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Apple has just launched their own podcast app, called simply Podcasts. It's available right now in the App Store and is a universal binary so has specific interfaces for both iPhone and iPod touch, and iPad. It's a great way to listen to all your favorite podcasts, including iMore's and all the Mobile Nations shows.

If you've ever been in a position where you've bought an app only to have it retired from the iOS App Store and furthermore unsupported as a result of a new paid upgrade, you'll be happy to hear there is a workaround, though it doesn't seem to be a mechanism publicized by Apple.

Google has updated its Gmail app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch to include integration with iOS 5's Notification Center; this allows Gmail notifications to show up as banners, alerts and lock screen options. Google claims that notifications show up five times faster than previous versions of the app.

Apple is apparently fiddling with the way in which it handles App Store searches. Previously, what an app was called and which keywords it used seemed to be the greatest influence in how it ranked. Now, how many downloads, and perhaps even what the app does might be what's getting ranked.

Every once in awhile the App Store would showcase collections of games around themes, like zombies or racing, but it would be hard to find those featured lists once the game section's page was updated. To fix that, Apple has made a permanent Game Collections section where all of the different lists are found in one place.

During the WWDC 2012 keynote, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the already expansive iTunes App Store would be adding 32 more countries to the list -- and so they have.

iTunes in the Cloud let's you automatically download any App Store apps, iBookstore iBooks, and iTunes music you buy. For example, if you buy a game on your iPhone, it can automatically download onto your iPad. If you buy a song on iTunes on your Mac or Windows PC, it can automatically download onto your iPod touch.

Analytics firm App Annie has recently published a fun little infographic called Game of Phones, which pits Android app ecosystem against Apple's. One of the key findings was that the App Store leads with a revenue share of 71% (compared to 29% for Android) even though total downloads through Google Play accounts for 35% of the total, versus 28% for iOS.

Although iOS 6 is still in the beta stages for developers, many folks have noticed that podcasts are no longer accessible in from with the built-in iTunes app. This has led to rumors and speculation that Apple might introduce a new, dedicated Podcast app of their own.

In a recent interview at WWDC, Apple's VP of Marketing Phil Schiller commented on criticism that it's hard to get noticed in the App Store. "The opportunity is the best it has ever been for software developers... Every other day you hear about another app going off the charts. You can still get discovered and get a hit overnight."