third-party
Latest
Siri will play third-party audio apps in iOS 13
In the future, you might be able to ask Siri to play your Spotify music and podcasts. According to MacRumors, iOS 13 and iPadOS will open the SiriKit framework to third-party music, podcast, audiobook and radio apps. So, when it comes to playing DJ, Siri will be able to control more than your Apple Music, Podcast and TV apps -- formerly known as iTunes, RIP.
Apple will reportedly limit third-party tracking in kids apps
As tech companies grapple with safety and privacy concerns, Apple will reportedly limit third-party tracking in kids apps starting next week. While the company hasn't announced the change, a source told The Wall Street Journal that it's in the works. Given that Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is Monday -- and that Facebook and Google have used their respective developer conferences to tout privacy initiatives -- it wouldn't be surprising for Apple to announce increased privacy for kids.
Amazon will close its Chinese platform for third-party sellers in July
Amazon is pulling the plug on its e-commerce marketplace for third-party sellers in China. The decision follows a long struggle by American e-commerce companies in the country, who have fallen behind China's faster shopping rivals.
Apple will repair iPhones with third-party batteries
In a change to its longstanding policy, Apple is apparently repairing iPhones with third-party batteries at its Genius Bars and Apple Authorized Service Providers. This is a about-face from its previous stance, which was to refuse repairs on iPhones with aftermarket batteries.
Twitter kills its apps on Roku, Android TV and Xbox
Twitter pulled the plug on its official Mac app this past February, and its continuing to shut out other third party apps as well. The company tweeted that as of Thursday, May 24th, Twitter for set top media boxes Roku, Android TV and Xbox will no longer work. The company refers any of these device users to twitter.com for the "full Twitter experience."
Gboard beta for Android lets you create your own GIFs
Google's third-party keyboard Gboard added a quick way to create reaction GIFs on iOS last January. Now the feature is starting to show up on some Android handsets, as first noted by Android Police. We've been able to confirm the Make a GIF button on a Pixel 2 handset that's downloaded the Gboard app beta.
iOS 11.3 may break aftermarket iPhone 8 displays
iOS 11.3 brought with it some improvements for your iPhone, including ARKit updates, new battery features, and a new message that informs you when it wants access to personal data. Unfortunately, if you had your iPhone 8 display replaced by an aftermarket part, iOS 11.3 might also stop it from working. According to a post at Motherboard, several users who have third-party displays are reporting that their iPhones are unresponsive to touch after updating to the latest mobile operating system.
Twitter changes may bring major issues for third-party apps (updated)
If you use a third-party Twitter app like Tweetbot, Twitterrific, Talon or Tweetings, you might lose a couple of key features when Twitter replaces developer access to User and Site streams with a new Account Activity API this coming June. The folks who created the apps mentioned above have created a new website to explain that, as a result, push notifications will no longer work and timelines won't refresh automatically.
Chrome on Windows will block third-party apps that cause crashes
Google says that around two-thirds of Windows Chrome users use third-party applications that interact directly with the web browser, like antivirus or accessibility software. These apps have typically injected code into Chrome to work correctly, but people that use these kinds of code-injecting apps on Windows are 15 percent more likely to see Chrome crashes. To curtail this issue, Google will start blocking code injection apps from Windows Chrome in three phases, starting in July 2018.
Amazon adds its own discounts to third-party seller products
For the first time, Amazon is cutting the prices of third-party seller items at its own expense to be more competitive with other online sites, a move first spotted by the WSJ. Such items are labelled as "Discount provided by Amazon," marking a new policy that even many of the retailers aren't aware of. "I do not know if this is new or if I just never noticed it before," wrote reseller Rock Creek Gifts on Amazon's seller forum. The discounts are less than 10 percent, and appear to only be applied for sellers that use Amazon's fulfillment service.
Instagram won't let feed-reading apps browse your pics anymore
If you're one of the few still using a third-party app to browse Instagram feeds, you'll need to make other arrangements soon. The photo-sharing app is killing support of the feed API that allows outside apps and websites to pull in your feed as part of a larger effort to clean up its platform. With updates to its Platform Policy, Instagram will only let apps that help users share their photos access your collection of snapshots. For example, software that allows to your print your snapshots or use your Instagram photos as a profile picture will still be supported. Instagram will continue to lend a hand to advertisers and allow images and videos to be used on the web via embeds.
Apple's WatchOS 2 update brings native apps, new features
When Apple's Watch first arrived, we couldn't help but notice that the first third-party apps on it were a tad sluggish. But that's because they were running on an iPhone and not natively on the Watch, as Apple's own health tracker and other apps do. That's about to change now, however, as Tim Cook just unveiled a new WatchKit SDK at Apple's WWDC 2015 event that opens up all the wearable's functionality to developers in advance of the Watch OS2 release this fall. That means app-makers will be able to tap the Digital Crown, health and orientation sensors, "taptic" feedback feature and more.
Third-party GameCube adapter fills gap left by Nintendo
Nintendo's GameCube controller adapter for Wii U hasn't been discontinued, but it sure has been hard to find in available stock. Thankfully, where there is demand, there's a company willing to create a near-identical product to sell via their own channels. Typically these knock-offs might be considered of inferior quality (looking at you, bootleg DVDs and Twist & Shout cookies) but you could still give Mayflash's own version of the GameCube controller adapter a shot. Selling for $19.99 via import site Play-Asia, the Mayflash GameCube controller adapter looks pretty darn similar to the official Nintendo brand one, albeit with some sharper edges around the base. There's also a switch on the side to allow swapping between Wii U and PC modes, in case you'd like to have the power of a modern PC but the feel in your hands of a GameCube. Of course, there's always the chance the adapter won't work as advertised, so exercise caution. On the other hand, if it works great, enjoy beating the tar out of your friends in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. For the more cautious-minded hoping for an official adapter, Nintendo's online store suggests you "check back again soon." [Image: Mayflash]
Nintendo makes millions on Amiibos and other companies want in
It turns out that there's another reason for Nintendo's Amiibo character shortage: they're selling like crazy, and now third-party games are using them too. Nintendo said that it's sold over 700,000 of the figurines, as many as its best-selling Super Smash Bros. title. Third-party publisher Bandai Namco is also supporting the NFC-enabled characters for costume unlocks in its One Piece: Super Grand Battle! X on 3DS, making it the first non-Nintendo game to use Amiibo. Nintendo added that Wii U November sales were up 90 percent over last year, and that the console recently had it's biggest week since it launched in 2012.
Nintendo considering letting third-party games use Amiibos
We're still learning how Nintendo's line of Amiibo figurines will be used for its own games, but future compatibility announcements might not be limited to first-party titles. Nintendo of America Licensing Manager Damon Baker told IGN that the company is looking into ways for third-party developers, including independent developers, to use Amiibos with their games. Baker said there's a "ton of interest" from third-party studios, adding that "There are some really creative ideas that are coming through and we are working towards some opportunities for next year." So many integration questions! At least we know what Amiibos will do in Hyrule Warriors and Mario Kart 8, but even beyond future third party support, there's still the question of how the compatibility-confirmed Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Mario Party 10 and Kirby and the Rainbow Curse will use Nintendo's line of real-world Smash trophies. [Image: Joystiq]
EVE Vegas 2014: Region Commander turns EVE into a huge spreadsheet
It's often said that sci-fi MMO EVE Online isn't so much a game as a giant online spreadsheet and that people pay a subscription fee in order to have a second job they don't get paid for. While that's little more than a joke to the majority of EVE players, there are those for whom EVE is genuinely played on a massive spreadsheet. In a guest talk at EVE Vegas 2014 earlier today, players Javajunky and Gossamer DT from the logistics division of one of the game's largest coalitions discussed the monumental amount of work that goes into the industrial and organisation side of running a nullsec alliance or coalition. During the talk, Gossamer DT discussed an interesting piece of custom software he develops called Region Commander that was designed specifically for organising player empires. The tool keeps track of starbase tower fuel, maintains a blacklist of players who have been kicked out of the coalition, and allows organisers to create and assign tasks to players in their command. Players who want to contribute to their alliance's industrial backbone can log into the system to take on work tasks due for completion, and the tool updates in realtime. The only thing missing is a punch card and a paycheck. Using this tool, players have managed to combat the logistical and organisational challenges that would naturally make coalitions of thousands of players infeasible. Many third party tools have been criticised in the past for providing gameplay advantages to those who use them and increasing the gulf between new and experienced players. Players already have tools to help with mining and trading, and even ones that parse data from your ship scanner into useful information for your Fleet Commander. It's clear that whether CCP or the playerbase approves of these tools, this djinn won't be going back into its bottle.
EVE Evolved: Fixing EVE's player activity
It's been a sort of running gag in EVE Online throughout the years that players spend inordinate amounts of time docked in stations and spinning their ships around in the hangar, but this is oddly close to the truth. Those of us who have been hooked to EVE for years know just how intense the game can get at its most frantic and how incredible it is to be present for historic events and important PvP battles, but those moments are rare, and there's typically a lot of downtime between periods of activity. For every PvP battle fought, incursion fleet formed or wormhole op organised, players often have to spend hours in stations or in space amusing themselves or doing busywork. With gamers now spreading their increasingly limited free time across a growing catalogue of online games, some EVE players log in for only a few minutes per day to queue skills, chat with corpmates, and see if anything interesting is happening. The recent announcement that the upcoming Phoebe release will contain infinite length skill queues has some players concerned that people will lose the motivation to pop their heads into New Eden each day and see what's going on. Since the best sandbox gameplay is emergent in nature, just getting players to log in so they're available to take part in something awesome when it happens is extremely important. In this edition of EVE Evolved, I ask whether EVE is in trouble due to its recent decline in player activity, look at the impact of people with just a few hours per week to play, and suggest a new app idea that could help solve all of those problems.
Perfect World's Arc expanding to include Path of Exile and APB
Perfect World is making a strong play to establish Arc as a vital digital platform for gamers. The company announced today that Arc will be expanding to include several titles outside of the PWE brotherhood, including Path of Exile and APB: Reloaded. The announcement of Arc's embrace of third-party developers comes with the platform's transition to "fully live" status. PWE CEO Alan Chen hopes that this will make Arc a one-stop gaming experience: "Our goal is to make Arc the premiere destination for the best free-to-play online games for both our players and partners, and to achieve this by growing the platform with new games, a constant stream of content, and features specifically designed for the PC gaming audience."
Elder Scrolls Online gets another third-party auction house
TESO Elite Marketplace isn't the only attempt out there to fill in the hole of a missing Elder Scrolls Online auction house. ZAM announced today the start up of ESO Outpost to meet the needs of buyers and sellers. The service uses "a web-based interface and companion add-on" to buy and sell gold and items. The addon includes a customizable description field, optional screenshots, comments section, tracking, and post-trade feedback.
Amazon Fire TV games work with other Bluetooth controllers
Amazon just revealed its $99 Fire TV game and video streaming device today, and unveiled a $40 Bluetooth game pad to go along with it. As it turns out, developers appear to have the option to make their Amazon Fire TV games compatible with other controllers. "I don't have the full data set, if any is the right term. Generally speaking, it's a Bluetooth controller," Mike Frazzini, VP of Amazon Games told Engadget today when asked about the Fire TV's controller support. "And the same thing vice-versa. Third-party controllers can work on Fire TV as well." According to a mandatory configuration file for all Amazon Fire TV game developers listed on Amazon's site, developers must note if the app "supports a game controller, either the Amazon Fire game controller or a Bluetooth game controller from another manufacturer." While Amazon doesn't confirm official Fire TV support with the game pads, other Bluetooth controllers like Nintendo's Wii Remote and Sony's DualShock 4 could feasibly work with some games if developers so choose. Likewise, while the Amazon Fire TV supports up to seven Bluetooth game controllers simultaneously, software development kit documentation notes that "only four of those controllers are assigned to player numbers." This seemingly caps local multiplayer gaming on Amazon Fire TV at four players at a given moment, which may not be an issue since gaming is more or less a "bonus" for the streaming device.
