App Store

Apple used to limit the size of App Store downloads over cellular to 150MBs to prevent iPhone users from accidentally downloading a large app over 3G or 4G networks and using up all their data allowance or running up data charges. In May 2019, Apple upped the limit of over-the-air downloads to 200MB, but offered no way to opt out of the limit at the time, leaving users with unlimited data...

It used to be the case that adding funds to your Apple ID required redeeming an iTunes Gift Card bought from a store, but Apple now lets you use a debit or credit card right on your iPhone or iPad to do the same thing. Adding funds to your Apple ID allows you to make purchases from the iTunes Store, iBooks Store, and App Store on any of your Apple devices. It's easy to add funds to your...

If you recently updated your iPhone to iOS 13 or your iPad to iPadOS 13 and you can't work out how to manually update your installed apps, then you've come to the right place. Apple has changed the way you update apps in iOS. In earlier versions of its mobile operating system, app updates lived in their own tab in the App Store app, but that has since had to make way for a new Apple Arcade...

Several TV and music services and other apps offer free trials through the App Store that automatically renew to become paid subscriptions after the trial period ends. If you want to prevent an App Store subscription from running beyond the trial period or cancel a subscription you're currently paying for, then read on. This article explains how to cancel any App Store subscription on iOS,...

Following an announcement earlier this year during E3, South Park: Phone Destroyer is launching today on iOS and Android devices. The game was developed by Ubisoft studio RedLynx in collaboration with South Park Digital Studios, and combines real-time strategy and collectible card mechanics with the world of South Park. Similar to the console games South Park: The Stick of Truth and South...

Apple's services category, which includes the App Store, iTunes Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, AppleCare, iCloud, licensing, and other services, set an all-time quarterly record revenue in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2017. During the quarter, the services category brought in $8.5 billion, up from $6.3 billion in the year-ago quarter for an impressive 34 percent growth. Apple's services...

Apple this afternoon reminded developers about the imminent launch of the iPhone X and encouraged them to submit apps that are optimized for the new device. Developers can download Xcode 9.0.1 to test apps using the iPhone X simulator before submitting their updated apps to iTunes Connect.The future is almost here. iPhone X will be available November 3. This stunning device features the...

With the launch of iOS 11, Apple introduced an entirely revamped App Store that includes a "Today" feature for prominently featuring app content. "Today" includes both an "App of the Day" and a "Game of the Day" feature, with apps that are swapped out daily, and as it turns out, getting featured as an app or game of the day can result in a huge boost in downloads for developers. According...

Two U.S. senators have written to Apple CEO Tim Cook asking why the company removed third-party VPN apps from its App Store in China (via CNBC). Reports that Apple had pulled the VPN apps first arrived in July, following regulations passed earlier in the year that require such apps to be authorized by the Chinese government. In the open letter dated October 17, Senators Patrick Leahy and Ted ...

A group of civil society organizations has demanded that Apple remove games from its App Store that promote violence and killings commonplace in the Philippines' war on drugs (via Reuters). The games in question, which the group said violated Apple's own guidelines, include characters based on Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte and his national police chief, Ronaldo "Bato" dela Rosa, who...

Apple today informed developers that as of now, the Dice subcategory in the Games section of iTunes Connect has been eliminated, with Apple planning to remove the Dice section from the App Store in the near future. Developers who have apps in the Dice subcategory have received the email. Apple says that developers don't need to take any action, but can change their app's subcategory if desired....

Since at least the iOS 11 beta, the App Store has been prioritizing old reviews from several years ago for some users. Now that the software update is publicly released, we're starting to receive more user reports about the change. The first review for Facebook's app is from 2008 On my own iPhone, the first review for Facebook is from 2008, the year the App Store launched. The reviewer called ...

Popular PC and console game The Witness finally made its way to the iPhone and iPad tonight with the official release of the iOS version of the game. If you're not familiar with The Witness, it's a 3D Myst-like puzzle adventure game designed by Jonathan Blow, the developer behind popular game Braid. In The Witness, players take on the role of a mystery person who wakes up alone on an island...

iOS 11 introduces an entirely revamped App Store that features a new "Today" screen for app discovery and separate sections for apps and games to make it easier to design content. It's a major change, and to highlight some of the new features, Apple today released a series of YouTube videos showing off the App Store. The first video is almost 40 seconds in length and focuses primarily on the...

Following the launch of iOS 11, Apple today announced that it has increased the cellular over-the-air app download limit from 100 MB to 150 MB, meaning users can now download apps and app updates that are as large as 150 MB over a cellular connection. Apps and app updates over 150 MB will require users to connect to Wi-Fi for content to be downloaded. It's been awhile since Apple last...

When millions of iPads and iPhones are updated to iOS 11 on September 19, older 32-bit apps that have not been updated with iOS 11 support will no longer launch. If you attempt to open one of these 32-bit apps, iOS 11 will refuse to open it and will offer up a message that says the app needs to be updated to work with the new operating system. You're also not going to find 32-bit apps...

Apple this week updated its App Store Review Guidelines for developers, tweaking some existing rules and adding new rules that dictate what developers can and can't include in their apps. Most of the changes introduced are modest and reflect policies that Apple has already put in place, but there are some notable additions. Rule 2.3.1, which says developers should not include hidden or...

Apple began permitting developers to submit 64-bit applications to the iOS App Store back in 2013, allowing for improved app performance and reliability on 64-bit iOS devices. Then in June of 2015, Apple began enforcing that all apps and app updates released on the App Store must use the 64-bit architecture, meaning apps that are still 32-bit have not been updated in well over two years. With the ...

Apple today updated its official WWDC app to version 6.0.2, introducing a handful of bug fixes and bringing Handoff support for the app for the first time. With Handoff, you can begin watching a video in the WWDC app and continue it on another iOS device or in the Safari browser on a Mac by tapping the Handoff icon as you would with any other Handoff interaction. Along with Handoff support, ...

Hugely popular third-party YouTube app "ProTube" was quietly removed from the App Store by Apple last week. Apple's decision to pull the app followed several takedown requests from Google that were received by the app's developer. ProTube was hailed by users during its three-year reign for several features either not available in the official YouTube app or not offered by other third-party...

Apple this week invited several media sites to its Cupertino campus to show off some upcoming ARKit apps being developed by major companies like The Food Network, Ikea, Giphy, and AMC, according to CNBC, The Verge, and TechCrunch. Ikea demonstrated its previously announced "Ikea Place" app, designed to allow users to preview what Ikea furniture will look like in their homes ahead of a...

Apple is "aggressively" cracking down on apps created by Iranian developers for users in Iran in an effort to comply with U.S. sanctions, reports The New York Times. Apple does not offer its products in Iran, nor is there an Iranian App Store, but there are still millions of iPhones in the country that have been smuggled in from places like Dubai and Hong Kong. Iranian developers have created...

Popular and well-known iOS weather app AccuWeather has been caught collecting and sharing user location data even when location sharing permissions are turned off, according to a blog post recently shared by security researcher Will Strafach. According to Strafach, AccuWeather was partnering with data monetization firm Reveal Mobile to collect GPS coordinates, including speed and altitude, the ...

Revenue from Apple's Services category, which includes Apple Music, Apple Pay, AppleCare, iTunes, iCloud, and the App Store, grew an impressive 22 percent year over year according to Apple's third quarter earnings results, reaching a new all-time high. In 3Q 2017, Services brought in $7.3 billion, up from $6 billion in the year-ago quarter. According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, the company's...