The iOS 4.2 Gold Master (GM) is available for Developers right now.
OS X 10.6.5 is set to drop any minute, as it includes certain core updates to support new iOS functionality.
And Apple has invited developers to submit apps for App Store approval from today, which have been updated for new iOS features like AirPlay and AirPrint.
If you recall, back in September of this year we reported that a Microsoft employee revealed that Microsoft was in fact working on some applications for the iPad. Because of this, we believe this “iPad group” has no anti-iPad incinations but is instead the group working on Microsoft’s iPad App Store applications.
As hinted at by the picture 9TO5Mac use for that piece, it is almost certain that Microsoft have a Microsoft Office companion app in the works for the iPad.
And for Android.
Whether either, or both of them see the light of day is another matter altogether.
Nice little checklist of things to do / avoid when marketing your app. Read it before you finish your app. Not after it is approved. And implement the advice as best you can.
#10 Not Becoming or Hiring a Marketer
You can’t just be a developer. You need to become a marketer. Either start learning on your own or hire someone who can help you.
I have a caveat for number 10 though.
At the end of the day it is much better to learn how to market your own product. It’s not that hard, and you are the only person who really knows your app well enough to do it justice. Hopefully you are enthusiastic about your product and will pass that on to your target audience far better than any paid suit.
If you are going to pay someone to promote your app only get someone who has come through a personal recommendation, either from a friend, or via people in a community you trust. There are a lot of con men out there. Be warned!
Since writing this article for Touch Reviews I have been contacted by any number of people complaining about an individual called “Ed”, who I used as a template to describe the bogus app marketeer.
If you want to find someone doing that kind of volume you’ve got to look outside the game business. At, say, Apple, which is pushing games on the iPhone and iPod touch. Apple sold more 14.1 million iPhones alone during the quarter ending in September. “Do I think that in the near term they can hurt us more than Microsoft?” Fils-Aime says. “Absolutely.”
Interesting to see how Fils-Aime’s tune has changed subtly over the last few months.
Here’s where Nintendo has an edge, Fils-Aime says. The iPod and iPhone are great for casual games like “Angry Birds” that provide a welcome distraction. Games on the Nintendo DS, by contrast, can consume. Fils-Aime admits he’s spent 150 hours playing Nintendo’s Dragon Quest.
And he perhaps has a point.
iOS devs. (small and large) only have themselves to blame if he is right.
iAMDA (International Association of Mobile Digital Artists) will hold its first annual MobileArtCon at NYU ITP at the Tisch School of the Arts, October 23-24, 2010. The conference will bring together visual artists, designers, musicians and app developers from around the world to discuss art and music created on handheld touchscreen devices (iPhones/iPads, etc) from a creative, technical and historical perspective. The free event features artist presentations, app demonstrations, and forums by app developers.
Heard about it too late to go, unfortunately.
But it looks like a great event. Hope to see it happen again next year.
Mass market consumer adoption of Apple iOS and Google Android mobile devices has attracted an unprecedented volume of content, delivered through applications. Because the majority of these applications downloaded are also free, many ecosystem players have assumed that advertising revenue models will dominate how these apps are monetized.
However, new analysis by Flurry reveals that the sale of virtual goods is overtaking advertising in top categories on the iOS platform.
Perhaps. But when virtual goods are a $1 or more a pop, and advertising yields a few cents a click aren’t we comparing Apples and Oranges?
The programme, sold for just 1.79 pounds in the online Apple store, has now been labelled an ‘aid to terrorists’ by security experts and the US Department of Homeland Security is also examining how to protect airliners.
Good grief.
This initiative was hailed by some as a first step towards addressing something of a non-problem that many imagine exists in the App Store. The non-problem is “App Name Squatting”. As far as I can tell the only people who have been bitten by “App Name Squatting” are those that are stupid enough to spend a few months developing an idea, then complete their website and artwork design *before* trying to register their app name with iTunes Connect. Or that don’t understand that if someone thought of the name “Blobble” before they did, then it’s fair for them to have first dibs on it!
To be clear, there is absolutely no way in the App Store for someone to grab the name “McDonalds” and then sell it on, or hold the crud food manufacturer of that same name to ransom for some cash.
In my case I have one very important App Name which has been registered for about 18 months. It is for a long term project, which I have already invested considerable time, effort and IP in. I even own the URL of that name, and it is active and linked to from the App entry in question from iTunes Connect. Sure, I am behind schedule. But the project is ambitious, and has been re-factored twice since its inception. But the name, and much of the artwork remains the same. And I am committed to producing it. Surely Apple can relate to that, right?
Taking a laid back approach to this, and assuming that Apple would open a dialog with me on the specific app name, I dropped them a line explaining my position.
To date I have not had a reply, other than a quick note telling me that they “are looking into my request”. That was two weeks ago. I am sure you can understand I would quite simply like Apple to judge my request on its merits and then fill me in on their decision. Seems reasonable, no? Oh, and I’d like that decision before the app name actually gets deleted! With two weeks having passed now, that deadline is getting perilously close for me!
During this period I have also received another notice telling me of a second app name that will be deleted. This is one I registered less than two months ago for an active project. It’s a partner product to another app with a very similar name I am already selling in the App Store. I registered both names at the same time. It’s a kind of forward planning. You know, so that my two apps have a synergy in terms of their look, feel, and name. But this second app name will apparently also be deleted within 30 days if I don’t upload a binary.
Just to be clear, I have three apps in development, alongside a couple of apps on sale. The latter are all actively updated. I am not sitting on a hoard of app names and doing nothing! The app store review gnomes who receive binaries from me regularly (and then sit on them for a week or two) are presumably also the guys thinking of deleting my app names. Or at least in contact somehow. So they should be able to work out if I am an app name squatter or a real dev. fairly easily, I would have thought.
Much as I love Apple, for a company that is consistently late delivering its products, and prides itself on producing quality over quantity I would have thought that it is obvious to them that some projects take a little longer than 60 days to complete. Unless they are your own App Store Czar’s fart apps.
Of course, I could work around this problem by just uploading a simple binary for the two important app names I have pre-registered with Apple. But why should I have to do that? It seems an untidy and dishonest solution to the problem. And it takes up my time!
Aren’t we partners Apple? Even just a little bit!?!
And how hard is it really for Apple to check out a URL and see that these apps are genuinely in development. It is probably as easy to do that as it is to fire off a “we are looking into it” email, and then forget about you.
The bottom line is that it is perhaps appropriate for Apple to clean house from time to time. But it is not appropriate to use the threat of App Name deletion against registered developers who have one or two app names in their portfolio simply to protect IP they are working on, and then ignore them.
That is all.
I have spoken previously about the various Apple iPhone OS / iOS Developer Agreement clauses that have caused consternation within developer circles, and a feeding frenzy among bloggers over the last few months…
Clause 3.3.1 – Language and Development Kit Restrictions.
Clause 3.3.2 – Restrictions on interpreted code.
Clause 3.3.9 – Restrictions on collecting User’s Data.
Although on the face of it these clauses if applied to the letter were quite worrying, I have always maintained that people were getting their knickers in a twist unnecessarily. Apple was simply setting a base line, and would apply a certain amount of judgement in special cases.
In short the changes to Apple’s iOS Developer Agreement mean this :
Adobe responded to all this today…
Apple’s announcement today that it has lifted restrictions on its third-party developer guidelines has direct implications for Adobe’s Packager for iPhone, a feature in the Flash Professional CS5 authoring tool. This feature was created to enable Flash developers to quickly and easily deliver applications for iOS devices. The feature is available for developers to use today in Flash Professional CS5, and we will now resume development work on this feature for future releases.
This is great news for developers and we’re hearing from our developer community that Packager apps are already being approved for the App Store.
If you thought App Approval times were bad before…
Ironically this new open, transparent and friendly face to the App Store is more likely to make me consider moving to other services…
WHAT: Apple® FY 10 Third Quarter Results Conference Call
WHERE: Via conference call. The dial-in number for press is (888) 208-1386 (toll-free) or (913) 312-0415
WHEN: Tuesday, July 20, 2010, 2:00 p.m. PDT/5:00 p.m. EDT
REBROADCAST: The conference call will be available as a continuous rebroadcast beginning Tuesday, July 20 at 5:00 p.m. PDT/8:00 p.m. EDT through Tuesday, August 3 at 5:00 p.m. PDT/8:00 p.m. EDT. The dial-in number for the rebroadcast is (888) 203-1112 (toll-free) or (719) 457-0820. Please enter confirmation code 4748846.
WEBCAST: Apple will provide live audio streaming of its FY 10 Third Quarter Results Conference Call using Apple’s industry-leading QuickTime® multimedia software. The live webcast will begin at 2:00 p.m. PDT on July 20, 2010 at www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq310/ and will also be available for replay for approximately two weeks thereafter. Viewers simply need a copy of QuickTime, available for download fromwww.apple.com/quicktime, to listen to the conference call.
It will be interesting to see how the figures stack up.
Adjusting last years figures to bring them into line with 2010, the earnings per share comes in at just a penny over two dollars. This year it is expected to be more than $3.00.
Revenue of just under $15 Billion, vs just under $10 Billion.
I guarantee at least one dumb question from the media asking about future products, which is always good for a laugh. They never learn.