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Apple found a nice Christmas gift under its tree this year.
App Store downloads for the iPod Touch were 1,000 percent higher on Friday, Christmas Day, than the average of the three previous Fridays in December, according to a report released Monday by research firm Flurry.
Downloads for the newest generation, the iPod Touch 3G, soared more than 900 percent on Christmas, noted Flurry's "2009 Holiday Report: Christmas Growth." But the 1,000 percent leap in iPod Touch downloads overall may have been triggered by a flood of iTunes gift cards, believes Flurry.
The rising popularity of the iPod Touch also gave Apple reason to celebrate. Of the estimated 58 million iPhone and iPod Touch devices on the market, about 40 percent of those, or 24 million, are iPod Touch devices, according to another Flurry report released in November.
With a large number of Touch devices likely given out as holiday presents (it was one of Amazon.com's top three electronics sellers), App Store downloads for the iPod Touch jumped past those for the iPhone for the first time, outpacing them by 172 percent. The trend continued the following day, with iPod Touch downloads on December 26 exceeding those for the iPhone by 104 percent.
(Credit:
Flurry)
The volume in overall App Store downloads also grew by more than 50 percent in December (with estimates for the final week of the month) over November, surpassing Flurry's estimate of only 20 percent.
Flurry's Vice President of Marketing Peter Farago spoke with CNET about the success of the App Store. Though some forecasts question how much further the App Store can grow, Farago thinks this is just the beginning. "The growth has been meteoric for Apple for iPhone and iPod Touch penetration," he said. "They're already past 50 million units in the marketplace for iPhone and iPod Touch."
Farago notes that while the iPhone is a killer device that gives people a portable computer in their pocket, Apple knows it needs third-party developers, which is one reason the company controls the store. And developers will go wherever they can get a good customer base, realizing that they can build an app once for the App Store and draw in a lot of consumers.
Even recent criticisms leveled against the App Store haven't dented its growth. Though some developers have complained that the App Store is hard to deal with, Farago says there are a lot of success stories from people who have created and sold apps through Apple.
Farago also sees the iPod Touch as Apple's silent killer, with a huge market share that will help the company in the years to come. "What I'd be scared about if I were a phone maker is that Apple has a relationship now with all these teens and pre-teens using a device that is basically an iPhone with the radio turned off," he said. "They've got 24 million [customers], and with Christmas, probably add a couple million or so to that. All those kids are getting trained to be iPhone users in the next two to five years."
Google's Android Market can't compare with the App Store at this point, but its recent download volume should offer Android vendors some holiday cheer. December downloads from the Android Market store grew by more than 20 percent over November. Downloads for Motorola's Droid, in particular, rose 93 percent on Christmas Day compared with the three previous Fridays of the month. The Droid also captured 48 percent of all download volume versus other top Android devices, including the myTouch 3G, G1, and the HTC Hero).
(Credit:
Flurry)
Farago also sees the Android market off to a promising start. The installed hardware base isn't there yet, but that may start to change next year as Flurry expects about 50 new Android devices to hit the market. Once enough of those devices get into the hands of consumers, more developers may be drawn to create Android apps.
Of all Android devices, the Droid is so far leading the way. "It's the most successful [Android] headset that enables downloading pretty easily," said Farago. "For a phone that's not the iPhone, it's got a pretty good installed base."
Though Android may always play second fiddle to Apple, at least in the foreseeable future, that doesn't mean the Android Market can't have a significantly good business, notes Farago. Flurry predicts that by the end of next year, 150,000 apps will be available for Android phones, up from around 20,000 to 25,000 now.
Flurry provides analytics for mobile app developers to help them track downloads for their applications. As such, the company is able to determine which mobile devices are downloading which apps.
Would you like to let AT&T know when your iPhone has dropped a call? Well, now there is an app for that.
AT&T on Monday released a new application called "Mark the Spot," which lets iPhone users submit complaints about dropped calls, poor service coverage, and less-than-perfect voice quality.
The application is free and available in the iTunes App Store. It uses GPS technology in the iPhone 3G and the iPhone 3GS to pin point where the user is when experiencing the problems. For first generation iPhones, it uses cell tower-triangulation to get a fix on problem areas.
Once the application is launched, users have several complaint options. They will see a screen that has buttons that let them report a dropped call, poor voice quality, or poor service coverage.
AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel said AT&T plans to use the data collected to identify trends and prioritize the company's network investments.
"We think this is a great way to get customer feedback to improve our network," Siegel said. "We are always looking for ways to make it easy for customers to share their experiences. And this app lets customers report issues. It logs the time and location and automatically forwards the information to our network planning team."
iPhone owners have been complaining about AT&T's network since the Apple iPhone went on sale in the summer of 2007. Complaints mounted after the 3G version of the phone was released a year later in 2008. And as more iPhone users come onto the network, more people, particularly in densely populated urban areas, such as New York City and San Francisco, have experienced problems with dropped calls and congested data networks.
AT&T executives have not admitted that AT&T has a problem with its network. But executives, such as AT&T Chief Technology Officer John Donovan, have said that the company has seen a surge in data traffic attributed to iPhone users, who typically consume more wireless bandwidth than other AT&T wireless customers.
AT&T has been upgrading its network to keep up with demand. But problems persist. And AT&T's network recently got a poor ranking in terms of customer satisfaction in a Consumer Reports survey.
Verizon Wireless, AT&T's chief rival, has taken advantage of AT&T's struggles with a series of advertisements that point out AT&T's lack of 3G network coverage in certain parts of the country. Verizon is running advertisements that mock the Apple "There's an app for that," catch phrase with one that says, "There's a map for that."
AT&T fired back with a lawsuit and an advertisements of its own featuring actor Luke Wilson, who points out AT&T's strengths while taking a few shots at Verizon Wireless.
AT&T recently dropped its lawsuit against Verizon. And Verizon, which had been suing AT&T over claims that it has the fastest 3G wireless network, also dropped its lawsuit against AT&T.
Siegel said that the new "Mark the Spot" application was not prompted by the bad publicity around its network issues nor was it prompted by the current ad wars going on between AT&T and Verizon. Instead, he said that the application was simply a part of AT&T's ongoing commitment to listening to customers.
"We are always looking at ways to get customer feedback in as timely a manner as possible," he said. "That's why we pay attention to Twitter, Facebook and blog. One of the great values of these social networking tools is that it's a great way to get instant feedback. And it helps us identify problems."
The "Mark the Spot" application can be downloaded onto all iPhones running version 3.0 or later of Apple's operating system or it can be access using iTunes and synchronized to the iPhone via a PC or Mac.
Siegel said that AT&T is testing the "Mark the Spot" app for other devices. And he said AT&T hopes to offer applications on other smartphones in the future. No date has been announced yet. And Siegel didn't specify which devices might get the new application, but considering that AT&T sells a lot of Research in Motion's BlackBerry devices, it's likely it will create an application for that device. The app could be offered through AT&T's own application storefront or through RIM's BlackBerry App World.
Gizmodo reported early this week that Apple may be using software to perform additional automated checks on all new App Store submissions during the app review process.
Google Mobile lets you search the Web using your voice in a way that is technically off-limits to iPhone developers, according to a report.
(Credit: Apple (App Store))A series of tweets on Twitter from John Gruber of Daring Fireball and Craig Hockenberry of Iconfactory claimed that Apple is using an automated software tool that checks for private API calls in all new App Store submissions.
Hockenberry stated, "It wouldn't surprise me if the [App Store] review process now includes a step where they pass your binary through something that checks framework use."
Gruber responded saying, "Yup: Apple recently started running apps through a static analysis tool to look for private API calls."
Later, Gruber followed up with "I honestly don't know exactly what it flags. I have reason to believe that it is a serious tool, not simplistic."
The use of private APIs have always been prohibited by the iPhone SDK Developer Agreement because APIs may change or give third-party developers access to features that Apple does not want made publicly available. If this system exists, Apple might have found a way to quickly identify apps that use private APIs and reject them.
This also means that Apple may have the ability to check existing apps in the App Store that are known violators of Apple's policies such as Google Mobile for iPhone.
In a move that should please developers, Apple has added the ability to track an iPhone application's progress through the review process.
As Wired first noted, Apple's Dev Center site now includes status updates for apps wending their way through the reviews queue. Apps are now noted as "waiting for review," "in review," or "ready for sale," along with a time stamp.
It's a small concession by Apple, but an important one in keeping developers in the loop. Some iPhone app makers have complained vociferously about the often frustrating process in which applications are submitted and ultimately approved for or rejected from appearing for sale in the App Store.
Though the store has accepted app submissions for more than a year, it wasn't until August that Apple made its first public comments on the inner workings of its reviews process. At that time, the company tried to assure developers that 96 percent of all applications submitted were approved within 14 days. But with the 100,000 applications currently available in the App Store (Apple is receiving something like 8,500 new and updated submissions every day), many app makers felt lost in the shuffle with too little information.
Say Tweetie, and most folks think: "I tawt I taw a puddy tat."
But as a social-networking kinda guy, Tweetie is the name of my favorite iPhone Twitter app.
Tweetie lets you access all the standard Twitter features on your iPhone. You can see and respond to the tweets you follow, post your own tweets, and search for tweets by keyword.
Tweetie has always offered a clean, simple interface. But with its newly-redesigned version 2.0, the app is even friendlier. The buttons to tweet, check mentions of your name, send a direct mail (DM), and search for tweets are now within easy access at the bottom of the screen.
Checking your own profile is also smoother. A single Profile screen displays your bio, location, and URL, as well as the number of your followers, those you're following, tweets, and favorites. Tapping on a category like Followers displays the names and photos of all the people tracking your tweets.
Tweetie 2.0 also sports a neat, new feature to let you update the list of tweets that you follow--simply drag your finger down the screen, and the newest tweets appear at the top with a pop.
Tweetie provides its own interface for viewing Web pages and other linked content in a tweet. Courtesy of the iPhone 3.0 update, the interface works in both portrait and landscape mode and offers options to view the page in Safari, e-mail a link to the page, or repost the link in your own tweet.
Options are plentiful when creating your own tweets. Like Twitter, Tweetie keeps track of every character you type, so you know when you're approaching that 140-character limit. You can attach photos or videos to your tweets, either by snapping them with the iPhone camera or grabbing them from your library. Your followers can then view them on yFrog, a site that lets you share images and video via Twitter.
Geotagging is another hot trend that Tweetie offers. You can add a Google Maps link to your current location in a tweet and search for other Twitter users in your area.
Like several other iPhone apps, Tweetie ran into trouble earlier this year with the Apple police, who initially denied approval of its 1.3 version over alleged naughty words in its Twitter Trends feed. Of course, Tweetie is just a conduit that displays whatever appears on Twitter, so it's ridiculous to ding the app for the content. Fortunately, Apple eventually OK'd the update, and it's been smooth sailing for Tweetie since then.
The Apple's App Store is loaded with other Twitter apps, and I've tried a variety of them--both free and paid, including Twitterrific and TweetDeck.
Twitter fans all have their own preferences. You can even vote for your favorite Twitter app.
But Tweetie is the app I've stuck with the longest, and the one I heartily recommend.
Tweetie 2.0 will set you back $2.99--even those of us who migrated from Tweetie 1.0 have to pay for the new edition. But the upgrade is well worth it. Tweetie 2.0 requires iPhone OS 3.0 or higher and is compatible with both the iPhone and iPod Touch.
Updated at 4:30 p.m. PDT following Yahoo's removal of the blog post and subsequent clarification of the situation. See below for details.
Yahoo appears to be a little miffed that Apple's App Store reviewers are still sitting on an update to the Yahoo Messenger for iPhone application.
Yahoo's ready for the new Yahoo Messenger for iPhone update to be released.
(Credit: Yahoo)In a post titled "And so we wait...on Apple," Yahoo's Sarah Bacon calls out Apple for "the somewhat unpredictable process for getting apps approved and released" on the App Store. Yahoo said it submitted an update for the Yahoo Messenger app (iTunes link) two weeks ago, but has nothing to show for it.
Now, as App Store approval delays or rejections go, two weeks is nothing. Yahoo could just ask Sling Media how it felt about the month-long delay in the approval process for SlingPlayer Mobile, or rival Google about the rejection of Google Voice from the App Store. But Yahoo's decision to publicly call out Apple is interesting, given the possible thawing of relations between iPhone developers and Apple following Apple Senior Vice President of Marketing Phil Schiller's outreach to bloggers and developers.
"Anyone want to bet that Facebook's app, which was submitted after ours, gets approved first?" Bacon asked. No action, Yahoo, especially now.
UPDATED 4:30 p.m. PDT - Yahoo has since removed the post in question, but according to Lucas Mast of Yahoo Mobile public relations, plans to update it later today. Apparently Bacon, who works for the Yahoo Messenger group, did not have all the facts concerning Yahoo's submission of the Messenger update to Apple, which was handled by the mobile team.
Yahoo did in fact submit the update to Apple two weeks ago, but pulled that update a week ago "to make some additional corrections/updates," Mast said. "This process resets the approval process time, which we were aware of."
Yahoo expects Apple to approve the update shortly, but it has only been less than a week since the clock was restarted on the update. "We have been pleased with the approval process and Apple's responsiveness and look forward to continued submissions as we mobilize Yahoo," Mast said.
Whoops.
Even though Apple prevented it from listing Google Voice on the iPhone App Store, Google is planning on retooling the application as a Web-based app, according to The New York Times.
In David Pogue's Friday column regarding the ongoing saga of Apple and Google Voice, he reveals that Google has already found a loophole:
Already, Google says it is readying a replacement for the Google Voice app that will offer exactly the same features as the rejected app--except that it will take the form of a specialized, iPhone-shaped Web page. For all intents and purposes, it will behave exactly the same as the app would have; you can even install it as an icon on your Home screen.
Google Voice is a free application that lets users assign a single number to ring their home, work, and cell phones, and also get voice mail as text transcriptions. There's speculation that AT&T is behind the decision to block the application since Google Voice allows cheap international calls and free text messages.
It's not clear if simply making Google Voice available as a Web app will change Apple's mind, but there is precedent. Apple also rejected Google's Latitude for the iPhone until it was remade as Web app.
A Google spokesperson did not say how close to completion the project might be, but reiterated a previous statement. "We will continue to work to bring our services to iPhone users, for example by taking advantage of advances in mobile browsers."
This story was updated at 3:58 p.m. PDT with comment from Google.
Yes, yes. "Arvale: Journey of Illusion" was exactly what I was looking for...
(Credit: Eric Franklin/CNET)Ever had trouble finding a particular app at the iPhone App Store? Who hasn't? A couple weeks ago I spent like 10 minutes trying to find a game a friend had just shown me. That may have had more to do with me being intoxicated and less about the App Store's search functionality, though.
Still, things may be improving. According to AppleInsider, Apple is now asking iPhone developers to enter 255 comma-separated characters as keywords to iTunes Connect to be used for search in the App Store for the iPhone and iPod touch.
iTunes Connect is the application that developers use to upload and submit their iPhone and iPod Touch apps to Apple.
Definitely a welcome change, and it can only improve sales, so I'm sure most developers will be taking advantage of it. I would not be surprised to see some developers exploit this, though, by entering popular keywords for apps that are completely unrelated just for the chance of added exposure.
Hopefully this addition will also improve my app-finding luck as well. Whether I've been drinking or otherwise.May isn't shaping up as one of the best months for iPhone developers. A number of complaints have surfaced over the last week, from the usual App Store rejections (as in the SlingPlayer case), to developers claiming that Apple isn't paying them.
According to a TechCrunch report, a vocal group of developers is considering suing Apple for breach of contract after claiming to have not received payment for downloads of their applications.
You can see examples of complaints on developer forums at iphonedevsdk.com, where the posts indicate that some developers have not been paid for App Store sales from as far back as Fall 2008. In one instance, there are examples of e-mail between a developer and Apple. The developer's attempts to repeatedly contact Apple's finance department to complain resulted in a response from Apple claiming that the complaints "border on harassment."
It remains to be seen whether lawsuits will be filed by developers against Apple. But given Apple's outstanding revenue performance in a bad economy for the last quarter, the hugely successful iTunes App Store, and Apple's estimated $29 billion in cash reserves, we wouldn't be surprised if some developers find it hard to believe that Apple shouldn't pay them. Do you agree? Tell us what you think in the comments.
If you're a fan of dystopian humor, like in the movie "Idiocracy," this may be the game for you.
Introduced Monday by Jetson Creative, Ow My Balls! is a funny game that brings some unusual humor to the iPhone (and iPod Touch).
(Credit:
Dong Ngo/CNET)
The game incorporates gravity simulation, funny sound effects, and a very peculiar method of directional acceleration.
I was a little dispirited by the name and the nature of the joke but I tried it anyway. After all, the game made it through the parental vetting process for Apple's App Store.
In the game, you're supposed to kick Joe the Juggler off the top of a building. While this sounds mean, Joe has some very special abilities up his sleeve to keep himself afloat, and you therefore can guide him, by tilting the phone, to hit and land on certain objects.
The distance and the amount of objects that you make Joe hit before he lands will determine the points you get for each fall. A certain amount of points will earn Joe the ability to stay afloat longer.
Each time Joe hits an object (a flag pole, a DirectTV antenna, a bird, a fence, a trash can), the game produces a realistic and funny sound. You can even record your own sound affects.
You'll very likely laugh each time poor Joe lands and will immediately want to make him do it again. For some strange reason, it doesn't seem like Joe minds being kicked off the building at all.
The game is available now at the App Store for 99 cents and I think it's totally worth it. However, depending your type of humor, it might not be for you at all. Consider yourself warned.
