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Facebook's internal iOS apps return after temporary Apple ban
After revoking Facebook's enterprise certificates that allowed the company to distribute the software outside of the Apple App Store, Facebook announced today that the certification has been restored, per Mike Issac. Internal apps used by the company are running again, once again allowing employees to communicate and collaborate with one another. Facebook said the revocation of the certificates did not have an impact on its consumer-facing services.
Apple's new rules can make gifts out of in-app purchases
It looks like Apple will soon allow users to gift in-app purchases to friends and family thanks to a recent change to the company's App Store Guidelines. First spotted by MacRumors, the updated text shows developers can allow people to buy in-app purchases for one another. That includes everything from ongoing subscriptions to one-off boosts. Apple's policy previously barred such gifts.
Apple brings its redesigned App Store to the web
If you thought Apple's iOS 11 App Store redesign was overdue, the tech giant is now finally getting round to updating its web interface. The overhaul borrows from the iOS 11 revamp, offering a clean look, with larger images arranged in card-like bubbles, and a focus on discovery and reviews. When you select an app, you'll see "this app is only available on the App Store for iOS devices" at the top of the page, below which are its description, version history, and more info such as its size and a price list of the in-app purchases it offers (for freemium apps). With the redesign, Apple is showcasing screenshots from the iPhone X for apps optimized for the flagship, according to 9to5Mac.
The clone that won't disappear: 'Threes' vs. '2048' on Google Play
Google removed the quirky puzzle game Threes from the Play store on Tuesday. Its removal was unceremonious and sudden, but that's not exactly why Threes creator Asher Vollmer found the situation frustrating. That came down to two reasons: A robot informed Vollmer that his game was removed from Google Play in a cold, automated message. Threes was removed from Google Play because it used "2048" as a keyword -- and 2048 is a blatant, known clone of Threes. Google -- probably a human there, not a robot -- reinstated Threes after just a few hours offline and following a stream of articles and Twitter activity around its removal. Of course, 2048 remained live on Google Play the entire time, alongside a bunch of other Threes clones. This string of events highlights one of the biggest differences between Google and Apple, and how they approach their app stores. "Apple's policies are preventative and Google's policies are retroactive," Vollmer says. "You can probably figure out which one I prefer."
The easiest way to get popular on the App Store
A good title is gold on the App Store. Along with the app's icon, the title is the first thing you notice about an app when it appears on your iPhone screen. Ever since Apple's decision to remove the "recently added" apps list, the title of a game is the single easiest way to find it in the App Store, but what if nobody is actually searching for your app? What can you do? Well, if you're willing to set your self respect aside, you can simply steal the name of successful apps. This is RedCross Rescue, or at least that was its title when MobileX Labs released it in November of 2012. But after a few months of poor sales, its name was changed to "Bike Race HD" in January 2013. It gained some traction, breaking the top 250 in the Adventure category, but it began to slip once more. Then, just last month, its fortunes miraculously shifted, climbing almost 750 spots from its 1,000+ ranking in Adventure to the top 300. But this amazing change of fortune wasn't due to a new update, cool level pack, or added functionality. No, it was achieved with nothing more than a simple name change. Overnight, Bike Race HD became "Bike Race Ninja Clumsy Run HD." Capitalizing on the absolutely scorching hot search term "Clumsy Ninja," the app did quite well, but its transformation wasn't complete. On February 14, a simple new app called "Le Pupppy" took the App Store by storm, becoming a top 10 game shortly after launch. And wouldn't you know it, as soon as Le Pupppy began its climb to the top, the app formerly known as RedCross Rescue evolved once again, this time to "Le Puppy Clumsy Biker Pupppy Race Ninja 2 HD." These are the current App Store search results for "Le Pupppy": And here are the results on the app's ranking after each name change in both the Adventure and Arcade game categories: The app is now more popular than it's ever been, and is once again cracking the top 250 in the Adventure category. This is an app that was published in August of 2013 with the title "Dumb Ways to Die 2 Day Saga Despicable Pet Rescue 2k14." No smoke an mirrors on this one; it was gaming the App Store's search feature from the very start. The game has only a passing similarity to the actual Dumb Ways to Die app, and MobileX Labs has no affiliation with the creators of the original whatsoever. Just days after being published, the app got an update that changed its title to sneak one more important keyword in, "Pou." The app's new title became "Dumb Ways to Die 2 Day Saga Pou Pet Rescue." And wouldn't you know it, less than a month after that name change, the app suddenly skyrocketed in popularity. But wait, there's more! After the Flappy Bird clone "Flying Circus - Wrecking Ball" became a hit just a few days ago, the app's name changed once more, this time to "Dumb Ways to Die 2 Day Saga Flying Circus," and gained another healthy bump in ranking, bringing it higher on the App Store charts than it has ever been -- and even cracking the top 1,000 overall US app chart for the first time ever. This is all thanks to the success of apps with which the publisher has no affiliation. This app in particular shows how a publisher can hitch its own app onto a successful name and ride its ups and downs. Here is a comparison of the overall US ranking of Dumb Ways to Die (in blue) and the clone's ranking on the US Adventure chart (in red): Instaliker, published by Top Free Apps And Games -- one of the App Store names MobileX Labs publishes under -- has had a particularly robust history of name swaps: Instaliker - 1000's of Likes & Followers Plus Instalikes Wow Gram Tool (launch title) Instaliker - 1000's of Likes & Followers Plus Instalikes Wow Gram Wowlikes Tool (added the term "Wowlikes," another popular Instagram utility) Instaliker - 1000 Instagram Likes & Followers Plus 1000likes Wow Gram Wowlikes Tool (added "Instagram", added "1000likes" which is yet another Instagram app, removed "Instalikes") Instaliker - 1000 Instagram Likes & Followers LaterSnap Plus 1000likes Wow Gram Wowlikes Tool (added "LaterSnap," another popular Instagram app) Instaliker - 1000 Instagram Likes & Followers Followliker Plus 1000likes Wow Gram Wowlikes Tool (current name, replaced "LaterSnap" with "Followliker," because LaterSnap changed its name) And WakaVille, officially titled "WakaVille USA Zombie Plague Pandemic Bitstrips," has nothing to do with the popular apps Plague Inc. or Bitstrips, but it's certainly benefitting from such a carefully crafted name. MobileX Labs MobileX Labs is the name you'll see linked to all these apps. The Chicago-based startup bills itself as an app creation solution for people who don't want to bother with coding. The company -- which has Mark Cuban as an advisor, and appears on Cuban's website -- also offers to build from-scratch apps for its clients. MobileX Labs publishes some of the apps itself, apparently under a number of App Store names, and if the app makes money, 20% of the profit goes to MobileX. As the company website states, MobileX is the one that cuts the check for the remaining 80% to the client. I wanted to get a better feel for who was behind the App Store naming "tweaks," so, mentioning the Dumb Ways to Die app specifically, I emailed the official support contact listed on the MobileX Labs website. I received this in response: We published this game for a client last year and we own the source code of the game, and we don't have any affiliation with Metro Trains Melbourne, the purveyors of Dumb Ways to Die. We have not had any pushback from Apple or the MTM people on the title, so we assume this is within the guidelines of app naming. We don't really focus on simple games like this any more but we agree with the client to leave the game up as it does generate revenue. In a followup email, I was told any information I had received -- this is from the official support email, remember -- was "off the record." When I didn't agree to this, I was told I could not longer be helped. I also emailed MobileX Labs CEO Daniel Novaes in an attempt to get an actual answer, and was told that apps for clients are named according to the client's wishes -- and to be fair, there are quite a few MobileX Labs apps on the store that were clearly made by well-meaning clients -- but games MobileX made may have been "outsourced to marketing firms/freelancers." Novaes also noted that MobileX hasn't had anything to do with RedCross Rescue (or its subsequent name changes) "for nearly a year," claiming that his company simply hosts the app and gives its new owner access to it through iTunes. He also said that WakaVille was named by a separate "app marketing service." This adds another layer to things, but doesn't change the fact that MobileX is either willfully ignorant of the fact that it's supporting an extremely gross business practice, or doesn't care. So does gaming the App Store pay off? In an October interview, Novaes notes that MobileX Labs rakes in roughly $100,000 a month. With how many clients the company has, there's no way to tell how much of that is thanks to shady App Store naming. It's worth noting that of all the apps published under the company's name, the most popular are indeed the same apps that appear to be using titles of other, legitimately popular apps. So there you have it, aspiring app developers; Popularity is as simple as blatantly ripping off the name of your competitors and turning a blind eye to ethics. [All ranking data by App Annie]
Apple adds Rubles and other currencies to App Store, bumps minimum price to €0.89 in Europe
After announcing slightly under par financials, Apple has added more ways it can be paid for apps, though it also bumped the minimum freight to get one across Europe. The new lowest price users in France, Germany, Italy and other nations "over there" can pay for an app is now €0.89, a euro-dime bump from before -- apparently due to the weak euro and local tax hikes. On the other hand, Cupertino also added more currencies accepted at its store: South African Rand, Turkish Lira, Russian Rubles, Indian Rupees, Isreali New Shekel's, Saudi Arabian Riyal, Indonesian Rupish and UAE Dirham can all now be used to pay. Apple has tinkered with its prices before in varying amounts overseas depending on the nation, so you may want to check your own country's App Store for the news -- bad or good.
ESPN delivers College Football companion app to iOS and Android just in time
If you're a football fan, then we don't have to tell you that college football kicks off this evening. But, perhaps, you have yet to find the perfect app for your smart phone or tablet to keep you informed during the fifteen solid hours of football this Saturday. ESPN hopes that its new ESPN College Football App will be the perfect companion on game day, and all year round for that matter, by delivering up to the minute news, stats and even video clips. The app ties in with your ESPN.com account for easy access to your favorite teams and of course will alert you to scores and other things, like potential upsets. It'll even give you quick access to the WatchESPN app so you can check out a game on your second screen. Add in the fact that this app is free, and we don't see any reason a football fan wouldn't head to the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and download it right now. [Thanks, @bartenz]
Verizon's Viewdini appears on iOS: works on any network, hunts video from 11 sources
The Viewdini streaming metasearch service launched a few months ago for Verizon's 4G LTE-laden Android hardware, and now it's finally available on iDevices. While the droid app is exclusive to those with a 4G plan on Big Red's network, anything running iOS 4.3 and up can now make use of Viewdini, independently of carrier ties. As the screenshots above show, you're also good to go on 3G, although you better watch that data allowance to avoid any nasty surprises. Interestingly, the iOS version currently only digs through the catalogues of 11 content providers compared with 18 on the Android version, but you're still getting access to various big names like ABC, Crackle, Hulu Plus, Netflix and Verizon's own video service. More providers should be added to the list soon, and if you'd like to give Viewdini a try, it's available at the App Store now.
Spam-happy iOS trojan slips into App Store, gets pulled in rapid fashion
You could call it technological baptism of sorts... just not the kind Apple would want. A Russian scam app known as Find and Call managed to hit the App Store and create havoc for those who dared a download, making it the first non-experimental malware to hit iOS without first needing a jailbreak. As Kaspersky found out, it wasn't just scamware, but a trojan: the title would swipe the contacts after asking permission, send them to a remote server behind the scenes and text spam the daylights out of any phone number in that list. Thankfully, Apple has already yanked the app quickly and explained to The Loop that the app was pulled for violating App Store policies. We'd still like to know just why the app got there in the first place, but we'd also caution against delighting in any schadenfreude if you're of the Android persuasion. The app snuck through to Google Play as well, and Kaspersky is keen to remind us that Android trojans are "nothing new;" the real solution to malware is to watch out for fishy-looking apps, no matter what platform you're using. [Image credit: C Jones Photography (wallpaper)]
Google Play hits 600,000 apps, 20 billion total installs
Google during its I/O keynote hit a symbolic milestone: it now has 600,000 apps in the Google Play Store. As well, the store is clearly hitting a brisk pace in adoption, with 1.5 billion downloads every month and 20 billion since Android began. Free apps are available in 190 countries, with paid apps in 132. The app and download counts stack up fairly well to Apple's own claims, although not universally: it's just short of the App Store's 650,000 apps, but Apple can still point to 30 billion total downloads. Google also hasn't said how many apps are explicitly tablet-friendly versus 225,000 iPad-oriented apps. Either way, Google can say that it has largely erased the app quantity deficit, and that's no mean feat.
Apple introduces 'free app of the week,' kicks things off with Cut the Rope: Experiments
Amazon has been offering a free app of the day for a while now, but that offer is good for Android users only. Well, Apple seems to have caught on to the fact that iOS users like to save money too, as it's debuting a "free app of the week" offer. Cupertino kicked off the new promotion yesterday via Twitter, where it announced that the game Cut the Rope: Experiments will be the first free download. Click on through to the source link, and you'll see that the Appstore indeed lists the title as "free for a limited time."
Sony Music Unlimited comes to iPhone with streaming music app
Android and PlayStation Vita owners have felt the Music Unlimited love on their respective devices for quite some time now, but the Spotify / MOG / Rdio competitor has finally made its way to the App Store, bringing with it yet another option for streaming music on iOS. The free app appears to be optimized for iPhone and iPod touch (though it's also compatible with iPad), and will enable on-the-go jammin' with a $4-per-month Basic subscription over 3G, 4G or WiFi connections. You can pull in tunes from the millions of tracks in Sony's collection, or access songs on your PC using the Music Sync service. The app is currently only available in the New Zealand App Store, but it's expected to hit other Music Unlimited countries soon. For now, you can hit up the source link for the Kiwi App Store preview, or head over to the Music Unlimited site to sign up.
Skype iOS apps hit v4.0: improved stability, minor UI tweaks in tow
Everyone's favorite VoIP service, Skype, has rolled out a fresh update to its iPhone / iPod Touch and iPad clients. First off, the Microsoft-owned outfit added a revamped login screen to both iOS applications, and now offers the ability to move your vid preview around the screen -- much like FaceTime does. To go along with the new pair of features, Skype's changelog also notes the app will now automatically restart after a sudden crash, while other undisclosed enhancements were made to improve the overall UI, stability and accessibility. Of note, Skype v4 requires folks to be running iOS 4.3 or later. So, those of you keeping that Cupertino OS current can hit either of the iTunes links below to get the goods, or grab it from the App Store on your device.
Apple ups over-the-air download limit to 50MB for iOS
This tid-bit didn't warrant a lot of attention during Apple's presentation today, but it's definitely worth noting: the limit on downloads from the App Store is now 50MB over-the-air, instead of a paltry 20MB. Now, anything larger than that and you'll still need to hop on a WiFi network, but you probably don't want to chew through your data plan that quick any way. So, enjoy downloading Jaws Revenge without the aid of 802.11.
New privacy policy standards agreed to by world's major app store owners
The California Attorney General has struck a deal with the world's major app store operators that will see new privacy policy standards put in place. Apple, Google, Microsoft, HP, RIM and Amazon have all agreed to require any software that uses personal information to provide a privacy policy that can be viewed in the store before an app is downloaded. The agreement will bring the various markets in line with the California Online Privacy Protection Act, which requires developers provide such a policy. In addition to providing links to the relevant documents in an obvious and consistent location, the companies will have to offer a simple way for users to report devs that violate the rules. For more details about the deal check out the PR after the break.
App downloads top 1 billion during the holiday week
During the holiday week (by which we mean the seven days between the secularized celebration of a Christian holy day timed to replace a pagan winter festival and the beginning of a new year in the Gregorian calendar) the iTunes App Store and the Android Market combined to reach a record-breaking 1.2 billion downloads according to analytics firm Flurry. The sudden surge in downloads is no shock considering the impressive number of activations on Christmas day, but a 60 percent jump over the week of December 4th through December 17th is still quite a feat. Check out the source for a few more details.
iPhone app downloads stuttering in the US, but still gold compared to Android
At some point, we'll all have to stop binging on discounted apps and start being reflective -- and that's when Distimo's 2011 'App Year in Review' report can serve as a nice digestive. Alongside some predictable trends, such as an impressive 400 percent surge in available Windows Phone apps, it also reveals a few interesting stats about the market leader. iPhone app downloads in the US "have been declining for nearly the entire year," it says, although there was big spike following the launch of the 4S. Regardless of volume, however, top-grossing iPhone apps still made four times as much money as the Android Market's premium performers. By the same measure, even iPad apps on their own generated twice as many dollars. Is this a tale of quality over quantity, or are Android apps simply better value? We'll decide when we're less queasy, and in the meantime there's a fuller summary of the report at the source link -- though you'll have to register to view it.
Microsoft's Kinectimals lands on the App Store, breaks on through to the other side
Hell's apparently frozen over, pigs are indeed flying and, yes, the gods must be crazy because Microsoft Studios has just released Kinectimals, its Tamagotchi-like "mobile experience" with tiger cubs, to the App Store. The $2.99 app brings the isle of Lemuria directly to your iOS device of choice, letting you nurture these fledgling digital felines, in addition to unlocking a handful of them on a companion Xbox 360 title of the same name. It's not the first time Redmond's made its app wares available to Apple, as both OneNote and My Xbox Live have already hit earlier this month, but it certainly does signal a growing change for MS' attitude towards its mobile competition. If only Steve could see this now.
Google catalogs brings all of your holiday perusing to your Android tablet
Looking for a way to stay up to date on your favorite retailers this holiday season without amassing a mountain of soon-to-be trash? Google has announced Catalogs, an app that keeps all of your favorite look books current and in one place. The tablet application is now available for Android slates and the iPad, giving you another option when shopping from the couch. You'll be able to curate product collages that can be shared (we'd presume via Google+) with whomever you see fit. Content is pulled from over 125 brands spanning more than 400 digital catalog issues -- so you should be able to find enough to fill out that wish list. If you're looking to give it a spin, hit the source link below to download the app. Update: Well folks, while the Google Catalogs app is new for Android, the iPad verson's been around for a couple months now. [Thanks, TUAW]
Hungry for Chinese yuan, Apple now accepts currency for App Store purchases
Apple made a fundamental change with its payment policy today in China, as the company now accepts the yuan for all purchases made on the App Store. Previously, customers were required to hold dual-currency credit cards -- merely to drop a couple dollars on Jet Car Stunts and the like -- which turned a significant portion of iOS users to the jailbreaking community. The higher-ups in Cupertino hope its newly pronounced love for the yuan will help drive millions of additional app sales while bringing customers back into the company's ecosystem. Currently, 20 Chinese banks are on board with Apple to help facilitate the shift, which certainly shouldn't mind adding a few more yuan to their coffers. [Chinese yuan photo via Shutterstock]
