An accident at Apple recently wiped out over 20 million App Store ratings including popular ones like Hulu, Google, Microsoft, and more.
App Store
Clicker Malware Found in 17 iOS Apps
17 apps from iOS developer AppAspect Technologies Pvt. Ltd. were found to contain clicker malware that automatically clicked on ads.
Apple Schedules 8 Hour Downtime for App Store Connect on October 20th
The company said the service would be down from 6:00 AM PDT on October 20th, for “up to 8 hours.”
Apple vs China Over Hong Kong – TMO Daily Observations 2019-10-11
Charlotte Henry and Bryan Chaffin join host Kelly Guimont to discuss Apple’s recent decision to pull an app used by Hong Kong protestors.
Amazon Prime Video Will Return to the App Store Soon
Amazon Prime Video was removed from the App Store today due to some kind of technical issue. But it will return soon.
Amazon Prime Video is currently unavailable in the App Store across iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. Amazon had updated the iOS version of the app shortly before it was removed from the App Store, but it is unclear why the app was pulled or whether this is a temporary move.
Update: MacRumors has been informed this was a technical issue and the app should be back up shortly.
Tech vs Governments, Siri Learning and Unlearning – TMO Daily Observations 2019-10-03
Dave Hamilton and Andrew Orr join host Kelly Guimont to discuss apps vanishing from App Stores, and how Siri can now use third party apps.
Did China Ask Apple to Remove This Hong Kong Protest App?
Apple recently removed a Hong Kong protest app from the App Store, saying that it encouraged users to break the law.
App Store Prices Will Increase in Kazakhstan, Sweden
Apple released developer news today saying that due to changes in foreign exchange rates, App Store prices will increase in Kazakhstan and Sweden.
Once this change goes into effect, the Pricing and Availability section of My Apps will be updated. You can change the price of your apps and in-app purchases (including auto-renewable subscriptions) at any time in App Store Connect. For subscriptions, you have the option to preserve prices for existing subscribers.
See this PDF for a list of updated App Store pricing for these regions.
Be Cautious of AltStore, the New Alternative App Store
There are reports of an alternative App Store that doesn’t require jailbreaking. It’s called AltStore, and it lets you download these alternative apps via a server you install on your Mac. While the developer says that the code for AltStore is open source, that doesn’t mean the apps within are. I urge caution about installing unknown apps outside of the App Store. If they can’t make it through the app review team, there’s probably a reason for that. For example, this quote from the blog:
From the beginning, AltStore was intended to serve as a way for developers to distribute entirely new apps that push the boundaries of iOS in ways not possible with Apple’s app review system.
Hopefully, “pushing the boundaries” doesn’t include apps full of malware.
Apple Releases watchOS 6 Featuring Exercise Trends, Cycle Tracking, New Watch Faces, More
Apple released watchOS 6 Thursday, one day ahead of the release of Apple Watch Series 5. watchOS 6 includes Exercise Trends, Cycle Tracking, new Watch Faces, enhanced Siri support, an onboard App Store for watchOS apps, support for Animoji in Messages, and more.
App Store Guidelines Modified for Kids Apps, Sign In With Apple
Apple has updated its App Store Review Guidelines for kids apps and its new Sign In with Apple technology, giving developers more time.
Apple's Billing Grace Period Should Give You Peace of Mind
Apple is introducing Billing Grace Period as a way to improve the customer experience surrounding subscriptions.
Apple Changes App Store Algorithm to Address Antitrust Complaint
Apple is tweaking the App Store algorithm to make Apple apps less likely to appear in search results. This seeks to address complaints that the company unfairly uses the App Store to promote its own apps in favor of competition.
Mr. Schiller and Mr. Cue said the algorithm had been working properly. They simply decided to handicap themselves to help other developers.
“We make mistakes all the time,” Mr. Cue said.
“We’re happy to admit when we do,” Mr. Schiller said. “This wasn’t a mistake.”
I think the antitrust concerns about Apple have valid arguments, and I think this is a good move by Apple. Notice Phil Schiller gently correct Eddy.
Apple Card Privacy, App Store Download Stats – TMO Daily Observations 2019-08-27
Andrew Orr and Bryan Chaffin join host Kelly Guimont to talk about Apple Card’s relative privacy and App Store download statistics.
It's Easier for Apps to Rank No. 1 in the App Store
It’s now easier for app developers to have their app ranked number 1 in the App Store. The number of downloads to achieve this has dropped.
App Store Today Stories Now on the Web
App Store Today editorials from Apple are now available on the web, with full imagery, app lists, and text.
To find a link for an App Store story, open the App Store on your iOS device or Mac. Open a story article in the Today view and scroll to the bottom. There will be a ‘Share Story’ button which lets you copy the URL or send it on using the share sheet.
Report Shows Apple Apps Come First in App Store Search
A new report shows that Apple apps are typically shown before other apps when users input certain search queries.
Mesh Wi-Fi, App Store Bug – TMO Daily Observations 2019-07-16
Andrew Orr and Dave Hamilton join host Kelly Guimont to discuss Dave’s mesh Wi-Fi guide with a side of Prime Day deals, and an App Store bug.
Apple 2019 Revenue Up 15% at $39 Billion From App Store
Apple 2019 revenue for the first half of this year is up 15% from last year, topping US$39 billion from the App Store.
According to a new report from Sensor Tower, the iOS App Store and Google Play combined brought in $39.7 billion in worldwide app revenue in the first half of 2019 — that’s up 15.4% over the $34.4 billion seen during the first half of last year. However, at that time, the $34.4 billion was a 27.8% increase from 2017’s numbers, then a combined $26.9 billion across both stores.
Fake App Sales, Cryptocurrency From Facebook – TMO Daily Observations 2019-06-18
Bryan Chaffin and Andrew Orr join host Kelly Guimont to discuss iOS apps running “limited” sales, and Facebook getting into cryptocurrency.
Black and White Photo Editor ‘Carbon’ Has Fake Sale
There’s a photo editor on the App Store called Carbon for black and white photo editing. And the developers are lying about a sale.
PSA: Tweak Your Shortcuts to Use Apps.Apple.Com
Now that Apple has killed iTunes, App Store apps no longer use itunes.apple.com. Instead, the new URL is apps.apple.com. This means you’ll have to tweak your shortcuts.
App Developers Angry at App Store Costs Sue Apple
iOS app developers filed a lawsuit against Apple in California, claiming the company abuses its dominant position of the App Store.
News+: The App Store Enables Spying, Tracking, and Analytics
In the latest issue of Fast Company magazine, Mark Wilson writes about the business of spying, advertising, and analytics that the App Store enables.
[Apple] designed a dead-simple interface that, to this day, allows users to sign away contacts, location data, and camera and microphone access with a single tap as they install an app. Apple also created efficient APIs—the software connecting its hardware to outside apps—to provide third-party developers access to sensitive user information. Meanwhile, iPhone apps are not required to encrypt their transmissions. “Apple was well known for usability before it was known for privacy,” says Riana Pfefferkorn, associate director of surveillance and cybersecurity at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society.
This is part of Andrew’s News+ series, where he shares a magazine every Friday to help people discover good content in Apple News+.
