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Posts tagged with "app store"

Apple Adds “Halloween” and “Vocabulary Apps” Sections to the App Store

Just like every Thursday, Apple added two new custom sections to the App Store: a “Halloween” one is a go this week, together with another one dubbed “Language, Grammar & Vocabulary Apps”.

The Halloween section showcases “gruesome game and other ghostly delights” such as Plants Vs. Zombies, DOOM Resurrection, Pro Zombie Soccer and Halloween Soundlab. You can check out the section (which contains more than 40 between apps and games) here.

Language, Grammar & Vocabulary Apps, on the other hand,  features reference and dictionary apps, apps for kids, grammar games and poetry applications. Gems like the official AP Stylebook app and Words with Friends are in there. You can check out the section here. Read more

The App Hall Of Fame→

The App Hall Of Fame

Discovering the very best apps is an increasingly difficult task. There are so many new applications released that it becomes harder and harder to find the gems in the crowd — especially so once that special new app smell wears off. That’s why we’re here. The App Hall of Fame exists to archive the very best of the best in mobile apps. The apps inducted into the hall of fame are considered to be the very best in the app store, the cream of the crop, as it were.

A fun and interesting project. I’m in the selection committee.

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Is Apple Working On A Game Store?

Apple is looking for a better way to separate “regular” apps from games in the App Store. In fact, in a matter of a few months we might be looking at a brand new version of the App Store specifically meant for iOS games - a Game Store.

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Apple Now Showcasing Augmented Reality Apps In The App Store

There was a time when getting an AR (Augmented Reality) app approved by Apple was practically impossible. They didn’t want the iPhone camera to be used for other purposes than, well, taking pictures, and developers couldn’t display additional information on the camera screen. Eventually the App Review Team revised its rules and now, especially after Apple’s outing with the App Store Guidelines, Augmented Reality apps are featured in the App Store. Read more

Ten Dollars And The App Store→

Ten Dollars And The App Store

What did $10 get you 15 years ago? All the games that would fit on a disk. A 5-inch floppy disk. Considering the massive improvements to the user experience, and the amount of utility that an app like Tweet Library offers, that copy of Duke Nukem 3D isn’t looking as expensive anymore. Toss in inflation, and your getting a Rolls Royce for the price of a VW Bug. Or, in more reasonable terms, two of those caramel soy moccachino things you drink every day.

The same happened when OmniFocus for iPad came out. And that app is priced at $40. What is the problem with these people that can’t do anything besides complaining and asking for discounts in forum posts? Why do they keep on criticizing developers when they price professional software (yes, Tweet Library and OmniFocus for iPad are professional apps. That’s it) at anything more than .99 cents?

These hypocrites pay $500 for an iPad an they expect every kind of app to be free / priced at less than a dollar. The real problem is the App Store gives too much visibility to games, and less importance to niche, more focused applications. It’s like go looking for a great bottle of red in a candy shop.

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“Curated” Doesn’t Necessarily Mean “Secure”→

“Curated” Doesn’t Necessarily Mean “Secure”

With absolutely no slight intended towards Apple or its App Store Reviewers, it is, in practice, impossible for Apple to guarantee that a user’s data won’t get sent from any application that Apple has approved. In fact, the curated nature of the iOS App Store makes Apple’s approach less secure in many ways, as the tools used to detect the breaches in security on Android would not be approved on the iOD App Store currently, so iPhone users don’t have as simple a way to detect if their phones are sharing their personal information.

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Apple Approves BitTorrent App?

With all the new/revised rules for App Store approvals, who knows what will show up in the Store? First it was Google Voice apps and now a BitTorrent app? Could this one have slipped through the Apple cracks? Remember Handy Light and MiTube?

IS Drive by Derek Kepner is an app that works with ImageShack‘s BitTorrent service, which allows users to manage their downloads. While BitTorrent is not illegal as a file sharing protocol; it is the preferred method to copy the unauthorized exchange of music and video - and that’s a reason for Apple to reject applications that allow users to manage their downloads. Read more