Tag: App Store

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News

Mac OS X Lion 10.7 Distributed in Mac App Store

Apple is finally releasing the OS X Lion in the summer, but how is it being distributed? Sources are saying that it will be distributed through the Mac App Store which is currently on the Mac OS X Snow Leopard too. This new operating system comes with many new features such as full disk encryption, AirDrop, a new interface, an iOS —style application launcher, mission control, and certain looks on the home screen. I created an article about the OS X Lion beta version which you can find through the search bar. Just type in OS X Lion and the article is there. It provides a more in depth review of the OS X Lion. The new Mac App Store is like the App Store on an iPhone or iPod touch. It’s basically an easier way to find apps on your Mac instead of going to an Apple store to find it.

 

I like that Apple is selling the OS X Lion 10.7 on the Mac App Store. It makes it a lot easier for the customers to download it instead of driving to a store to buy it. It may be just another attempt to promote the Mac App Store, but it’s in a great way. It saves Apple money because they don’t have to pay for the disks, gas money to get the OS to the stores, and it makes the customers life easier as well. The customer wouldn’t have to keep track of another disk, as if they don’t have a million of those already. This won’t mean that they won’t sell the OS X Lion 10.7 in stores, it just means that if you don’t want the hassle of another disk, just download it straight to your Mac. Apple is just trying to make your lives easier by letting you download it off their Mac App Store. In other words, no more waiting in those dreaded lines. I can finally celebrate at home when my download finishes and I have the OS X Lion on my computer without the frustration of humans.

 

Feel free to leave a comment.

 

Categories
News

Why Jailbreak your iOS device?

What is Jailbreaking? Jailbreaking is a form of “hacking” your iOS device, but why should you do it? When you use your iOS device, you are limited to what you can do with it, but when you jailbreak it, it seems like you can do anything with it. You can do simple things such as having 5 icons on your dock, instead of the usually maximum of 4, which could come in handy if there are 5 different apps you like to use on your iOS device. Jailbreaking lets you tweak your iOS device so you can have it your way. You can do a variety of things such as getting an AndroidLock. Android devices have a unique lock that has 9 dots that you have to connect in a certain way to unlock your device. The dots act as sort of a password for Android devices, so jailbreaking your iOS device to give it this AndroidLock is a great feature. You can also have folders that scroll down, change the number of icons per page, and have a dock that scrolls. Even when you want to take advantage of the MultiTask feature on iOS devices, when you jailbreak it, you can have a page preview of your apps instead of just an icon of the app when you jailbreak it. You can also change the effects when change pages and in one case, you can click a button to make your apps float around your screen as if there was gravity. You can also download apps from installous and even get apps that aren’t in the App Store. You are free to do so many different things with your iOS device when you jailbreak it. The downside is that you have to jailbreak it again every time you update your iOS firmware.

Feel free to leave a comment.

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Categories
Reviews

App Review: AppStart

Recently got an iPad 2? Been to the game for a while with the first gen iPad and thought you’ve exhausted every HD app out there? To quote Bachman-Turner Overdrive, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”

AppStart by the folks at AppAdvice is an in-depth look at every kind of iPad app for use by power users or casual users.

With over 350,000 apps out there, finding the right one for your needs can be stymying. AppStart sets you in the right direction with its review of apps in different categories from turning your iPad into a laptop, to their game recommendations (gamers and non-gamers). Each category lists cherry-picked apps, along with a blurb describing them and even more importantly, their price. You’re given a good spread of free and paid apps to choose from. There is even a hardware review to help find the right iPad accessories.

The app’s layout alone is a marvel. Four pages long, each one is packed with the different categories and visually appealing clip art to go with them. Swiping down will scroll from page to page, and horizontal swiping will return you from the articles. The pages are so chocked-full of information that I find something new every time. AppStart truly takes advantage of how a digital magazine should be.

AppStart is free, but if you become smitten with it and want to get more (and why wouldn’t you), the AppAdvice app ($1.99) is updated every day.

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Categories
News

Should Apple get in-app fees?

Apple has just released new App Store policies for in-app subscription sales. With the coming release of iOS 4.3, your iOS device will now be able to support in-app subscription sales, but there is a catch, Apple is asking for in-app subscription companies to pay a 30% fee, just like other in-app purchases. Any titles that involve subscriptions or purchasable content will have to offer an in-app option that cannot be more expensive than anywhere else. This will pose a problem for developers and vendors. They aren’t allowed to provide a link to an outside market for things that can be purchased within an app. In general, that means if I was a developer, I wouldn’t be able to sell an app that directs users to my own website to buy a subscription to my content. I would still be able to sell my subscriptions to customers I found on my own. It is also mandatory to make it possible for users of my app to purchase my subscription content through iTunes if I want to put my app on iTunes. There is also some reason why this is not a bad idea. Apple actually acts as a newsstand when it provides subscription. Apple provides the subscription service, manages the delivery of the content, and acts as a tollbooth by taking 30% of the revenue.

There is also an alternative called the Google Way, which makes content free when it’s placed next to ads. The downside is that the content generator gets a tiny fraction of the minimal ad revenue generated.

A big issue about this is that Apple thinks it is simple that if Apple brings a new subscriber to the app, Apple should receive 30% of the revenue, but if a publisher brings an existing or new subscriber to the app, the publishers keeps all 100% of the revenue. But can you really say that Apple brought a person to the app if the person decides to search up the app for a subscription because they already knew ahead of time that they wanted to subscribe to that certain company? You can’t really say that Apple brought the customer to that app. Another big issue is that maybe companies will decide to not make an app to begin with anymore. Big companies may decide that they don’t need to provide their service on iOS devices. What will we do now? There are many issues that will arise from this and it would be best to avoid it. I think Apple should rethink their ideas.

Leave questions or comments below.

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Categories
News Uncategorized

10 billion App Downloads Countdown, here we go!

10 billion apps, WOW. That is one of the words that can describe this feat that Apple accomplished and it will be here shortly. 10 billion apps is such an amazing feat that Apple is going to give $10,000.00 in iTunes gift card to the 10 billionth app downloader. All you need to do is have any iPod that is able to download apps, find an app for you, download it and hope that you are the 10 billionth winner. It is all luck but hey, I wouldn’t mind having an extra $10,000.00 at my disposable. The accomplishments that Apple has created are incredible. From the first app ever downloaded until now, Apple has dominated this industry. Apps are commonly found on many devices now, but Apple is certainly the one that has created this booming industry. 10 billion apps downloaded are just unthinkable now. We all think that it must have been ages ago that the 1 billion app was ever downloaded. That happened on April 23, 2009, only two years ago. That really isn’t to long compare too many other accomplishments. With many new apps that come out every day, it isn’t a huge surprise that more apps are being downloaded faster then ever. Since the billionth app was downloaded, apps are being downloaded so much faster now. It only took six more months for the 2 billionth app to be downloaded. That is four times as faster than it took for the 1 billionth to be downloaded.

Many more people are buying iPods which means that many more consumers will be downloading apps. This also means that there have to be a lot of great minds out there. It takes a lot of work to create an app and a lot more of luck for the app to be successful. With the strict rules and regulations that Apple has on app designers, I’m surprised there are so many designers. I am extremely glad that there are though, I love playing a new app every day. From the textfree designers to the cut the rope designers, there is an app for everybody. My favorite app is The Weather Channel app. It gives me instant access to hourly weather reports, 10 day weather, and I love the severe weather. It lets me know what to be careful of especially storms. If this is my favorite app, what’s your favorite app?