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Bodega expects to thrive along side Mac App Store
Competition is a good thing, and the leads behind Bodega say they'll be there right alongside the Mac App Store when it debuts tomorrow. "Bodega is not going anywhere," product designer Phil Letourneau told The Loop. "It will continue to grow in terms of developers and customers coming into Bodega." Bodega recently updated to version 1.3, and Freshcode is promoting the software as an approval-free alternative to the Mac App Store -- unless submissions are offensive or contain illegal content -- with no restrictions to APIs. Developers will also incur more revenue -- 93 percent with Bodega versus 70 percent for Apple. We wish the folks behind Bodega good luck and look forward to what Apple will reveal on the 6th.
Developers anticipate Mac App Store pricing, launch
Update: Mackus has posted a follow-up with some new information since the store's launch. As of today, Apple's Mac App Store is scheduled to launch in just about 48 hours. While considering the store's potential, Markus Nigrin of Windmill Apps posed several questions to developers in his network with interesting results. We've summarized his findings here, but we suggest you read the full post at Markus' site. The participants are well-known members of the iOS developer community: Dave Frampton of Majic Jungle Software, Bryan Duke of Acceleroto, Matt Martel of Mundue and Craig Kemper of Little White Bear Studios. These four account for approximately 20 million combined iOS App Store downloads, and intend to bring Chopper 2 (from Majic Jungle Software), Air Hockey (from Acceleroto), ReMovem (from Mundue) and Compression (from Little White Bear Studios) to the Mac App Store. Markus posted five questions to his panel: what do they expect from a Mac App Store equivalent to a successful iOS app, what do they expect from their app, what will the launch price be and what could be said about the development process? In the brief table above, you'll find some of the answers. Four developers is certainly a very small sample, but three of the four questioned revealed that Mac App Store pricing will be the same as iOS Store pricing (only Compression will be US$1 more). Expectations varied as well. Dave and Matt expect to get 10 percent of iOS sales out of Chopper and ReMovem, respectively, while Craig is hoping for 200 percent of sales of Compression for iOS, and Bryan is hoping for 100,000 units sold (over time) of Air Hockey. As for development time and cost, the group seemed pleased. The developers noted that Apple has made it easy to re-use code for a native Mac app. The panel reported that port time was less than four weeks, and that adjustments like the keyboard and HD support took most of that time. Additionally, the developers had created high-resolution graphics for the iOS apps, and were able to make them work with their Mac counterparts with minimal fuss. As Markus points out, the quick development turnaround contributed significantly to the 1:1 pricing model. Consider that many iOS apps are a year or more in development, and "less than four weeks" becomes even more significant. There's more to Markus' study, and we suggest you read the whole thing. In the end, the winners are Mac users. All four developers said they spent most of their time "making the apps perfect for the Mac." On January 6, expect high-quality, low-cost apps (er, software), lovingly crafted for the Mac by skilled developers. We can't wait.
Citibank: Apple could pull in $2 billion in App Store revenues in 2011
Right before the year switched over, Citibank released its "US Internet Stock 2011 Playbook," and in there was an interesting prediction about the App Store. Despite what seems like constantly falling prices and the rise of "freemium" apps, Citibank expects Apple to pull in $2 billion in gross app revenue in 2011 alone. That's comparable to gross revenue for the entire online video advertising market, according to TechCrunch. And presumably this is just the iOS App Store -- later this week we'll be seeing the first fruits of the Mac App Store arrive, and it's likely that market will pull in a nice chunk of change for Apple as well. Smartphone software in general is also set to grow -- Citibank says that by 2013, the app market should be worth around $27 billion (that includes, of course, Android and any other platforms that should emerge in the next few years). Demand is strong for smartphone hardware, but I don't think the exponential growth of apps will continue for years into the future. Then again, who can tell? This is a market that barely existed just a few years ago, so where it's headed from here is anyone's guess. [via Loop Insight]
Talkcast tonight: Looking ahead to the Mac App Store
Happy 2011! With CES right around the corner, there are sure to be plenty of new product introductions, glossy gadgets and fun new tech toys -- but the biggest intro in Apple-land is the launch of the Mac App Store, coming in just a few days. We'll dive into the MAS and all the rest of the Mac news and notes on tonight's show, live at 10 PM Eastern. Here's the master page to listen or join in on the show. To participate live on TalkShoe, you can use the browser-only client (just click the "TalkShoe Web" button on our profile page at 10 PM ET on Sunday), the embedded Facebook app or the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (take advantage of your free cell phone weekend minutes if you like): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *8. (That's a toll call, just so you know.) If you've got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac or your PC, you can connect via the free SJphone or X-Lite SIP clients or by using the TalkShoe client's ShoePhone tool; basic instructions are here. We'll kick things off at 10 PM ET/ 7 PM PT this evening. See you there!
Bodega 1.3 available, a fun alternative to the Mac App Store
With most Mac users happily anticipating the availability of the Mac App Store on January 6, many seem to forget that there has been an App Store for Mac for quite some time -- Bodega. Bodega is an app discovery and download gateway from Freshcode. The app can be downloaded by anyone for free, and the store is constantly stocked with new apps from a variety of Mac developers. The update provides bug fixes as well as performance and feature improvements, while maintaining the fun "corner store" look and feel that has been a trademark of Bodega. Ahead of the release of the Mac App Store, Freshcode is pushing Bodega to developers as an alternative with many advantages: No approval process for apps, although they must not be blatantly offensive or contain illegal content or information No restrictions on APIs used within apps Developers keep 93 percent of the sale price as revenue, compared to the Mac App Store's 70 percent There's no need to write a special version of an app to be included in Bodega No developer program charges or costs It appears that the Mac marketplace may soon have a surplus of App Stores, since Cydia's Jay "Saurik" Freeman is also developing a similar store. For Mac users, finding and purchasing apps is going to be as easy as clicking an icon -- or several of them. TUAW readers can get a taste of Bodega by downloading the app here. Editor's note: Bodega is going to thrive with the advent of the Mac App Store.
Poll: Do you think FaceTime for Mac will be released next week?
One of our readers, Adam, asked a very interesting question earlier today: Do you think that FaceTime for Mac will come out of beta and be released on the Mac App Store on Jan. 6th? It would seem to be a given that Apple will release it through the App Store at some point, and January should have been plenty of time for beta testing. I'm ready to have a full-featured app, so I didn't know if you knew anything. Regretfully, we don't have any more information than you do. But Adam brings up some good points. Apple is going to want some hot apps in the Mac App Store at launch on January 6, 2011. The consensus here (and we've been known to be dreadfully wrong in terms of prognostications) is that we'll see iWork '11 on January 6, along with a handful of other Apple apps and a lot of third-party goodies. So, in the tradition of newspapers, we're taking a reader poll to see how many of you think FaceTime for Mac is going to be one of the first apps in the Mac App Store. Vote, and be sure to leave a comment below if none of our answers makes you happy. %Poll-57872%
Mac App Store shots reveal Parental Controls, store helper app
9to5Mac apparently snuck its way into the Mac App Store a little early (the marketplace is set to open up on January 6), and has brought back some screenshots of the app's OS X trappings. You can see the app's icon already, and the app will have a login screen very similar to what you already use in iTunes to install iOS apps. Parental controls are available in the store's preferences, and various installs will all be handled by another app called "store helper." Those controls are configurable for various ages, so you'll be able to define if you want apps to run for users over 4, 9, 12, or 17. Unfortunately, The Mac App Store won't support Game Center or in-app purchases at launch, but given the growing popularity of both of those elements, that may change in the future. We're inching ever closer to the Mac App Store's release, and developers are undoubtedly working even over the holidays to make sure their apps are ready to go at launch. It should be a nice way to kick off 2011 for Apple.
Sparrow for Mac beta 7 adds Gmail shortcuts, quick labeling, more
Sparrow, a minimalist email program for Mac OS X, has been updated to beta version 7. This latest version includes several bug fixes including one that addresses the crashing problem plaguing Leopard users. Sparrow has also added several new features such as a progress bar, quick labels, Gmail shortcuts and support for plain text emails. The UI has been refreshed and now features an updated mail composition window and a new conversation view for your threaded messages. Also included is a download-on-demand feature that lets users with a large volume of email limit synchronization between a Gmail account and the Sparrow client. When toggled on, this feature lets you clean out your mailbox online and then download only the most important messages on demand. As we reported earlier, Sparrow supports multiple Gmail accounts and support for other IMAP-based email accounts is expected in a future version. The developers behind Sparrow intend to bring the app to the Mac App Store when it opens on January 6 and are working on two versions of this email client -- a free, ad-supported version and a paid version without ads. The current beta 7 version already includes advertisements but these ads can be switched off in the Advanced panel of the preferences. Performance of the app is solid and the design in simple, yet pleasing. It is so refreshing to use a client that is dedicated solely to email and does not try to be the hub for all your online personas. The beta is available for free from Sparrow's website, so you can check it out for yourself.
Apple shutting down Mac OS X Downloads section of Apple.com on Jan. 6, 2011
Apple has just sent out an email to Apple developers announcing that they will soon be shutting down the Mac OS X Downloads section on Apple.com. The page will be shuttered on the day the Mac App Store launches - January 6. From that day on visitors to http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/ will be redirected to a page that tells visitors about the Mac App Store. The full email reads: Apple Developer ----------------------------------- Dear [name], Thank you for making the Mac OS X Download site a great destination with apps that offer users new ways to work, play, learn, and create on their Mac. We recently announced that on January 6, 2011, the Mac App Store will open to users around the world, presenting you with an exciting, new opportunity to reach millions of customers. Since the introduction of the App Store in 2008, we've been thrilled with the incredible support from developers and the enthusiastic response from users. Now we're bringing the revolutionary experience of the App Store to Mac OS X. Because we believe the Mac App Store will be the best destination for users to discover, purchase, and download your apps, we will no longer offer apps on the Mac OS X Downloads site. Instead, beginning January 6, we will be directing users to explore the range of apps available on the Mac App Store. We appreciate your support of the Mac platform and hope you'll take advantage of this new opportunity to showcase your apps to even more users. To learn how you can offer your apps on the Mac App Store, visit the Apple Developer website at <http://developer.apple.com/programs/mac/>. Best regards, Ron Okamoto Vice President, Worldwide Developer Relations Apple Inc. The shut down of the Mac OS X Download site may come as a surprise to some, yet it signifies how important Apple believes one central, easy to navigate location for users to browse Mac apps is for the future of the Mac app platform. [h/t MacStories.net]
All signs point to January 6th launch of iWork '11
According to 9to5 Mac, retail copies of iWork '09 are running low at Apple Retail Stores. As one Apple retail employee told 9to5, "There is no iWork on the shelves, no iWork in stock and none on the way." That alone is a pretty good sign Apple's office suite is about to be updated, but there's even more. As you can see from the image to the right, type in "iWork" in the search field on Apple.com and the site will autocomplete "iWork '11." Signs really don't get clearer than that. So why January 6th? Because that's the official launch date of the Mac App Store and it's unlikely that Apple would launch a Mac App Store without having a few new, shiny Apple-branded apps that appeal to a lot of people to kick things off. Plus ever since Apple previewed the Mac App Store back in October, the iWork apps have featured in all the official mock-ups of the store front. iWork '09, the latest version of the software suite, was released on January 6, 2009. Nice coincidence, huh?
Developers urged to submit Mac App Store apps by December 31
Now that we've got an official Mac App Store release date, developers are being urged to get their apps submitted. A quick statement from Apple notes that that apps must be submitted for review by December 31, 2010. Apple began accepting submissions in the first week of November. With the first submissions come the first rejections, and as far as we can tell, LittleIpsum was the first to get the big DENIED stamp from Cupertino. Get down to it, developers. You don't want to spend the holiday hovering over your Mac.
Mac App Store to open on January 6
We've been anticipating the Mac App Store's arrival, and now there's an official date. Apple will open the Mac App Store on January 6, 2011. The store will be available in 90 countries and feature games, productivity apps and a whole lot more. Speaking through a press release, Steve Jobs said, "The App Store revolutionized mobile apps. We hope to do the same for PC apps with the Mac App Store by making finding and buying PC apps easy and fun. We can't wait to get started on January 6." Mark your calendars, folks! We'll have full coverage on the 6th. Show full PR text CUPERTINO, California-December 16, 2010-Apple® today announced that the Mac® App Store℠ will open for business on Thursday, January 6. By bringing the revolutionary App Store experience to Mac OS® X, the Mac App Store makes discovering, installing and updating Mac apps easier than ever. The Mac App Store will be available in 90 countries at launch and will feature paid and free apps in categories like Education, Games, Graphics & Design, Lifestyle, Productivity and Utilities. "The App Store revolutionized mobile apps," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "We hope to do the same for PC apps with the Mac App Store by making finding and buying PC apps easy and fun. We can't wait to get started on January 6." The Mac App Store lets you browse new and noteworthy apps, find out what's hot, view staff favorites, search categories and read customer ratings and reviews. Like on iPhone®, iPod touch® and iPad™, you can purchase, download and install apps in just one click and start using them immediately. Purchased apps can run on all of your personal Macs and updates are delivered directly through the Mac App Store so it's easy to keep all of your apps up to date. The Mac App Store is available to Mac OS X Snow Leopard® users as a free download through Software Update. Mac developers set the price for their apps, keep 70 percent of the sales revenue, are not charged for free apps and do not have to pay hosting, marketing or credit card fees. To find out more about developing for the Mac App Store visit developer.apple.com/programs/mac. Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork, and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple is reinventing the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.
Apple Mac App Store: open for business starting January 6th
Consider the rumors quelled. Despite whispers that Apple would be starting up the Mac App Store in the final year of this decade (or the first of the next, depending on perspective), the Cupertino giant has just affirmed that it'll be 2011 before the general populace gets to dig their hands into it. January 6th is the opening date for the Mac App Store, and unfortunately for those still humming along on OS X 10.5, it'll be a Snow Leopard-only affair. Smack dab in the middle of CES, Apple plans to unleash the store in 90 countries, and it'll feature "paid and free apps in categories like Education, Games, Graphics & Design, Lifestyle, Productivity and Utilities." Naturally, it'll be a free update, and it'll work more or less exactly like the App Store does on your iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. As with those outlets, developers are able to set their own prices and then keep 70 percent of the revenue (provided it's a paid app). So, who's ready to blow a little Santa cash to ring in the new year?
TextExpander 3.2.2 available, fixes auto-capitalization bugs
TextExpander, a very useful application which will automatically expand various text macros for you, has been updated to 3.2.2. The release notes indicate that 3.2.1 was submitted to the Mac App Store, and that Dropbox syncing had been improved. The Smile Software blog also notes that auto-capitalization has also been improved, solving many of the annoying issues with the recent feature. Notably, if you switched from one app to another and then back, TextExpander sometimes thought that was a new sentence and auto-capitalized it. There are some other notes that users should read for more details. TextExpander also has a new welcome screen -- presumably to help new users who find and download the app via the Mac App Store -- which includes video tutorials and links to additional help files. Users can download the new version right now.
360 MacDev day two: a recap of the Denver nerd-fest
Saturday was the second and last day of 360 MacDev in Denver, and it was full of excellent topics from the world of Mac development. Although I was unable to stay for the last three speakers (my apologies, guys!), the morning and lunch sessions were very useful and educational. To start off the festivities were Dave Wiskus of Double Encore (the sharp-dressed man standing next to the conference poster with legs at right) and Kyle Richter of Dragon Forged Software with a talk titled "iOS: the Gateway Drug." Wiskus and Richter were thinking of possible Mac-related papers for the conference a while back when they got the idea of taking one of the Double Encore "Massively Overrated" iOS apps -- KeyGrinder (free) -- and porting it to Mac OS X and the Mac App Store. TUAW reviewed KeyGrinder earlier this year. KeyGrinder is a small app -- you get into the app, get a password hash, and then pop back out. The challenge was to turn this into something usable in OS X, so they decided to set the app up with a menu bar icon as a primary user interface element. Users would be able to drag a URL to that icon, then have the app open up with the URL pre-populated and password hash visible. Their usual modus operandi is to draw out ideas for the UI on paper, create a wireframe, then make a mockup and finally look at style guides for additional tweaks.
Mac App Store won't support Game Center, in-app purchases
With the launch of the Mac App Store about a month away, many developers are preparing their apps for distribution in a whole new way. However, they're finding that the store won't offer all of the features of its iOS counterpart, at least in its initial release. Specifically, Game Center and in-app purchases aren't supported. 9to5 Mac reports that Apple has informed developers of the news with two curt messages: "Note: In app purchases are not available for Mac OS X apps" and "Note: Game Center is not available for Mac OS X apps." That's too bad, as in-app purchases could have offered interesting revenue options for Mac OS X developers, and it would be fun to have games of Flight Control HD for the Mac (our review here), for example, count towards one's Game Center rankings. Still, this doesn't mean those features will never be a part of the Mac App Store. We'd rather see Apple exercise the restraint necessary to get the initial release right than cram in everything.
Mac App Store launching in January sans Game Center and in-app purchases?
"Less" and "later" are some of our least favorite words, but they may apply to the Mac App Store, as one source claims it will miss Christmas, and another says the marketplace will have fewer features than its iOS counterpart. First off, The Loop's Jim Dalrymple believes that December 13th isn't the magic date, claiming that his inside sources say the store will actually arrive in January -- which, we must admit, would still be within the window of Apple's October promise to launch within 90 days. Second and perhaps more importantly, 9to5 Mac reports that App Store developers are being told that their Mac endeavors will have a number of substantial limitations, namely no Game Center support, no in-app purchases, and no ability to offer demos, trials or betas. Sounds like those high-denomination iTunes gift cards you've been stockpiling in your basement will finally come in handy.
Mac App Store will be live in January '11, says The Loop
One of the good things about our friend Jim Dalrymple at The Loop (to be clear, he has many positive qualities) is that when he says "my sources tell me," you know he's been talking to people in a position to have the real scoop. In this case, he's laying it on the line and saying the Mac App Store will positively, certainly not launch next week. We noted reports on Tuesday that had rumored an early launch for the Mac App Store, with an anticipated date of 12/13 -- now Dalrymple says that those rumors are pure hokum, and the target for the store launch is sometime in January. He doesn't have an exact date, but he believes it will be in time for Apple to meet its announced launch horizon of 90 days post-Back to the Mac event.
Rumor: Mac App Store ahead of schedule, launch imminent
What goes better with a brand new Mac for Christmas than a Mac App Store? Apparently, that's the feeling around the halls in Cupertino, as rumors are now circulating that the Mac App Store could be launched as soon as next Monday, December 13. According to a post on AppleTell, Steve Jobs was pushing for the store to be launched today (December 6), and developers were told to have their software ready for that early launch. The original announcement of the Mac App Store on October 20 said that the software distribution capability would be available "within 90 days," which would put the store opening into January. Jobs wanted an earlier release, and the word on the street is that the early release drops next week. That's just in time for all of those shiny new Macs that will be appearing under Christmas trees, and it means that the release of iWork '11 (which many believe will be the marquee app for the new store) may be imminent as well. Keep your browsers tuned to TUAW over the next week and we'll be sure to let you know when it's up and running. [via AppleInsider]
Mac App Store launching on December 13th?
It's no secret that the Mac App Store is launching soon. Jobs himself said that it would go live "within 90 days" back when the iOS-inspired App Store was announced on October 20th -- that's mid January, if the timeframe is carried to its fullest extent. Now we have AppleTell citing an "inside source" claiming that Apple is trying to launch the Mac App Store before Christmas, specifically targeting December 13th while telling developers to have their software ready by Monday, December 6th. Unfortunately, the Mac App Store also requires an OS update to end users to which MacRumors reminds us that the new OS X 10.6.6 has already been seeded to developers. So yeah, that's a pretty aggressive timeline if true and could possibly be kicked off by a press event that would also birth Apple's rumored recurring subscription billing model in support of Rupert Murdoch's The Daily digital newspaper.
