Apple’s Developer Site Gains Revamped Section Dedicated to App Store Success

Apple today updated its web portal designed for developers with a new section entitled “Making Great Apps for the App Store,” aimed at helping developers grow their businesses and reach more users with their apps.

Included are resources for planning apps, App Store guidelines, tools for submitting apps, and a section on developer insights featuring stories from developers who have created successful titles.

The App Store makes it simple for users around the world to discover, download and enjoy your apps. Grow your business with resources designed to help you create great apps and reach more users.

Several sections of the App Store portal have previously existed, including the sections for Guidelines and submitting an app to the App Store, but the revamped site makes these tools easier to find and combines them together in a more logical way.

Apple’s App Store “Planning” feature, which aggregates some previously available information and offers new tidbits, covers the best methods for choosing effective categories for apps and getting apps discovered, including the qualities Apple seeks when planning to feature an app. It also includes ideal business models, tips for offering subscriptions and freemium apps, using analytics for marketing, and engaging users with app updates.

The Developer Insights section includes success stories from developers like Seriously, Grailr, Evernote, and Smule, covering everything from bringing an app to Apple Watch to building a brand on social media.

Apple’s revamped App Store developer section comes just as the company has announced its 2016 Worldwide Developers Conference, set to take place from June 13 to June 17 in San Francisco, California.
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Horror game ‘The Park’ reaches consoles May 3rd

Funcom’s The Park has become a bit of a sleeper hit among PC gamers thanks to its combination of parenthood-themed horror and its Let’s Play-friendly game mechanics, and now it’s ready to come to consoles. The studio has revealed that The Park will be available on May 3rd for both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The exploration title isn’t expected to change much in the conversion, but that’s fine — really, it’s all about the short-but-scary experience of losing your child in a theme park gone horribly wrong.

Source: Funcom

We’re giving away 50 codes for PLAY icon pack

Some icon packs are timeless. Some icon packs are oozing with class. But not all icon packs have this much fun with their design. When many saw the new Google Play icons, they were torn. Tha PHLASH, however jumped in head first, bringing that iconic design to not only the Google Play suite of apps but to every app on our devices. He’s generously given us 50 codes for this new icon pack PLAY. Here’s how to get them!

To enter our contest, simply reply to the contest thread in the AC forum. One entry per user (subsequent comments will not be counted in the drawing). We’ll be drawing for these code tomorrow morning at 11 AM CDT, and codes will then be PM’d to the winners.

Good luck to you all, and remember to PLAY sometime today!

PLAY icon pack

YouTube gets even more immersive with 360-degree live streams, spatial audio

While YouTube can already bring you the experience of attending a live event from afar, it’s looking to make that experience much more immersive with the launch of 360-degree live streaming. This means live streams can be even more engaging, allowing streamers and viewers to interact in new ways.

From Google:

We first launched support for 360-degree videos back in March 2015. From musicians to athletes to brands, creators have done some incredible things with this technology. Now, they’ll be able to do even more to bring fans directly into their world, with 360-degree live streaming.

To kick things off, Google says it will be showing off 360-degree live streaming with select artist performances from the Coachella music festival this week. Google also notes that it will outfit all YouTube Space around the world with 360-degree live streaming tech so YouTube creators everywhere can try it out.

Finally, to go along with the theme of immersion, YouTube is also launching spatial audio for on-demand videos today. Essentially, spatial audio will let viewers experience sound the way they do in real life. Distance, intensity and position of the sound source will change how you hear things as you look around, which means VR experiences can be even more engaging. If you’d like to try out spatial audio for yourself, Google has put together a playlist that you can check out on your Android device.

HTC 10 pre-orders kick off at Verizon on April 29

Verizon Wireless will begin taking pre-orders for the upcoming HTC 10 on Friday, April 29. It will also show off the smartphone in its retail stores on that same date for hands-on previews.

Verizon has not yet announced a price point for their version of the HTC 10, nor has it revealed a specific date for when shipments will start and in-store sales will begin for the phone. However, the carrier does claim that it will be the first wireless carrier to offer the HTC 10.

HTC 10

• HTC 10 preview
• HTC 10 hands-on: a Canadian perspective
• HTC 10 specs
• These are the HTC 10 colors
• Our first photo and video samples
• Meet the Ice View case
• Join our HTC 10 forums

HTC

Snag an unlocked AT&T BlackBerry Priv for just $450

If you’ve been on the lookout for a good deal on the BlackBerry Priv, DailySteals is currently offering the handset for just $450. For those keeping score, that’s a $200 drop from the Priv’s current price of $650 elsewhere.

DailySteals says that the model on offer is AT&T-branded. However, it is unlocked, so it should work with other GSM carriers like T-Mobile. If you’re interested, you can take advantage of the deal for the next five days at DailySteals from the link below.

See at DailySteals

BlackBerry Priv

• Complete BlackBerry Priv review
• BlackBerry Priv specs
• The latest Priv news
• Interview: BlackBerry’s President of Devices
• Join the discussion in the forums

AT&T
B&H Photo
BlackBerry

Getting started with the Samsung Galaxy S7

Some important settings to consider when you’re setting up your Samsung Galaxy S7.

Once you’ve gone through the initial set up for your brand new Samsung Galaxy S7, there are a few settings you’ll want to set up right out of the gate. For starters, you might have data to transfer over from an old phone. You’ll want to use the Samsung Smart Switch app to migrate your data over, whether it’s coming from another Android phone, or even a Blackberry or iOS device. Then you’ll want to make sure your phone’s software is up-to-date, and stays updated by automatically check for software updates.

Then there’s other settings that might be important for you getting started, such as changing the language, the keyboard, manually setting the time and date, and managing the different accounts you regularly use. Lets get to it.

• How to transfer data with Smart Switch
• How to manage the language and input settings
• How to check for updates
• How to change date and time settings

Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge

• Galaxy S7 review
• Galaxy S7 edge review
• Here are all four Galaxy S7 colors
• Should you upgrade to the Galaxy S7?
• Learn about the Galaxy S7’s SD card slot
• Join our Galaxy S7 forums

AT&T
Sprint
T-Mobile
Verizon

The HTC 10 is a phone to be excited about [Poll recap]

In last week’s poll we asked whether you were excited about the launch of the HTC 10. New phones tend to get all of us at least a little bit excited, as we see what has changed and what has stayed the same. This launch is no different as plenty of us want to get out hands on that shiny new HTC 10, the big question was whether you the reader were as excited about it.

In first place with a whopping 49.25 percent of the vote, were those of you who voted “Definitely!”. In second place, with 23.52 percent of the vote was “Yes, I can’t wait to read all about it”. “Not really, but maybe they’ll surprise me” came up with 14.09 percent of the vote to take third place, and “No” skidded into fourth place with 13.14 percent of the vote. That means that overall, 72.77 percent of you guys were excited to see the HTC 10 launch.

Are you excited for the HTC 10, or has another phone stolen your heart already? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!

HTC 10

• HTC 10 preview
• HTC 10 hands-on: a Canadian perspective
• HTC 10 specs
• These are the HTC 10 colors
• Our first photo and video samples
• Meet the Ice View case
• Join our HTC 10 forums

HTC

WWDC 2016: Siri lets slip when Apple’s conference will be held

Apple hasn’t officially announced when it hold WWDC 2016, but if you’re just dying to know, you can always ask Siri.

The Cupertino-based company’s Worldwide Developers Conference will start 13 June. The annual event’s kick-off date was revealed through Siri, Apple’s virtual assistant. 9to5Mac spotted the slip. Keep in mind the conference’s dates haven’t been announced by Apple or through Apple’s website yet.

To find out when WWDC 2016 will be held, simply ask Siri exactly that, and then she’ll respond: “The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) will be held June 13 through June 17 in San Francisco. I can’t wait!”

9to5Mac

We’re assuming Siri has prematurely revealed these dates, because the personal assistant actually serves up Apple’s WWDC website when asked for more information, and that website still only displays dates for last year’s event. Either someone at Apple messed up, or the company is being clever.

The first day of WWDC is most important for consumers, as that’s when Apple provides information on upcoming software updates for its mobile devices, desktop machines, and smartwatch. Last year, it also touched upon HomeKit, CarPlay, and the launch of Apple Music.

We’re expecting Apple to preview the next big releases of iOS and OS X, so stay tuned to our Apple hub for all the latest news, reviews, and analysis.

Ubisoft to ban ‘Division’ players who exploit its shoddy coding

A community manager for Ubisoft’s hit game, The Division, warned players against exploiting in-game glitches to gather extra end-game loot. The issue first appeared last week with the debut of the game’s Falcon Lost expansion map pack, which offers large-scale raid missions and valuable rare items for players that beat the dungeon. That loot was only supposed to drop once a week; thereby requiring users to play through repeatedly to collect the full armor/weapon sets.

However, players immediately figured out how to use a pair of skills, Survivor Link and Mobile Cover, to effectively speedrun the dungeons in about 20 minutes — without setting off traps or alerting enemies — and collect the rare loot every single time. According to Ubisoft, that’s a violation of its Code of Conduct even though it’s Ubisoft’s own shoddy game construction that has enabled the exploit. Specifically, Ubisoft’s CoC claims that “exploitation of any new or known issues or bugs is forbidden and may result in account suspension or revocation.” Users caught doing this will first receive a temporary suspension, then eventually a permanent ban if they’re caught doing it multiple times.

As expected, the player community is none too happy with the company’s stance on this issue. “You are in charge of the final product that is delivered to your customers,” Redditor CarpeBedlam wrote in an open thread to the developers. “You get to decide what we can and can’t do in your game world. You set the rules of this world, we simply inhabit that world and use the mechanics given to us… by you. Bottom line: if you don’t want people doing something in your game, design your code so it’s not possible.”

The company has argued that players who take advantage of the speedrun glitch are becoming too powerful for non-exploiters to handle in the game’s PvP zone, hence the ban threat. Ubisoft, for its part, already applied a patch to the game last Friday to halt the exploit. However, as any player of MMORPGs from the past decade can tell you, there will always be another glitch to exploit so it’ll be interesting to see how much of an impact these suspensions and bans will actually make. Next thing you know, Ubisoft will ban players for standing in doorways.

Source: ArsTechnica