Apple Expands Lower App Store Pricing Tiers to Australia
Earlier this year, Apple introduced two alternate pricing tiers, Tier A and Tier B, to the App Store in order to allow developers to charge lower prices in countries like China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, and Turkey.
As of today, Apple has informed developers that it is making its lower-priced Tier A and Tier B pricing options available in Australia. Tier A and Tier B pricing will allow developers to set prices below the current 1.49AUD minimum price.
The addition of Tier A and Tier B pricing options in Australia comes a few days after Apple raised App Store prices in the country. Earlier this week, the minimum app price in Australia was raised to 1.49AUD from 1.29AUD due to exchange rate fluctuations.
An app that costs $0.99 in the U.S. App Store costs 1.49AUD in Australia at Tier 1 rates, but developers will now be able to charge $0.99 in the United States while charging a lower price in Australia and the other countries listed above.
When Apple notified Australian customers about the rate change, it also let them know that developers would have the option to use Tier A and Tier B pricing options. Apps that previously used Tier A and Tier B pricing will already be cheaper in the Australian App Store.
App Store pricing was also increased in Indonesia and Sweden, and Mac prices have also risen in a number of countries this week.
Review: ‘Anchor’ Offers Simple Apple Watch Charging, but With Drawbacks
Native Union’s Apple Watch charging solution, dubbed the “Anchor,” is definitely winning in one category: its simplicity. The new accessory is neither a stand nor a dock, but more of a pad designed to nestle an Apple Watch charger and act as a dedicated area for users to rest their Apple Watches on to give them power. It’s a stripped-down approach that makes the Anchor endearing, but ultimately also keeps it from becoming a front-runner in the budget-minded Apple Watch charging solution market.
Design
The Anchor is crafted in two separate parts, with a non-slip silicone acting as the base for a weighted zinc alloy for resting the Apple Watch on. The two halves come apart for installation, which is a simple process thanks to the ease with which the silicone base forms around Apple’s inductive charging puck. It’ll also be a breeze for those who travel frequently, since the Anchor’s small footprint and minuscule weight (3.2 ounces) should be easily accommodated in a travel bag.
Due to its flat build, it should be mentioned that the Anchor’s small size is a bit deceptive initially, as its 2-or-so inches become anywhere between 10 to 12 inches (depending on Band size) once the Apple Watch lays on the dock. And given its design, the Anchor doesn’t elevate the Apple Watch above and away from a desk’s clutter while being charged — as many other docks successfully achieve — instead tending to add to any clutter.
Design wise, there’s not much else to say about the Anchor. With a small stature and rudimentary — but functional — design, it should make most owners of the Apple wearable happy. In particular, those who find the large size of some other docks to be a burden, or believe the bigger stands take away from the Apple Watch as its own centerpiece may appreciate the Anchor.
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Apple Updates iWork Mac and iOS Apps With Support for OS X El Capitan and iOS 9
Apple today updated its three iWork apps for the Mac, adding new features and OS X El Capitan support to Keynote, Numbers, and Pages. All three apps now support the new Split View multitasking feature in OS X El Capitan, allowing them to be used side-by-side with another app while in fullscreen mode.
There are also new Force Touch gestures in each of the apps, which work with the new Force Touch Magic Trackpad and the trackpad in the Retina MacBook Pro and the 12-inch MacBook. In all three of the apps, a Force click on an image will allow them to be edited, and this Force gesture has built-in haptic feedback.
Keynote and Pages have gained support for opening presentations and documents from 2006 and 2008 versions of the software, while Numbers is now able to open Numbers ’08 spreadsheets. Shared Pages, Keynote, and Numbers documents can now be previewed on iOS and Android browsers.
Apple has also updated its iWork apps for iOS, notably adding split-screen multitasking support on the iPad and support for 3D Touch on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. On the iPad, the three apps have also gained new Multi-Touch gestures for selecting text, a new Shortcut Bar that provides quick access to formatting tools, and new keyboard shortcuts when connected to a wireless keyboard.
Each of the iWork apps has also received a long list of other minor feature improvements and updates that are available in both the iOS and Mac versions of the software. A full list of the improvements can be found on Apple’s dedicated Pages, Numbers, and Keynote website.
Apple’s line of iWork apps are free to users who have recently purchased a new Mac or iOS device. Otherwise, each iWork app for Mac is available for $19.99 while each iWork app for iOS is available for $9.99.
Pages for Mac – [Mac App Store]
Keynote for Mac – [Mac App Store]
Numbers for Mac – [Mac App Store]
Pages for iOS – [App Store]
Keynote for iOS – [App Store]
Numbers for iOS – [App Store]
The Apple Store’s biggest fan, Gary Allen, passed away at age 67
You may not recognize the name Gary Allen. For a time, though, Allen traveled the world to be among the first in line when a new Apple Store opened. He wrote about Cupertino’s retail efforts on his blog, ifo Apple Store, including details of the over 140 store openings that he visited. He even drove across the country to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the first store (pictured above). After being diagnosed with brain cancer, Allen stopped blogging in March, but not before amassing a knowledge of Apple’s retail footprint that may never be rivaled. He passed away this week at age 67, leaving behind his wife, son and two brothers. “He made all kinds of friends all over the world,” his brother Jim told The Washington Post. “I think that’s the part of it he most enjoyed.”
[Image credit: Washington Post/Getty Images]
Source: The Washington Post
Macs Saving IBM Money on IT Management Despite Higher Up Front Cost
IBM this year began adopting Macs for its employees, a move the company says has been highly successful. Speaking at the JAMF Nation User Conference (via AppleInsider) earlier this week, IBM vice president of Workplace-as-a-Service Fletcher Previn said that far fewer Mac users require help with their machines than IBM’s PC users.
“Every Mac that we buy is making and saving IBM money,” he said, as the Macs require less management and setup effort than PCs, even though they cost more up front.
Just five percent of employees using Macs call IBM’s internal help desk for troubleshooting, while 40 percent of the company’s PC users make calls to the help desk. According to Previn, these numbers point towards the Mac’s ease of use and the solid job the IBM team has done setting up Macs at the company. IBM’s Mac onboarding experience is highly streamlined, making it easy for employees to do much of the setup work themselves in a short period of time.
IBM’s deployment allows for employees to receive a shrink-wrapped, brand new Mac and quickly and easily set it up on their own. Using Apple’s Device Enrollment Program and JAMF Software’s Casper Suite, users set up and install IT-approved apps, software and configurations.
JAMF Software’s Self Service allows IBM and its employees a simple method for installing licensed software. In an example given by Previn, the employee simply needs to click install for Microsoft Office, and IT will handle the licensing on the backend without exposing any of it to the user.
IBM is rolling out 1,900 Macs to its employees each week, and there are more than 130,000 iOS and Mac devices being used by IBM employees at the current time. In July, IBM CIO Jeff Smith said he thought IBM might end up purchasing 150,000 to 200,000 Macs on a regular basis for the company’s 400,000 employees.
As of 2014, Apple and IBM have been working together to create specialized enterprise-focused apps and services for iOS devices. Under the partnership, IBM is selling iOS devices to its corporate customers, developing apps, and providing on-demand AppleCare service.
New Yahoo Mail App Launches With Design Overhaul, Smarter Searches and Multiple Inboxes
With the 18th anniversary of Yahoo Mail hitting this month, the company today launched an all-new mail client for its popular service, debuting on both iOS and Android platforms. Most notably, the new Yahoo Mail app will let users combine accounts from services like Outlook, AOL Mail, and Hotmail all under the same roof, which even extends to the Yahoo Mail experience on the desktop.
“Email is the most prevalent way people communicate online. However, what we want from our inbox is evolving. Mobile use requires a faster and smarter inbox,” said Jeff Bonforte, senior vice president of communication products at Yahoo. “Both of these needs are at the center of our new app.”
The new app also introduces a new concept in password keeping, called the Yahoo Account Key, which the company describes as “a more secure and simple alternative to the old password.” Not much detail was given specifically to the way it functions, but Yahoo said it should simplify the sign-in process for Yahoo Mail thanks to the use of push notifications to grant users access to the secure content located within the app.
The new Yahoo Mail app is available to download from the App Store for free right now [Direct Link]. Yahoo notes that the the desktop version of the overhauled Yahoo Mail is strictly aimed at United States users at launch and will be “coming soon” in other territories. The company encourages those interested in more information regarding its mail client to visit the Tumblr page devoted to the launch of the new software.
Facebook Aware of iOS App Battery Life Drain Issue and Working on a Fix
Facebook today acknowledged its awareness of an issue raised by a few iOS users last week, who saw large amounts of battery drain on their iPhones while the social networking app ran in the background, even with background app refresh toggled off. Speaking with TechCrunch, a Facebook spokesperson confirmed the company’s awareness of the bug and promised a fix would be in place “soon.”
MacRumors Forum member Oridus suffering from the Facebook battery drain bug
“We have heard reports of some people experiencing battery issues with our iOS app. We’re looking into this and hope to have a fix in place soon,” the spokesperson said.
A number of Facebook users have commented on the issue of background battery drain over the past week, with users on the MacRumors Forums posting about the issue as far back as last Thursday. One poster (seen above) saw Facebook responsible for a dramatic 39 percent battery usage over a six day period, despite having background app refresh set to off.
Several sites have attempted to theorize on the cause behind the overzealous battery drain, including MacStories, hypothesizing that the reason behind the bug could be silent audio emanating from the service’s auto-playing videos. Since most people don’t bother with turning off auto-play, Facebook could be keeping a muted audio track running in the background with users largely unaware, letting it run and “consume energy to perform background tasks” even after leaving the app.
The company itself hasn’t commented on the source of the bug, but at least those affected can look forward to a fix for it in the future.
Apple introduces ResearchKit apps for autism, melanoma and epilepsy
Apple wanted to make data gathering easier for medical researchers with ResearchKit. According to the company, since the launch of the open-source platform earlier this year, over 100,000 participants have already shared their health data with a host of apps that study asthma, diabetes, breast cancer and more. The Kit’s ever-increasing list of studies will now include autism, epilepsy and melanoma.
Duke University has introduced “Autism & Beyond”, an app that uses an emotion detection algorithm to track visible signs of autism in children. The team wants to use the front-facing iPhone camera to see if a user’s reactions to videos can be used to make an early diagnosis. Another app, from Oregon Health & Science University, will look at iPhone images to study moles and melanoma. Participants from all parts of the world will be able to contribute to the research by documenting their mole growth with pictures over time. Based on these collections of photographs, the goal is to build an algorithm that will potentially detect and screen melanoma.
Johns Hopkins, on the other hand, has moved away from the iPhone. Their app, the EpiWatch, will use and test the wearable sensors on the Apple Watch to see if they can predict and detect seizures. The first leg of this epilepsy study will allow users quick, one-touch access to the app that will collect data from both the accelerometer and heart rate sensors in the watch, while it simultaneously alerts a designated contact or caregiver. EpiWatch will maintain a log of the epileptic episodes and will also allow patients to compare notes with other participants. For millions of epilepsy patients across the country, this app hopes to find a way to monitor seizures.
Pandora gives its iOS app the CarPlay treatment
As the number of CarPlay-compatible vehicles continues to grow, it’s about time a few extra iOS apps made the jump to the dashboard. The latest to join Apple’s in-car operating system is Pandora, which — despite only mentioning some bug fixes in its release notes — has quietly added support in its latest app update. The addition was spotted by 9to5Mac and, as you might expect, allows drivers to access their preferred music stations without touching their iPhone. Once you’re happily streaming some tunes, you can also head back to the Now Playing screen and use the action menu to give individual tracks a thumbs up or thumbs down. Alongside Spotify, Rdio and iHeartRadio, there are plenty of ways now to get your music fix through CarPlay — handy if you’re itching to ditch Apple Music.
[Image Credit: 9to5Mac]
Via: 9to5Mac
Source: Pandora (iOS)
Pixelmator for Mac Updated With El Capitan Split View Feature and Photos Extension
Popular photo editing app Pixelmator for Mac was today updated to version 3.4, adding full support for Apple’s latest operating system, OS X El Capitan. The new version of Pixelmator supports the Split View feature in El Capitan, allowing Pixelmator to be used in full screen mode alongside another app at the same time.
The Pixelmator Photos Extension, which can be used directly within Apple’s own Photos app, introduces Metal-based Distort tools for editing images. With these tools, areas of the image can be reshaped in Photos to retouch them or add artistic effects. The extension was built using Apple’s powerful graphics-processing technology, Metal.
“Pixelmator always takes advantage of the latest Mac and OS X features and technologies, and today we’re thrilled to introduce Pixelmator 3.4 Twist with full support for new OS X El Capitan, the ability to work in Pixelmator and a second app without any distractions via Split View, and a new, Metal-based Pixelmator Photos Extension,” said Saulius Dailide, one of the founders of the Pixelmator Team. “Pixelmator Photos Extension features a collection of powerful distort tools, which allow users to distort images with stunning quality and incredible speed right inside the Photos app.”
Other improvements added today include Apple’s San Francisco font as the new user interface font and enhanced support for the Force Touch trackpad, which is designed to make painting with the trackpad a smoother experience.
Pixelmator can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $29.99. [Direct Link]
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