Posts tagged with "developers"

“Select Developers” Testing iPhone 4 Prototypes Running A5 Chip?

According to a report by 9to5mac, Apple has begun testing a prototype version of the iPhone running the A5 chip with “select developers.” The units, carrying the usual Apple model numbers for prototypes, are apparently based on the iPhone 4 hardware, with the only exception of the Apple A5 processor – clearly aimed at enhancing speed and graphics performances on the next-generation device. The report goes on to say these modified iPhones featuring the A5 CPU have been given to “high-level gaming outfits” in order to start writing gaming applications for the iPhone 5 that will, allegedly, be announced in September. As with the first-generation iPad, Apple is forcing these developers to keep the prototypes in a safe in the company’s offices at night – likely under strict surveillance from Apple employees or security staff.

Apple isn’t taking the next iPhone’s A5-power lightly. They already have select developers working on versions of their iPhone applications that take full advantage of the next-generation iPhone’s speedier and much more powerful hardware. These developers, seemingly from high-level gaming outfits, have been given what is essentially an iPhone 4 but with an A5 processor instead of an A4. The device itself is virtually identical to the iPhone 4, and there is no way anyone can tell it’s not an iPhone 4 based on the phone’s exterior.

According to the report, these early units are nothing but modified iPhone 4s with an A5 chip inside – even the OS is the same iOS 4 that’s currently shipping to customers, only slightly tweaked to work with the new processor. As far as the design goes, these developers haven’t seen anything about the next-generation iPhone that’s not already available to the public with the iPhone 4. From a software perspective, it makes sense to start giving prototypes of a device that’s going to be very similar to the final version away to developers now: the A5 processor will surely find its way in the iPhone 5, and game developers will have plenty of time to test their improved graphics. And as soon as iOS will be previewed at the WWDC ‘11 and released in beta form, these same developers will have a chance to test an A5-enabled iPhone running the new OS.

If the iPhone 5 is really going to be a minor refresh of the existing iPhone hardware, being able to test the A5 – which will likely be the most important addition – five months ahead of the rumored release date must sound like a great plan to these developers.

WWDC 2011 Student Scholarship Details Now Available

As promised a few weeks ago after the official WWDC announcement, Apple has updated its website to provide details about the WWDC Student Scholarship program. You can visit the Official Rules page to see all the requirements, deadlines and general terms, but Apple offers a quick roundup:

Is there a WWDC Student Scholarship ?

Yes, we award a limited number of scholarships to student developers. To apply for a WWDC Student Scholarship you must be at least 18 years of age, currently enrolled part-time or full-time at a college or university, and either an iOS Developer University Program member, Mac Developer Program member, or ADC Student member as of August 1, 2010 or later, and have identified yourself as a “Student” in your developer profile.

Scholarship applications are due by April 26, and winners will be notified via email by May 3. Each winners will receive an “e-ticket” to attend the WWDC ‘11, and Apple is planning on giving away a maximum of 150 prizes. Apple also specifies “applicants will be judged on technical ability, creativity of ideas expressed in products or projects, prior WWDC attendance, technical and work experience.” The WWDC 2011 will kick off in San Francisco on June, and this year’s edition will feature Apple Design Awards for both iOS and Mac apps. Considering WWDC 2011 “regular” tickets were sold out in less then 10 hours, it’s very likely that thousands of students who didn’t get the chance to buy a ticket will apply to the program.

Apple Cracking Down On “Pay-Per-Install” iOS Apps?

Following speculation about Apple using a new App Store ranking algorithm to better promote apps by ratings and “active usage” rather than raw download numbers, TUAW reports today Apple is also effectively banning from the App Store the so-called “pay-per-install” apps – basically, applications (usually games) that let users get access to virtual goods by downloading another app, instead of paying a fee or unlocking features with in-app purchases. This practice has apparently caught the attention of Apple and the App Review Team, and several developers are reporting they’re being notified of the rejection of their software from the Store.

According to Tapjoy, several developers within their network are receiving rejection notices from Apple because their applications feature a pay-per-install promotion.

It appears Apple is somehow enforcing section 3.10 of the App Store Review Guidelines, which states:

Developers who attempt to manipulate or cheat the user reviews or chart ranking in the App Store with fake or paid reviews, or any other inappropriate methods will be removed from the iOS Developer Program.

Clearly, Apple isn’t happy with this freemium model of apps granting virtual currency and goods in exchange for another application downloaded from the Store, and we guess it’s for two reasons: a) the system inevitably “cheats” the App Store charts by inflating downloads of an app not because of quality, but because of promised benefits; b) Apple would rather see developers implementing in-app purchases, which return the company a 30% off every purchase.

As usual, Apple has every right to change the rules in its “walled garden.” In the meantime, Tapjoy, the biggest network for pay-per-install apps, says “the system is misunderstood” and that the model is actually “is beneficial to users, advertisers, and developers.”

Apple Using New App Store Ranking Algorithm?

According to Inside Mobile Apps, Apple may have recently tweaked the algorithm that determines ranking of iOS apps in the App Store embracing more factors than simple download numbers to present the most popular free and paid apps. Noticing a sudden change in how the Facebook iPhone app jumped to #1 after months of sitting between the #10 and #20 spots, the website contacted various mobile advertising networks inquiring about the possibility of a new algorithm put in place by Apple in the past week. While it’s not clear which new factors Apple is using to generate the App Store charts, Inside Mobile Apps speculates the Store’s backend may now be heavily based on ratings and active usage of an app, rather than download stats.

We’ve been noticing changes in the Top Free rankings for at least three days now,” said Peter Farago, vice president of marketing at Flurry, which serves 80,000 applications with its analytics product. “From our point of view, Apple is absolutely considering more than just downloads, which we believe is the right direction go to measure true popularity of an app.” Other pay-per-install networks tell us they’ve been detecting these changes too.

Apple also recently adjusted the App Store mobile experience by allowing users to browse the top 300 apps from a mobile device. Still, this rumor doesn’t address specific aspects of the story like how it would be possible for Apple to track usage, and what kind of ratings are being considered exactly. It’s well known that positive reviews in the App Store have always helped developers in gaining more exposure and better rankings, so it’s unclear how Apple could have tweaked its algorithm to influence the position of apps in the charts through ratings. Furthermore, besides leaving a rating and a review in the App Store, users can also mark others’ reviews as “helpful.” Is this factor being considered by Apple in its (allegedly) new ranking system? We don’t know.

If the rumor’s true, however, this would lead iOS developers to create better, more engaging apps that result in a better experience on a user’s end – who is likely to leave a positive review in the App Store and use an app more. If Apple’s really tweaking its algorithm to promote quality, rather than raw numbers, it’ll be interesting to see how this will play out for the thousands of iPhone and iPad developers out there. [via 9to5mac]

Xcode 4.0.2 Released In Dev Center

Apple just pushed an update to Xcode 4 in the iOS and Mac Dev Centers. Version 4.0.2 is now available to registered iOS developers, while the Mac App Store still reports 4.0.1 as the latest version. Build number is 4A2002a.

Xcode 4.0.2. fixes “a bug with OpenGL apps running in the iOS Simulator on some Macs” and brings additional bug fixes and stability improvements.

Adobe To Launch 3 New iPad Apps That Highlight Potential of Photoshop Touch SDK

Adobe today announced that it will release Creative Suite 5.5 (a “mid-cycle update”) on May 3 along with three new iPad apps that will complement the full-featured desktop version of Photoshop. The three apps are actually designed as a demo of how developers can take advantage of the new Photoshop Touch SDK (which was released today) and create their own apps that complement and add additional functionality to the desktop version of Photoshop but through an Android, BlackBerry or iOS app.

The three iPad apps; Adobe Color Lava, Adobe Eazel and Adobe Nav will all arrive on May 3rd on the same day as Creative Suite’s 5.5 update goes live.  Adobe Color Lava (priced at $2.99) is in simple terms a digital paint palette that will allow you to mix paints and generate a five-color palette that can be sent to the Photoshop color chip or swatch palette. Adobe Eazel ($4.99) is essentially a basic drawing program (similar to Brushes) that features a unique interface in which by placing 5 fingers on the screen a pop-up menu will appear above each finger, sliding up with the relevant finger will select that menu which will then let you to alter the relevant value (such as color or brush size) . Finally and perhaps most useful is Adobe Nav ($1.99), this app turns the iPad into a dedicated control that has the various tool palettes displayed, selecting a particular tool will select that tool on the desktop version of Photoshop, the app will also let you easily cycle between the various files you may have open in Photoshop.

UPDATE: Shawn Welch has already shown off his third party app that takes advantage of the new Photoshop Touch SDK. His app, Photoshop Remote, allows users to view a live preview thumbnail of any image that is open on a network connected Photoshop client and it can handle multiple clients at once. It even adds a dashboard that replicates a lot of the functionality of the Adobe Nav application including; “tool selection, color selection, filters, adjustment layers, and more.” Jump the break for his video demonstrating the app.

Also after the break is a video demonstrating Adobe Eazel and Adobe Nav apps and jump over to CNet where they wrote a short review of each of the 3 apps, also if you are a developer that is interested in implementing the Photoshop Touch SDK make sure to visit the Adobe Developer Center.

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iAd Gallery Violates Apple’s Own Guidelines

iAd Gallery, a free iPhone app Apple released yesterday in the App Store, has generated several debates on the Internet about its rather “limited” feature set: the app, good-looking and responsive, does only one thing: it’s a collection of advertisements you can browse and “love.” By aggregating the best campaigns recently launched on the iAd network, iAd Gallery only lets users interact with a spinning wheel featuring ads from different brands, view information and “launch” them to experience the rich functionalities of iAds. Basically, it’s a free ad collector for iPhone. Not exactly the kind of “productive” (or at least entertaining) software most users would expect from Apple.

As noted by Dan Frommer at Silicon Alley Insider, it is kind of ironic that iAd Gallery may be violating Apple’s own Review Guidelines for iOS apps and should have been rejected by Apple itself. In the 2.13 section of the Guidelines, the company explains:

Apps that are primarily marketing materials or advertisements will be rejected

iAd Gallery indeed is based on marketing materials and doesn’t do anything but enabling you to browse various ad campaigns. Sure, you can read details about a specific campaign and learn more about the agency behind it, but that’s not really a “functionality” in our opinion. The app also lets you get in touch with the iAd team with a Contact button: perhaps the App Review Team at Cupertino thought that was enough to let the app through the App Store gates.

The truth is, of course Apple won’t reject its own app because it violates one of the Guidelines. They manage and have the ultimate word on the App Store, and they can release whatever they want under the Apple, Inc. name. But looking at the big picture, it is kind of funny that Apple is distributing an app that would have been rejected if it came from someone else.

Camera+ hits 2 million sales / Revealing details about upgrade numbers and in-app purchase sales→

Camera+ hits 2 million sales / Revealing details about upgrade numbers and in-app purchase sales

If we were to stay on the same weekly pace that we’re currently on (~160k sales per week), we’ll get to 3 million in only 1.5 months from now. But with the volatility of the App Store, our fortune could change in a heartbeat. The one thing you learn to count on as an iPhone app developer is not to count on future sales based on past performance.

John Casasanta has been on a roll lately with his latest set of iPhone tips & tricks, and now he’s released the sales figures for Camera+. By far Camera+ is one of the most successful photography apps on the App Store, and according to the charts it’s one of a few apps that customers are consistently using on their iOS devices. The sales figures for in app purchases are telling, and Casasanta notes that while customers are buying for and requesting new effects packs, that’s not where you want to make the bulk of your cash.

There are companies with free photography apps that are trying to have their business models revolve around selling effects via in-app purchases, but it’s very unlikely that this can be an effective business model.

Camera+ is a success because tap tap tap doesn’t need in-app purchases to unlock features or drive their business model. All of the functionality you need is provided in the app, and additional effects don’t fundamentally alter your experience - they only supplement the tools already available if you find yourself using the app a lot. You’re sold the entire experience upfront, and in-app purchases are like adding an extra flower to the already delicious icing on the cake.

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OS X Lion: Multi-User Remote Access, New Auto Save & iChat Options

Following the release of the second Developer Preview of OS X Lion two days ago, several blogs have posted details and screenshots of what’s new, improved and changed in this build and, overall, Mac OS 10.7 itself. Together with the new features we covered in the past, Lion introduces a brand new multi-user screensharing system that will allow users to remotely log into their own computer even while it’s being used (locally) with another account. This is a major change that turns Mac OS’ Screen Sharing tool into a powerful remote computing solution with fast users switching options.

AppleInsider has posted details and screenshots of the new feature. A user has the possibility to log into a computer with his own account while another account is currently managing and using the machine; the “remote user” will still see his desktop environment, all his files and applications. In previous versions of OS X, when a user tried to connect remotely and share the screen, the “local user” would have to give up on the possibility of controlling the screen – or otherwise find a way to communicate in real-time with the remote user to decide who should move the mouse and control the computer. We’ve all been in this situation: when a friend asks us to control his machine for troubleshooting purposes, we have to make sure he doesn’t do anything while we’re controlling his desktop UI. Or, we tried to remotely log into our home computer only to find out a family member was using it and we had no way to independently access to our apps, files and folders. Lion will change this, and we believe it’s quite possibly one of the most interesting features unveiled so far, as it opens to a lot of possibilities for remote access, troubleshooting and, overall, effortless management of a machine not in our local network. Read more