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Posts tagged with "macappstore"

Apple Approving Apps Updated for Lion

Earlier this week, Apple informed registered Mac developers that they could start submitting apps targeting the new features of OS X Lion – coming this month – such as full-screen mode, sandboxing, push notifications and new Aqua interface controls. In the email sent to developers, Apple wrote: “OS X Lion, the eighth major release of the world’s most advanced operating system, will soon be available to millions of Mac users around the world. Submit your Lion apps for review now so they can be on the Mac App Store when Lion ships this month.” Whilst several rumors in the past had claimed Lion would be released today, July 14th, alongside new Mac hardware, such claims have failed to come true as the OS isn’t available to the general public yet. According to most recent speculation, minor issues with app resumes and restarts in Lion have forced Apple to “delay” the release – though it’s not clear how the company could delay something that was set for July, but wasn’t given a precise release date.

In the meantime, as first noted by OS X Daily, Apple has started approving apps updated for Lion. OS X Daily points out that Mac game WordCrasher was updated to support Lion’s full-screen mode and Resume; we’ve also found more Lion-ready app updates approved by Apple today. These updates either bring new features (as in the case of BusyCal) or minor bug fixes to ensure Lion compatibility.

WordCrasher

  • Full-screen. Use the full-screen button or press CONTROL + COMMAND + F to toggle fullscreen mode under OS X Lion.
  • Resume. Close WordCrasher at any time and resume your game right where you left it. Restart your Mac, and WordCrasher will resume straight away.

Harmony Worship

  • [Bugfix] Fix datamodel for OS X Lion
  • Include missing image in Mac App Store build

Shortcuts

  • System actions with CMD and ALT now work on Lion
  • User interface fixes

BusyCal

  • Lion compatibility.
  • Supports full screen mode on Lion.
  • Supports trackpad gestures on Lion.
  • Supports new scrollbars on Lion.
  • Supports Address Book yearless birthdays on Lion.

The four apps above were existing Mac App Store apps that have been updated to receive Lion fixes and support. The fact that all these updates were approved today leaves us wondering whether Apple wants to quickly get the Store ready for a Lion launch next week by approving apps that take advantage of the new OS – Lion will be exclusively distributed on the Mac App Store and, after it launches, new users may want to spend some extra money to get apps that work nicely with it. Since Apple began accepting Lion submissions this week many wondered whether the new OS could really come out today – if history is of any indication, it usually takes a week for Apple to begin accepting app updates and actually releasing a new major OS. According to a series of fresh claims, Lion is on schedule for a launch next week.

Apple Shuts Down OS X Downloads Page

As announced back in December 2010, Apple has shut down [thanks, Daylen] the OS X Downloads page that used to list applications, widgets and utilities users could download for their Macs. Instead, Apple is now featuring the Mac App Store at the same URL, which you can find here (the old apple.com/downloads/macosx URL also redirects to the new page). It’s unclear when Apple made the change to the webpage, but the last time we checked a couple of weeks ago the Downloads website was still active and listing apps for OS X. With OS X Lion approaching its public release, the fact that Apple has replaced the Downloads website with a Mac App Store banner doesn’t come as a total surprise – after all, Lion is going to be distributed exclusively on the Mac App Store, and Apple wants it to become the most popular way to discover and install new software for OS X.

Back in December, an email from Apple to developers said:

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.

The Downloads page used to be a good source of traffic and page views for developers willing to showcase their apps on Apple’s website, for free. Now, they’ll need to submit their apps to the Mac App Store, which is organized in categories and has a front page with featured software and staff picks, but can’t be accessed from a web browser.

As a side note, the Widgets site can still be accessed here. On the Downloads page, Apple is also featuring links to iOS Software Updates, Safari Extensions, Mac Software Updates, Safari 5 and iTunes 10.

Apple To Developers: You Can Now Submit Lion Apps

Following the release of the Xcode 4.1 Golden Master seed and with OS X Lion rumored to be nearing its public release, Apple has just informed registered Mac developers that they can now submit apps built for Lion to the Mac App Store.

OS X Lion, the eighth major release of the world’s most advanced operating system, will soon be available to millions of Mac users around the world. Submit your Lion apps for review now so they can be on the Mac App Store when Lion ships this month.

In the past weeks, in spite of various developer previews of Xcode 4.1 for Lion available on the Dev Center, developers were unable to submit apps built specifically for the new OS. In OS X Lion, developers can take advantage of hundreds of new APIs to enable features like full-screen mode, push notifications for apps, new Aqua controls including iPad-inspired popovers, auto-save and versions, as well as sandboxing and multi-touch gestures.

Lion is rumored to hit this week, alongside new MacBook Airs with Sandy Bridge processors and Thunderbolt, and new Mac Pros. The GM build of Lion was seeded on July 1, leading to speculation that, after two weeks and with no major bugs found, the final version is ready to become available on the Mac App Store at $29 any day now. Several developers we polled in the past week told us they were ready to submit their new apps, but Apple (and Xcode) wouldn’t let them. With the release of Xcode 4.1 GM today, Apple flipped the switch on Lion submissions, but it’s unclear how many apps the Review Team could manage to approve before the rumored Lion launch. Clearly Apple wants some Lion-ready apps to be ready for Lion’s debut, so it’ll be interesting to see how this will play out in the next 48 hours.

Apple announced Lion would come out sometime in July as Mac App Store exclusive. In the past, Apple began accepting iOS 4 submissions on June 11 (roughly 10 days ahead of iOS 4’s release) and Mac App Store submissions in November, whilst the Mac App Store went public on January 6.