Appstore Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

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 ...

Shadow Era gets a new expansion, a new website, and a new app

by Mike Schramm (Apr 18th, 2013)

These days, the only iOS card game I'm playing with any regularity is SolForge -- I wish there was a little more to it, but the mechanics are very well-constructed. Shadow Era, one of the first collectible card games on the App Store, is still kicking around, however, and has gotten bigger than ...

Apple kills AppGratis' push notifications

by Steven Sande (Apr 18th, 2013)

What? You thought you were going to be able to make it through another day without an update on what's going on with AppGratis? Sorry to disappoint you -- Apple has now added insult to injury by killing push notifications for AppGratis. The company let subscribers know this morning in an emailed ...

Parenting tip: Refill your iTunes balance using your spare change

by Kelly Hodgkins (Apr 17th, 2013)

If you have an iTunes account for your children and are looking for an easy way to keep their balance replenished, look no further than the loose change sitting on your counter. It only takes a trip to your local grocery store and a few minutes of your time to turn your change into an iTunes ...

TRVL celebrates 100 magazines, 1 million app installs

by Steven Sande (Apr 13th, 2013)

I love traveling, so back in September 2010 when Jochem Wijnands and Michel Elings came out with the first-ever iPad-exlusive magazine called TRVL, I jumped on the bandwagon as a fan of their amazing photojournalism. Fast-forward to April 2013, and the free app magazine is celebrating its 100th ...

Apple could face 'legal undertakings' in UK over in-app purchases

by Steven Sande (Apr 12th, 2013)

Remember the UK police officer who reported his son to authorities for fraud after the 13-year-old ran up a US$5,600 bill for in-app purchases on the iOS App Store? That kind of unexpected consumer cost has thrown the UK Office of Fair Trading (OFT) into a tizzy, and they've announced that ...

Daily Update for April 12, 2013

by Steven Sande (Apr 12th, 2013)

It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player ...

Comixology claims responsibility for banning Saga #12, rescinds ban

by Mike Schramm (Apr 10th, 2013)

Yesterday, we posted about Apple reportedly banning issue 12 of a comic book called Saga, due to a couple of graphic sex scenes included in it. The book's creator, Brian K. Vaughan, had posted that Apple wasn't allowing his book to be sold on the App Store, though it was available through a ...