app store

Q&A: MacFixIt Answers

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which I answer Mac-related questions sent in by our readers.

This week, readers asked questions about whether or not a memory upgrade will result in more power draw and affect battery life, managing a nonfunctional SD card after a crash, how to dismiss update notifications for one application vs. another in the Mac App Store, and how to undo a command that forces the system to boot to Safe Mode at each start-up.

I welcome contributions from readers, so if you have any suggestions or alternative approaches to these problems, please post them in … Read more

Apple notifies parents of in-app purchase settlement details

Apple has begun notifying the parents how they will be compensated for large bills racked up by their children through unauthorized use of in-app purchases in games and apps sold through the App Store.

An e-mail sent by the "Apple In-App Purchase Litigation Administrator" describes how the approximately 23 million people, as part of a class-action lawsuit, can apply for compensation. Parents have until January 13, 2014, to claim a $5 iTunes gift cards for charges less than $30, according to the e-mail. The maximum compensation parents can expect is the total amount charged during a single 45-day … Read more

Tackle a hung App Store update in OS X

Apple uses its Mac App Store program as the means for providing not only third-party software, but also OS X system software and updates. When you choose Software Update from the Apple menu, the system will open the App Store, which will check the computer for all software purchased and managed through the store. However, in some instances the download doesn't complete and the program may even hang, showing a spinning pinwheel cursor. You may not even be able to restart your computer, which obviously can be frustrating to deal with.

There are a couple of approaches you can … Read more

Never miss the free App of the Week from the App Store again

Last summer I covered an easy-to-create recipe on IFTTT that would send an e-mail or alert of your choosing once the App Store Twitter account posted a tweet announcing the latest freebie. Since that time there have been some changes to Twitter 's API policy, and IFTTT (name based on "If this, then that") has had to change how it uses Twitter within its service.

As such, the recipe demonstrated in my post last June no longer works. While browsing through public IFTTT Recipes today I found a solution that uses posts on the App Store's official … Read more

Hide and unhide apps from your iPhone's purchased list in iOS 6

Turns out, I've been giving you bad advice. Or at least outdated advice. In my post on this topic from last year (in the heady days of iOS 5), I showed you how you could simply swipe on an app on your purchased list right on your iPhone to hide it. For no good reason at all (at least any that I can see), iOS 6 did away with this functionality. Perhaps iOS 7 will bring back the ability to cull your purchased list from your phone, but for now, it requires a trip to iTunes. *sad trombone*

Open … Read more

Apple's moving 9-minute ad about apps changing lives

This is serious.

All over the world, people are are using apps from Apple's App Store in order to save lives, better lives, or change them completely.

Whether it be Skyscape Medical Resources, Galileo, Cherokee Language, or Proloquo2Go, these apps affect human beings.

So Apple has released a touching 9-minute film that tells some of the stories of how apps such as these truly make a difference.

I defy you to remain emotionally grounded on seeing Paralympic bronze medalist rower Oksana Masters explain that her app has made it possible for her to put on high-heeled shoes.

You might … Read more

Use your iPhone to make anything levitate

I'm all for a little tomfoolery when it comes to quick-and-dirty photo-editing tricks on mobile devices. The latest app I can't get enough of that meets this criterion is Levitagram.

I first discovered the app on The Next Web, and it didn't take long after I first read the article to purchase the app for $1.99 from the App Store.

The app works like this: take a photo with you, or any random object, on top of a chair, box or whatever you have handy.

You then take an additional photo with both items removed. Levitagram … Read more

Apple now hosts 900,000 apps in App Store

Apple's App Store is now home to 900,000 apps.

Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed the latest stats at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco on Monday.

Among the 900,000 apps, 90 percent of them are downloaded each month, while 375,000 of them are geared for the iPad. In total, 50 billion apps have been downloaded since the App Store opened for business. July will mark the App Store's fifth birthday.

The App Store also holds around 575 million store accounts, with Cook touting that the store has "more accounts with credit … Read more

How to use your voice to search with Chrome on iOS

Google on Monday released a small update to its Chrome app for iOS users. The update, which brings faster Web page rendering for slow or unavailable networks, also adds the ability to run a search on Google using your voice. And depending on the search, you may just get an earful back from Chrome with the answer.

To search with your voice in Chrome for iOS, make sure you've updated to the latest version, 27.0.1453.10, from the App Store. Once you've downloaded and installed the update, activate the omnibox as you normally would when you … Read more

Apple launches WWDC app in time for big show

Apple has launched its official Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) application for iPhone and iPad.

The free application popped up on Apple's App Store on Monday. The app lets conference attendees keep track of when and where sessions are taking place. It also offers up maps to help them find their way around the Moscone Center in San Francisco, where WWDC is being held.

For those who won't be in attendance, the app provides a way to watch daily session videos and get other information coming out of the conference.

Apple's WWDC event kicks off next Monday with a keynote by the iPhone maker. … Read more