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,...

The United States Justice Department is in the early stages of crafting an antitrust complaint against Apple, reports Politico. A source that spoke to the site described the lawsuit as "potential," indicating that the DOJ's plans are not yet finalized. Prosecutors within the DOJ are said to be "assembling the pieces" for a lawsuit that could be filed by the end of the year, but the decision...

Telegram's CEO, Pavel Durov, is lashing out against Apple over the company's "obscure" App Store review process that is delaying Telegram from releasing an update to its app that will "revolutionize how people express themselves in messaging." In his Telegram channel, Durov says that an update to Telegram for iOS that will change how people communicate has been stuck in Apple's ‌App Store‌...

Apple has removed an app that it was unknowingly hosting on the App Store that scammed Facebook advertisers and led hackers to use advertisers' ad budgets to run possibly malicious ads on Facebook's platforms, Business Insider reports. The app previously ranked highly on the ‌App Store‌ when searching for "Facebook ads manager," the app used by advertisers to control their presence and ads...

Apple today announced it is expanding its offering of how developers can promote their apps on the App Store, helping developers expand their reach and making it easier to discover more of what the ‌App Store‌ has to offer. Until now, Apple has offered developers two ad opportunities on the ‌App Store‌: in the Search tab and within the Search results page. Both ad placements have been a...

Apple's App Store is now coming under the spotlight for how it handles fake crypto apps that scam investors who think they're investing in real, legitimate cryptocurrencies. In a letter addressed to Apple CEO Tim Cook, the chairman of the U.S. Senate on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Sherrod Brown, inquires about the steps Apple takes in vetting, reviewing, and removing crypto apps...

Apple has informed App Store developers in South Korea that they can now begin offering users alternative payment systems in their apps. The change comes after the country passed a law that bans app store operators from requiring developers to use their own in-app purchase systems. Apple's developer update on apps distributed in South Korea begins with Apple saying that the ‌App Store‌ was...

Following a months-long saga, the competition regulator in the Netherlands has finally accepted concessions by Apple to allow dating apps in the App Store to use alternative payment methods (via Reuters). On Friday, the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) released an update stating that "Apple now complies with the rules" regarding dating apps' ability to let their customers pay in...

Apple today announced further changes to its App Store rules for dating apps in the Netherlands in an attempt to comply with requirements put in place by the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM). Apple says that after "productive conversations" with the ACM, it is making the following updates:- Developers of dating apps in the Netherlands can use the StoreKit External Purchase...

The UK's competition watchdog seeks to "remedy" Apple's restrictions on browser engines in iOS and cloud gaming through the App Store via a high-level regulatory process, the organization announced today. The announcement comes upon the publication of the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) year-long study into Apple and Google's mobile ecosystems, which finds that Apple and Google have ...

Back in August 2021, Apple agreed to pay $100 million and make changes to the App Store to settle a class-action lawsuit brought against it by developers. Judge Yvonne-Gonzalez Rogers, who is overseeing the case, said yesterday that she plans to approve the settlement, but she raised concerns about the amount that attorneys are planning to charge. As outlined by Law360, Rogers said that she...

The App Store prevented 1.6 million risky and untrustworthy apps from defrauding users in 2021, according to new fraud analysis data shared today by Apple. Apple says that the ‌App Store‌ stopped "nearly $1.5 billion in fraudulent transactions" during the year. Apple rejected more than 34,000 apps for hidden features, and more than 157,000 that were spam or copycat apps. 343,000 apps were...

Senator Amy Klobuchar last night introduced a revised version [PDF] of the American Choice and Innovation Act, as the U.S. government continues to work toward legislation that targets major tech companies and that would mandate sideloading on the iPhone. There are few changes to the bill that would alleviate Apple's concerns about it, and the Cupertino company provided a statement to MacRumor...

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has called Apple's App Store, which has helped app makers earn over $260 billion since its launch, a "disservice to developers" that forces them to treat their apps as "sub-par." Sweeney made the comments in an exclusive interview with the Financial Times, where he repeated ‌Epic Games‌' previous talking points about Apple and how it is "anti-competitive" and...

Apple today shared details on developer studies sourced from economists at Analysis Group (commissioned by Apple) and the Progressive Policy Group, with the reports aimed at highlighting the successes of small businesses and independent developers on the App Store. Between 2019 and 2021, earnings for small developers increased by 113 percent, outpacing the growth of larger developers,...

Apple today reminded developers that all apps that support account creation need to have functionality for account deletion starting on June 30, 2022. That means if an app allows a person to sign up for an account, there must be an in-app way to delete said account later on. The account deletion rule was implemented as part of App Store changes that were introduced in June 2021, and Apple...

Apple today informed developers that it is implementing a new subscription feature that will allow customers to be charged automatically when an app's subscription price goes up, which is not the way that subscriptions work at the current time. Right now, customers must explicitly agree to a pricing change when the cost of a subscription increases through an "Agree to New Price" interface....

Starting with iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, Apple introduced a new "Personalized Ads" toggle during the setup process that makes it easier for users to turn off personalized ads in Apple apps such as the App Store, Apple News, and Stocks. In a presentation shared with advertisers, obtained by MacRumors, Apple cited internal data showing that, in the first quarter of 2022, 78% of iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 ...

Apple Music appears to be affected by a bug that is causing the app to install itself directly into the dock when downloaded from the App Store, with the app even replacing other first and third-party apps located in the dock. There have been several complaints about the problem on Twitter from users who downloaded ‌Apple Music‌ and then had it replace another app. Kevin Archer, for example, ...

Tesla CEO Elon Musk today took to Twitter to once again criticize Apple's App Store fees, calling the cut that Apple takes from developers "definitely not ok" and likening it to a "30% tax on the internet." He went on to say that the fee is "literally 10 times higher than it should be." Apple takes a 30 percent cut from app developers who make over $1 million through the ‌App Store‌ on an ...

The competition regulator in the Netherlands today announced that Apple's rules surrounding Dutch dating apps remain insufficient. In a statement obtained by journalist Nando Kasteleijn, the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) said that while Apple eliminating its requirement for Dutch dating apps to create a separate app binary in order to accept alternative payments was an...