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France to sue Apple and Google over 'abusive' developer practices
France is taking Google and Apple to court over "abusive" app developer practices and could impose millions of euros in penalties. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told RTL that the government has a problem with the onerous conditions the tech giants impose on French startups. "When developers want to sell apps with Google or Apple, they must pay a fee," he said. "But Google and Apple also gather data, and can unilaterally alter the contract terms. All of that is unacceptable."
Google teases I/O 2018 with treasure maps and cryptic clues (updated)
As it does every year, Google is sending users on a geeky goose chase to learn details about its upcoming I/O 2018 Developer's conference. The first clue, posted on Twitter, is a bunch of binary code that (spoiler) reveals a website address, google.com/io. That leads you to a splash screen and Google Maps, where you're positioned in front of a Google office building ready to enter into a reception area. Update: Well, the mystery didn't last long. The conference will run May 8th-10th. In Mountain View, naturally.
Oculus Start aims to lessen the burden on aspiring VR developers
Virtual reality is still a relatively new format, so there's a huge need for compelling content to drive adoption. As such, today Oculus is announcing its new developer-focused program called Start. This is a free program that's meant to make it easier and more cost-efficient to get VR apps built and distributed to customers. For starters, the company is highlighting three different facets of Start: access, support and savings.
HTC gives Vive developers all app revenue for the rest of 2017
Now that HTC is all-in on Vive headsets and letting Google deal with its Pixel smartphone business, it has to deal with another reality: The public still isn't exactly sold on VR. To keep sales momentum going, it has announced a promotion aimed at attracting Vive app developers and keeping existing ones happy. Rather than taking its usual 30 percent cut, HTC will give 100 percent of app revenue to developers for the entire fourth quarter of 2017, starting in October.
Valve thinks charts will negate Steam review bombing
Review bombing in the gaming community is a woefully old concept, but after it took the spotlight again this month, following yet another racist outburst from YouTuber PewDiePie, Valve is taking action to mitigate the damaging effects it can have on game developers. Instead of single review scores, game pages will now be accompanied by a histogram displaying a visual history of user reviews.
Alexa's new kid-friendly skills have a layer of parental control
Amazon's Alexa skills let you add all sorts of functionality to your Echo devices, and there are more coming every day. You can order a pizza, manage your video streaming binges, find out when your package has shipped and even book a hotel with your voice. But why should grown-ups have all the fun? Amazon has just announced kids skills in the US, which have a layer of parental permissions to help adults feel safe in adding them to their children's Echo devices.
Apple made it likelier you'll get an App Store review reply
Most App Store users don't leave negative ratings to be jerks -- rather, they may have just had trouble figuring out an app or felt it was missing a key feature. If the developers spot the issue and can deal with it, they can turn a bad user score into a good one and educate other customers at the same time. To help, Apple has made it easier for developers by adding a new role in the iTunes Connect portal called "Customer Service."
Apple users have spent over $100 billion in the App Store
Apple announced today that app developers have earned over $70 billion through the App Store since its launch in 2008. As ever, the revenue split between Apple and its app developers is 70/30 for most purchases, meaning users have spent over $100 billion in the App Store.
IFTTT's free 'maker' tier lets anyone create and share applets
We thought the combined might of Domino's Pizza and IFTTT shortcuts was as good as it might get, but that may just be the start. IFTTT is opening up its recipe/ applet creating platform to everyone, with a free 'maker' tier that offers deeper (read: harder) programming options beyond the simple "if this then that" UI most IFTTT aficionados use. You could already do this, making private applets for your own use, but this announcement means part-time developers can share any awesome applets with the greater IFTTT community, including lazy ingrates like myself.
Facebook adds a login shortcut to other Android apps
The great part about being tech obsessed is getting the latest and greatest devices. The less great part is having to log into all the services you use when you get new hardware. Today at its F8 conference, Facebook announced that it's giving developers of third-party Android apps the ability to recognize if you've already linked a service with the social network.
Watch Facebook's F8 keynote at 1PM ET
News Feed, Messenger, Instagram, VR and more. Facebook's annual developer conference kicks off today with a keynote address. We'll be there live with all the news and commentary in our liveblog, but you can also stream the talk down below at 1PM ET. In the meantime, consult our F8 preview for a rundown of all the big announcements you can expect this afternoon. Click here to catch up on the latest news from F8 2017!
Fig's new fund helps indie games get to Steam
Crowdfunding and investment site Fig is offering successful indie developers a little extra cash to finish games and get them on Steam. With the $500,000 Fig Finishing Fund, developers that hit their funding goals and attract at least 1,000 backers will get at least $20,000 from the investor-based fund. They'll be able to use that cash to finish their games, add more languages and get them up on Valve's brand new Steam Direct program coming this spring.
'Team Fortress 2' patch fixes decade-old bug
Video games with a dedicated developer team periodically release software patches to fix broken things. Sometimes these come at the behest of the title's community, and dedicated users can be counted on to pick apart janky or erratic flaws faster than developers can address them. Unless everyone misses something for, say, a decade. That's how long a particular bug had been in the shooter Team Fortress 2 -- since it was released in 2007 -- if a pair of modders are to believed, an issue that studio Valve finally fixed in yesterday's game update.
Apple TV app changes pave the way for better gaming
Apple has drastically increased the size of apps that developers can submit to its Apple TV App Store, paving the way for more media-heavy apps, especially games. Up until now the limit was 200 MB, but apps can now be as large 4GB, the same as for iOS devices. The change should provide a "complete, rich user experience upon installation," Apple says, noting that as before, apps can host up to 20GB of additional content from the App Store.
Most Firefox users are running Windows 7 on dated PCs
Mozilla is helping developers figure out if their game or app will run well for average and not just hardcore users. The Firefox Hardware Report, using data from its anonymized Telemetry app, shows what OS and hardware folks are using, along with popular screen resolutions and other information. "Existing hardware reports (such as those from Valve and Unity) are excellent, but represent a different group of hardware users than the majority of people who use the web," the organization says.
Samsung: Please, somebody, make mobile apps for Tizen
Samsung is eager to get developers to build applications for its Tizen smartphones. In an effort to drive up interest, the company has created the Tizen Mobile App Incentive Program, which will offer $9 million in cash prizes from February through October of 2017. According to Samsung, devs with apps that end up in the top 100 chart can earn $10,000 per app -- definitely not a bad way to lure people in. Those who want to participate in the program can register starting in "early" January.
Play Store apps can offer introductory discounts on subscriptions
Subscription services have been on mobile devices for a while. Netflix, Hulu, Marvel Unlimited and others have made shelling out a few dollars a month part of our on-the-go digital lifestyle. But if developers who rely on that business model wanted to use the Android subscription feature they were stuck charging full price from day one. That's about to change.
Google's opening up its Early Access program to more devs
Google's opening up its Early Access program today by allowing any developer to apply to let users beta test their apps.
Devs can now publish Windows apps straight to Xbox One
Microsoft is getting its proverbial development ducks in a row, with the addition of new capabilities to its Dev Center that should make multi-platform publishing a whole lot more straightforward, as well as provide more feedback to developers.
Google Play gives Android app developers more categories
Two months after giving VR its own category, Google Play will soon expand the list of Android app subcategories with additional general interest ones, allowing developers to more accurately slot theirs. Here's the full list of new ones: Art & Design, Auto & Vehicles, Dating, Events, Food & Drink, House & Home and Parenting. Ideally, the increased specificity will improve the relevance of Google Play's search results.
