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Posts tagged with "app store"

Apple: 25 Billion Apps Have Been Downloaded From The App Store

Apple announced a short time ago that 25 billions apps have been downloaded from the App Store since it launched in mid-2008. Apple has updated their homepage with the above graphic and slogan of  ”A billion thanks. 25 times over” and the App Store Twitter and Facebook accounts have also publicised the milestone. Interestingly, the graphic used by Apple varies depending on whether you are viewing an international version of Apple.com (such as Japan) or whether you see the standard US website.

Apple will announce within a few days, who the lucky winner of a $10,000 iTunes voucher will be. Users could enter the competition by either simply downloading an app or filling out a form on Apple’s website - the winner will be the person who downloaded the 25th billion app or the person who first filled out the form after the 24,999,999th app had been downloaded but before the 25th billion app.

In Apple’s previous App Store and iTunes competitions, Eddy Cue (Senior Vice President, Internet and Software Services) has called the winner and congratulated them on winning. Shortly after this has happened Apple releases a press statement announcing the download milestone and who the winner was. When Apple ran the competition to mark 10 billion apps downloaded, the winner initially hung up on Cue, thinking it was a scam call.

Retina & Universal

Matthew Panzarino at The Next Web has a good overview of a possible issue with the rumored iPad 3’s Retina Display and universal apps: download sizes and 3G. He explains:

Apple’s iPad 3 is set to launch next week and all signs point to it having a Retina display running at 2048×1536 pixels. This should provide a clearer, sharper image to most users and will display many applications in a fantastic new light, as long as developers have prepared them properly.

But the necessity to include these images may present a problem with the mandatory 20MB file size limit that Apple has imposed on 3G downloads.

The problem being: if the iPad really goes Retina, then developers of apps using custom graphics will have to use new images, which will likely be heavy and bump the download size of an app. For universal apps, already carrying Retina and non-Retina images (the latter both for iPhone and iPad), this can become a serious issue if we assume that most users who will see the “Over 20 MB” alert will be scared away or simply forget to buy an app. And developers (and Apple) want to make the process of buying apps as frictionless and immediate as possible.

I see two solutions. Either Apple gets the carriers to agree to larger download sizes, establishing a new “average” that should work for most apps (let’s say 60 MB as Panzarino suggests), or they rebuild the download mechanism completely by allowing devices to “ignore” resources they don’t need. The second solution would be a “cleaner” approach, in that it would address the root of this likely scenario – that is, devices downloading apps containing all kinds of images and resources for Retina and non-Retina displays.

By “localizing” images in a way languages are localized on the OS, Apple could find a way to know if an image is destined to an iPad or not. And if so, if it’s also destined to a Retina iPad, or old-generation iPad. Furthermore, in theory, this would also allow Apple to differentiate between images used by an iPhone and iPad which, right now, are always downloaded within the same, single .app package. Paul Haddad, who tweeted about the issue today, confirms my suspicion that this method would require a fundamental change to apps – I can only assume it would require different naming conventions or new APIs to let devices be “smarter” in understanding the resources they need to look for when downloading a new app. But the issue is real – always assuming the iPad 3 will feature a Retina Display, which seems like a pretty good bet at this point – and I think this is something Apple has surely considered.

The other way, of course, is to get carriers on board with larger downloads while on 3G – but the issue of universal apps bumping downloads (and thus 3G usage) would still remain for the users, and Apple would still need to somehow address the core of the issue, which is the existence of Retina and non-Retina devices downloading universal apps containing multiple custom graphics at the same time. I agree with Matthew, this issue will be an interesting one to watch.

OmniOutliner 1.2 for iPad Sets the Stage for iCloud Sync

OmniOutliner 1.2 Document Browser

OmniOutliner 1.2 Document Browser

The Omni Group have removed the carousel in OmniOutliner 1.2 for a new document browser that closely resembles Pages’. Giving a broader overview of your outlines, the new file browser makes it much easier to scroll through dozens of documents without having to individually file past each one. The new file browser doesn’t let you create folders or sync to the cloud, but the original WebDAV and iDisk implementations are still available for online storage.

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Apple Acquires “Search Engine for Apps” Chomp

According to MG Siegler at TechCrunch, Apple has acquired Chomp, app search and recommendation engine that has an iPhone app available in the App Store. Siegler reports that the Chomp team and product will be transitioned over to Apple, although details of the deal aren’t clear:

My understanding is that such deals will remain intact for now but are likely to end once the Chomp team and product transitions over to Apple. The same is likely true for Chomp’s stand-alone products.

I haven’t been able to learn the exact terms of the deal, but I hear that all the investors should be very pleased with the outcome. This is not a cheap “acqui-hire”, Apple has bought the Chomp team and technology and plans to use both to completely revamp App Store search and recommendations, I hear.

With Apple’s Tim Cook famously saying he’s not religious about holding or not holding the cash (nearly $100 billion) at Apple’s disposal, the acquisition of Chomp should be a clear sign of the company’s willingness to invest in talent and technologies from startups that have proved to care about quality of their products. Chomp in particular is an interesting choice for Apple, as it might signal important changes coming relatively soon to the App Store, especially on the side of discovery of apps with recommendations targeting a user’s tastes and behaviors. With over 700,000 apps available (per AppShopper) and thousands getting approved every day, the issue with discovery is a real one: most developers struggle to get their apps noticed and the best chance for popularity still remains Apple’s own feature in the App Store’s homepage with the “App of the week” and “New & Noteworthy” sections. Furthermore, the existing App Store infrastructure doesn’t have integrated sharing features for Twitter and Facebook, which Chomp has.

It’s obviously not clear what Apple has in store for Chomp yet, but here’s a couple of wild guesses based on the app’s existing functionalities:

Improve app discovery learning what an app does, rather than just its name. Currently, Apple seems to be basing its algorithm for discovery (part available in the Genius UI, part in iTunes under an app’s description) on categories and “what other customers also bought”. Chomp is capable of learning an app’s core functions, and find similar or complimentary apps.

Build sharing of apps for Twitter and Facebook right within the App Store. This would be a nice feature in iOS 6 – alongside a mobile wish list.

Improve search with suggestions, tags, and a cleaner layout similar to what Chomp already does.

Let App Store users create profiles and revamp the whole review system, as developers have been asking for years now. The profile option would be an interesting possibility, and it could easily work in conjunction with Ping, which has failed to gain traction. This has also been experimented by other apps that have tried to compete in the app recommendation space in the past years.

As with the recent Anobit acquisition, it’s likely Apple will confirm the acquisition of Chomp soon. It will be interesting to see if and how Chomp’s technologies will be integrated with a future version of the App Store, which keeps on growing at a tremendous pace but needs a better system to discover apps and filter out less important results.

Update: Apple has confirmed the acquisition to AllThingsD without providing further details on how the service will be integrated with the App Store.

Apple Counting Down to 25 Billion App Downloads

Thanks to over 315 million cumulative iOS devices sold and the breadth of applications available, Apple’s preparing to celebrate their 25 billionth download by awarding the lucky downloader a $10,000 App Store gift card. In only four months, iOS users will have downloaded an additional 7 billion apps from the App Store since last October where Apple reached 18 billion App Store downloads. (15 billion apps were downloaded as of last July). With over 550,000 apps available (175,000 iPad-specific apps) to download, there’s plenty of great applications to choose from that fill a variety of needs on user’s devices. The App Store’s great download spike can also be contributed to the number of iOS devices purchased in 2011 alone: 156 million iOS devices were sold last year compared to a total of 122 million Macs ever sold.

As of today, nearly 25 billion apps have been downloaded worldwide. Which is almost as amazing as the apps themselves. So we want to say thanks. Download the 25 billionth app, and you could win a US$10,000 App Store Gift Card.* Just visit the App Store and download your best app yet.

To participate in the competition, you simply have to purchase or download a free app from the App Store and be the lucky winner randomly chosen by Apple. You can also enter to win without purchasing anything from the App Store by simply visiting the contest page and filling out the linked contest form. One the 25th billion download has been reached, the contest ends! (Each applicable contestant is allowed only 25 entries.)

[via 9to5 Mac]

Edit (02/19/2012): Updated final paragraph to clarify contest rules.

Clear: A Delightful and Clever Todo App

Some apps deliver a certain joy that simply comes from swiping and swooshing through the interface, poking at various elements, and pinching things onscreen. Clear is delightful — it will make you smile. It makes you reconsider the necessity of navigation bars and tool bars and tab bars. We’re used to switching views by tapping at back buttons or icons, but what happens when you take away these common navigational tools? You end up relying on your own honesty and the customer’s intuition. And an honest interface can bring about some terrific ideas.

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Apple Warns Developers Against Using Services That Manipulate App Store Rankings

Apple has today posted a reminder to developers, warning them not to manipulate App Store chart rankings or face potential loss of their Apple Developer Program membership. The warning follows recent publicity surrounding services that have been offering the ability to artificially boost free app rankings in the top charts.

Adhering to Guidelines on Third-Party Marketing Services

Feb 6, 2012

Once you build a great app, you want everyone to know about it. However, when you promote your app, you should avoid using services that advertise or guarantee top placement in App Store charts. Even if you are not personally engaged in manipulating App Store chart rankings or user reviews, employing services that do so on your behalf may result in the loss of your Apple Developer Program membership. Get helpful tips and resources on marketing your apps the right way from the App Store Resource Center.

Yesterday, PocketGamer noted that one company was offering a service for $5000 where they would utilise bots to download an app repeatedly until it breaks into the top 25 charts. That report followed on from a TouchArcade post, where users warned others from using such fraudulent app promotion services which use automated scripts or bots.

[iClarified via MacRumors]

Apple’s Results and Developers→

Apple’s Results and Developers

David Smith looks at yesterday’s Q1 2012 numbers from an indie developer’s perspective:

If you add up the combined resolutions of all iOS devices sold in this quarter you get 40,747,941,888,000 pixels. It takes 17 viewings of entire Star Wars Saga on Blu Ray to see that many pixels. (805 minutes x 24 fps x 1080p).

On a more serious note:

Apple paid out $700M to developers during this quarter. That is equivalent to 125 $0.99 apps being sold every second.

Hardware brings in the real money for Apple. But I think it’s safe to say that, at this point, it’s the software ecosystem and the developers that are convincing people to switch to iOS. I’d like to know: how much of those $700 comes from games?

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Phraseology for iPad: Write, Remix, and Markdown

You could choose to write in Helvetica Neue, Marker Felt, or Georgia, but Phraseology has a personality all its own that’s best reflected in American Typewriter or Courier. Plenty of text editors on the iPad offer one or both of these font types, but there’s something about Agile Tortoise’s sandy colors and subtle paper-like textures that make Phraseology feel more tangible. It’s the modern equivalent of a typewriter explained through a text editor.

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