All Articles in App Store Apps

Adobe has released Photoshop.com Mobile [Free - iTunes Link]. The App Store is cluttered with a ton of photo editing tools, but this was one obvious omission. Nice to see Adobe fill it.

• Crop, rotate, change color with just a touch.
• Give an extra glow with Soft Focus.
• Get artsy with Sketch.
• Apply one-touch effects like Warm Vintage and Vignette.

The app can take photos with the iPhone and/or edit photos already on the iPhone or iPod touch, but can also use a free Photoshop.com account. It’s a cinch to set up. Simply take a few moments to open your photoshop.com account to edit, upload, store, and share all of your iPhone photos.

[Via The Loop]

Daring Fireball has been linking to some interesting discussions on Adobe’s recent announcement that Flash CS5 will compile “ahead of time” native iPhone binaries that can be submitted, as is, to Apple’s iTunes App Store.

First up, KickingBear reminds everyone to give it a chance before burying it just on concept or principle:

Let’s be frank here – **** the tools. If you’re as deep a fan of the Cocoa tool-chain as I am then you likely came to them as I did – after years of dealing with the drastically inferior. Do I believe Cocoa is still the best tool? Yes, I do. But let’s not pretend that it’s the only tool. Some crazy people may prefer other tools, and we may well think they’re insane for doing so. The proof, however, is in the pudding. And it’s the pudding that our customers buy. I’m in love with my oven and at this point I doubt I’ll ever change it but I have no illusions that fashion won’t pass me by. If Adobe, or anyone else, can produce tools that provide a more compelling application on the iPhone then good for them.

On the flip side, /dev/why takes a look at what’s generated by the current process:

Now, the notion that what this thing emits is indistinguishable from something Xcode emits is laughable. They are very different, and not in a good way. While the apps may get acceptable frame rates on an iPhone 3GS, they don’t on earlier hardware, and they almost certainly uses substantially more power battery than native games.

If you’re interested in the topic, give both articles a read and then let us know what you think.

Rock Band from EA is coming to the iPhone and iPod touch and Mashable has the details:

Just as is the case with the original, Rock Band for iPhone offers four different instruments that you can play: vocals, drums, bass, guitar. Each option offers a game experience that is unique to each instrument, so you’re playing the actual drum part when you select “drums,” and so on.

Should you sync up with friends and play over Bluetooth, be prepared to be blown away. The real-time gaming experience is incredible, as yours truly can attest to, and even goes so far as to highlight other players’ activities on your device as they happen.

Head on over to the link above for me info and screenshots. They think it’s “awesome”. What do you think?

Metallica has just released Live Metallica [$0.99 - iTunes Link], their very own companion application to go along with their LiveMetallica.com website. With it fans can purchase official recordings of each and every single live show since 2004 and listen to the latest concert streaming for free.

Purchase the app, log into your existing LiveMetallica.com account or register as a new user, and voila . . . every show you’ve purchased is there under the “listen” tab, along with a free stream of the latest show on the tour! You can listen to samples of over 5,300 live songs from close to 300 shows, and if you hear something you like, purchase it through the app and it will automatically stream on your phone . . . of course you can download your purchase to your computer later at your leisure. Shows from the free “Vault” section of the site are always streaming, and you can check out photos and notes from almost every show going back to 2004 when the site launched.

Metallica claims to have gotten this idea back in the day when they saw fans bootlegging their shows and figured they would make it more convenient by doing the recording themselves and cashing in. So you have to pay $0.99 to gain access to yet more content you again will have to pay for to access, minus a few free streams and jpegs of the band.

Any hardcore Metallica fans out there going to give this a shot? Let us know in the comments!

[Thanks to Phil for the tip!]

Developers Bjango posted an interesting — and informed — reply today to Newsweek’s sensationalist scoop on the iPhone App Store goldrush, and how the “rushies” might not be finding them much gold any more.

Could it be, the era of the fart-app fortune is… over?

Um, yeah. Anyone (other than the few who first staked their claims) banking — literally — on an everlasting gold rush to make their app fortune, rather than a clear, calculated business plan, is playing the lottery. And we all know the odds of winning those. So what’s the alternative model for the iTunes App Store? The same as it is anywhere, and with anything, else — focused effort and luck, with those who have better focus and more effort finding themselves luckier on average.

Countering Newsweek’s assertion that it takes six months, full time, and costs between $20K and $150K to make an iPhone app, Bjango and indie developers who shared their own stats averaged only a few months, a couple developers, and a mix of full and part time work. Moreover they point out that good ideas are a dime a dozen, and that people passionate about their projects, realistic about their potential, and smart about controlling the bottom line, may just fare better. The best advice, however, is at the end:

There is a mid-point between overnight hit and disastrous failure. However, if money is your primary motivator, then you’ve probably already lost the battle.

Users — the people who buy the apps — don’t care a hoot about some pseudo-devs get-rich-quick crApps. They care about great apps, and developers who make great apps probably want great apps themselves, not lottery tickets. If a great developer gets hugely successful along the way, everyone benefits.

[Thanks Melwan for the tip!]

Apple has now weighed in with regards to AT&T’s announcement today that they would be changing their policy and allowing VoIP (Voice over IP) to operate over their 3G network (something they’d previously asked Apple not to allow). When reached for comment, Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris told TiPb:

We’re very happy that AT&T is now supporting VoIP applications. We will be amending our developer agreement to get VoIP apps on the App Store and in customers’ hands as soon as possible.

Hopefully this means users on other carriers, liberated by AT&T along with the rest of us, will now also get VoIP over 3G apps. If any international carriers do decide to ban VoIP themselves at this point — yeah, we don’t see that going over well at all.

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!

Read the rest of this entry »

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.