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Apple doesn't want you making Watch apps that only tell the time
The Apple Watch may come with gobs of customizable watch faces out of the box, but that doesn't mean that you can install any face you like. Apple has updated its App Store developer guidelines to expressly forbid Watch apps that are primarily designed to tell the time -- it can be a feature, but shouldn't be the focus. You'll have to make do with the existing choices for now.
Google launches family-friendly app program for developers
In case you're worried about your kid getting a hold of the upcoming copy of Mortal Kombat X for Android, well, don't be. That's because Google is finally launching a family-friendly version of its Play Store in a few weeks. To fill the upcoming section, it's inviting developers to join its Designed for Families program and submit apps designed to meet its idea of "family-focused experiences." Rules for the new section include: apps need to be rated ESRB Everyone or Everyone 10+, in-app adds need to comply with laws concerning advertising to children and no violent content for kids under 13. Google's pretty serious about making this a safe haven for kids which means some current apps geared towards children will have to be retooled before being accepted to the program.
Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference begins June 8th
If you're wondering what Apple will do next with its mobile devices and the Mac, you won't have to wait too long to find out. The tech giant has announced the 2015 Worldwide Developer Conference, which starts on June 8th. It's not providing too many clues as to what will be there, but you can apply for tickets now -- and you'll have the option to stream sessions live if you can't make it out to San Francisco. It's safe to say that the event will include news on software for the Apple Watch, iOS and OS X, and it won't be shocking if Apple has something to say about a new streaming music service or a next-generation Apple TV. Whatever happens, you know we'll be there to give you the full scoop.
Apple opens the floodgates to Watch-friendly apps
You may have noticed a few Apple Watch-friendly iOS apps trickle out, but brace yourself: you're about to face a torrent of them. Apple has opened up WatchKit app submissions to all developers (not just the handful of early partners from before), so anyone who has been toiling over wristwear-ready software in the past few months can finally put it on your iPhone. Given that the Apple Watch release is still three weeks away, this suggests that the App Store will be well-stocked on day one.
Google lets any app use its malware-blocking tools
If you've ever been saved from visiting a virus-laden website by Chrome's malware-blocking technology, we have good news: You can expect to see this safeguard in other apps, too. Google has added tools for spotting "unwanted software" to its Safe Browsing developer kit, so any program can stop rogue web downloads. It'll take a while before you see this show up elsewhere, but don't be surprised if future apps with built-in web viewers are smart enough to raise a red flag. [Image credit: Shutterstock/bioraven]
Google Now will soon show info from any app
Google Now only displays useful tidbits of knowledge from a handful of your apps right now, but the flood gates are about to fling wide open. Project director Aparna Chennapragada has revealed that Google plans to release a developer kit that lets any of your apps put their data into Now, not just those with special access. It's not clear exactly when this will turn up, but Chennapragada suggests that there shouldn't be collisions between competing software -- your app usage habits will determine which cards appear. While that may be a tad optimistic (it's easy to see two social networks vying for your attention), there's a good chance that Google Now will become a one-stop shop for things you need to know.
Your phone now doubles as an Android TV game controller
So you want to play games on your Android TV set, but you'd rather not shell out for a gamepad? You might not have to in the near future. Google has revealed that an upcoming update to Google Play Services will let you use your Android mobile devices as controllers for Android TV games. If you want to start a four-way race or shooting match, you'll only have to ask friends to pull their phones out of their pockets. You'll have to wait for developers to use the technology before you can start playing, but that patience could pay off if it spares you from buying controllers that will likely spend most of their life gathering dust. Don't miss out on all the latest from GDC 2015! Follow along at our events page right here.
Amazon's Echo wireless speaker will soon run custom apps
Amazon's voice-savvy Echo speaker is only handy for a few tasks right now, but it's about to become much more flexible. The online giant is now taking sign-ups for a beta developer kit that will let people create apps for the gadget. There aren't many details as to what coders can do with the Echo, but it won't be surprising if they'll let you ask new questions, play games or take control of apps on your mobile devices. Just be patient if you aren't a programmer -- there's no mention of when a regular developer kit will be available, and it'll likely take a while after that before you're using speaker-friendly software.
Developers behind Overcast and Monument Valley release iOS sales figures
Since the inception of the App Store, Apple has doled out over $25 billion to developers. No wonder many folks make reference to the "App Store economy". While mere participation in the App Store is by no means a guarantor of success, it's always interesting to take a look at some App Store success stories. Developing a quality app often involves a whole lot of time and money, thus making it somewhat instructive and helpful to take a closer look at the amount of money certain apps are generating. First up, we have the podcast app Overcast from noted developer Marco Arment. Overcast debuted with a solid amount of press and an encouraging number of positive reviews this past July. Now, nearly 7 months later, Arment has opened up the books and allowed us a peek into Overcasts's financial history and health. Note, before you digest the figures below, that it took Arment 15 months of full-time work to develop Overcast. For calendar year 2014: 318,996 total downloads. Approximately 200,000 launched the app and got far enough to create an account. 46,940 in-app purchases (14.7%). $164,134 total revenue after Apple's 30% but before any taxes or expenses. $85,715 received in the first month alone. Arment's entire post is well worth reading in its entirety as he touches on a number of ancillary topics involved in getting an app up and running that aren't often discussed as part of the app development process. Also worth highlighting is a recent post/infographic from the developers behind the popular iOS game Monument Valley. Their sales figures are beyond astonishing. Also note the telling breakdown in revenue between iOS and Android.
Video: Developing with WatchKit, featuring Curt Clifton of The Omni Group
Every day, the Apple Watch is one day closer to being released to the public. Developers are now finding ways to make their iOS apps Watch-friendlly as they begin to experiment with WatchKit, and at a recent Seattle Xcoders Meetup, developer Curt Clifton of The Omni Group spoke to the group about how to develop Watch apps. Anyone with an interest in Apple Watch development who hasn't already begun to play with WatchKit will enjoy Clifton's talk, which is just under 39 minutes long. Watch and learn! If you'd like the source code Clifton used for the demonstration, it's available on Github.
Twitter goes on the road (and offers prizes) to get more apps
Twitter is determined to put its frameworks into as many of your apps as it can, and it's going to great lengths (in some cases, literally) to make sure that happens. The social network has unveiled Flock, a worldwide tour that will show developers how to put tweets into their apps through Twitter's Fabric programming kits. The campaign will start in Los Angeles on January 21st, but it'll eventually spread to other US cities and major international hubs like Bangalore, London, São Paulo and Tokyo. If you're curious enough to attend, you'll get to talk to Twitter engineers and developer evangelists that might just solve your problems with everything from ads to Digits sign-ins.
Daylight developer closes, passes Blacklight IP to new studio
Seattle-based developer Zombie Studios is closing its doors after over twenty years of operation. The developer announced the news on its website, noting that the studio's owners are retiring. As a result, former Zombie Studios employees started a new company, Builder Box, and "acquired some of the work Zombie is parting with." That includes all rights to Blacklight: Retribution (seen above), Zombie Studios' 2012 cyberpunk first-person shooter. Builder Box was formed by Andy Kipling and Russell Nelson, Zombie Studios' director of production and technical director, respectively. In a PlayStation Forums post last week, Kipling assured Blacklight: Retribution fans that "the people behind the scenes who have been constantly contributing to the Blacklight universe for the last four years remains intact," and that players "can look forward to more updates and exciting changes in the coming year." Zombie Studios formed in 1994, launching its first game the following year, a spaceship simulator known as Ice and Fire. The developer is known for creating the Spec Ops line of tactical shooters, starting with Spec Ops: Rangers Lead the Way in 1998 for PC. Among the final games developed at Zombie Studios is the Atlus-published survival horror game Daylight, which arrived on PC and PS4 last year. [Image: Zombie Studios]
Intel closes its Russian forums to avoid the country's 'blogger law'
Russia's increasingly tight restrictions on internet use are chilling free expression, even on sites where you'd rarely expect people to talk politics. Intel has closed its Russian developer forums in order to avoid grappling with the country's "blogger law," which requires that site authors register with a government regulator and face the same conditions that govern the press. The chip designer isn't saying much about the closure. It tells TechCrunch that it's doing this to "comply" with the law, and that its presences on multiple social networks will let Russian coders get in touch. However, it's pretty clear that Intel is taking no chances -- it'd rather not subject its staff (and possibly forum contributors) to close government scrutiny simply because they're troubleshooting apps. Don't be surprised if other tech companies pull back from the Russian web for similar reasons.
iOS app developer gives parents the best Christmas gift ever
iOS developer Joseph Riquelme gave his parents a folded note containing one of the best gifts ever -- their house. Riquelme shared a photo of the handwritten gift, which simply said "Your house is paid off. Merry Xmas." In a touching video posted to YouTube, Riquelme documents the gift giving and his parents emotional reactions. Riquelme is the developer of popular video editing tool, Videoshop. Videoshop is a competitor to Apple's iMovie, offering a robust editing environment with extras such as filters, sound effects and more. [Via CNN]
Google Earth's third-party app support is going away, for now
Google Earth's technology has led to some pretty cool third-party projects over the past six years, but you may not see many of those efforts for at least a little while. Google has announced that it's retiring Earth's app programming interface within a year. Any mapping software built using that kit will stop working on December 12th, 2015. As the company explains, it's simply a matter of security. Chrome and Firefox are phasing out support for the old, vulnerable Netscape plugin format that Earth uses for third-party web apps, and Google doesn't want to leave people open to attack. This isn't necessarily the end for broad Earth support, mind you. Google notes that "3D is in [its] blood," and is teasing that there's more in the pipeline. It's not clear that this includes a new toolbox, but you may not have to worry about a dearth of clever maps just yet.
The strategies and challenges involved in developing new programming languages such as Swift
WWDC 2014 was unquestionably one of the best Apple events in years. While there were no hardware announcements, developers and Apple enthusiasts at large were treated to a two hour event chock-full of surprises, not the least of which was the introduction of an entirely new programming language Apple calls Swift. A project in the making since 2010, Swift's selling point is that developers can more simply and intuitively put together advanced iOS apps. With the introduction of Swift, Apple now adds its name to a respectable list of companies that have similarly attempted to ably craft their future by rolling out new programming languages. On that note, Scott Rosenberg has an immersive post up on Medium detailing the seemingly increased effort from large tech companies to create their own programming languages. The article focuses mostly on Google's Go and Apple's Swift, and provides a good read for anyone interested in the benefits, challenges, history behind and strategies involved in creating a new programming language from scratch. The article also includes a number of interesting and optimistic soundbites on Swfit from Andy Hertzfeld, a famed and uber-talented software engineer who was an integral part of the original Mac development team in the 80s. Years later, Hertzfeld would eventually wind up at Google where he helped develop Google Plus. Today developers say the language [Objective C] is showing its age. "Apple had decades-old cruft in the face of anyone who wanted to write for any of their platforms," says Andy Hertzfeld, a software veteran who wrote much of the original Mac operating system and recently retired from Google. "I got pretty excited about Swift when I saw the announcement, because I've always despised Objective C. I like the principles behind it, but I hate the syntax, and have never been able to really enjoy programming in it." ... "Beautifully done," says Hertzfeld. "It relieves enormous pain points right in everyone's face. So the only iOS developers who are not going to get on top of Swift are the dumb ones." Since Swift is built to co-exist with Objective C code within the same project, toe-wetting is easy, even for developer sticks-in-the-mud. That notwithstanding, Hertzfeld is holding off on jumping head first into Swift for the time being as it effectively means you're exclusively working behind Apple's simultaneously adored and hated "walled garden." Again, the article is well worth a read as it provides a number of interesting insights and observations regarding the reasoning, struggles, and repercussions that invariably accompany an endeavor as massive as developing a new programming language.
Here's that teaser from Brothers dev's new studio, Hazelight
EA revealed this weekend at The Game Awards that it will publish the next game from Josef Fares, the writer and director of Starbreeze Studios' Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. Fares founded a new independent studio, Hazelight, which happens to include four other designers that worked on Brothers as well. Per the studio's website, the as-yet-unannounced game's team includes Claes Engdal (Art Director), Emil Claeson (Lead Animator), Anders Olsson (Lead Programmer) and Filip Coulianos (Lead Level Designer), each having served similar roles on Brothers. What's more, Executive VP of EA Studios Patrick Soderlund said the publisher "shared some space at our DICE studio in Stockholm so [Hazelight] could get to work right away" on the game. No platforms or release dates are known about the studio's upcoming game, though you can head past the break to check out Hazelight's teaser from this past weekend's awards ceremony. [Image: Hazelight]
San Francisco's public defecation map highlights a shitty situation
Wondering what that smell near the Civic Center is, San Francisco resident? As far as serious interactive maps go, Human Wasteland is one of the strangest we've seen. Created by civil-engineer-turned-web-developer Jennifer Wong, the project plots human excrement "incidents" reported by the public to SF311. Her project won an internal hacking contest for employees of a real estate website, an ironic honor considering the city's contentious housing issues. The highest concentration of crap is at a downtown alley next to the financial district, right in a high-traffic area frequented by tourists.
Apple releases WatchKit SDK to developers
Apple today announced the release of WatchKit, a suite of tools to enable developers to start developing apps for the Apple Watch. WatchKit is available as part of the recently released iOS 8.2 beta SDK. Apple's press release reads in part: "Apple Watch is our most personal device ever, and WatchKit provides the incredible iOS developer community with the tools they need to create exciting new experiences right on your wrist," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "With the iOS 8.2 beta SDK, developers can now start using WatchKit to create breakthrough new apps, Glances and actionable notifications designed for the innovative Apple Watch interface and work with new technologies such as Force Touch, Digital Crown and Taptic Engine." Developers can create notifications that allow users to take action or respond right from their wrist such as turning the lights off after they've left the house, quickly accessing flight details at the airport, and rerouting their transit when a train or bus is late. Developers can incorporate Glances, which quickly show users information they care about most, such as the latest news and sports scores, alarm system status or the next step of a favorite recipe. WatchKit can be downloaded now via Apple's developer site.
Developers can now write apps for Apple Watch (updated)
Been jonesing to create your own Apple Watch software? It's time to get cracking. As promised, Apple has released WatchKit, the toolbox you need to develop apps for this next-gen wristwear. The utility (tied into the iOS 8.2 beta SDK) lets you take advantage of most of what the Apple Watch can do, including pressure-aware touch, notifications and glanceable info. You won't get to publish your apps until next year, but you can start experimenting today. Update: Not surprisingly, early adopters are learning new things about the Apple Watch through WatchKit. Steve Troughton-Smith, for example, has discovered that the two Apple Watch models use different screen resolutions; the 38mm version displays at 272 x 340, while the larger 42mm model uses 312 x 390. Also, a lot of the processing for these early apps happens on your iPhone; they're just projecting an interface to your wrist. You'll have to wait until sometime in 2015 for truly native titles.
