App Store

App Store Stats: Who's Buying What, What's Buying You

By Casey Chan, Friday, Jul 18, 2008 a 12:17 pm

Interested in knowing what apps are being bought at the App Store? Well, lucky you, Medialets has estimates for your viewing pleasure. To determine demand, Medialets uses the number of ratings each app has and also takes into account the average rating of an app as well. So though it may not be the most accurate measurement, it's still a fairly good barometer in determining app popularity.

App Review: Super Monkey Ball!

By Brian Hart, Friday, Jul 18, 2008 a 11:45 am

A super... a monkey... a ball. A Super... a Monkey... a Ball. These are not three different games!

Does the above phrasing sound familiar? Steve Jobs used this same kind of phrasing when first introducing the iPhone waaaaaaaay back in January 2007. Much has happened since then! We finally have the iPhone 3G and, even more importantly (in my opinion), we have iPhone 2.0 and the Apps Store!

You may have heard of a little game called Super Monkey Ball from SEGA? It's only just the top app at the iTunes App Store. It's only $9.99. We got a taste of it several months ago at the last WWDC during the keynote and there has been salivation, hand-wringing and garment-rending ever since. Finally, with the release of iPhone 2.0 and the App Store last week, the venerable Super Monkey Ball is available for download from the iTunes App Store via your desktop or right to your iPhone.

Does it measure up to the hype? The answer is --- (suspense killing ya?) Full review is a click away!

App Store Re-Ordered, Developers Still Daunted

By Rene Ritchie, Wednesday, Jul 16, 2008 a 2:55 pm

A few posts back we got into a few App Store early growing pains/gripes, including that some less-scrupulous -- or more marketing-savvy, depending on your point of view -- developers were prepending spaces and symbols to their App names in order to get them to sort higher in the alphabetical listings. Well according to MacUser (via Ars), seems like Apple called shenanigans on that one and has put an end to the practice.

Visiting the App Store now, I see that Jirbo’s titles, as well as quite a few others, still have a space in front of them, but are simply alphabetized by the following letter.

Nicely done. Would that all App Store problems were so easily solved...

App Review: Twitterrific

By Chad Garrett, Wednesday, Jul 16, 2008 a 10:24 am

Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, oh how I love thee. Now I can really love thee with Twitterrific for the iPhone! If you are a fan of the very popular microblogging service Twitter, you are in for a rare treat with Twitterrific for iPhone from The Icon Factory! This application comes in two flavors: a free version with a very unobtrusive banner at the top or a paid version for $10 with no banner advertising and an extra theme.

Updated Again! App Store Redux: 10 Million Downloaded, but Are they Well Coded?

By Rene Ritchie, Monday, Jul 14, 2008 a 6:03 pm

The App Store went live last week (what day exactly depends on whether you snuck in to iTunes 7.7 and snooped around on your own, or waited for the official links to surface), tying in to the iPhone 3G and 2.0 software launches. How'd it do? According to Steve Jobs:

“The App Store is a grand slam, with a staggering 10 million applications downloaded in just three days. Developers have created some extraordinary applications, and the App Store can wirelessly deliver them to every iPhone and iPod touch user instantly.”

Probably why Apple has finally started putting a dent in its backlog of developer acceptances, eh? But is all happy in App Land? Nope. Find out why after the break...

App Review: Remote for iTunes + Apple TV

By Rene Ritchie, Saturday, Jul 12, 2008 a 11:22 am

Epic YES! Since the moment the original iPhone came out with its WiFi goodness, I've been begging asking for a way to use the iPhone to control the similarly connected iTunes, Front Row, and Apple TV. And now Apple has answered! (Er... except for Front Row, see below). And not only for the iPhone. While I'll use that term exclusively below, everything here also applies to the iPod Touch.

Remote is FREE, and available either via iTunes (picture above) or right from your iPhone 3G via the App Store. It's not hard to find, currently dominating the Top Free Apps charts. If you're not sure how to use App Store yet, check out Brian's excellent overview to get you started.

I chose to download directly from the iPhone so I could test out the 3G experience. It was fast. (However, when I later synced back with iTunes -- my first time post App download -- I was asked to re-authenticate my MacBook with the iTunes Store before it would sync the App for backup).

How did it work? Read on!

How To: Use The iPhone App Store

By Brian Hart, Friday, Jul 11, 2008 a 4:00 pm

Civilizations rose and fell. Rivers carved canyons. Stars twinkled into existence, then died. All this while we waited for iPhone 2.0 and the App Store. If you were lucky enough to upgrade your iPhone 2G to 2.0 or have a newly-acquired iPhone 3G, and you have upgraded to iTunes 7, you now have access to the App Store on either iTunes or your iPhone and the 3rd party native apps downloading extravaganza can commence! If you are new to 3rd party apps, new to iPhone and/or iTunes, or just want a little guidance before diving into the App Store, then read on after the break for the App Store walkthrough!

SplashData Gives Us iPhone Apps!

By Brian Hart, Thursday, Jul 10, 2008 a 6:37 pm

Splashdata - the company that has given unto the smartphone-and-pda-user world such iconic titles as SplashID, SplashShopper, and SplashMoney on numerous popular platforms - has jumped head-first into the iPhone world with two of the three aforementioned apps in the iTunes App Store. Both SplashShopper and SplashID are currently available for purchase and download, each at $9.99.

App-Watch Games: Bubble Bash!

By Rene Ritchie, Thursday, Jul 10, 2008 a 3:41 pm

Have an iPhone rocking 2.0, access to the App Store, and the desire to beat the stuffing out of a sudsy sphere? Boy, do we have the game for you!

Bubble Bash is a cutesy, cartoon time-killer and one of several offerings from Gameloft to make launch day.

Take a gander at the demo, and if it appeals to you -- and you've got $7.99 burning a whole in your iTunes account -- head on over to the App Store!

App Watch: Pocket Express Info Browser

By Rene Ritchie, Thursday, Jul 10, 2008 a 3:34 pm

Pocket Express aggregates topical and commonly browsed information and presents it to you in and integrated and user-friendly iPhone interface. If you've got a regular jones on for fast and frequent News, Sports, Weather, Entertainment, Travel Information, and more. Check out the demo vid and if it interests you, head on over to the iPhone App Store.

Oh, yeah: It's FREE!