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Apple won’t collect fees on paid Facebook events until 2021
Apple won't charge its 30 percent commission on paid Facebook events through December 31st.
Apple's App Store appeals process is now open for developers
Developers can now suggest changes to Apple's App Store guidelines.
Hey email app open to all after Apple 'definitively' approves it
After flip flopping on whether it would approve Basecamp’s Hey email app, Apple has “definitively approved” Hey for the App Store.
'Diablo 3' getting free-to-play features, but not in the US or Europe
Blizzard may have shut down the Real Money Auction House after contention from the community, but it's opening up a new way to potentially use real money for in-game items. The difference here is that it's doing it in territories that are pretty accustomed to this sort of thing already -- most likely China. On the developer's American and European forums, an employee writes that an upcoming patch will add a new currency ("platinum"), timed experience boosts, cosmetic items, character slots and a tweaked UI to handle all of the above. Basically, the type of microtransactions that are fairly common in free-to-play games. As Gamasutra notes, Blizzard already has a partnership with NetEase (a Chinese internet company that has a web portal and its own massively multiplayer role-playing game), which operates a version of Diablo 3 in the country. All that to say, this makes sense for Blizzard.
The TUAW Daily Update Podcast for March 25, 2014
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get some the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the player at the top of the page. The Daily Update has been moved to a new podcast host in the past few days. Current listeners should delete the old podcast subscription and subscribe to the new feed in the iTunes Store here.
Apple offering refunds for unauthorized in-app purchases, and other news for March 25, 2014
Apple has sent an email to users who have made recent in-app purchases (IAPs) announcing they can receive a refund for any unauthorized IAPs "made by a minor." The refund initiative is part of a consent decree Apple struck with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Users who wish to get IAP refunded must submit their request by April 15, 2014. The full email is below (via MacRumors): Dear iTunes account owner, Apple is committed to providing parents and kids with a great experience on the App Store. We review all app content before allowing it on our store, provide a wide range of age-appropriate content, and include parental controls in iOS to make it easy for parents to restrict or disable access to content. We've heard from some customers that it was too easy for their kids to make in-app purchases. As a result, we've improved controls for parents so they can better manage their children's purchases, or restrict them entirely. Additionally, we are offering refunds in certain cases. Please follow the steps to submit a refund request: Find your in-app purchase records. Check your email for iTunes receipts or use a computer to sign in to your iTunes account and view your Purchase History. Use this link to submit your refund request to Apple. Provide the requested information and enter "Refund for in-App Purchases made by a minor" in the Details section. Apple will review your request and contact you via email about your refund status. All refund requests must be submitted no later than April 15, 2015. In other news: Google has announced Google Now notifications are now available for Chrome users on desktops, including Macs. Pictures have leaked suggesting the long delayed flagship Apple retail store may be opening soon in Hanover, Germany. Apple has patented a new graphical interface for the visually impaired. Booq has released the Booqpad for iPad Air, a thin folio-type case that also includes a paper notebook. It's available starting at $60. It's amazingly flexible, using magnets for magic.
You won't want to walk away from Any Landing
The saying goes: "Any landing you walk away from is a good one," and that mindset is the backbone of Any Landing, a new action game from Strange Flavour. Your only goals are to get as far as possible without crashing your plane, and when you do eventually fall out of the sky, to crash as gently as possible. You are given only a button for throttle, a button for the brake and a prayer. Any Landing starts you out with a simple aircraft and gives you a brief tutorial on the game's tilt-based controls and item gathering. From there, you're on your own, and the first few solo flights are definitely going to be shorter than you would expect. In my own experience, the first endeavor came to a close with a poorly timed dive to gain some speed, at which point my plane stalled and burst into flames. This is not unusual in Any Landing. You see, the planes in Any Landing aren't exactly built with care -- or at least it would seem that way, given their tendency to belch fire. Using the engine button to boost your speed damages the engine, and once your engine is completely ruined, you have no way of preventing an eventual crash unless you pick up some in-air repair items. Of course, not everything you find in your path is there to benefit you; there are flocks of birds and other obstacles, as well as bombs and planes from the nefarious "Evil Air" corporation. And whether it's on the first or last of the game's 32 levels, you're going to eventually succumb to the damage the world inflicts and have to hit the dirt. Crashing in Any Landing is an art of its own, and there are many ways to approach it. Slamming into the ground at a steep angle will typically end in a Game Over, but if you can manage to slow your aircraft and slide into the terrain in a less-destructive manner, your crew and passengers will walk away unscathed. It's also worth mentioning Any Landing's in-app purchase system, which I detailed in a separate article. The game allows you to purchase in-app currency called "Wings," which can be used to purchase upgrades and repairs. The twist is that each purchase you make pushes you closer to the US$9.99 "All You Can Eat" tier where you are given unlimited Wings permanently. It's a fantastic compromise for gamers who normally shy away from "pay to win" games, and I'm really hoping other developers adopt similar models. Any Landing is free to play, and it's both a refreshing alternative to the "runner" genre and an example of a fantastic microtransaction model. Give it a shot.
This is how in-app purchases should be handled
Ever since the ability to include in-app purchases was added to the App Store, the idea has divided gamers. On one side you have customers who prefer the traditional manner of purchasing a game -- pay upfront, and you have access to whatever the game has to offer -- while others see no problem in getting a game for free and then paying for perks, in-game currency or additional game modes. There are arguments to be made for either sale method, but we've not seen anything in the way of a quality compromise between the two, until now. Developer Strange Flavour has introduced a new in-app purchase model in its new game Any Landing, and it's designed to please both camps. Strange Flavour calls it the "Play Nice" model, and here's how it works: The core game can be either free or paid, it doesn't really matter. Any Landing is indeed free. Like most in-app purchase games, there are several tiers of goods available (in Any Landing the purchasable currency is called "Wings"). Along with the incremental boosts, there is an "All You Can Eat" option that unlocks everything, and locks the ability to make any in-app purchases, even accidentally. Each time you purchase one of the smaller boosts, the amount you paid is deducted from the All You Can Eat price. This system is superior to what we are currently used to from IAP games for a couple of reasons, but most important is the fact that when you make a purchase, you're always working toward an end, rather than simply stuffing your digital wallet for a day or a week. One of the main arguments against games that rely on in-game transactions is that they're never-ending, and feel more like you're throwing money into a void than actually paying for the game. With Play Nice, every cent you put in rewards you in the same way as it would in your average game, but it also brings you a step closer to owning everything the game has to offer. Play Nice also solves the problem of parents who find unexpectedly massive App Store bills after letting their kids have a go at some in-game boosts with their credit card. No matter what, only a set amount can be spent on a game that uses the Play Nice model. Even if you delete the game or re-download it on another device, you can restore your previous purchases for free, ensuring you never double pay. Now, I understand that some games -- Candy Crush Saga and Clash of Clans come to mind -- benefit from players paying massive amounts of money to keep their in-game performance at a peak, but these are extremely rare and special cases. Your average developer never sees the type of rabid fanbase that warrants in-app purchase options of US$59.99 or $99.99, and a payment system like Play Nice gives would-be players an incentive to spend a few bucks now, and then maybe a few more bucks later, as opposed to trying out a game, seeing how much it costs to "win" and then never bothering to try.
I'd probably really enjoy this game if I could get past the ads
My intention was for what I'm writing right now to be a review of the new iOS game Small Fry. It's a game about a cute little fish that you have to navigate through the sea and air and it initially caught my eye because I have a serious addiction to Fish Out Of Water. But instead of writing about Small Fry, I'm writing about Small Fry's in-game advertising and what it means for the App Store. To be perfectly clear upfront: I would prefer to pay for apps once at the time of my initial download and never have to worry about paying more to continue the experience down the road. That is my ideal App Store experience, but I'm not unwilling to compromise. Anecdotally, I hear all the time that in-app purchases are the scourge of humanity, but the fact that so many high-profile apps are relying on this model means that it's paying off for at least some of them. I see game genres embracing IAPs that I never thought would, like racing games and shooters, and I realize that it's futile to push back. I get it: Developers have to make money. If you get someone to download your app for free and then drop US$5 every few weeks on "gold" or "gems" or whatever, then it ends up paying more than a $2.99 upfront, one-time payment. That's fine; keep doing that. I'm not going to buy the crap, but I'm officially giving up my battle against the idea of in-app purchases because they're very clearly not going anywhere. That, and enough developers seem to have gotten the hang of the freemium model that I no longer fear it when I play a game being marketed as "free." What I will keep fighting against is intrusive and obnoxious in-app advertising strategies. This is where Small Fry and so many other games get things shockingly wrong. Here's how the offending system works: Opened the app? Launch a pop-up ad. Finish a level? Launch a pop-up ad. Hit the pause button? Launch a pop-up ad. Die or otherwise fail? Launch a pop-up ad. Exit to the main menu? Launch a pop-up ad. I invite you to guess how many times I (intentionally) click on these types of ads. If you guessed "never," you are correct. The obvious reason I don't click on them is that I'm already playing a game and don't really want to switch, but this doesn't tell the whole story. The more nuanced reason is that these types of ads -- the ones that relentlessly assault you at every turn -- are outright ruining the experience. I don't see an ad for another game pop up for the 18th time and think, "Oh, let me take a look at this for a second and possibly consider purchasing it." I think about how quickly I can find the "x" in the corner and how stupid the developer must be for thinking that I'm going to be more likely to buy its other game on the 18th time it's been pitched to me than on the first 17. To put it another way: If I download your app, launch it and the first thing I see is a full-screen ad for a different game, I'm never going to play either of them. I'm not going to fight your app to let me play it, and if you insist on tainting your digital wares in such a way, I promise you I can't delete them from my phone fast enough. It's not as though I'm alone in this line of thinking, either. Using Small Fry as an example, two of the top five reviews at the time of this writing mention how obnoxious the ads are. Read a bit further and you'll find players begging to simply pay for the app upfront rather than deal with intrusive ads they have no interest in clicking. There are some downright fantastic games that are seriously damaged by horrible ad systems, and some of them are even paid apps (I'm looking at you, Flick Home Run). These types of games sometimes make an appearance on the top charts, but by and large the App Store's heaviest hitters have taken a much more measured approach. I could be wrong, and people could be clicking on these ads every chance they get. I doubt it, but anything is possible. But personally, I'm done wasting my time on games that seem to be hell-bent on getting me to play something else.
Study: freemium gamers say in-app purchases are worth it
In-app purchases (IAPs) have gotten a lot of bad press over the past year. It seems like it's every other week you'll see an article saying that some kid racked up US$20,000 in IAP's on his parents' account and now those parents want Apple to pay for it. But a new study has been released that shines some good light on the practice of freemium games that offer in-app purchases: gamers feel like they're a good deal. The study was conducted by video game research company EEDAR. It found that out of 3,000 respondents, 75 percent of those that spent US$50 on IAPs and 67 percent that spent over $100 thought the price was fair and they were benefiting from the experience. As EEDAR's senior analyst Patrick Walker told PocketGamer: "Critics of the free-to play-business model state that the model takes advantage of heavy spenders by leveraging impulsive buying behaviors rather than providing true gameplay value. However, when asked, the majority of heavy spenders endorse that they are satisfied with the purchases made in the mobile games on which they spend the most money. In addition, these heavy mobile spenders play on a broad variety of platforms, including consoles, and understand the value proposition supplied across different business models, and still choose to purchase microtransactions." The games that users said they bought the most IAPs from were Candy Crush Saga, with 22 percent of respondents buying IAPs in, and Clash of Clans, which totaled 9 percent of IAPs purchased.
Apple notifies iTunes users of In App Purchase settlement
Today I woke to an email from Apple's "In-App Purchase Litigation Administrator." The email informs iTunes account holders who've had a minor make an unapproved in-app purchase (IAP) that they may be eligible for iTunes store credit or a cash refund. According to the terms of the class action lawsuit settlement, if a minor used your iTunes account to buy less than US$30 worth of IAP's, you are eligible for a $5 iTunes store credit. If a minor used your iTunes account to buy more than $30 worth of IAP is, you're eligible for a cash refund. Users have until January 13, 2014 to submit a settlement claim. Claimants can find full details of the settlement, including a list of IAP eligible games, here. The full email follows. LEGAL NOTICE If your iTunes account was charged for an in-app purchase made by a minor in a game app without your knowledge or permission, you could be entitled to benefits under a class action settlement. The parties have reached a settlement in a consolidated class action lawsuit against Apple Inc. ("Apple") regarding in-app purchases of game currency charged by minors to an iTunes account without the account holder's knowledge or permission. If the settlement is court-approved, your rights may be affected. The United States District Court for the Northern District of California authorized this notice. The Court will have a hearing to consider whether to approve the settlement so that the benefits may be paid. This summary provides basic information about the settlement. What's This About? In a consolidated class action lawsuit pending against Apple, Plaintiffs alleged that certain iOS applications ("Apps") distributed through the App Store allowed minors to charge iTunes accounts for in-app purchases of game currency without the account holders' knowledge or permission. Apple denies all allegations and is entering into this settlement to avoid burdensome and costly litigation. The settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing. Who's Affected? You're a "Class Member" if you're a United States resident who paid for an in-app purchase of game currency charged to your iTunes account by a minor without your knowledge or permission in a Qualified App. For a searchable list of Qualified Apps and the full definition of "Game Currency," please go to www.iTunesInAppPurchaseSettlement.com. Qualified Apps consist of all apps in the games category with a minimum age rating of 4+, 9+, or 12+ that offer in-app purchases of game currency. What Benefit Can You Get From the Settlement? You may choose between (a) a single $5 iTunes Store credit or (b) a credit equal to the total amount of Game Currency that a minor charged to your iTunes account without your knowledge or permission within a single forty-five (45) day period, less any refund you previously received ("Aggregate Relief"). A cash refund in lieu of an iTunes Store credit is available if (a) you no longer have an active iTunes account, or (b) your claims exceed $30 in total. Additional requirements for claiming charges after the forty-five (45) day period apply. You must complete a valid Claim Form to receive settlement benefits. The Claim Form will require you to attest that you: (a) paid for Game Currency charges in Qualified Apps charged to your iTunes account by a minor without your knowledge or permission; (b) did not knowingly enter your iTunes password to authorize any such purchase(s) and did not give your password to the minor to make any such purchase(s); and (c) have not received a refund from Apple for those charges. In addition, if you choose Aggregate Relief, the Claim Form will require you to identify the Qualified App, date of purchase, and price paid for each claimed charge. If you claim Aggregate Relief in excess of $30, you will also need to describe the circumstances under which a minor charged Game Currency to your iTunes account without your knowledge or permission. You may obtain a list of all in-app purchases, including Game Currency purchases, charged to your account by (1) selecting "View My Apple ID" from the iTunes "Store" menu, (2) entering your Apple ID and associated password, and (3) clicking "See All" under the heading titled "Purchase History." Who is Eligible for Cash Refunds? Cash refunds will be available to Class Members who no longer maintain iTunes accounts or whose total Aggregate Relief claims exceed $30. A detailed notice and Claim Form package contains everything you need and is available at www.iTunesInAppPurchaseSettlement.com. You can also obtain a Claim Form package by calling 1-855-282-8111. What Are Your Options and What Are the Deadlines? YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS AND OPTIONS IN THIS SETTLEMENT: OPTION EXPLANATION DEADLINE SUBMIT A CLAIM FORM The only way to get a payment under the settlement. January 13, 2014 EXCLUDE YOURSELF Get no payment under the settlement. This is the only option that allows you to ever be part of any other lawsuit against Apple about the claims and allegations in this case. August 30, 2013 OBJECT Write to the Court about why you don't like the settlement. August 30, 2013 GO TO A HEARING Ask to speak in Court about the fairness of the settlement. September 27, 2013 DO NOTHING Get no payment under the settlement. Give up rights. N/A Please read the full notice, which is available at www.iTunesInAppPurchaseSettlement.com, and decide whether you wish to make a claim. To claim a settlement benefit, you must submit a valid Claim Form on or before January 13, 2014. If you do not claim a settlement benefit within this time period, you will lose your right to obtain this benefit. If you don't want to make a claim and you don't want to be legally bound by the settlement, you must postmark your request to exclude yourself by August 30, 2013, or you won't be able to sue, or continue to sue, Apple about the legal claims and allegations in this case. If you exclude yourself, you will not be eligible to receive a payment from this settlement. If you stay in the Class, you may object to the settlement. Objections must be received by August 30, 2013. The detailed notice describes how to exclude yourself or object. The Court will hold a hearing in this case (In re Apple In-App Purchase Litigation, Case No. 5:11-CV-01758-EJD) on October 18, 2013 at 9:00 a.m. to consider whether to approve (1) the settlement and (2) attorneys' fees and expenses of up to $1.3 million for Class Counsel, and service awards to each of the five Plaintiffs of up to $1,500 each. You may appear at the hearing, but you don't have to. For More Information About the Settlement To obtain a full notice and claim form, go to www.iTunesInAppPurchaseSettlement.com or call toll free 1-855-282-8111. For more details, go to www.iTunesInAppPurchaseSettlement.com or write to Boni & Zack LLC, Attn: Joshua D. Snyder, 15 St. Asaphs Road, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004; or Saltz Mongeluzzi Barrett & Bendesky, P.C., Attn: Simon B. Paris, 1650 Market Street, Floor 51, Philadelphia, PA 19103. For More Information About Apple Parental Controls Apple provides owners of iOS devices such as the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch with the option to implement parental controls which prevent minors from charging in-app purchases to an iTunes account without the knowledge or permission of the account holder. You can learn more about these parental controls at support.apple.com/kb/HT4213. For Spanish-Language Information About the Settlement Por favor diríjase a www.iTunesInAppPurchaseSettlement.com para obtener una copia de este aviso y otros documentos importantes e información en español. BY ORDER OF THE U.S. DISTRICT COURT
BMW expanding ConnectedDrive with web browsing, Siri, S Voice and Android support
BMW has been refining its ConnectedDrive services for months, but that was apparently only a prelude to greater things: the automaker just outlined a roadmap for 2013 and beyond. The company is rolling out iDrive 4.2 firmware for the 2014 model year that supports web browsing while stopped, iAP Bluetooth control through iOS devices and integration with both Siri Eyes Free and S Voice. The new revision also brings voice search for locations through Google, and a ConnectedDrive Store lets drivers buy services without leaving the car. There's more to come in the long run. BMW will add support for Android apps later this year, for a start. It also wants cellular services to be commonplace. Many of its cars will have built-in SIM cards from July onward, and the company expects that cellular access will eventually be standard or near-standard worldwide -- certainly in i-series cars, where it's needed for remote control. About the only catch to the strategy is the current lack of upgrade plans for those with older vehicles. If you're using a 2013 BMW or earlier, you may have to settle for owning the Penultimate Driving Machine.
Apple could face 'legal undertakings' in UK over in-app purchases
Remember the UK police officer who reported his son to authorities for fraud after the 13-year-old ran up a US$5,600 bill for in-app purchases on the iOS App Store? That kind of unexpected consumer cost has thrown the UK Office of Fair Trading (OFT) into a tizzy, and they've announced that they'll be starting a six-month investigation into whether children are being "unfairly pressured or encouraged to pay for additional content in 'free' web- and app-based games." Our sister site TechCrunch confirmed that the OFT is contacting Apple and Google; not surprising, as the companies run the two largest app stores, but it's not clear whether either company could be held responsible for the actions of individual developers who abuse IAPs. While Google Play includes guidelines for developers and reserves the right to remove apps that abuse them, it does not review / approve individual apps for compliance in advance; Apple's App Store, of course, does approve or reject apps prior to release. When the investigation is completed, the OFT could seek "legal undertakings from court" if it is displeased with the results. An OFT spokesperson told TechCrunch that companies ignoring court directions could face "an unlimited fine." The OFT Senior Director for Goods and Consumer, the implausibly-named Cavendish Elithorn, noted in a statement that "The OFT is not seeking to ban in-game purchases, but the games industry must ensure it is complying with the relevant regulations so that children are protected. We are speaking to the industry and will take enforcement action if necessary." Neither Google nor Apple have replied to TechCrunch with regard to the investigation.
Daily iPhone App: Dungeon Hunter 4 is a hack-and-slash that asks for cash
I got to see Dungeon Hunter 4 in action a few weeks ago at GDC, and now the app is out and available for free on the App Store for you to try out for yourself. I'm torn on this one, unfortunately. On the one hand, this is an excellent game -- the graphics are extremely well done and the controls are excellent. While it is a little repetitive, this is a very respectable dungeon-crawling action game, similar in tone to the very famous (and much-loved) Diablo series. If you liked Dungeon Hunter 2, you'll be glad to see that the series has abandoned arenas for an actual story again, and I think all three of the game's classes are well-balanced and fun to play. That's all fine and dandy, but the issue here isn't with the game, it's with the business model. Dungeon Hunter 4 is a freemium title, and I'd go so far as to say it's viciously freemium. It's up to you what the most annoying of its many in-app purchase tricks are, but they include putting a timer on potions so that you have to wait or pay to use them frequently, teasing the player with better items for sale right there in your own personal inventory, or making you wait in real time (or pay, again) for item upgrades and crafting. One of these ideas might not be so bad, but including all of them means that a good quarter of your time in Dungeon Hunter 4 is taken up with the game tempting you to spend money, rather than just enjoying your time in the game's virtual world. It's up to you whether that works or not. Personally, I like Dungeon Hunter 4 -- I won't spend any money in it, but I get a kick out of the action RPG gameplay, and I can see sitting down for some multiplayer sessions with friends. If everyone who downloaded this game played like me, however (without spending any money at all), then Gameloft would go out of business, or have to fall back on a premium model. So it's up to you -- if you feel this is a worthwhile way to sell games, then by all means, give them your money. If you think making the monetization systems almost as complex as the game itself is a mistake, then it's probably better to move on and try something else. Ridiculous Fishing, for example, is an excellent title that leaves gameplay and monetization completely separate.
Dear parents, it's not Apple's In-App Purchase problem, it's yours
Dear parents, Week after week we see articles about someone's child racking up thousands of dollars' worth of In-App purchases on their parents' iTunes account. You know the stories. They're ones like this: Five-year-old spends $2,500 on in-app purchases. And this: Apple's in-app game charges: how my kids ran up huge bills. And this: Apps that cost parents dearly: Children running up huge bills on supposedly free games on phones and tablets. And this: Son makes £3,700 in app purchases, policeman father reports him for fraud. And inevitably, Apple takes the blame in the national media and several blogs. But here's the thing: it's not Apple's fault; it's yours. I wouldn't give a 5-year-old access to my credit card in a candy store and you probably shouldn't either. But that's exactly what you're doing when your give them access to your iTunes password. Children don't have the maturity to postpone immediate gratification for long-term gains. You know that because you were a child once. So if you let them into the massive candy store called iTunes and give them free rein with your purchasing details, you have no one to blame but yourself. So just don't do it. And stop blaming Apple. The company has done its fair share of helping out with an option in iOS that allows you to disable in-app purchases on your kid's device. Here's how to do it.
Civ Revolution updated, with multiplayer and more
Civ Revolution is one of my favorite apps on my iPad -- I'm a big Civ fan, and I think Civ Rev is a great touchscreen adaptation of the series. And now, it's even better: 2K Games has released an update for the app that adds a number of new in-app purchase packs, giving you the option to pick up new units, new buildings, new wonders and other new content. Each of the packs is available for just US$0.99, or you can get the "Master Bundle" for $3.99. In addition to that new content, there's also a multiplayer mode now available for in-app purchase. For $2.99, you can buy a mode that lets you and up to two other friends jump in and challenge each other for world domination, either in a custom game or a quick game. Yes, it's a little strange that this content is added in with an IAP, rather than offered up for free as it usually is with most other titles. But certainly 2K must have worked hard to port this feature over, so it's a small price to pay if you have friends waiting to play with you. And there's more good news: For a limited time, the app's price has dropped to just 99 cents, so you can save a buck or two there. Civilization Revolution is a great title that's a really fitting adaptation of the popular turn-based strategy series, and this update adds even more value to the app.
The must-try Spaceteam update adds challenges, new play modes
Spaceteam is a great app that we haven't mentioned much, but the TUAW team certainly knows about it, as we played during most of our downtime at Macworld. The lastest update has made it even better. Spaceteam is based on an amazing idea. It's a multiplayer game for one to four (or more, see below) iOS devices. Every player gets a panel of seemingly nonsensical touchscreen controls for a space ship, and gets orders for those controls ("push button 1" or "turn knob to 3," for example) at the top of the screen. The twist, however, is that the command you get is usually for controls on someone else's screen. When played correctly, the game prompts you and your friends to shout crazy commands to each other, like "Turn the astro-generator to five!" or "Jump-start the blast engine!" With the new update, Spaceteam is absolutely free to download. There are new IAP packs to buy, which unlock new skins or control sets, or even open up new challenges or achievements to earn. Additionally, new massive multiplayer modes let you mess around with more than four players if you happen to have a larger group. So not only is the game great, but the devs are working hard to provide lots of other content. It's quite impressive, even beyond the initial idea of just having players, as the description says, "shout technobabble at each other until their ship explodes." If you haven't tried Spaceteam yet, it's a must-play -- go grab a friend with another iOS device, and have some fun.
DevJuice: Beeblex offers in-app purchase validation services
The security of iOS in-app purchases is a hot topic after an IAP hacking server was launched last week by a Russian developer. When The Next Web talked to Alexey Borodin, he told them he's since turned the service over to an unnamed third party -- and, as of that conversation, he'd collected only $6.78 in donations to cover his costs. While we strongly advised users to steer clear of this theft-of-service hack, that doesn't solve the problem for developers waiting on Apple to come up with a fix. In the interim, indie startup Beeblex may provide a validation workaround for developers. Some background: The underlying framework for all IAPs in iOS is StoreKit, covered in depth in my iOS Cookbook. Every successful StoreKit purchase transaction contains a receipt. This receipt, which is sent in raw NSData format, corresponds to an encoded JSON string. It contains a signature and purchase information. Apple strongly recommends that you validate all receipts with their servers to prevent hacking and ensure that your customers actually purchased the items they are requesting. You POST a request to one of Apple's two servers. The URL you use depends on the deployment of the application. Use buy.itunes.apple.com for production software and sandbox.itunes.apple.com for development. The request body consists of a JSON dictionary. The dictionary is composed of one key ("receipt-data") and one value (a Base64-encoded version of the transaction receipt data). I normally use the CocoaDev NSData Base 64 extension to convert NSData objects into Base64-encoded strings. CocoaDev provides many great resources for Mac and iOS developers. A valid receipt returns a JSON dictionary. The receipt includes the transaction identifier, a product ID for the item purchased, a unique ID, the bundle ID for the host application, and a purchase date. Most importantly, it returns a status. A valid receipt always has a 0 status. Any number other than 0 indicates that the receipt is invalid. Simply checking for the status may not be sufficient for validation. It's not too difficult to set up a proxy server to intercept calls to the validation server and return JSON {"status":0} to all requests. What's more, the receipt data that is sent along with the validation request can be easily deserialized. For that reason, always use receipt validation cautiously and as part of the overall purchase process, where it's less likely that proxy servers can override communications with Apple. Enter Beeblex. They just launched a free IAP validation service for iOS apps that, according to their marketing text, "verifies IAP receipts against Apple's servers" using time-limited tokens and strong encryption to limit IAP purchase end-runs. Encryption prevents "man in the middle" attacks; time limited tokens prevent replay attacks. Together they make it much less likely that a simple proxy could successfully spoof an IAP reciept and fool your app into providing something for nothing. It's an intriguing option. The advantage seems to be that Beeblex provides a server component for apps developed without one. Still, I'm not sure I'd want my apps to rely on a third party service when any service interruption could create a large angry user base. I wonder how Beeblex will pay for the bandwidth necessary to facilitate this service, and what would happen should they get hacked. Hacking could be a big deal, because it'd circumvent potentially hundreds or thousands of apps, instead of just one. [Update] Marco Tabini, one of the Beeblex developers, writes, "One thing that I wanted to point out is that we have, in fact, thought about the possibility that our service may go down by building methods inside the SDK that would inform the app of transaction failures due to networking errors. Of course, you are completely right that we need to show that we can grow and maintain the service, and we have a lot of work ahead of us in this respect. We'll do our best!" I'd probably feel a lot more comfortable buying from a well-known quantity than relying on a free start-up. Urban Airship doesn't appear to provide this kind of service. I gave them a call and a sales guy said it's not an option. [Update] CEO Scott Kveton replied to my email saying, "Yes we do IAP receipt verification." He adds a note from his team: "This is not really a security problem. It's long been known that you can put your own root CA on iPhones, and at that point you can basically do anything as a proxy. The people being bitten by this on the IAP side are only those that are not doing receipt verification with Apple out of band via a server, which is something we do in our IAP product as a standard. If you do out of band receipt verification, this fails and nothing is purchased/granted." My feelings on IAP and piracy are this (in no particular order): Developers use IAP too much, and often without regard for the user experience. Requiring IAP in apps for kids is, in my opinion, evil -- it should be strongly discouraged by Apple policy. If your app requires IAP to bypass gameplay segments, your game design needs some serious reconsideration. Focus on providing good experiences for your paying users instead of fighting piracy. If your anti-piracy protections tick off even one paying customer you have lost the war. Trying to fight piracy is a losing proposition with one exception. The one exception is scalable server support. If pirates are killing your servers, either find another app to build or try to limit the impact of unpaid customers. Don't save IAP unlocks in plain text files. There are keychains and other more secure solutions available.
Apple accessory developer conference pushes AirPlay, Bluetooth
Last week, Japanese blog Macotakara reported that Apple hosted its "Made For iPhone" (MFI) technology summit in Shenzen, China (translated version). The conference last week, including 2,000 accessory makers and OEMs, featured Apple's announcement of a new certification chip for MFI accessories and future support for AirPlay over Bluetooth 4.0. Only 2 percent of the MFI-licensed peripherals on the market use the Bluetooth version of the iPod Accessory Protocol, according to the story, which was introduced in iOS 5. Apple plans to help manufacturers accelerate the development of compatible devices, and grow the AirPlay device ecosystem by 7x by promoting the MFI program. Bluetooth 4.0 (or Bluetooth Smart) has optional lower power requirements that make it a better fit for always-on remote peripherals, but at the moment the only Apple mobile device that supports 4.0 is the iPhone 4S; Macs with the new Bluetooth stack include the current Mac mini and MacBook Air. The Verge reports that the article may have been misinterpreted from the original Japanese; the site's sources say that AirPlay is not headed for Bluetooth 4, but will remain a WiFi-only connection for now. The process of authenticating and linking an AirPlay device, however, may get easier; 9to5Mac's Seth Weintraub points to the Bluetooth 3.0 HS+ spec, which uses a hybrid of Bluetooth for negotiation and a colocated 802.11 (WiFi) connection for bandwidth up to 24 Mbit, more than adequate for music streaming. [via AppleInsider, MacRumors]
You're the Pundit: Is in-app purchasing out of control?
When it comes to forecasting the next big thing, we turn to our secret weapon: the TUAW braintrust. We put the question to you and let you have your go at it. Today's topic is in-app purchasing, or IAP for short. We've been having a house debate recently about the proper role of IAP in game marketing and development. Some companies have been treating their customers as cash cows using IAPs. We find that attitude unacceptable. That said, many games (including Tiny Tower, Battle Nations and others) use IAPs responsibly and well. We feel IAP by itself isn't bad, but some companies (and let us be clear, those are actually the minority of companies) put in-app purchases over game play instead of the other way around. Our group take is that IAP, economically speaking, rewards bad game design. Developers can make more money from games with a high initial fun factor followed by a long, dull grind that players already in the groove will then pay out to avoid. If you're paying to avoid game play or to add cheats that put you at an advantage over other players, then in-app purchases are hiding bad game design. Similarly, if you're paying to "accessorize" your world ("collect all 12 fish"), we feel that IAP is taking advantage of customers. When IAP works in games, it branches, extends, or expands gameplay rather than cheats it. So is IAP out of control in App Store? Should Apple be cracking down on the more predatory uses of IAP? You tell us. Place your vote in this poll and then join in the comments with your take on this. %Poll-71599%
