Apple gives App Store categories their own highlights, lets niche apps have 15 minutes of fame

It's tough to find truly stellar mobile apps, no matter what platform you're running, and that's even truer when delving into categories. Apple has made a gesture towards giving more titles their moment in the sun through a low-key update to the App Store in iTunes and on iOS 6 devices. Jump to at least some categories, such as games or education, and you'll get the same carousels, banners and other promotions that would normally be reserved for the main portal. The shift is a simple one, but it theoretically helps App Store shoppers go beyond the surface -- and developers to reap the rewards.

[Source: Engadget]

Verizon App Store begins closure in January 2013, pulled from all compatible devices by the end of March

The Verizon App Store will begin the process of shutting down for good starting in January 2013, US cellular carrier Verizon Wireless says, with plans to be fully off "all compatible Android and Research in Motion devices" by March 27, 2013. No specific reason is given for the closure, but Verizon does detail, "a whole new tech landscape" shaping its decision, and that the company is "evolving" strategy in accordance with said "new tech landscape." No doubt that the new landscape Verizon speaks of involves the dominance of Google's own Play store for Android, as well as RiM's BlackBerry App World.

[Source: Engadget - Click here to read the full story]

Curiosity lands at the App Store, in the massively multiplayer cube-chipping category

Peter Molyneux's first creation since Lionhead, is now live on the App Store, presenting gamers with a humungous cube composed of billions of tiny cubelets. Curiosity's virtual block needs to be stripped down layer by layer through collective effort, to reach the center and reveal "something life-challengingly amazing". There's no sign of the expected tear-inducing paid DLC; instead, you pay for power-ups using coins earned by tapping away at the game. 100 of those coins will let you see the stats screen, while 3 billion will reward you with the Diamond Chisel -- the ultimate tool for block-whacking. Based on our brief time at the grindstone, it's safe to say the game's impact won't be as profound as that of the other Curiosity, but its social aspects have some interesting potential -- not least using Facebook to locate friends who are playing and compare each other's progress. The game is available free at the App Store if you'd like to leave your mark.

[Source: Engadet]

Apple reportedly to remove emoji apps from App Store

Now that iOS has provided default support for emoji icons for over a year, the company finally appears to be taking action to remove the seemingly endless number of third-party emoji apps on the App Store.

TechCrunch obtained an email sent by Apple to one particular app store developer, letting the seller know that their previously approved emoji app would be removed from sale. The email cites App Store guidelines that prohibit the sale of apps that "are not very useful."

It's hard to argue with the logic here, and if a feature is already supported by iOS, the need for a third-party app is indeed non-existent. Apple first introduced emoji support in iOS 5 which launched in October 2011.

[Source: TUAW]

Microsoft: we're calling our apps 'Windows 8 Store Applications'

Ever since those bygone days of Metro, we've all been struggling to figure out precisely what to call the design language of Microsoft's OS offerings. When the question was put to MS's Will Tschumy, the user experience strategist told a crowd at Build that the company is calling Win 8 apps "Windows 8 Store Applications" -- not exactly as elegant as the aesthetic the company is implementing across its products.

[Source: Engadget]

TweetBot for Mac reaches the Mac App Store, keeps the 3rd-party Twitter client flame alive

When Twitter put out its strict new API guidelines, there was some doubt as to whether or not third-party clients like Tapbots' Tweetbot for Mac would even make the cut -- the user caps and other curbs on unofficial apps potentially made it tough to develop competition around a different (and possibly better) experience. That makes today's official appearance of Tweetbot in the Mac App Store as much symbolic as it is practical. While there won't be many significant shocks for those who've been participating in Tweetbot's alpha and beta stages, the finished version gives everyone running OS X Mountain Lion a major and sometimes more advanced alternative to official choices, such as TweetDeck, as well as existing third-party options like Twitterrific. A $20 price doesn't make Tweetbot the cheapest way to buck convention by any means, but it might be worth the investment if you're already committed to Tapbots' iOS apps or want to make a statement on the value of third parties in an ecosystem.

[Source: Engadget]

Wait times for App Store approvals reportedly rising

A developer training firm named Shiny Development has been tracking waiting times for the App Store review process as closely as it can, and it has bad news for would-be app developers: The waiting times for the Mac App Store are growing longer. In the last six months or so, the waiting time for getting a Mac App published has gone from under seven days to almost as high as a month, according to Shiny's data. Apple's process is largely closed off -- there is a little bit of information for developers on the main dev website, but otherwise Shiny has mostly gathered this information from the various developers it tracks and corresponds with online. If indeed the times for the Mac App Store have gotten this bad, it could mean that big apps are getting delayed longer and longer, and that could be trouble for the platform in general.

The good news is that the iOS App Stores' waiting times appear to be going down over nearly the same time period, from 10 days a few months ago, down to right around a week now. Apple has hired lots of app reviewers in the past year or so, and that's likely the reason for dropping times: As it has more people to check incoming apps, it can get approvals through the system quicker. Hopefully there's a bigger horde of Mac App reviewers on the way, so these apps can get out to the public in a relatively timely fashion.

[Source: TUAW]

OS X 10.8.2 Supplemental Update 1.0 live in App Store

Do you have issues with certain Japanese characters not appearing in Mail? Are you frustrated by Safari's inability to access secure sites when parental controls are turned on? Or is your system having trouble starting up with more than 64 GB of RAM? If you answered "Yes" to any of these questions, you may be interested in the OS X 10.8.2 Supplemental Update 1.0, currently downloadable from the App Store.

This 27 MB Mountain Lion 10.8.2 patch fixes the three specific issues listed, and does require a restart. Macworld notes that there's also a 10.7.5 Supplemental Update in the wild, which addresses a Time Machine issue and a problem with Developer ID-signed apps failing to launch.

[Source: TUAW]

PSA: Passbook supported apps now listed in iOS 6 App Store

Now that iOS 6 has officially landed, Apple has pulled back the veil revealing the first wave of apps to support its new Passbook feature. The initial group of companies to jump on the bandwagon include: Ticketmaster, Live Nation, Lufthansa, MLB.com At Bat, Sephora to Go, Walgreens and Fandango Movies. While this list is a tad bit shorter than we hoped for, it's safe to say that more apps will follow in the not-so-distant future. Want to be the first to know when they arrive? Be sure to keep an eye on the Passbook section of the App Store for the latest updates.

[Source: Engadget]

iOS 6 App Store tweaked to promote a one-tap installation of free Apple apps

It looks like Apple is putting the final touches on the redesigned App Store for iOS 6 ahead of the next-generation operating system’s public launch later this week. As of this evening, a new page greets first-time users to promote Apple’s own apps, providing an easy way for new users to quickly “get the most out of” their iOS device.

The promoted apps include only Apple’s free offerings, with no sign of paid apps such as the iLife or iWork suites. A “Download Free” button provides a one-tap installation of iBooks, iTunes U, Podcasts, Find My Friends, and Find My iPhone.

iOS 6 will be publicly available on Wednesday, September 19th as a free update for the iPhone 3GS and newer, the iPad 2, iPad 3, and the fourth-generation iPod touch, and will ship on the iPhone 5 this Friday as well as the upcoming fifth-generation iPod touch in October.

[Source: 9to5Mac]

Father & Son app, go live on app store.

MEDL Mobile is a leading mobile development studio with a track record of App Store hits such as Boxhead: The Zombie Wars - a game with nearly 1,000,000 players around the world. But when the team was hired by a father and son with an iPhone dream to create the game, "Fruit Blast", the initial launch didn't go to plan. 

The game, which features a fruit-throwing monkey who splats the user's screen with bananas, apples and pears, had all the mechanics of a hit. However, the app never broke through to the top of the App Store. Unflustered, the father/son team recruited family members, friends and colleagues to help tear the game down to it's core elements - and then worked with MEDL to build it back up better and stronger than before. 

The result is Fruit Blast 2.0 - with all new graphics, new controls, new animations, a connection to Apple's Game Center, and a host of new features and fun. 

"This whole process has been an amazing experience for my son Parker and I." said Mark Lewis. "It's a real world opportunity to teach him about following your dreams, learning from your mistakes, and not giving up on success." 

The essence of the game remains the same. A crazed monkey throws fruit at the player, who uses the accelerometer to aim fruit blasting weapons and destroy the flying fruit before it splats all over the screen. But the team analyzed and improved every aspect of the game - from the initial load and help screen - through to the in-game purchases that allow a user to acquire bigger and better weapons. 

"I can't wait for feedback from the current users." said Jon Rockmore, a Project Manager from MEDL Mobile. "We stayed true to what the game's fans loved. But we were given a lot of latitude to push the game in every way that made sense." 

Fruit Blast will be made available for the first 10,000 downloads for free on the iTunes App Store. 

MEDL Mobile is a mobile app incubator, developer, aggregator and marketer. MEDL develops custom native apps for iPhone, iPad and Android for entrepreneurs, corporations, ad agencies and consumer brands.