All articles tagged with #app developers
At WWDC 2025, Apple praised app developers with a song but largely overlooked recent challenges faced by the developer community, including delays in AI technology, ongoing disputes over App Store policies, and a focus on consumer features over developer benefits, highlighting a disconnect between Apple's public relations and the realities of its developer ecosystem.
Microsoft is developing a new Windows Update orchestration platform to centralize and streamline software updates for all applications, aiming to replace individual app updaters with a smarter, integrated system. Currently in private preview, this system will allow app developers to connect their updates to Windows Update using new APIs, enabling more efficient scheduling and notifications, with the goal of reducing update-related issues and simplifying update management.
The new iOS 17.5 beta allows iPhone users in the European Union to download apps directly from the websites of Apple app developers, bypassing the App Store or alternative app marketplaces. Developers must meet specific criteria for safety and transparency, and a 0.50 euro Core Technology Fee is charged for each annual install over one million. This move is in compliance with the EU's Digital Markets Act and is not available on the iPad or to iPhone users in other countries.
The constant barrage of notifications on smartphones, particularly on iOS, has become a major distraction, and the current tools to manage them are inadequate. The author suggests a "notification bankruptcy" and proposes solutions such as a Tinder-like interface for managing notification settings and restricting promotional notifications by default. The author advocates for returning power over notifications to users rather than app developers.
Google has announced changes to search results and new tools for app developers to comply with the EU's Digital Markets Act, including giving more traffic to large intermediaries and aggregators, obtaining user consent for data sharing across Google products, allowing app developers to use alternative billing systems, and launching data portability software in Europe. These changes are in response to feedback from EU antitrust regulators, users, and app developers, and are aimed at curbing the power of Big Tech companies like Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Meta Platforms, and ByteDance.
Apple Vision Pro, with its visionOS, has sparked the development of numerous apps across various categories, including business, education, entertainment, finance, games, health and fitness, music, navigation, productivity, and more. These apps range from spatial project managers and futuristic instruments for music creation to spatial games and AI journaling. The visionOS App Store now boasts over 1,000 apps designed for Vision Pro, showcasing the diverse and innovative applications of spatial computing.
Apple's new Core Technology Fee (CTF) in the EU requires app developers to pay €0.50 for every app install over one million, potentially bankrupting free or freemium app developers. The fee applies to both the App Store and alternative app stores, and developers can choose to stick with the current App Store business terms. The CTF could be prohibitively expensive for apps with millions of users, and the changes will take effect in March with the launch of iOS 17.4.
The App Store has announced the finalists for the 2023 App Store Awards, recognizing nearly 40 app and game developers across 10 different categories. The finalists have been selected for their excellence, inventiveness, and technical achievement in apps and games, offering users experiences in drawing, design, video editing, education, music, time management, working out, hiking, playing games, and more. The winners will be announced later this month.
In the ongoing antitrust case between Epic Games and Google, several revelations have emerged. Epic Games accused Google of anti-competitive behavior, including offering incentives to developers to launch games exclusively on the Play Store. Google countered by claiming that these incentives were part of its competition strategy against other app stores. It was revealed that Google offered Activision Blizzard $360 million and Epic Games $147 million to bring their games to the Play Store. Testimony also confirmed that Google rejected apps for "steering" users to pay outside the Play Store. The court heard that the Play Store generates over $12 billion in annual profits for Google, while Epic Games Store remains unprofitable. Additionally, Google negotiated a special deal with Netflix and sought to seal documents related to Spotify's deal.
Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite, is set to begin a monthlong trial in federal court in San Francisco, accusing Google of violating antitrust laws in its Play Store. Epic argues that Google wields monopolistic power over app developers and stifles competition. If Epic wins, Google may be forced to change its Play Store rules, allowing other companies to offer competing app stores and making it easier for developers to avoid the fees Google collects from in-app purchases. This lawsuit adds to the mounting legal challenges Google is facing as regulators and competitors seek to curb its influence.
A recent report from Setapp, an app subscription service, reveals that 42% of Mac users are utilizing AI-based apps on a daily basis, with 63% believing that AI apps are more beneficial than those without AI. The survey also found that 44% of Mac app developers have already implemented AI or machine learning models in their apps, while an additional 28% are working on doing so. The report highlights the interest in AI apps among Mac users, showcasing popular AI apps such as Google's AI Bard and Bing, which integrate AI technology from OpenAI.
Apple acknowledges overheating issues with the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, attributing it to increased background activity during setup and a bug in iOS 17. The company is working with app developers to release software fixes via the App Store, stating that the A15 Pro chip and titanium frame are not to blame. Despite the heat issues, demand for the new iPhones remains high, with delivery dates stretching into late October and mid-November.
Popular third-party Reddit apps, including Sync for Reddit, Reddit is Fun (RIF), and Apollo for Reddit on iOS, will cease to operate after June 30 due to API changes resulting in astronomical charges for app developers. Reddit recently announced changes to its own API that would block ads in third-party apps, along with a massive increase in API costs. The developers of these apps have decided to shut down due to the potential bill and other problems with Reddit's official changes.
Android apps continue to leak private information of users through logs, which are supposed to detect bugs before releasing apps to the public. These logs contain personal data or information that reveals the user’s activity, including sensitive information such as the type of pharmaceutical product someone is looking for. Permission to access this information is limited to Google, the manufacturers of the devices, and the pre-installed apps those manufacturers have chosen to put there, including companies engaged in advertising. Google has introduced a warning for users in version 13 of Android, but app developers should also log less data to prevent misuse of sensitive information.
Google Play developers can now use generative AI to create and manage custom store listings on the platform. The new AI-powered tools will help developers create new listings and convert existing ones into multiple languages. The AI helper can take developer prompts and create ready-made text to help craft a targeted Google Play Store listing. Additionally, there is a new machine translation tool that can help developers quickly list their app in 10 different languages.