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Posts tagged with "developers"

Developers: You Can Now Generate Promo Codes for Mac Apps

An update in iTunes Connect shows that developers can now generate promo codes for apps sold in the Mac App Store:

You can now generate promo codes for your Mac apps in iTunes Connect. These promo codes can be redeemed in any Mac App Store worldwide. For each version of your app, you can request up to 50 promo codes.

Up until today, Apple didn’t allow developers to generate promo codes for Mac apps. The also-updated iTunes Connect Developer guide further explains:

Promo codes can now be generated for Mac OS X apps and redeemed through any Mac App Store internationally.

Read more

Apple Releases Xcode 4 GM

Apple just released a GM seed of Xcode 4. It’s available now in the iOS and Mac dev centers. The release of the GM seed means the final version of Xcode 4 is nearing completion and should be available soon.

Xcode 4 is a major new version of Apple’s development suite which sports lots of new features and a new single-windowed UI. The first version of Xcode 4 preview was released during the WWDC in June, the second build was seeded in late July, Preview 3 was made available on September 2, Preview 4 was released in October. The latest developer seed, preview 6, was released on January 10.

From the release notes:

Xcode 4 GM seed can now be used to submit iOS and Mac apps to the App Store.

Xcode 4 GM seed includes the iOS SDK 4.2 and Mac OS X SDK 10.6.

The ReadMe file of the GM seed also comes with an interesting notice:

Xcode 4 requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.7 Lion or later.

Which we’re sure is just a mistake on the release notes.

Update: it appears that Apple has pulled the GM seed from the developer center, which shows Preview 6 again. Perhaps a bug was found at the last minute, so we guess it should be back shortly.

Update #2: the GM seed is available again in the Dev Center. The OS X 10.7 mention has been removed:

Xcode 4 requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later. See the installation notes below for additional information.

Third Build of OS X 10.6.7 Seeded to Developers

A new build of Mac OS X 10.6.7 hit the Developer Center last night, the third one since Apple started seeding 10.6.7 to developers three weeks ago. Build 10J850 mentions, again, Mac App Store, AirPort, Bonjour, SMB and Graphics Drivers as focus areas for developers to test.

The second build of 10.6.7 was released on January 25th, and it appears that Apple is quickly issuing new builds with the same focus areas and no “known issues”.

Apple Releases iOS 4.3 Beta 3

A few minutes ago Apple seeded the third beta of iOS 4.3 to developers. It’s available now in the iOS Dev Center. Build number is 8F5166b . Updated versions of the iOS SDK and Apple TV pre-release software have been released as well. The release comes after nearly two weeks after the previous beta; iOS 4.3 beta 1 was seeded to developers on January 12. iOS 4.3 is expected to introduce a rather small set of new features like AirPlay video streaming for third-party apps, HTTP live streaming statistics and full-screen iAds. In the developer betas Apple also enabled support for multitasking gestures on the iPad, although the feature won’t be part of the public release of iOS 4.3. The software update has also been rumored to carry support for the iTunes subscriptions that will power The Daily, but no references of such functionality have been found in the SDK so far.

Last week, several reports indicated that Apple is already accepting iOS 4.3-compatible apps in the App Store. We will update this story as we find out more about the new beta. Read more

The Mac App Store and “Half-Available” Updates

Panic, the developers of popular software for the Mac like Coda, Transmit and Candybar, wrapped up a critical update to their FTP client / file manager / all-in-one solution Transmit 4 on January 6th to fix “important bugs” and correct issues with the Transmit Disk feature and Amazon S3 connection. As they explain in a post on the company’s blog, their original plan was to submit the update to Apple and release it on their website as well once the Mac App Store version got approved.

Apple didn’t approve the update after two weeks, so Panic went ahead and posted the update on the application’s website so that users who didn’t buy the app through the Mac App Store didn’t have to wait any longer to have the bugs fixed. In their own words, Transmit 4.1.5 is now “half-available” as the app in still “in review” for Mac App Store approval. Read more

Autodesk: Mac App Store Doubled Sketchbook Pro Sales in 20 Days

The Mac App Store isn’t even one month old and we have already heard several stories of success from Mac developers. The most notable one comes from Pixelmator, which grossed $1 million in less than 20 days into the new store; we have covered other experiences from developers in our Mac App Store hub. Autodesk (makers of AutoCAD) announced in a private event in San Francisco that the Mac App Store version of Sketchbook Pro, a painting and drawing application, has sold twice as many copies as the regular version did in the entire year. In 20 days. That’s quite an achievement, I would say.

The Loop reports Autodesk also had to ship a different version of Sketchbook Pro in order to be approved by Apple:

For example, Mac App Store apps aren’t supposed to use private APIs, can’t incorporate their own end user licensing agreements, and can’t employ separate copy protection. As a result, sharing code with the iOS version made the process easier, though SketchBook Pro is scaled up to take advantage of the increased processing power and memory footprint of the Mac.

Last year, Autodesk also released a new version of AutoCAD for Mac with an entirely redesigned interface and graphic engine, and shipped a mobile counterpart called “AutoCAD WS” for iPhone and iPad.

Reminder: Macworld 2011 Kicks Off Today

Apple may have stopped attending Macworld and announcing new products there, but the expo is doing well. So well that, according to stats provided by CultOfMac, more than 25,000 attendees are expected to walk around booths at the Moscone Center where 230 exhibitors will launch 100 new products. The show’s numbers are up from last year, when they dramatically dropped since Apple confirmed they wouldn’t go to Macworld anymore.

The show is shaping up good,” Macworld general manager Paul Kent told CultofMac.com. “If the numbers go right, we’re going to have about a 25% increase in attendance.

It’s a really fun time,” said Kent. “Macworld is a celebration. There’s a high joy quotient. It’s a fun place to be. There’s not a lot of places were people can do this any more.

We won’t be at Macworld, but we will try to aggregate, starting today through Saturday, the best new accessories, apps and Mac software we’ll be notified of. For all the details about the expo and the schedule of events, go here.