Severing Links
Apple limits App Store discovery as it cuts affiliate programme and threatens future of mobile sites
Officially ends October 1st 2018
Company Profile
Apple
Website
www.apple.com
About
Best known for its hardware products, including the Macintosh line of personal computers, the iPod line of portable media players, and the iPhone. Apple's software products include Mac OS X, iTunes, iLife suite, and Final Cut Studio.
Related People
Tim Cook
CEO
Ann Thai
Director of Product
John Ternus
VP of hardware engineering
Amar Subramanya
VP of AI
Philip Schiller
Senior VP of Worldwide Marketing
Isabel Ge Mahe
VP and MD of Greater China
Armando Soto
Creative Producer
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Articles featuring Apple
Mobile Mavens
What's been the impact of the App Store on the games industry and where does it go from here?
The Mobile Mavens have their say
Big Data Energy
The numbers behind the iOS App Store's 10-year stay
You could say it's been a bit of a success
App Store 10 Years
10 ways the App Store changed the games industry
We look at the impact of the App Store as it celebrates its 10th anniversary
Linked
Valve removes games purchasing from iOS Steam Link following App Store rejection
Pages now display a buy from PC option instead of a buy now option
Connected
Apple launches App Store Connect for developers as it transitions from iTunes Connect
The apps portal has a website and an app and comes with an analytics suite
Ported
Apple to make iOS apps portable to MacOS in 2019
The tech giant showed off MacOS 10.14 at WWDC 2018
Hit That Subscribe Button
Developers can now set up trials for non-subscription apps on the iOS App Store
The latest update also tackles rules around multi-platform apps such as Steam Link
Ads Business
Apple has eyes on new mobile ad network
Looks to partner with Snapchat, Pinterest and others
Congrats
Florence, Alto's Odyssey and Inside named Apple Design Awards winners
Other recognised games include puzzle title Frost and action-adventure platformer Oddmar
Augmented Reality
Apple unveils ARKit 2 with shared experiences and persistent AR
Persistent AR lets users continue where they left off with a virtual world
Taking Back Control
iOS 12 Screen Time lets parents set daily gameplay limits on their children's devices
Apple surprisingly brings in features to restrict phone usage
Big Numbers
App Store receives 500 million visitors per week
500 million visitors per week
Data Klaxon
75% of spending in the iOS App Store came from games over the past 10 years
In terms of downloads games took 31 per cent
Crackdown
Russia gives Apple one month to remove Telegram messenger from App Store
Could the App Store be blocked if Apple refuses to comply?
Steam Blocker
Apple cites business conflicts as it rejects Valve’s Steam Link app
Mobile platform holder reverses decision to approve the the app
Key
Apple's 19th annual WWDC to kick off June 4th in San Jose
Apple expected to reveal host of new updates for iOS in opening keynote
Decent
Apple posts best second quarter ever with revenues of $61 billion
International sales accounted for 65 per cent of Q2 revenue
On The App
Games featured on iOS 11’s Games Tab see 450% more installs
Largest increase in percentage was seen in the Medium List which resulted in a 451 per cent increase
Not Too Shabby
Featured iOS apps can see up to 800% more downloads
A report by Sensor Tower delves into the download rates of featured iOS games
Shrinking Marketplace
Google Play continues to grow while number of App Store releases shrinks for the first time
There were 755,000 titles released on iOS in 2017, a drop of 29 per cent
Kitted Out
ARKit-powered apps break 13 million downloads in six months
Games count for almost half of AR apps
Get The Message
Chat app gaming: The massive opportunity in mobile no one’s talking about
Facebook Instant Games presents an exciting future for mobile
New Ipad Rumours
Report: Apple to refresh its line of iPad products in March 2018
Filings with the Eurasian Economic Commission suggest new models are coming
Apple Financials Q1 Fy18
Apple posts all-time revenue record of $88.3 billion for its Q1 FY18
Sales of its iPhones drop, but revenues from the sales grow
Apple Pays Tax
Apple Europe forced to pay $184.8 million in extra taxes to the UK
HMRC is also going to increase Apple's income tax in future payments
App Store 2017
Developers on the App Store earned $26.5 billion in 2017
January 1st 2018 sees $300 million in sales alone
For The Cause
Apple offers free Developer Program Membership to non-profit organisations
Get that $99 fee waived if you're an eligible organisation
Apple Buddy
Apple acquires app development platform Buddybuild
Team to join the Xcode engineering group
Cracking Down
App Store now requires developers to list loot box odds
Apple cracks down on monetisation model following triple-A game furore
Pre-orders And Discounts
Apple adds pre-orders and introductory subscription discounts to the App Store
Drum up support for your app or game earlier
Search Ads Basic
Apple launches stripped-back pay-per-install Search Ads Basic service in the US
Designed for smaller developers with small budgets
Apple In Bloom
Report: Apple acquires mixed reality hardware firm Vrvana for $30 million
Could use the firm's VR/AR tech to design its own headset
Apple Ar Headset
Report: Apple preparing to launch an AR headset in 2020
Ready for use internally by 2019
Apple Financials Q4 Fy17
Apple's iPhone 8 and 8 Plus launch push revenues to $52.6 billion
Yearly revenues come in at $229.2 billion
Iphone X
Apple opens pre-orders for iPhone X a week ahead of its release
Already sold out of its initial run
Augmented Reality
Unreal Engine 4 gets ARKit and ARCore support
Plethora of upgrades and improvements in latest 4.18 update
Best Ad Platforms
App Store Search ads rank high in latest AppsFlyer Performance Index for H1 2017
But Facebook and Google continue to dominate
Cat-ar-gories
Apple adds AR Games and AR Apps categories to new App Store
Helps identify which apps are ARKit-enabled, with some caveats
Ios 11 Out Now
Apple begins pushing iOS 11 onto compatible devices
Get yourself updated and start playing with ARKit
Ar Trumps Vr
Augmented reality is the next frontier for smartphones as VR falters
Apple’s ARKit and iPhone 8 and X show AR has left VR in the dust, and there's a lot more to come
Today At Town Square
Apple begins rolling out new retail concepts Town Squares and Today at Apple
Get your phone repaired while you learn how to code
Ios 11 Is Coming
iOS 11 launches for all compatible iOS devices on September 19th
Brings a heap of improvements including ARKit
Rise Of The Machines
Directive Games showcases AR MOBA The Machines at Apple keynote
Featuring location-based sound and online multiplayer
Syncing Feeling
Apple removes App Store from PC and Mac's iTunes software
Apps no longer sync to your computer
The Bigger They Are
Apple quietly discontinues 256GB model iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus
(RED) iPhones also dropped, but prices fall for 32GB and 128GB models
Apple Watch
Apple Watch Series 3 goes independent from iPhone
Launches on September 22nd
Iphone 8
iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus release date set for September 22nd
Prices start at $699
Iphone X
Apple unveils the future of its smartphones with the iPhone X
Set to launch on November 3rd
Apple Sky
Thatgamecompany’s Jenova Chen reveals new game Sky for iPhone, iPad and Apple TV
Multiplayer-focused title coming exclusively to Apple devices