Appstore Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Realmac's Clear app is free to download today

by Yoni Heisler (May 8th, 2013)

Clear for iOS is an elegant, simple and extremely intuitive to-do list app which adds an element of fun to what might otherwise be rather static and boring lists. Suffice it to say, it's well worth checking out if you find yourself juggling a bunch of tasks on a consistent basis. Notably, the app ...

Apple continues to crackdown on recommendation apps

by John-Michael Bond (May 6th, 2013)

Apple's crackdown on apps that violate the new recently debuted 2.25 clause of the App Store Guidelines has expanded according to a report by PocketGamer. The rule states that no app can copy functionality from the App Store to promote purchases for apps other than their own. Clause 2.25 lead to ...

Apple discloses top iPhone and iPad apps of all time

by Yoni Heisler (May 6th, 2013)

In conjunction with Apple's recently announced countdown to 50 billion app downloads, the company last week issued an updated list charting the most popular iPhone and iPad apps of all-time. Per usual, the listing is broken up between free and paid apps. As one might expect, the list is extremely ...

Daily iPad App: Eclipse: New Dawn for the Galaxy is a great board game adaptation

by Mike Schramm (May 3rd, 2013)

Eclipse is one of the most popular board games around right now -- it's a vast, involving epic "4X" game, where those four Xs stand for eXploration, eXpansion, eXploitation (as in mining crops and resources from various planets) and eXtermination (as in finishing off your alien opponents). ...

Wonderputt creator Reece Millidge talks about the upcoming, beautiful Icycle: On Thin Ice

by Mike Schramm (May 2nd, 2013)

I saw the upcoming iOS game Icycle: On Thin Ice back at GDC, and I think it was the best game (out of maybe fifty or more) that I saw that week. Reece Millidge is an animator and game developer based in Britain, and I first came across his work while playing the Flash version of an abstract ...

Blockbuster on Demand app now available

by John-Michael Bond (May 2nd, 2013)

Blockbuster's been going through a bit of a reinvention over the last few years. It's retail stores are closing in staggering numbers as the company refocuses on becoming a streaming rental service with Blockbuster on Demand. Today that quest becomes a little easier with the service's debut on iOS ...

Apple posts 50 billion app countdown

by Yoni Heisler (May 2nd, 2013)

The race to 50 billion is on. Just about a week after Apple announced that the App Store had crossed 45 billion downloads, Apple has decided it's high time to launch an official countdown towards the 50 billionth downloaded app. The lucky winner will receive a $10,000 gift card redeemable on the ...

McDonald's releases McPlay app: 'Hey kids, this is advertising'

by Mike Schramm (May 1st, 2013)

McDonald's has awkwardly tried to enter the App Store marketplace with an app it calls "McPlay," available for free on the App Store right now. I wouldn't recommend a download (personally, I've boycotted the golden arches for almost a decade now), but it is fascinating to see the fast-food giant ...

Apple posts 'Learn more about in-app purchases' in iTunes

by Kelly Hodgkins (Apr 26th, 2013)

Apple has been steadily beefing up its in-app purchasing policy to prevent children and adults from inadvertently buying items from within an app. As spotted by App Advice, Apple recently added a new disclaimer about in-app purchases to its App Store on the iPad. The new "Learn More About ...

Apple to pay Chinese authors $118,000 for violating copyrights

by Matt Tinsley (Apr 25th, 2013)

As reported by China Daily, a Beijing court has ordered Apple to pay three Chinese authors US$118,000 in damages for selling their books without prior consent through apps available on its App Store. The lawsuit was filed against Apple by the Writers' Right Protection Union (also known as the ...

Creative uses for App Store icons: Ransom Apps and App Icon Quiz

by Mike Schramm (Apr 24th, 2013)

Brian Stucki is the developer behind MacMiniColo (the Mac mini colocation outfit in Las Vegas), and he recently sent us a fun project he's hosting called "Ransom Apps." It's just a silly little web app, but the idea is that you enter a phrase of text, and Ransom Acts returns your phrase written ...

Apple has paid out $9 billion to developers; App Store downloads reach 45 billion

by Yoni Heisler (Apr 24th, 2013)

Apple's earnings conference calls are typically brimming with interesting tidbits regarding Apple's operations, and Tuesday's was no different. Apple announced that it has, to date, paid out more than $9 billion to developers. To put that figure into context, let's take a quick look at just ...

Firaxis' Haunted Hollow appears on, disappears from the App Store

by Mike Schramm (Apr 23rd, 2013)

There's good news, bad news, and the best news on this one, and I'll give you the good news first. Firaxis' Haunted Hallow appeared on the App Store this morning, which means the game is just about ready for prime time. The free-to-play strategy title was one of my favorite games I got to see ...

Apple begins restricting use of special characters in app descriptions

by Michael Grothaus (Apr 23rd, 2013)

As first reported by AppleInsider, Apple has begun restricting the use of special characters in app descriptions in the App Store. For now, Apple is restricting the checkmark, the explosion, the "no symbol" and the speech bubble. One can only hope that Apple will eventually add emoji faces to ...

Chinese hackers launch pirate App Store, no jailbreak needed

by Michael Grothaus (Apr 19th, 2013)

Chinese hackers have launched a pirate app store that allows people to download pirated iOS apps with no jailbreaks needed. The online web store uses geolocation to determine a user's whereabouts. If the user is outside of China, he is not granted access to the store, instead being redirected ...