stock Maps app.

The biggest (at least for non-jailbroken users) is the inability to use third-party apps as the default mapping application. That means when tapping links for addresses or using Siri, for example, Apple will still default to its stock iOS 6 Maps app. Thankfully, with the 99-cent Street View app, you can continue using Maps and still be able to quickly pull up Street View without ever feeling like you’ve left the app.

Here’s how it works:

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What happens when you make your app free for a week

Jordan Kahn Feb 20 2013 - 9:26 am PT

For an app developer like Infinity Blade maker Epic Games, making an old iOS game free for a week accounted for an enormous boost in revenue and downloads. As noted by The Wall Street Journal, Epic’s decision to drop the price of its original Infinity Blade title from 99 cents to free brought the title up hundreds of spots in App Store rankings. The increase is highlighted in the chart above from AppData. While being featured as one of Apple’s “App of the Week” certainly didn’t hurt, temporarily switching to the freemium model allowed Epic to generate more money than it was earning when the app was 99 cents. It also created a nice increase in sales for the developer’s $7 Infinity Blade II sequel, as shown in AppData’s second chart below: