Purchases Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Kids' iPad magazine Timbuktu rethinks in-app purchasing model

by Mike Schramm (Apr 22nd, 2013)

Timbuktu is an iPad magazine meant for children, and as our friends over at TechCrunch have noted, its developers recently rethought how it implements in-app purchases. The previous incarnation of Timbuktu (and most famously, Smurf Village, among others), made in-app purchases too tempting and ...

Dear Aunt TUAW: Help me track my iTunes spending

by Erica Sadun (May 31st, 2012)

Dear Aunt TUAW, Pardon the OCD question here, but I have not been able to find an adequate answer. Every time I purchase an item from Apple, I get an email listing the item and the price I paid. I have hundreds of these emails saved. Is there a tool that will parse them and summarize how ...

Audible removing in-app purchases according to Apple's rules

by Mike Schramm (Oct 10th, 2011)

We've seen quite a bit of squabbling over the subscription and in-app purchase for content rules on the App Store in the past, but generally, things have tended to go Apple's way. Most companies, especially those who really depend on the iOS audience for buying their content, are eventually ...

Younger audiences play more freemium games, but 25-34 year-olds pay for them

by Mike Schramm (Sep 8th, 2011)

Flurry's latest post is yet another interesting read on freemium games on the App Store, specifically which age groups are playing them, and which age groups are paying for them. They've used consumer spending data across over 1.4 billion sessions, which means this information is as accurate as ...

Tiny Tower picks up a million downloads in four days

by Mike Schramm (Jun 28th, 2011)

Developer Ian Marsh of NimbleBit has been sharing some interesting facts and figures on Twitter about his new app Tiny Tower. Perhaps the most impressive overall is that the pixelated freemium tower simulation game has already gained a million players, despite only being on the App Store for ...

iTunes moves to the iCloud, re-download of purchases now possible

by Samuel Gibbs (Jun 6th, 2011)

Apple announced iCloud today at WWDC and with it the ability to re-download your previously purchased music. Re-downloading of 256 Kbps AAC tracks is now possible for the first time from iTunes, meaning that you can purchase your music once and download it to every device you own (up to 10 ...

Disney acquires social game firm Playdom

by Mike Schramm (Jul 28th, 2010)

Stick with me on this one -- it's not strictly Apple-related, but I think it will have a big effect on the App Store in the future. Last week at Comic-Con, I saw the head of Disney's mobile gaming division, and I had to congratulate him; the company's Toy Story 3 app nabbed over 1.7 million ...

iAds uses iTunes history, location information to target advertising

by Mike Schramm (Jul 8th, 2010)

We've heard about this before, but now that it's up and running, this is probably worth a revisit. Apple's iAds system actually uses lots of your information, including your iTunes purchasing history, location data, and any other download or library information it can suss out about you, to ...

Apple relents, allows cash for iPads

by Erica Sadun (May 19th, 2010)

Good news, everyone! In response to the public outcry over Apple's no-cash-for-iPad policy, Apple has relented. You will now be able to purchase iPads in-store using cash and gift cards. Yes, you'll also have to set up a traceable Apple account at the same time, but the lack of credit or debit card ...

Should the ESRB be on the App Store?

by Mike Schramm (Apr 10th, 2010)

Here's an interesting topic of discussion from Slide to Play: Now that Apple seems to be going all-in on gaming with its Game Center app, should the Entertainment Software Ratings Board start looking at App Store games? The ESRB is the self-regulatory industry group that's responsible for ...

iPad tech specs reveal Cortex A8, 256MB Ram, PowerVR SGX 535

by Mike Schramm (Apr 6th, 2010)

Now that the iPad has been out and tested for a few days, developers have a much better idea of what's exactly under that perfectly-formed hood. Turns out the A4 processor is modeled on the Cortex A8, a fact which was not only expected, but gives a little extra credence to the theory that chipmaker ...

Three ways to score an iPad, even if you didn't reserve on time

by Erica Sadun (Mar 28th, 2010)

You've finally made up your mind. You want an iPad; you need an iPad; you are totally getting an iPad. Just one problem: You waited too long. You didn't get your reservation in on time and now you can't pre-order. So what can you do? Apple is no longer accepting day-of-release reservations; they ...

I'm OK, You're OK: It's cool to be an early iPad adopter

by Erica Sadun (Mar 11th, 2010)

The early adopter tax, along with any associated tech risks, has not escaped the notice of most tech enthusiasts. In the end, it's not much of a factor. We don't buy early because it's a good deal. We don't buy early because it's fiscally sound. We buy early because the technology is cool and we ...

Ngmoco cancels Rolando 3, says it can't fit into a free-to-play model

by Mike Schramm (Feb 18th, 2010)

Here's some unfortunate news out of Ngmoco: The company tells IGN that while there was a Rolando 3 (the second sequel to the very popular and excellent rolling iPhone platformer) in progress, the game has been essentially canceled, and will never see release in its current form. Why? The second ...

Online iPhone sales return to NYC

by Mike Schramm (Dec 28th, 2009)

As Engadget is reporting, New York City residents can get back to buying their iPhones via AT&T's website after the strange outage that seemed to start yesterday kept them from doing so. It's been a rollercoaster of a story -- first we heard that they weren't being sold at all because of ...