Top Bananas | Tag Archives: App Store

Adware Doctor App is Spyware

Posted on September 7, 2018 by admin Posted in Software Leave a comment

What it is: Adware Doctor, a utility for the Macintosh, was discovered to be stealing user browser histories.

Apple runs an App Store for all of their products such as the iPhone and iPad along with the Macintosh. The main goal of the App Store is to provide people with a one-stop shopping experience. A secondary goal is to give people security, knowing that all apps on the App Store have been curated by Apple.

Unfortunately, Apple can’t exhaustively test every app they approve. They simply test to make sure the app does what it says it will do and that it doesn’t crash. That’s why Apple sometimes slips up and lets apps into the App Store that violate their terms.

The latest example of this flaw is Adware Doctor, which claims to stop unwanted popup ads, but which really spies on the user’s browser history. Most likely, this isn’t the only malicious app in the App Store so the lesson is to be careful anyway. The App Store can block obvious malware, but they can’t always weed out the trickier ones that appear to work but do something else unexpected.

This isn’t Apple’s fault since there’s no way anyone can possibly examine all apps given the number of apps submitted for approval everyday. This just means the user has to be careful, even when downloading apps from the App Store. The bottom line is that nothing is absolutely safe, but at least the App Store helps limit the chances of finding and installing malware. Ultimately, security depends on you.

The Most Successful Paid Apps

Posted on July 12, 2018 by admin Posted in Programming, Software Leave a comment

What it is: Business Insider reports on the top ten most successful paid apps in the App Store history.

When Apple introduced the original iPhone, there was no way you could add new apps. That’s because Steve Jobs was initially opposed to letting third-parties create and sell apps for the iPhone. Only after a few generations did Apple allow the iPhone to run third-party apps, but only if they went through the curation and approval process of Apple itself. Although people balked at getting approval from Apple, this curation processors has also limited the spread of malware on iOS (which can’t be said for Android).

Now Business Insider has listed the top ten most successful paid apps and it should come as no surprise that most of the most successful apps are games. Mobile gaming essentially defined a new category distinct from desktop gaming and console gaming. Any time you had a free moment, you could play a short, simple game. If you’re a developer, your best bet today is to come up with a unique and interesting game.

Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t be successful selling productivity apps. Just remember that more people are likely to play games than need a specific productivity app. The App Store has literally changed the way smartphones work and have also greatly influenced the regular world of PC computing as well. Microsoft has been trying to promote their Microsoft Store for Windows apps, but it hasn’t proved as successful as Apple’s App Store. That’s because people are already comfortable installing Windows programs on their own and see little need for a specific app store.

The same problem affects Apple as well. Their Macintosh App Store pales in comparison to their iOS App Store since people already can get software for the Macintosh from another source besides Apple. The App Store only worked on the iPhone because that was the first and only way to get apps on the iPhone.

If games are the most popular apps, then developers should either focus on games for maximum profit potential, or create productivity apps for niche markets. Productivity apps won’t sell in huge quantities like games, but there’s also less competition too.

In the world of business, sometimes avoiding the crowd can be the smarter and more profitable choice because there’s less competition. Create a game and you’ve already competing against thousands of other games. Create a productivity app and you’re only competing against a handful of rivals.

Whether you want to create games or productivity apps, the App Store has changed the computing world as drastically as the graphical user interface.

Porting iOS Apps to macOS

Posted on June 14, 2018 by admin Posted in Programming, Software, User Interface Leave a comment

What it is: Apple will soon release a tool making it easy for iOS apps to run on macOS.

The iOS App Store contains millions of apps so Apple has created a software framework that will allow iOS developers to port their apps to macOS. The goal is to make it easy for iOS developers to sell their apps on iOS and macOS.

These iOS ports aren’t simply duplicating iOS apps on maCOS but to make it easy to create native macOS apps from iOS apps. Apple has done this with their own apps (News and Stocks) but the macOS versions of these apps will offer slightly different features that make them unique to macOS. By doing this, iOS apps won’t just look like boring duplicates of iOS apps that don’t quite feel or look right on a Macintosh.

Developers can quickly port their iOS apps to macOS but then they’ll need to modify their apps for the Macintosh screen, mouse, and keyboard. So if you’re looking to create an app, it would make the most sense to start with iOS and then port to macOS. Not only is iOS a larger and more lucrative market, but porting apps from macOS to iOS may be harder since you have to focus on touch screen interaction. It’s easy to adopt an app to go from a touch screen to a mouse and keyboard. It’s not as easy to go the other way since making a mouse and keyboard interface int o a touch screen can lead to awkward user interface designs. Just look at Windows 8.

Of course, developers can get lazy and simply do a port from iOS to macOS, but then their macOS app won’t look and feel optimized for the Macintosh screen, which will likely result in poor adoption. The bottom line is that this new software framework will help boost the number of useful apps available for the Macintosh.

Apple Services Growing Rapidly

Posted on August 16, 2017 by admin Posted in Business Leave a comment

What it is: Apple Services has continued growing, earning up to 13% of Apple’s total revenue.

Apple is more than just an iPhone company. While people eagerly buy the latest iPhone, Android smartphones dominate the market place. The big difference between Android and Apple is that Android device makers only make money selling hardware. In comparison, Apple makes money selling iPhones and then they make a continuous stream of profits selling services such as iTunes downloads, Apple Music subscriptions, and App Store purchases.

That’s why Android rarely gets updated on smartphones because it costs time and money for manufacturers to test the latest Android updates on their older devices. Even worse, they don’t make any money testing the latest Android updates on their devices. The only way Android device makers can make money is by selling you a new device so their incentive is not to update their devices.

Apple, on the other hand, makes money selling you iPhones and then makes a steady stream of profits from their Apps Store, iBooks, iTunes, and Apple Music. Apple has a huge incentive to make sure the latest iOS update runs and works on as many devices as possible because they’ll make the money up in services. Tim Cook recently boasted that Apple’s services division will soon be a Fortune 500 company on its own if it were independent of Apple.

Services is what will keep Apple profitable long after iPhone sales flatten. Apple doesn’t necessarily need to capture a huge market share of smartphone sales to be profitable. They just need to capture a small percent of the market share because they’ll make more peony selling services to those existing iPhone owners. Services will become so important that eventually Apple could make more money on services than on actual hardware sales.

Pokemon GO Highlights Apple Services

Posted on July 21, 2016 by admin Posted in Business, Software Leave a comment

What it is: Most people think of Apple as the iPhone company, but Apple is quietly making money selling services as well.

Selling hardware isn’t easy. Just ask all those Android device manufacturers who keep losing money selling smartphones and tablets, or all those PC manufacturers who have to keep cutting prices until their profits practically evaporate. When you sell hardware, it’s mostly a commodity.

Apple has resisted this commodity business by offering devices only they sell such as the Macintosh, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. While you can always find alternatives to Apple products that are often cheaper, they’re also less reliable and often poorly built as well. That’s why Apple can get away with charging more because they offer higher quality materials for people willing to pay more to get more.

Yet even Apple can’t resist steadily dropping prices on devices. Apple released the iPad mini after Android manufacturers started flooding the market with low-cost, small Android tablets. Apple also released the Mac mini so they could sell lower-cost Macintosh computers.

With the smartphone market getting saturated and fewer people buying smartphones for the first time, Apple can no longer rely on increasing harder sales. Instead, Apple has been slowly moving towards services. The recent popularity of Pokemon GO indicates that Apple will make $3 billion dollars from this single video game alone.

That’s because Apple is more than just hardware sales. Apple also sells streaming music subscriptions and apps where Apple takes 30% of any money an app makes. That means a popular app like Pokemon GO has the potential to earn Apple more money than Nintendo since Nintendo has to split their profits with another company that developed the Pokemon GO app.

Apple will likely continue selling devices, but once people own those devices, Apple wants to make more money selling those people services. That’s the huge drawback with most Android manufacturers (except for Samsung) because once they sell you a smartphone or tablet, Android manufacturers can’t make money from you until you buy another device from them.

While Apple can make money from existing customers, Android manufacturers have to make money constantly finding new customers, which is time-consuming and expensive. In comparison, Apple can make money selling to new customers and then make more money selling to existing customers.

Apple Pay gives Apple a cut from every transaction. In-app purchases give money to Apple as well as sales of new apps. Streaming music subscriptions give money to Apple, so Apple has plenty of ways to make money to existing customers. Considering that customers often keep their smartphones for several years, Apple services provides another way to make money from them without trying to sell them a new device.

Chances are good Apple will eventually make more money on services than selling actual hardware. When that happens, selling new hardware will just be a happy extra.

Saving Money Buying Apps with App http://appsliced.coSliced

Posted on December 27, 2015 by admin Posted in Software Leave a comment

What it is: App Sliced is a web site dedicated to tracking the latest prices of iOS and OS X apps in the App Store.

Before you buy anything, look for a sale. After the Christmas buying season, you should be able to find plenty of returned products that you can buy cheaper than new. If you’re the type willing to wait for a sale to buy the products you want, then look at the App Sliced web site.

App Sliced tracks the latest sale prices of different apps. Many app developers offer their app for a fixed price, but temporarily lower their prices to boost sales and gain positive word of mouth. Then they raise their prices back to the normal level again.

By visiting App Sliced on a regular basis, you can see which apps are on sale so you can buy them for less than regular price. Even better, you can type in the name of an app you want to buy and then App sliced will notify you by email when the app reaches or exceeds your desired price.

‘By tracking app prices, you can always be sure of paying less than retail price for any app you want to buy. The only drawback is that you may need to exercise patience. If you need a particular app right away you’ll have no choice but to buy that app when you need it.

For everyone else who may want an app but is willing to wait for a sale, use App Sliced to save money. With the amount of money you save on apps, you can afford to buy even more apps.

To learn about App Sliced, visit their web site by clicking here.