App Store Sees Record Performance in Q2 2015 With 29% Increase in Revenue Year Over Year [iOS Blog]

During today’s Q2 2015 earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that the App Store saw its best quarter ever, with 29 percent growth year over year. The entire services category, which includes the iTunes Store, App Store, Mac App Store, iBooks Store, AppleCare, ApplePay, licensing, and other services also reached a record quarterly revenue of $5 billion, up 9 percent year over year, with growth largely coming from the App Store.

According to Apple CFO Luca Maestri, the App Store remains “incredibly popular” with customers around the world, and in the March quarter, it saw 70 percent more revenue than Google Play.

Apple also an update on HealthKit-based apps, which are part of Apple’s recent health and fitness initiative, aggregating all of a user’s health and fitness data. According to Cook, HealthKit has been highly successful, and there are now 1,000 HealthKit-based apps in the App Store.

Along with HealthKit, Cook also touched on apps for the Apple Watch. There are now 3,500 Apple Watch apps available for download. Cook said customer response to the Apple Watch was “overwhelmingly positive” and that Apple “can’t wait to see more inspiring apps” for the Apple Watch as we creep closer towards the 2015 Worldwide Developers Conference.

MCX Member Best Buy Begins Accepting Apple Pay in App, In-Store Support Coming [iOS Blog]

On an Apple Pay update shared during today’s second quarter earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that Best Buy will begin accepting Apple Pay in its iOS app today, with full Apple Pay support coming to Best Buy stores later in 2015.

Best Buy’s move to adopt Apple Pay is notable because Best Buy was previously a member of MCX, the Apple Pay competitor that’s pushing the CurrentC payments service. CurrentC, which uses barcodes rather than NFC for payments, remains in testing and will launch later this year.

Best Buy follows MCX member Meijer in offering Apple Pay to customers, and while both companies signed exclusivity agreements, MCX CEO Dekkers Davidson has said that there are no penalties or fines for leaving the MCX program. MCX members are not able to accept both CurrentC and Apple Pay at the same time, so it remains unclear if Best Buy remains a part of MCX.

Apple also announced that the number of locations accepting Apple Pay has now tripled since the service first launched in October of 2014.

Update 4:10 p.m. Pacific Time: According to sources that spoke to Re/code, Best Buy won’t begin accepting Apple Pay until later in 2015 because its MCX exclusivity agreements don’t expire until the summer of 2015. A Best Buy spokesperson told Re/code that the company remains invested in MCX, but did not say the company will offer MCX when it launches. “We are actively monitoring their pilots. It’s too early to declare whether we will take it at launch.”

Apple CEO Tim Cook: We’re ‘Working Hard’ to Remedy Apple Watch Supply/Demand Imbalance

During today’s earnings call covering the second fiscal quarter of 2015, Apple CEO Tim Cook did not share information on Apple Watch sales, but there were several analyst questions on the new wearable, leading Cook to shed a bit of light on Apple’s efforts to fulfill orders.

According to Cook, demand for the Apple Watch is much greater than supply, but the company is “working hard to remedy that.” He said that Apple made a lot of progress on that over the past week, and was able to deliver the Apple Watch to more customers than Apple had originally anticipated.

“We’re going to keep doing that,” Cook said, noting that some customers would begin receiving updated info on improved shipping estimates today. Apple is “generally happy” with its efforts to boost supply and get the Apple Watch out to customers as soon as possible, and Apple Watch availability may expand to other countries in late June. “It is a new product for us. With any new product, you wind up taking some time to fully ramp.”

I think we’re in a good position and sometime in late June we currently anticipate being in a position where we could begin to sell the Apple Watch in additional countries. That’s our current plan.

Cook said that it was difficult to gauge demand without a product in stores, and that customer response has been “overwhelmingly positive.” Apple is also “far ahead” of where it expected to be from an application point of view. According to Cook, the iPhone had approximately 500 apps available at launch, while the iPad had 1,000. Apple hoped to meet or beat the iPad’s 1,000 available apps at launch internally, but far exceeded that with 3,500 available apps. “We couldn’t be happier about how things are going from that point of view.”

Cook noted that Apple is “learning quickly about customer preferences between the different configurations” and that the company will be making adjustments to get in line with demand.

Tim Cook: Component Cost Breakdowns on Apple Products Are Nowhere Close to Being Accurate

During today’s Q2 2015 earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook noted that Apple Watch margins are lower than the company average, and on a followup question about those margins in the context of the Apple Watch Edition’s high price, Cook commented on the inaccuracy of estimated cost breakdowns on Apple products.

“I haven’t seen [them for Apple Watch], but generally there are cost breakdowns around our products that are much different than the reality. I’ve never seen one that is anywhere close to being accurate,” Cook said. He went on to say that the Apple Watch’s functionality is “absolutely incredible” with a lot of new features and innovative technology.

We haven’t seen cost breakdowns on the components of the Apple Watch hinting at a possible base unit price that would reveal Apple’s profit margin, but such component breakdowns are often shared by analysts following device teardowns. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, for example, were estimated to have a parts and labor cost of approximately $200, resulting in a 69 percent gross profit margin based on the device’s $649 base selling price.

iPhone 5s component cost was estimated to begin at $199, and iPad Air component cost was estimated to begin at $274. All of these estimates, which come from IHS iSuppli, include only part costs, leaving out other expenses like research and development, software creation, marketing, and distribution, which may explain Cook’s comments on inaccuracy.

According to Cook, it’s “intuitive” that Apple Watch margins would be lower than the company average during the first quarter, as the first quarter of any new product is “a learning period.” Cook declined to provide guidance beyond the current quarter, but Apple Watch profit margins could improve in the future as component costs drop as they do over time with any new technology.

Apple Watch Tips and Hidden Features: Handoff, AirPlay, and More

The Apple Watch is a brand new product platform for Apple, offering a significantly different experience compared to Apple’s already established platforms, iOS and Mac OS. As the device is getting onto more and more wrists over the coming days, weeks and months, we’ve collected a bunch of helpful tips to help users acclimating to Apple’s brand new platform in this video.

We’ve also highlighted some of the tips from the video, below.

Fast switching between apps – If you need to bounce between two apps, or one app and your watch face, it can become fairly cumbersome and take some time. Instead, it’s easier and quicker to simply fast switch between apps by double tapping the Digital Crown. Double tapping a second time goes back to the last thing you were doing. This way, you can spend some time on the watch face, quickly zoom over to the Music app to select a new song, and then double tap again to go back to the watch face.

Use Siri to launch apps – The app icons on Apple Watch can be fairly small, and their tiny touch targets can make it difficult to accurately choose which app you want to launch. An easier way to launch an app is to use Siri, which can be launched by either saying “Hey Siri” or holding down the Digital Crown. Once that’s done, a user just has to say “launch” or “open” followed by the name of the app.

Handoff Any Apple Watch Notification Back to the iPhone – It was already known that the Apple Watch would be able to handoff app activities from the Watch to the iPhone, but it can also be used to handoff any push notification back to your iPhone. Users can go back through the Apple Watch notifications they missed by swiping down on the watch face and hand those off at a later time. The original iPhone app doesn’t even have to be built to support it.

AirPlay Controls – Using Force Touch in various apps on the Apple Watch can yield new ways to interact. One of the more useful (yet hidden) ways Force Touch changes an app is within the Music app, where Force Touching while playing a song, allows you to choose your iPhone’s Airplay target for your music. This Airplay option isn’t available from any other screen in the Music app except for the song-playing screen.

You can also play music straight off your Apple Watch. Choosing “Source” from the same menu, lets you play music straight off your Apple Watch to any Bluetooth target.

Battery and Control Center Glances – On the watch face, swiping up reveals your Glances, which are quick looks at your various apps. They let you do certain things without having to open your app, and there are some Glances from Apple that can make using the Apple Watch a lot easier. The Battery glance allows you to check your battery percentage and manually start Power Reserve mode, while the Control Center glance allows you to turn on Airplane mode, Do Not Disturb, mute sound and ping a sound on your iPhone if you can’t find it.

Taking a Screenshot – One of the social phenomena emerging from the first week of the Apple Watch is people showing off how they’ve customized their watch faces and how they’ve arranged their home screen. Taking a screenshot is the best way to show off how personal users have made Apple’s most personal device, and to do so all one has to do is click the Digital Crown and the button underneath that at the same time.

You can watch the above video for even more tips and tricks, and if you’ve just got your Apple Watch and need help setting it up we’ve got a guide to help you get it up and running. Additionally, you can head over to our forums, where new Apple Watch users are discussing Apple’s newest device and sharing their home screens and watch face customizations.

Apple Watch’s Sapphire Crystal Display Evaluated With Diamond Tester

YouTube channel Unbox Therapy has shared a new video that tests the stainless steel Apple Watch with a basic diamond tester to determine if it actually has a sapphire crystal display like many regular mechanical watches. The video also tests the Apple Watch Sport, LG G Watch R, iPhone 6 and a Tissot watch that is verified to have a sapphire crystal display.

The results of the test confirm that the Apple Watch does have a sapphire crystal display as advertised, with the diamond tester recognizing the thermal conductivity of the scratch-resistant material. The verified Tissot watch also displays a reading on the meter, while the Apple Watch Sport, LG G Watch R and iPhone 6 do not yield any results because all three devices have traditional or ion-strengthened glass displays.

Sapphire crystal is a harder and more scratch resistant material than traditional glass, which is why Apple chose it for the more expensive Apple Watch and Apple Watch Edition display and lenses of the heart rate sensor. Apple cut the sapphire crystal with a diamond-encrusted wire to allow for a precise fit and polished it with diamond-covered pellets for a smooth and glossy finish.

“Sapphire is the second-hardest transparent substance after diamond,” reads the Apple Watch materials page. “That’s why we chose it to cover the Apple Watch and Apple Watch Edition faces, and to make the lenses of the heart rate sensor. Our sapphire crystal comes from the highest-quality boules. Only the purest, clearest, and strongest sapphire crystal is harvested. To ensure a precise fit for the case, the crystal is cut using a diamond-encrusted wire. To make room for an integrated antenna, a tiny groove is laser-ablated around its perimeter. And to create the smoothest possible finish, the crystal is polished with diamond-covered pellets.”

Apple Watch has been put through a variety of tests since it was released last week, giving users an idea of how the wrist-worn device manages based on both normal and unrealistic usage. CNET shared an Apple Watch torture test on Friday that, among other things, involved submerging the watch in hot water and pouring ketchup and maple syrup on it, while another video took the Apple Watch into the shower and swimming pool as part of a waterproof test.

Apple Watch Games Provide Gameplay Bursts With Incentive to Revisit Often [iOS Blog]

Although the main purpose of the Apple Watch is the wearable’s at-a-glance look at bite-sized content on the wrist, many game developers showed up out of the launch gate with new game experiences for the device. Some games appear to still be stuck in the mind-set of play sessions that are slightly too lengthy for a wrist-worn gadget, but a few clever dev teams have built fun, short-burst apps that are perfect for killing time in long lines, before a movie, or even at home.

Many of the games are free extensions of iOS games, but a few range in price from $1.99 to $3.99 on the App Store. Our sister site, TouchArcade, gave its initial thoughts on most of the games listed below in a roundup of Apple Watch games and companion apps.

Starting off with the free games, Nimblebit’s word game Letterpad tasks players with deciphering the spelling of a word using only a short hint and the number of letters within the hidden word. Solving the word progresses players to the next puzzle, the game slowly amping up difficulty along the way. The game uses Force Touch to let users spend hints, shuffle letters and clear spelling attempts. Letterpad is free on the App Store.

Watch Quest! Heroes of Time is designed specifically for Apple Watch and lets players view and interact with a hero on an epic quest. The catch is that the hero is on auto-pilot, fighting enemies and delving into dungeons on their own, but requires help from the player to ensure success.

So, for example, if a user fails to check in after a specific notification (open a treasure chest, battle a particularly tough foe), the in-game hero will fail to succeed at the mission. Watch Quest! Heroes of Time is free on the App Store, with the added caveat that it’s essentially a tutorial mission and the full game can be unlocked at $0.99.

Another interesting RPG-like game is Runeblade, which tasks players with dispatching a rotary of enemies every time they re-visit the app. Upon victory, players win gold that can be used to upgrade damage and attack speed, and then points them onto a new quest and enemies to defeat all leading to bigger boss battles.

Players can look forward to unlockable spells, harder enemies, and “a wealth of items to unlock” as they progress, according to TouchArcade. Runeblade is free on the App Store.

One of the more notable paid apps is called Spy_Watch, which provides a bit of a meta game in letting its players role-play as the offspring of the former head of a famous Spy Organization. While playing, they are faced with the immense task of rebuilding the shuttered group from the ground up while simultaneously digging through clues regarding the player’s mysteriously killed father.

What all this essentially boils down to is the player’s input on the main menu in deciding on which missions to take to advance the story, earn more cash, or training to advance the player’s skill set. After initiating a mission, a timer counts down in real-time, eventually alerting players to return to the game to continue their mission of espionage and discovery on the game’s world map. Bossa Studios’ Spy_Watch is $1.99 on the App Store.

As TouchArcade points out, many of the first wave launch games on the Apple Watch appear to be designed for quick bursts of gameplay with some form of motivation to keep checking back into the experience. While some games still fall flat on either (or both) of those fronts, and are subsequently not worth much of a mention, we will keep updating this roundup of new and notable games for the Apple Watch as they become available.

More notable games for Apple Watch:

– Rules! ($2.99, currently available as a free download within Apple Store app)
– Trivia Crack ($2.99, ad free)
– Letter Zap (Free)
– BoxPop (Free)

App Store Review Guidelines Updated to Forbid Time-Telling Apple Watch Apps

Apple has updated its App Store Review Guidelines to reflect an Apple Watch rule that it’s been enforcing over the past several weeks, which prevents developers from creating Apple Watch apps that display the time. According to the newly added 10.7 rule under “User interface,” Watch Apps that have a “primary function” of telling the time will be rejected.

Though this rule, noticed first by 9to5Mac, was not previously listed in the App Store Review Guidelines or in the Apple Watch Human Interface Guidelines until today, Apple has previously been using this guideline to turn down Apple Watch apps, and its enforcement of this rule appears particularly strict based on some of the apps that have been rejected.

MacRumors recently spoke to one developer who had his app rejected from the App Store due to the time telling rule, but offering the time was not the main function of the app. Instead, it was an app that used a clock-like face to display sunset/sunrise times along with the position of the sun and the moon.

The developer was told by Apple that Apple Watch apps containing a clock face, the likeness of a clock, or time-telling functionality would be rejected, and the Apple employee he spoke with mentioned that quite a few developers had been rejected due to the policy.

A video walkthrough of the available watch faces on the Apple Watch
Given Apple’s aim to position the Apple Watch as a fashion accessory, it’s no surprise that the company is maintaining strict control over what’s arguably the most important core function of the Apple Watch — telling the time. In interviews, Apple executives have explained that hundreds of hours of work went into developing the watch faces that are available for the Apple Watch, with an obsessive amount of detail put into each one for the best possible time-telling experience.

Apple’s also advertised the Apple Watch as an “incredibly accurate” timepiece, a claim that it might not be able to guarantee if a third-party time-telling app is allowed to display the time. Watch faces are one aspect of the Apple Watch that Apple is not allowing users or developers to touch. While watch faces can be customized with Apple’s options, users cannot select their own backgrounds as they can do on the iPhone or iPad and developers cannot develop their own Apple Watch face experiences.

Apple often has strict rules when a product launches, but the rules can and do relax over time, as we’ve seen with iOS 8 and the return of the once-forbidden Launcher app. It’s possible that Apple will open up watch faces to developers in the future, or become less strict with apps that include time-telling functionality, but for now those types of apps will not make it into the App Store.

Today’s App Store Review Guidelines update also included a new bit about HealthKit. Rule 27.10 says that apps conducting health-related human subject research must secure approval from an independent ethics review board.