Apps

iPhone App Avalanche 11: Thumbtacts, TapeMe, iExchange, and Aqua

By Brian Hart, Monday, Sep 29, 2008 a 4:55 pm

It's time for App Avalanche 11, and this week we're shaking things up a bit over here at TiPb. Given the App Store is truly an avalanche of apps with more piling up each day, it's just about impossible to keep up. Instead, we'll present to you what's Good, Better and Best in the App Store according to what reviewers have said -- folks just like you and me who downloaded the app, tried it out, and gave it 1 to 5 stars. We're also going to throw in a CrApp -- an app that just seems to stink to high heaven. Let's get started after the break!

Apple Changes iPhone App Store Customer Review System

By Jeremy, Sunday, Sep 28, 2008 a 7:55 am

Apple has made a vital change to the App Store, in order to review an app you now have to actually have downloaded it first. All I have to say is... it's about time!

This brilliant idea (that should have been in place since day one!) means we no longer have to read reviews from people who have never tried the app out -- or don't even own a iPhone or iPod Touch!

How To: Jailbreak iPhone 2.2.1 - Mac OS X QuickPWN Edition

By Jeremy, Thursday, Sep 25, 2008 a 3:55 pm

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Disclaimer - Neither TiPb nor I take any responsibility for any problems/issues/bricking/etc. that may occur while using this software to modify your iPhone. Please be aware of what you are doing.

IMPORTANT: If you have a iPhone 3G that you want to unlock you must use the preserving baseband method - only available on Macs.

There has been a lot of buzz going on in the forums regarding jailbreaking the iPhone 2.2.1 firmware lately, and a lot of questions to go along with i t!. Today we're going to take a deeper look at the exact steps you have to take to get your iPhone jailbroken on your Mac.

Let's get started, after the jump!

Rejection Redux: NDA May Not Be News

By Rene Ritchie, Thursday, Sep 25, 2008 a 7:55 am

Daring Fireball's John Gruber, in an attempt to get to the bottom of the PodcasterGate's latest controversy, namely Apple reportedly slapping "NDA" (Non-Disclosure Agreement) on the rejection notices and discussion there off, confidentially polled developers and came to the following conclusion:

iPhone Unleashed Now Available in App Store!

By Rene Ritchie, Wednesday, Sep 24, 2008 a 10:36 pm

What? Why are you still reading this? Lightsaber Unleashed, the THQ'd official re-release of the PhoneSaber application, is now available from the App Store.

Got it? Good. What do you think? Better than the original? Or totally prequel'd?

PodcasterGate: Rejects Gagged and Ad-Hoc Slagged!

By Rene Ritchie, Wednesday, Sep 24, 2008 a 2:55 pm

Start alienating your developer base and there's two ways to handle it: the right way, and the current Apple way. Delicious Monster's Wil Shipley offers up what should be required reading for both Apple PR and App Store staff, on how to go about the right way: let the market decide. Apple, much to their discredit on this one, has chosen pretty much the exact opposite. Macrumors reports:

iPhone App Avalanche 10

By Brian Hart, Tuesday, Sep 23, 2008 a 10:55 am

Not sure if you've checked lately, but the App Store is ever-growing! So far more than 100 apps have been featured on the App Avalanche, and that's only the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. Time to dive in for another app-stravaganza with iPhone App Avalanche 10!

$250K iPhone Dev Says "No Thanks" to Google Android

By Rene Ritchie, Tuesday, Sep 23, 2008 a 7:55 am

Today is "A Day", the day T-Mobile announces Google's Android mobile platform (see our brand new little sibling site, AndroidCentral, for all the details and coverage) to an anxiously anticipating world. Well... mostly anxiously anticipating.

Turns out some people aren't as interested. Is it because Google's latest forays into content, including YouTube and Wikipedia rival Knol, and platforms, including Android and Firefox rival Chrome (and gLinux OS on the horizon?), make them think "don't be evil" is just a sinister plan to catch the world -- and our privacy -- off guard and unaware? Nope. We tend to like and trust Google. What then?

Tonchidot: Visual Tagging for the iPhone

By Rene Ritchie, Monday, Sep 22, 2008 a 9:24 pm

Real working app? Proof of concept? Science fiction? All of the above? Don't care. Want it now. This amazing demo shows an App that uses the iPhone's camera to record and display visual tagging information in real time, right in front of you. Drool.

Want to see more? Check out their long (18 minute) presentation from Techcrunch 50. Amazing stuff.

(Via TWiT)

MailWrangler Denied: No App Store for Gmail App

By Rene Ritchie, Monday, Sep 22, 2008 a 7:55 am

Following on the heels of PodcasterGate, another App has been denied entry into Apple's iTunes App Store: Mailwrangler. The reason, according to Apple (as cited by developer Angelo DiNardi, via Daring Fireball):

… Your application duplicates the functionality of the built-in iPhone application Mail without providing sufficient differentiation or added functionality, which will lead to user confusion. …

And:

… There is also no way to edit an account once it has been added. …

The latter is a gimme, and the developer acknowledges it, though feels is a capricious enforcement. The former?

Many developers are still in an uproar over Apple's tight-fisted control of the App Store, and others are distracted by counting the huge heaps of money they're making, and Google's "open" Android Market looms on the horizon, we're left to wonder how this will shake out in the ecosystem.

Some have theorized that Apple rejected Podcaster because iTunes is a revenue stream for Apple, and they don't want any precedence set for bypassing iTunes, even for "free" podcasts. But MobileMail's Gmail functionality doesn't generate any revenue, does it? And all the calculator, weather, etc. App's already duplicate functionality, so what's going on here?

We'll take a look, after the jump...