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,...

A significant number of users on Reddit and Twitter, corroborated by multiple tips we have received, are affected by an ongoing App Store issue preventing a number of popular iOS apps from showing up in search results unless already installed, including Google, Periscope, Spotify, Tidal, Tumblr, Uber, Vine, Waze, and many others. The search issues appear to be widespread, affecting iPhone,...

Apple today added banners to the iTunes and App Stores allowing customers to donate to the American Red Cross in support of people affected by the earthquakes that hit Ecuador and Japan last week. Donations made through iTunes and the App Store can be placed using credit cards already on file with Apple, making the donation process simple. Customers are able to donate $5, $10, $25, $50, $100,...

Apple today updated its web portal designed for developers with a new section entitled "Making Great Apps for the App Store," aimed at helping developers grow their businesses and reach more users with their apps. Included are resources for planning apps, App Store guidelines, tools for submitting apps, and a section on developer insights featuring stories from developers who have created...

Apple has assembled a secret team dedicated to exploring potential changes that could be made to the App Store, reports Bloomberg. Among the features being considered is an option that would allow developers to pay a fee to have their apps "more prominently displayed," perhaps at the top of a list of search results. Changes to "improve the way" customers browse in the App Store are also under...

Apple may be laying the groundwork to allow users to remove or hide stock iOS apps, such as Compass and Tips, from their iPhones in an upcoming version of its mobile software, based on recently added metadata keys showing up on App Store apps. As discovered by AppAdvice, Apple several weeks ago added a new pair of keys called "isFirstParty" and "isFirstPartyHideableApp" to the metadata of...

Paid-cable network Starz today announced a new standalone monthly streaming service that will be available to users as an app on iOS, Apple TV, and Google Play stores. Starz's entry into the standalone service market follows fellow networks HBO ($14.99/month) and Showtime ($10.99/month), but will come in at a cheaper price of $8.99/month. The new Starz app can be authenticated as a companion ...

Apple is working with Will.i.am and TV executives Ben Silverman and Howard T. Owens on a new non-scripted television show that will "spotlight the app economy," reports The New York Times. There are no details on the television show beyond the App Store premise, so it is not clear what format episodes will take. Apple executives have not made details like title, timeline, storylines, or...

Last November, a malicious app called InstaAgent was caught storing the usernames and passwords of Instagram users, sending them to a suspicious remote server. After the app's activities came to light, Apple removed it from the App Store, but it now appears Turker Bayram, the developer behind the app has managed to get two new apps approved by Apple, (and Google) both of which are stealing...

Apple came under fire over the weekend for an apparent failure of its App Store algorithm to rank app categories using any meaningful criteria. Several users took to Twitter to voice their displeasure after subcategories in the App Store Games section were shown to be displaying multiple variations of similarly named apps spanning several pages. More examples quickly followed, and apps...

Earlier this week, we shared a blue-light reduction app called FlexBright, which worked similarly to Apple's own Night Shift mode. Apple initially approved the app, which was able to adjust the screen temperature for the entire iPhone, but after it garnered attention following our post, Apple pulled it from the App Store. FlexBright developer Sam Al-Jamal told MacRumors he had worked with...

A new voice search and personal assistant app called Hound debuted on iOS yesterday that apparently outperforms Siri, Google Search and Cortana in terms of speed and recognition accuracy. Developed by the creators of music-recognition app SoundHound, the new app provides extremely fast responses to complex, nested natural language queries with highly accurate results and location-based...

Ubisoft yesterday released Assassin's Creed Identity for iPhone and iPad worldwide, following news of its highly anticipated official launch earlier this month. The popular action role-playing game lets you create, customize, and play as Assassins during the Italian Renaissance, with story missions and quests set in the Coliseum, Florence, and other key locations of the era. The game features...

Facebook this morning came under fire once more over concerns regarding the impact its iOS app has on iPhone battery life. Writing in The Guardian, technology reporter Samuel Gibbs claims to have found that uninstalling Facebook's iOS app and accessing the social media site via Safari can save up to 15 percent of an iPhone's battery life. Gibbs relates how he uninstalled the app on his...

Apple has updated its System Status page to reflect that many users may be unable to access, purchase, or update apps on the App Store on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Multiple other iCloud services are or were also experiencing downtime, including the iTunes Store, iBooks Store, iCloud Drive, and iWork for iCloud. The issues began shortly before 7:00 a.m. Pacific and appear to be widespread,...

Challenging physics-based game Piloteer has been named Apple's App of the Week, and as a result, it's available to download for free for the first time since it launched in June of 2015. In Piloteer, the goal is to navigate a jetpack-wearing inventor through three gameplay environments to complete a series of 60 missions. Piloteer's tap-based controls are easy to grasp but difficult to master, ...

Facebook has begun rolling out support for further 3D Touch actions on compatible iPhones in the latest update to its primary iOS app. The newest iteration in the social media company's series of weekly app updates allows iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus owners to use "peek" and "pop" gestures directly from within a Facebook timeline. A light press or "peek" on a profile, link, page, group or...

Apple is offering 50 percent off a range of productivity apps as part of a "Get Productive" iOS App Store promotion that's taking place this week. Each app is available at a 50 percent discount from its regular App Store pricing. Many well-known apps like Clear, Things, Drafts 4, and Deliveries are included in the promotion. Available apps cover a wide range of productivity tasks, from...

Apple today announced it has released a free iOS app called Music Memos that enables musicians and songwriters to record and analyze high-quality, uncompressed audio using the iPhone's built-in microphone, or an external microphone. The app is currently rolling out on the App Store worldwide. Music Memos displays a small recording button when first opened, along with a waveform at the bottom ...

Apple today informed developers that App Store price tiers, including in-app purchases, will be rising in Canada, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore and South Africa within 72 hours (via The Next Web). In Canada, for example, Tier 1 pricing will increase to $1.39, a 20-cent rise over current $1.19 pricing. That means a $1 app on the U.S. App Store will now sell for $1.39 on the...

Popular real-time messaging app WhatsApp today announced that it will no longer be charging customers subscription fees after their first free year with the service. The company noted that the approach of giving users a free year with the app and then removing its features "hasn't worked well," since some customers didn't have credit or debit cards they could use to continue the service,...