All Articles in App Store Apps

Following up on a rumor earlier today that AT&T would be announcing a new, friendlier policy towards Skype and Google Voice, Skype President Josh Silverman posted on the official Skype blog, saying “Good move, AT&T”:

All of us at Skype applaud today’s announcement by AT&T (in an FCC filing to be published shortly) that it’ll open up its 3G network to Internet calling applications such as Skype. It’s the right step for AT&T, Apple, millions of mobile Skype users and the Internet itself.

Silverman reveals that 10% of all iPhone and iPod touch devices have downloaded the Skype app (which makes roughly 5 million installs, if our math is right), and while they give AT&T the requisite kudos, Silverman states that it’s the government and industry regulation that should ensure open networks — in line with the FCC’s recent move to establish “net neutrality“.

Of course, AT&T announcements and Skype enthusiasm are one thing, let’s see how long it takes to get Skype 3G into the App Store.

(And, of course, that still leaves Google Voice)

Since Adobe can’t get Flash on the iPhone — yet — they figure the next best thing is to let Flash CS5 and ActionScript 3 compile native iPhone apps that can be submitted to the iTunes App Store and run on iPhones and iPod touches everywhere.

In fact, Chroma Circuit, Trading Stuff, Fickleblox, Just Letters, South Park, The Roach Game, and Red Hood — all already on the App Store — we also all already developed using Flash and converted to the iPhone.

Like the earlier announcement from Novell about MonoTouch letting .NET compile iPhone apps, Flash is using the same “ahead of time” compilation instead of “just-in-time” to build the native apps.

Some will say this lowers the barrier of entry for developers to gain access to the App Store. We just hope it doesn’t make it so low they trip over it on their way in.

Again, from our point of view, it’s ultimate not about making things easier for developers, it’s about making things better for end-users. It’s not about us getting more apps, it’s about us getting better ones.

If a bunch of brilliant Flash (or .Net or Java or whatever.runtime) developers suddenly cross over and decide to make brilliant apps for the iPhone, then, yay! However, in our experience the truly brilliant developers are the ones who care so deeply about their apps they edit them down to the last sub-pixel level, and tweak the code until it behaves like it was born to the metal. In other words, those developers likely already picked up Cocoa like it wasn’t no thing.

The other ones, the ones who just want to pump out as many $0.99 CrApps as possible — yeah, we’re worried they’re turning our direction, and we have enough of them already, thanks very much.

Are we overly pessimistic? (Though we’re hardly the only ones). Do you think a lot of great Flash games will suddenly make the jump to the iPhone now? If so, name us your favorites, and let us know!

Updated: It’s here! TapTap Revenge 3 [$0.99 - iTunes link]

One of the most popular games in iPhone (and iPod touch) history is about to raise the bar again as Tapulous has just announced Tap Tap Revenge 3. What’s new the third time around?

First, they’ll have 40 song bundles from major artists available to purchase in-app at launch, along with custom themes for each. Next, they’ll have an online mode with bombs, weapons, chat, PMs, and more. Customizable avatars are on tap, with achievements and levels, as well as an overall look refresh and performance enhancements.

There will be over 100 free tracks for download as well, along with new free and paid tracks released weekly.

Pricing is $0.99 for the app (Apple doesn’t allow in-app purchase for free apps), with $2.99 6-track bundle and $0.99 2-track bundle options. Availability, of course, depends on when exactly Apple sees fit to release it into the App Store.

We’re hoping for soon.

More screen shots and complete artist list after the break!

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Back in September we mentioned that a VOIP application, Vonage Mobile, received the green light of approval into the App Store. Today it has finally been made available as a free download with a monthly fee for service. [iTunes Link]

Today Vonage (NYSE: VG) launched Vonage Mobile, its first mobile calling application for smartphones. Vonage Mobile is a free downloadable application (app) that provides seamless, low-cost international calling while on Wi-Fi or cellular networks*. Once downloaded, the service saves customers more than 50% on calls to dozens of countries versus the rates charged by wireless carriers while providing far more convenience than calling cards. Vonage Mobile will be available for download on the iPhone(R), BlackBerry(R) and iPod touch(R) at www.vonage.com and the iTunes App Store later today.

While the release of this application is not all that shocking, the fact that you can use the networks 3G data to make your calls with Vonage Mobile is. That whole fiasco between Apple, Google, AT&T, and the FCC seems to have worked out in our favor yet again.

The PSPgo is Sony’s answer to the iPhone in a post-App Store world, but unfortunately it looks like charging more for poorly ported games is the question. Gizmodo explains the obvious — to everyone but Sony — problem:

You see, PSP Minis can’t have any network or online features. Nor can they support camera peripherals (a major focus of DSiWare innovation) or DLC. Kotaku just reviewed iPhone port Hero of Sparta. On the PSP it costs triple what you’ll pay at the App Store. Their review? “Simplistic controls, muddled graphics and abysmal sounds turn what was a fantastic iPhone game into a oddly disjointed Playstation Portable experience.” Kotaku’s review of Tetris was much better. But you know what? Tetris costs twice as much on the PSP as it does the iPhone.

Just like ATRAC and rootkits (ouch, we know), we’re beginning to wonder if anyone at Sony will ever get this brave, new, post-iPhone world?

(Goviko Navigator for iPhone Forum Review by cjvitek For more Forum Reviews, see the TiPb iPhone App Store Forum Review Index!)

Gokivo [$4.99 - iTunes link] is the next GPS application in the increasingly long list of iPhone GPS turn-by-turn apps. First off, when I started the app, I got a little confused because it looks almost exactly like Google Maps (in fact, it may literally be the same). But the interface expands beyond Google Maps. When you put in a term for searching, you get an expanded list of options – including using local Yahoo lists, categories, your contact list, etc.

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Every week a few of us from team TiPb, bloggers and forum crew alike, will bring you our current favorite, funnest, most useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they’re iPhone (or iPod touch) related, they’re fair game.

So who’s on deck this week and what are our picks? Find out after the break!

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PushMail [$2.99 - iTunes link] has just gone 2.0. For those unfamiliar with PushMail, its a middleapp that creates an account for you to forward email, and when it’s alerted to that new email, it sends out a push notification to your iPhone. New features this time around include:

• 25 sound options
• Set silent periods (e.g. during the time you typically sleep)
• History, to view past notifications
• Customize notifications (choose what info you want to display, and what you want to keep private).
• View button to open message in PushMail, Mail, or Safari
• Configuration help and trouble-shooting
• Profiles to let you override certain settings based on specific criteria. (e.g. don’t push any email from the mother-in-law!)

Both the history and the profiles options sound terrific. For those who want GoogleSync-style push Gmail but are already using their only ActiveSync slot for Exchange, this is another option.

If you try it out, let us know what you think!

Dan Moren of Macworld has an interesting post up about this year’s C4 Independent Developers Conference, and how the indie devs seem to have cooled towards iPhone development and turned their attention back to the Mac. Why? Not the technology, of course. They’re up on the handset and almost everyone had at least one. No, it was dissatisfaction with the state of how Apple runs the iTunes App Store, of course.

Lack of control over elements like release times was cited as one issue. Profitability, another:

The problem is that the prices in the App Store, which tend towards the lower end, make it harder to recoup the investment put into developing the program in the first place. Sure, there have been over two billion downloads from the App Store, but remember there’s more than 85,000 apps available. Even if your 99 cent application gets downloaded 10,000 times, after Apple’s 30 percent cut that’s just $7,000 in revenue—not profit, mind you, just revenue—and if you spent the last six months of your life working on that application, you better hope you’re still working a day job if you want to cover living expenses.

Rather than abandoning the platform, however, some devs had suggestions for how Apple could help make things better, including upgrade pricing (to avoid Tweetiegate situations), creating a mechanism for demos, and something we’ve heard before from Craig Hockenberry — having a higher-priced developer account option that comes with a better service level from Apple ($999 platinum account, for example, in addition to the current $99 version).

With the current volume market, Apple may not care since they’ll make their 30% off Apps and CrApps alike. But here’s hoping their pride wins out, and Apple decides they don’t merely want the most successful App Store, but the very best one as well — for users and developers.

My home screen is incredibly boring. Because I have a few devices, and I do a lot of testing with them, I also have to restore them fairly often and it’s gotten to the point where I just leave everything in its default location because it’s a) easier than rearranging and b) I don’t have to hunt for stuff I haven’t rearranged.

So, my second screen has become where I move my non-default, but still more often used apps. Typically the exact order will vary due to the reasons above, but the apps are fairly consistent.

I’ll list out what I use after the break, but we’re really more interested in what’s on YOUR iPhone home screen and why. If you’re willing to share a screenshot, jump on over to our TiPb iPhone Forums, attach it, and share the details!

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