Apple warns developers not to manipulate their app rankings

In a sign of trouble at the App Store, Apple has warned app developers not to manipulate their rankings in the top charts by using third-party marketing services.

The warning addresses rumors that “bot farms” or “water armies” in places such as China are offering to boost apps into the top 25 by using a mob of users to download an app and give it positive reviews in exchange for money.

In a message on … Continue Reading

How Camera+’s John Casasanta made millions off a $1 app

Earlier this month, Tap Tap Tap reported that its Camera+ iPhone app had raked in $5.1 million since launching in June 2010. In this exclusive interview with Tap Tap Tap founder John Casasanta, we talk about the company’s run-ins with Apple, the secrets behind its record download numbers, and developers’ hopes for the iPhone 5.

VentureBeat: Camera+ has been out since June 2010 and has had its ups and downs (volume button shutter release, anyone?). … Continue Reading

Glooko raises $3.5M to sync diabetes glucose meters to iPhone app

Glooko has raised $3.5 million in a new round of funding that will enable it to release new versions of its solution to help people with diabetes monitor their glucose intake more easily.

The round was led by The Social+Capital Partnership along with existing investors. The company’s product is one more example of the “quantified self” trend, where people can gain self-knowledge through quantification of the things they do in life.

About 25 million people … Continue Reading

New to-do list app Clear simplifies and color-codes organization

Is there such a thing as being too organized? A new to-do app called Clear aims to cut down on the amount of time you spend managing to-do lists so that you can actually, well, do things. The app is being demoed for the first time Thursday at the Macworld/iWorld expo in San Francisco.

There is no shortage of feature-filled to-do apps in the App Store. Apple even launched its own in October called Reminders, … Continue Reading

Apple’s iOS App Store had over 5M free app downloads per day in Nov.

Thanks to the iPhone 4S’ huge sales, Apple’s mega-popular iOS App Store reached an all-time high in November for free downloads coming from the Top 200 apps, according to marketing firm Fiksu.

In retrospect, it’s not terribly surprising when you consider that the iPhone 4S had the most successful iPhone launch ever, with more than four million units sold in its first weekend in October. All those first-time iPhone owners, and repeat owners who upgraded … Continue Reading

Gameloft pulls ads from Hero of Sparta 2 mobile game due to complaints

Gameloft said today it was pulling the ads out of its newly launched Hero of Sparta 2 game and returning the title to its paid status. It also apologized to users for providing a poor experience by putting ads into a game,  distracting users from the game play.

The move shows that it’s not always that easy to switch from one form of monetization to another, as fans can react negatively to in-game ads, particularly … Continue Reading

Apple removes Fake ID app after US Senator steps in

Sorry, underage drinkers, Apple pulled your easy fake ID app today, after Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey put his word in on the issue.

Fake identification has been around probably since the advent of IDs. This process was made temporarily easier by a mobile application created by DriversEd.com, a website that provides online driving courses for a number of different US states. The app, which lived in the Apple App Store, allowed you to choose a … Continue Reading

NetDragon Websoft brings storied free-to-play game Conquer Online to iPad

Conquer Online, one of the oldest free-to-play online games in existence, has migrated to the iPad as of today. It might not be the first massively multiplayer game to make its way to the App Store, but it is certainly one of the most recognizable, having been online since 2003. With over 10 million registered accounts, the game has a big following.

Unlike most of the more recent F2P MMO offerings, Conquer Online is a … Continue Reading

Rockstar announces release date and price for iPad version of Grand Theft Auto III

Rockstar games posted the release date and price point for the 10 Year Anniversary Edition of Grand Theft Auto III, soon to be available for “select new generation iOS and Android devices.” This new mobile edition of GTA III for mobile devices will be on the App Store and the Android Marketplace starting on December 15th, and will be released at a price of $4.99.

Grand Theft Auto is one of the most lucrative video … Continue Reading

Teach your robot new tricks this Cyber Monday at the RobotsAppStore (video)

If you haven’t gotten a gift for your robot this Cyber Monday (what, you don’t have one yet?), you might want to think about visiting the RobotsAppStore, the Internet’s first portal for paid robot apps. The RobotsAppStore hosts a variety of programs created by enthusiasts worldwide who want to extend the functionality of robots everywhere.

A”programmable robot” is something of a misnomer if you stop to think about it. In order for a robot to … Continue Reading

iOS developer finds security flaw, gets kicked out of Apple dev program

A newly discovered bug for Apple devices both allows hackers to execute unapproved code, and helped one developer get quickly kicked out of the iOS developer program.

Apple devices have been notoriously hard on its security measures, particularly with iOS devices. The series of products have been relatively safe from malicious intrusion, because Apple demands it approves all code, or codesigning, before allowing an application into its marketplace. Approved code can only perform functions allowed … Continue Reading

The Android Market has published half a million apps

The Android Market has published more than 500,000 mobile applications — though the powers that be have removed around 37 percent of published apps.

By contrast, Apple’s App Store for its iOS devices has published 600,000 apps; around 24 percent of those applications were later removed.

These stats are current as of the end of September. Published apps are constantly being culled for a number of reasons, including quality, unaddressed bugs and incompatibility with the … Continue Reading

Appbackr’s crowdfunded apps reach $1M sold in app markets

Appbackr is a relatively new platform intended to help developers find funding for their mobile app ideas, and it’s just announced a significant milestone: $1 million worth of Appbackr-funded apps have been sold in mobile app markets to date.

Here’s how Appbackr’s crowdfunding approach works: The service connects app developers with buyers (called backrs) who are interested in purchasing wholesale copies of the app in question. Developers get paid immediately, and backrs make a profit … Continue Reading

Japanese mobile game companies make their own strategic moves

Japan is seeing a lot of action in the heavy rivalry between the two mobile social game networks DeNA and Gree.

DeNA announced today that it has launched its Mobage app, the Japanese version of Apple’s Apple Store, bringing its mobile social game network to iOS iPhone and iPod Touch users. Meanwhile’s Japan’s Gree made a strategic investment in UltiZen Games, a game developer and outsourcing firm in China. Mobage is DeNA’s mobile social network … Continue Reading

If companies are scared of the cloud, Okta has $16M to calm their fears

Cloud access manager Okta announced a $16.5 million second round of funding.

This round was led by Greylock Partners with participation from new investors Khosla Ventures and existing investors Andreessen-Horowitz and Floodgate.

People are scared of the cloud. A cloud is big and opaque; it is easy to be fearful that cloud security is opaque as well. According to chief executive Todd McKinnon, Okta has a product that can comfort enterprise executives looking for secure … Continue Reading

Google gets new marketing director of mobile apps: GetJar’s Patrick Mork

Patrick “Mad” Mork (pictured left), chief marketing officer of app store GetJar, announced yesterday that he is leaving the company to become Google’s marketing director for mobile applications.

GetJar is an open app store for feature phones and smart phones alike, supporting  iOS, Android, Blackberry, Java, Symbian and more. The cross-platform marketplace recently reached two billion downloads. Mork, who has been with GetJar for three years, feels he is leaving the company in a good … Continue Reading

Judge agrees “App Store” isn’t entirely generic, still denies Apple’s injunction against Amazon

A U.S. judge has denied Apple’s preliminary injunction, which would have immediately stopped online retailer Amazon from using the term “App Store” even before the case goes to trial, reports Reuters.

Apple claims it owns a trademark on “App Store”, which is the name of the company’s application market place launched in 2008. Apple first took legal action in March after Amazon announced it was launching an app store of its own called the  “Amazon … Continue Reading

Apple’s iOS App Store tops 15B downloads with 425K apps

Downloads from Apple’s App Store have surpassed a whopping 15 billion since the store launched in 2008, the company announced today. That’s another strong milestone for the iOS App Store, which houses applications for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

The announcement proves that iOS app downloads are indeed accelerating. Apple just announced in January that it had surpassed 10 billion app downloads.

Apple said it has 425,000 free and paid apps in the App … Continue Reading

OMG! Cheezburger Network launches iPhone app

Cats. The iPhone haz them.

The Cheezburger Network, a group of websites highlighting silly picture, has launched its first iPhone application, porting thousands of ridiculous photos from its array of sites onto the iPhone’s 3.5-inch screen.

The application lets iPhone owners quickly browse through images from sites on the Cheezburger network.  It does the job — that is, getting images of stupid cats and other animals to an iPhone user as quickly as possible — … Continue Reading

Apple’s App Store hits milestone with 100,000 iPad apps

The iPad reached a new milestone today as the App Store now carries more than 100,000 apps tailored specifically for Apple’s tablet.

The first Apple iPad was released to much fanfare in April 2010 and the brouhaha continued with the launch of the more powerful iPad 2 in March. The iPad asserted its dominance over other consumer tablets in good part through the number of high-quality applications its platform provides.

It only took 16 months … Continue Reading