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Russia demands LinkedIn's removal from iTunes and Google Play
Russia wants to scrub LinkedIn's presence from the country completely. According to The New York Times, people in the country can no longer download the social network's mobile application from the App Store or Google Play. Russian authorities required Apple and Google to kill the app from the local version of their software markets, a couple of months after a local court ruled that the service violated its data protection rules.
Apple pulled New York Times' news app from China's App Store
China has imposed its will on Apple to remove anther app from The App Store. Except this time, it isn't one of Cupertino's own. The New York Times reports that its news apps were pulled from the Chinese App Store without warning in late December.
Apple's iOS support app is now live in the US
After quietly launching in the Netherlands last month, Apple's standalone support app is now finally available in the US. Serving as iOS users' one-stop-shop for Apple product problem solving, the app offers a wealth of product information and advice on how to resolve common issues. If you find yourself with a more serious problem, the app can also be used to contact support technicians and even to schedule repair appointments with the Apple Store or an approved third party.
'Secure' apps in Google's Play Store are a crapshoot
Infosec Apple fanboys are not known for their empathy -- either for those who can't afford their holy high fetish of phone security (iPhone) or for those who simply can't stomach the ecosystem's mounting hypocrisies. But there's one thing on their side. Apple's App Store at least tries to curate product security, while Google's Play Store is like playing appsec Russian roulette.
Apple suspends developer account over 'review fraud'
Review fraud is a hot topic of late. Both Amazon and Steam are dealing with it in their own ways, and now Apple is jumping into the fray with the creator of the dev-tool, Dash. Apple removed the application from the App Store last week, later telling Bogdan Popsecu that his account was being suspended due to suspicion of review manipulation. Popsecu's side of the story is such: Around four years ago he paid for a relative's Apple Developer Program Membership with his credit card and gave her some test hardware to work with.
Search ads show up on Apple's App Store
While we've known for months that Apple would start placing adverts in App Store search results, only a small percentage of iPhone and iPad users have seen them so far. From today, however, all device owners running iOS 10 in the US will see targeted apps whenever they search for popular terms like "taxi," "to do" and even "Pokémon" on Apple's app marketplace.
HTC Vive launches dedicated VR store for everything besides games
HTC is launching a new app store for its VR hardware. Viveport escapes beta testing today, showcasing all the other VR possibilities besides survival horror, shooting and such. The company is promising the hub will show off art, creativity tools, education apps and more -- hoping to surface things that might get lost in the depths of Steam's bigger catalogue. The store also includes Viveport Premieres: content that's debuting on the Vive headset, including Google Spotlight Stories' Petal, Stonehenge VR, The Music Room and more.
Steam is turning into the App Store and that's OK
Steam changed the video game industry in the same way Netflix changed television. Digital distribution was a natural evolution for gaming in the early 2010s, allowing PC players to skip the midnight-release lines at Gamestop and purchase new titles with the click of a button. While Steam wasn't the first hub to offer digitally distributed games -- Valve debuted it in 2003 -- it quickly gained a massive following and by 2011 was undoubtedly the largest platform for finding, buying and playing games on PC, Mac and Linux. Today, Steam hosts more than 10,000 titles and nearly 160 million active users per month, according to Steam Spy and EEDAR. Steam is Netflix on pixelated, interactive steroids.
Apple is hunting down unused, dysfunctional apps
Apple has vowed to remove from the App Store any programs that no longer work, don't follow current review guidelines or are simply outdated. Starting September 7th, Apple will review and remove apps that crash on launch, and the company will contact developers whose apps don't meet the new guidelines. Developers then have 30 days to submit an update; otherwise, their programs are gone for good.
'Pokémon Go' has most first-week downloads in App Store history
Despite only being available in the United States, Australia and New Zealand for its first week, Apple has officially confirmed that Pokémon Go had the most downloads in its first week of any in the App Store's history. Considering that the game has launched in over 26 countries since then, including opening in Japan today, it might just keep breaking records.
Apple says Spotify wants 'preferential treatment' for iOS app
It didn't take long for Apple to respond to Spotify's claim that it's using App Store approvals a way to handle competitors. In a letter obtained by BuzzFeed, Apple general counsel Bruce Sewell described the allegation as "troubling" and that Spotify was "asking for exemptions to the rules we apply to all developers." Sewell went on to say that the streaming service was "publicly resorting to rumors and half-truths about our service" with its statements about App Store policies being designed to squash competition.
Apple will let you delete stock iOS apps
Apple's native apps already ship with its mobile platform, so the company didn't bother to make them available on iTunes. Now, those stock apps are up for download in the App Store. MacRumors has spotted familiar iOS stock applications in the store, including Mail, Stocks, Notes, Maps, Calendar, Contacts and even iTunes. It's still unclear if Cupertino is giving you a way to delete them, but if that happens, then they're on the App Store so you can re-download them later -- you know, in case you change your mind. It's also possible that the tech titan made iOS apps downloadable to allow people to update them outside the platform. Unfortunately, Apple didn't confirm anything at WWDC. We'll let you know as soon as the iPhone-maker makes an announcement, but you can see some screencaps after the break and check out iTunes' Apple section.
Apple's App Store is changing, starting with subscriptions
At next week's WWDC, Apple is set to unveil some major changes to the way developers and users interact with the App Store. According to Apple's senior VP of Worldwide Marketing (and perennial WWDC keynote presence) Phil Schiller, Apple is working to improve everything from the app review experience to the discovery process. But the most notable change is a shift in the business models to allow for subscriptions from any kind of app.
Apple's App Store experiences major search glitch
Starting early Thursday morning, users trying to access Apple's App Store were met with a broken search tool and undiscoverable apps. According to Cupertino's own system status, "all users are affected." Apple is "investigating and will update the status as more information becomes available." The outage began around 5 AM Eastern time and remains broken as of publication time.
Twitter for iPhone is now classified as a news app
A day after Twitter posted yet another quarter of mediocre growth, the company is making a small but notable change in how it positions its app on the iTunes Store. Starting today, Twitter is categorized under the "news" section of the App Store rather than "social networking." It's a change that makes a lot of sense and fits with both how Twitter has positioned itself as well as how it's being used.
Apple might finally be revamping the App Store
Finding anything on the App Store is kind of a nightmare, but Apple apparently has a way to fix that. And the Cupertino company is considering taking a page from Google to do it: paid search results, according to a report from Bloomberg. Meaning, say, Adobe could buy keywords that'd ensure Lightroom would appear when you're looking for say "photo editing." If that means actually finding the app you're after on the first try instead of it being buried under a sea of clones and junkware promising more followers on the likes of Instagram or Twitter -- if it shows up at all -- then, awesome.
iOS malware uses copy protection to infect 'pure' devices
Ne'er-do-wells have so far exploited holes in Apple's FairPlay copy protection primarily to distribute pirated iOS apps, but it now looks like they're turning their energy toward hurting users. Palo Alto Networks says it has discovered AceDeceiver, the first malware that uses FairPlay to infect its targets. Install a bogus iOS management utility for Windows (Aisi Helper) and the software will launch a man-in-the middle attack that grabs app authorization codes and uses those to install infected apps on any iOS device you connect to the system. Unlike many iOS attacks, this doesn't require that the target use a jailbroken device -- the apps are allowed to run as if they were completely legitimate.
The original 'Rayman' makes its way to mobile tomorrow
The original, 1995 version of Rayman is heading to iOS devices tomorrow, February 18th, according to the series' official Twitter account. "Rayman's going old school on mobile! Look for #RaymanClassic on the App Store tomorrow!" the relevant tweet reads. That same account teased the game last week. There's no word on how the side-scrolling platformer will translate to touchscreens -- previous mobile Rayman games Fiesta Run and Jungle Run are endless runners, which is a clever way to deal with that pesky touch-control situation. However, the original Rayman is a true-blue platformer with traditional gamepad mechanics. Even if the controls are subpar, maybe think of them as part of an extra-hard difficulty setting (and try not to throw your phones in frustration).
Apple TV is getting badly-needed voice-dictation
Apple is really trying to fix one of the biggest complaints about its generally solid 2015 Apple TV: text input. The previous beta 2 of tvOS 9.2 introduced a bluetooth keyboard, and the latest beta 3 version of tvOS 9.2 now has dictation and App Store search for Siri. The dictation feature lets you speak to input text and spell passwords rather than typing them using the remote -- a process that's infuriatingly slow and clunky. To use it, you hold down the remote's Siri button and speak, with confirmation that it hears you coming via a live level meter.
Tidal's Rihanna exclusive drove a ton of interest in the app this week
Rihanna released her long-awaited new album ANTI earlier this week, her first release since 2012's Unapologetic. It was a surprise launch, and it had a twist: Rihanna offered it up for free in partnership with Tidal and Samsung. They offered 1 million free copies, which ran out less than two days after the announcement; to get the album, you had to install the Tidal app and get a download redemption code. The album is now out to buy on iTunes, but Tidal retains the exclusive streaming rights for Rihanna's latest, at least for now -- you can't stream it on Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play Music or the rest.
