The Mac App Store is failing developers. Another key app has left the Mac App Store. What will Apple do to fix this?
Development
OHHH HELL NO!!!!
Allen Pike builds iOS apps. He found his support in-box getting filled with support requests from another app, one he’d never even heard of. A fascinating story unfolds as Pike dives into the rabbit hole.
Apple sends out letter apologizing/explaining Mac App Store certificate issues
About a week ago, the Mac App Store came a bit off its rails, at least for some apps.
Yesterday, Apple sent out a letter of explanation and apology to developers whose apps were affected.
Sideloading
Sideloading is a way to deliver apps to people without going through Apple’s official distribution mechanism. Interesting piece from Federico Viticci.
Apple running 10 city tour of Apple TV Tech Talks
From the Apple TV Tech Talk web site:
The new Apple TV is here, bringing incredible and immersive apps and games to the big screen. Get in-depth technical information on building and designing for tvOS, learn refined coding techniques, and obtain valuable development instruction from Apple experts.
Here’s how to get coverage for your app or product
Got an app or product and want coverage in the blogosphere? Allyson Kazmucha pulled together a column telling you what to do and, more importantly, what not to do. Pass this along.
Jean-Louis Gassée: The Apple Car and Apple’s software culture
A thoughtful column (as usual) from JLG, questioning the culture that builds software that has the luxury of being allowed to crash and having that culture be required to build software that absolutely cannot fail.
Android development is 30% more expensive than iOS. And we have the numbers to prove it!
This detailed analysis is from a firm that does both Android and iOS development. Read the blog post, draw your own conclusions.
When a dev dies, their apps should live on
If the developer of your favorite app stops paying for their developer account, when Apple cancels the account, do the apps immediately get pulled from the app store? Does Apple have a policy that covers this?
Background data and battery usage of Facebook’s iOS app
Facebook. Grrr.
The personal assistant that will help Facebook eat the internet
Facebook’s M is a human/AI blend, their approach to a Siri-like system that is fascinating and well worth a look.
Battery life, load times, and actually giving a shit about your customers
Matt Galligan, writing for Medium, on Facebook being the primary point of battery drain on his brand new iPhone 6s Plus.
The novel App Store revenue model for Overcast 2
John Gruber highlights Marco Arment’s novel patronage based revenue model for Overcast 2.
Overcast 2.0 brings Smart Speed to streaming
If you listen to podcasts, read this review to learn why Overcast’s Smart Speed is such a killer feature.
What’s worse than paid app updates?
Dan Edwards, writing for Medium:
Recently Tweetbot 4 was released as a cross-platform update that’ll work on iPad & iPhone. Right now (at 50% off), it’s a $4.99/£3.99 app. Regardless of whether you bought the old Tweetbot recently, or at all.
Some people were pretty angry about this
This is inside out thinking. Read on for more.
How to create a custom Safari pinned tab icon for your web site
Yesterday, we walked you through the process of pinning Safari tabs in El Capitan. Turns out, it’s very easy to create your own custom pin icon. Read on to learn more.
Use Safari’s responsive design mode in El Capitan
If you’ve got any interest in web development, take Safari’s Responsive Design Mode for a spin.
Validating the integrity of your copy of Xcode
A few days ago, we posted the story about the XcodeGhost malware that made its way onto the App Store via compromised copies of Xcode.
In response, Apple pulled affected apps from the store and, just as importantly, sent out letters to developers to test their copies of Xcode, to make sure it was indeed a valid copy from Apple.
Here’s how.
Marco pulls Peace from the App Store: “Just doesn’t feel good”
Read on for links to Marco’s explanation and Rene Ritchie’s article on the refund process.
A salute to solo programmers
Jean-Louis Gassée, writing for Monday Note, offers praises to solo programmers from long ago, leading up to this heaping praise for the newest solo gem, written for the Mac.
How to view Safari cookies
It’s easy enough to view a list of sites that have cookies in Safari, but if you want to actually see the cookie and parameters used by a particular site, you’ll need to dive a bit deeper into the interface.
Worth giving this a try.
iOS design rules to break
If you have even a passing interest in iOS app design, this is a terrific, thoughtful read.
Apple disables App Store reviews from devices running iOS 9
This is a smart move. Allowing reviews on apps on a beta OS is a disservice to developers.
List of stuff announced at WWDC
This is just terrific. A detailed list of things, both small and large, announced at last month’s WWDC.
This game is so small it fits inside a tweet
Crazy!
Why is Android still the second platform developers work on?
Are Android apps harder to build? Is it the fragmentation issue? Is it easier to make money in the iOS app store? Terrific read.
Code like a girl, lead like Tim Cook
Buzzfeed followed five coders, all of them girls, all of them winners of full scholarships to this past WWDC. Simply fantastic.
Hacked Apple Watch runs Flappy Bird
Ridiculous. And awesome.
Apple, WWDC, and accessibility
This is a great read. Kudos to Steven Aquino for pulling together this tour and analysis.
Apple, backstage at the start of the WWDC keynote
This is what developers saw just before Tim walked out onto the stage. Pretty great.