Posts in iPhone

iTunes Reveals Potential iOS 5 Feature: “Automatic Download” [Update]

With WWDC right around the corner, many people are getting their scorecards ready. Here’s the center spot for your iOS 5 Bingo card: “Automatic Download” for your iDevices. MacRumors discovered that iTunes is now showing a new sentence on the My App Updates page. It reads, “Or if your device has Automatic Download enabled for apps, your updates will download to your device without having to sync.”

Seems like a very clear indicator that iOS 5 will have the option to automatically grab app updates to your iOS device. Currently, you must either sync or download the updates themselves through the App Store app on iOS.

“Automatic Download” could also suggest that the option could be for more than just iOS apps. People have been wanting a service like this for quite some time and Apple has been rumored to be moving toward the direction of OTA updates and wireless syncing.

Monday, at 10am PDT, we’ll know for sure where the future of iOS (Lion and iCloud) is headed in the coming months. We’ll have live coverage of the event, so please tune in here Monday, June 6 at 9:30 PDT.

Edit by Cody Fink (1:17 AM): Apple was quick about this one. Checking for app updates no longer reveals the message posted above. Instead, Apple has seemed to have temporarily killed the service completely. With my editor and I downloading updates through the App Store on iOS, no updates are available via iTunes update, and the message has been removed.

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#MacStoriesDeals - Friday

Here are today’s @MacStoriesDeals on iOS, Mac, and Mac App Store apps that are on sale for a limited time, so get them before they end!

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Kickstarter Project: Red Pop - A Big, Red, Juicy Camera Button For Your iPhone

We love iPhoneography at MacStories. Accessories, apps, pictures of our pets, you name it, we’ve probably seen it or tried it. Until now. Beep Industries was created in early 2011 by Brendan Dawes and Lou Cordwell in Manchester, UK. Lou and Bren decided to form this new product focused company, along with 2 others, and they design their own original products which they make and sell.

Their newest product is called Red Pop, an iPhone accessory that adds a physical shutter button and grip to your iPhone 4 - simply plug the iPhone 4 into the 30-pin dock connector. Beep created the Red Pop because they believe the experience of using the iPhone 4 as a camera could be improved. It’s not perfect: it’s very flat and there’s no physical shutter button to give you that feel of a traditional camera. Sometimes it’s nearly impossible to tap the on screen button without looking so Beep thought they would bring the button back.

See the promo video and more pictures after the break. Read more

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Joypad Adds Minecraft and Portal 2 Configurations, Launches Developer SDK

Joypad has launched a pair of updates that not only bring the full version of Joypad’s controller to the App Store for free, but also upgrade previous customers of the paid version to an Elite app that’s currently built with the same features. So why the change? Joypad’s free version will feature ads, and offer paid upgrades to various controllers. The Elite version is an ad-free controller, that will give users of the virtual NES controller free upgrades to the latest virtual knobs and buttons the creative crew can come up with. The Joypad Elite version is $11.99 in the App Store, and customers of the previous paid version have been automatically updated to Elite status. Huzzah! New customers can download the free version, and use the controller without having to pay a dime.

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#MacStoriesDeals - Thursday

Here are today’s @MacStoriesDeals on iOS, Mac, and Mac App Store apps that are on sale for a limited time, so get them before they end!

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Pulse.me Saves Your Favorite Stories on iPad, iPhone, and Web

RSS users who live inside the Pulse ecosystem are getting a boost this afternoon in collecting articles to read later. Pulse has unveiled Pulse.me, which is a brand new web component that allows you to save a story from Pulse on your iPhone or iPad, then read it later at your office desk or during a coffee break. I love the idea of not extending the read-it-later schema off of Pulse: you simply have to star the article to continue reading it later.

Pulse.me integrates with your Pulse account or Facebook login, making sign-up relatively painless. Because stories are saved on the web, you can return to your reading list on your iPhone, your iPad, your Android smartphone or tablet, and even your desktop for a consistent experience. If you choose not to use Pulse, they’ve included Instapaper, Read It Later, Google Reader integration, and Evernote support so stories can be read in multiple places. These services work simultaneously with Pulse, meaning if you star an article for Pulse.me, it will star the article in your Google Reader account as well.

Pulse is a free download from the App Store for the iPhone and the iPad.

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Notefile by Junecloud makes a Splash on your Dashboard, iOS

It’s not too often we see really nice Dashboard widgets and iOS apps working in sync, but if you’re familiar with Deliveries for the iPad and iPhone, you’re already well aware that Junecloud are pros at providing seamless syncing. Notefile is their latest endeavor, which was heavily inspired by the desire to sync notes outside of Mail’s notes between Mac and iOS, as well the lack of undo in the Stickies widget. Notefile could be considered the much needed upgrade to Apple’s own Notes, delivering a better default font choice and syncing capabilities with a free Dashboard widget. I personally like the developer’s yellow stylings over the bright white backgrounds many note apps use for their text fields, which is why I often return to Notes’ legal pad. With Notefile, you get a simple, yet seamless syncing experience between all of your Apple devices in a familiar interface. There are no subscription fees asides from the $4.99 entry price for the iOS app, which I’d pay for the gorgeous icon alone. Simplenote writers won’t find Notefile to be a compelling alternative, but Notes users wanting near instant sync for quickly sharing ideas between their Mac and iPhone will find this to be a reasonable upgrade.

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Backflip Studios Hits Milestone With 100 Million Downloads Of Its Mobile Games

Backflip Studios, the developer behind the popular iPhone games of Paper Toss, Ragdoll Blaster 2 and Strike Knight today announced that their mobile games have been download more than 100 million times - as a comparison, Angry Birds has been downloaded over 200 million times. It notes that roughly 80% of the downloads have originated from the iPhone, with about 20% from Android.

Backflip has around 25 million monthly active users, which is already up from 20 million in December last year, even more impressive is the 2.5 million daily active users that Backflip entices across its entire network of games. Roughly a third of the company’s revenue comes from App Store sales whilst another third comes from advertising (last October advertising was worth half a million dollars per month for Backflip) and another third from in-app purchases. Backflip’s success isn’t slowing down either, its revenue and user growth is between double and triple what it was just a year ago and its free games generate more than a billion impressions a month.

The Backflip team, which is self-funded and has 23 employees, is ramping up for a number of game releases coming this summer. Launching today was Strike Knight HD, the iPad version of the popular bowling game, and then there will Shape Shift, Backflip Solitaire and Boss Battles. Most, if not all, will initially be offered for free, following the success of Backflips ‘Summer of Free’ promotion that drew the company a huge success.

[Via VentureBeat]

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#MacStoriesDeals - Wednesday

Here are today’s @MacStoriesDeals on iOS, Mac, and Mac App Store apps that are on sale for a limited time, so get them before they end!

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Club MacStories+: Everything that Club MacStories offers, plus an active Discord community, advanced search and custom RSS features for exploring the Club’s entire back catalog, bonus columns, and dozens of app discounts;

Club Premier: All of the above and AppStories+, an extended version of our flagship podcast that’s delivered early, ad-free, and in high-bitrate audio.

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