The App Store Awards honor the best apps and games at the end of each year.
Apple today revealed the 2021 App Store Award winners, recognizing the 15 best apps and games that helped users tap into personal passions, discover creative outlets, connect with new people and experiences, and simply have fun. This year’s winners include developers from around the world whose apps and games were selected by Apple’s global App Store editorial team for delivering exceptional quality, innovative technology, creative design, and positive cultural impact.
“The developers who won App Store Awards in 2021 harnessed their own drive and vision to deliver the best apps and games of the year — sparking the creativity and passion of millions of users around the world,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “From self-taught indie coders to inspiring leaders building global businesses, these standout developers innovated with Apple technology, with many helping to foster the profound sense of togetherness we needed this year.”
This year’s best apps and games offered extraordinary experiences across Apple devices. Ten years after its App Store debut, Toca Life World is masterfully iterating on the art of play and self-expression for kids. The developers behind DAZN guided local sport culture into the global spotlight for everyone to enjoy, while Carrot Weather brought its best-in-class meteorological forecasts — and the witty character behind it — to users’ wrists. LumaFusion made video editing faster, less intimidating, and more portable for creators at every level, and Craft creatively enabled efficiency and artistry through a notebook with seemingly limitless capabilities. The incredible graphics and rich storylines woven into “League of Legends: Wild Rift,” “MARVEL Future Revolution,” “Myst,” “Space Marshals 3,” and Apple Arcade’s “Fantasian” transported players of all ages into immersive gaming experiences.
2021 App Store Award Winners
Apps
iPhone App of the Year:Toca Life World, from Toca Boca.
iPad App of the Year:LumaFusion, from LumaTouch.
Mac App of the Year:Craft, from Luki Labs Limited.
Apple TV App of the Year: DAZN, from DAZN Group.
Apple Watch App of the Year: Carrot Weather, from Grailr.
Games
iPhone Game of the Year: “League of Legends: Wild Rift,” from Riot Games.
iPad Game of the Year: “MARVEL Future Revolution,” from Netmarble Corporation.
Mac Game of the Year: “Myst,” from Cyan.
Apple TV Game of the Year: “Space Marshals 3,” from Pixelbite.
Apple Arcade Game of the Year: “Fantasian,” from Mistwalker.
Trend of the Year: Connection
In addition to recognizing the best apps and games on Apple devices, Apple’s global App Store editors name a Trend of the Year. The goal is to identify a movement that had lasting impact on people’s lives, and to recognize the standout apps and games that met that moment. The top trend of 2021 is “Connection.” This year’s trend winners brought people together in meaningful ways — while meeting social, personal, and professional needs for users around the world.
“Among Us!” From Innersloth
With a mix of cooperation and competition, “Among Us!”cultivated community through bite-size matches that urged users to talk — and listen — to each other via banter, bluffing, and teamwork.
Bumble, from Bumble Inc.
Bumble met the moment by adding and enhancing features designed to bridge the gap for users hoping to date, forge platonic friendships, and broaden their professional networks — all while fostering women-powered conversations.
Canva, from Canva
Offering elegantly simple design tools and gorgeous templates, Canva helps users tap into their entrepreneurial spirit by making design simple for professionals, students, job seekers, community leaders, and teams of every kind.
EatOkra, from Anthony Edwards Jr. and Janique Edwards
EatOkrabuilta robust, user-driven guide to more than 11,000 Black-owned eateries that helps people find tasty ways to invest in their community.
Peanut, from Peanut App Limited
By launching social audio Pods led by experts on everything from pregnancy and menopause to relationships and self-care, Peanut is creating space for honest conversations on every aspect of womanhood at every stage of life.
For more than a decade, Apple has honored the best apps and games at the end of each year. To acknowledge the impact of the winning developer teams, last year, Apple designers began a tradition of celebration through meticulous craftsmanship with physical App Store awards for each winner. Inspired by the signature blue App Store icon, each award reveals the App Store logo set into the 100 percent recycled aluminum used to make Apple products, with the name of the winner engraved on the other side.
To learn more about the apps and games highlighted in this year’s App Store Awards, visit the App Store. In addition to the App Store editorial picks, charts for the top apps and games of the year are now available, as well as top Apple Arcade charts.
Apple announced on Thursday some changes coming to the App Store after a class-action lawsuit from US developers. In addition to these changes, the company also announced a Small Developer Assistance Fund that will pay up to $30,000 to some developers. Read on as we detail how to check if you are eligible for this new program.
A group of small developers in the United States has filed a class-action lawsuit against Apple in 2019 over how the company “monopolizes a relevant market for iOS app and in-app-product distribution services.” Apple has now proposed a settlement to end the lawsuit that will result in a $100 million fund to support small developers located in the United States.
According to the company, eligible developers will receive between $250 up to $30,000 based on multiple criteria, which are detailed in the documents filed in the case today.
The Small Developer Assistance Fund created as part of the settlement will benefit over 99% of U.S. iOS developers, whose proceeds from app and in-app digital product sales through all associated accounts were less than $1 million per calendar year during the period from June 4, 2015 to Apr. 26, 2021. These developers can claim sums from the fund ranging between minimums of $250 to $30,000, based on their historic participation in the App Store ecosystem.
In order to be eligible, the developer must have earned less than $1 million per year during the period from June 4, 2015 to April 26, 2021. Of course, only developers who offered paid apps or free apps with in-app purchases during this period will be able to request payment from Apple.
Apple says payment will vary “based on their historic participation in the App Store ecosystem.” In fact, the amount of money depends on how much the developer has earned in the US App Store during the period set by Apple, as you can see below:
An eligible developer who earned $0.01 to $100 from 2015 to 2021 will receive between $250 and $499 from Apple. If the developer’s revenue in the same period was between $100.01 and $1,000, the amount to be paid will be between $500 and $999. The maximum amount of $30,000 that Apple will pay developers is for those who have had revenue over $1 million in the last 6 years.
It’s worth noting that the Small Developer Assistance Fund is not related to the App Store Small Business Program, which is another program announced by Apple in 2020 to reduce the App Store commission rate from 30% to 15% for those earning up to $1 million per year. According to Apple, the App Store Small Business Program will remain available to eligible developers around the world.
Developers will be able to register with the Small Developer Assistance Fund by visiting smallappdeveloperassistance.com once the settlement has been approved.
Apple has announced a handful of changes coming to the App Store in response to a class-action lawsuit from US developers. One of the most notable changes is that developers can now communicate with users about alternative payment solutions outside of their applications.
Notably, Apple says that developers can “use communications, such as email, to share information about payment methods outside of their iOS App.” This means that a company or developer can email users, with their consent, to inform them about subscribing outside of the App Store.
Apple has confirmed to 9to5Mac, however, that this change does not apply to in-app communication. Developers are still not allowed to inform users in-app about pricing or subscribing options available elsewhere. Theoretically, Netflix could have a field in its iOS app for users to enter their email address, then communicate with that user directly via email about payment options.
Other highlights from the settlement:
Apple and the developers agreed to maintain the App Store Small Business program in its current structure for at least the next three years.
App Store Search has always been about making it easy for users to find the apps they’re looking for. At the request of developers, Apple has agreed that its Search results will continue to be based on objective characteristics like downloads, star ratings, text relevance, and user behavior signals. The agreement will keep the current App Store Search system in place for at least the next three years.
Apple will also expand the number of price points available to developers for subscriptions, in-app purchases, and paid apps from fewer than 100 to more than 500. Developers will continue to set their own prices.
Apple will maintain the option for developers to appeal the rejection of an app based on perceived unfair treatment, a process that continues to prove successful. Apple has agreed to add content to the App Review website to help developers understand how the appeals process works.
Over the last several years, Apple has provided a great deal of new information about the App Store on apple.com. Apple agreed to create an annual transparency report based on that data, which will share meaningful statistics about the app review process, including the number of apps rejected for different reasons, the number of customer and developer accounts deactivated, objective data regarding search queries and results, and the number of apps removed from the App Store.
Small Developer Assistance Fund
Apple is also announcing a Small Developer Assistance Fund, which will pay out between $250 to $30,000 to developers making under $1 million per year in the App Store. The amounts will vary based on the developer’s “historic participation in the App Store ecosystem.” Only developers in the United States are eligible for this program.
The Small Developer Assistance Fund created as part of the settlement will benefit over 99% of U.S. iOS developers, whose proceeds from app and in-app digital product sales through all associated accounts were less than $1 million per calendar year during the period from June 4, 2015 to Apr. 26, 2021. These developers can claim sums from the fund ranging between minimums of $250 to $30,000, based on their historic participation in the App Store ecosystem.
Apple has faced lots of criticism over the past few years because of the way its services get special treatment on iOS devices. They’ve also gotten lots of heat as of late over the way in which they allow customers to get sucked into service subscriptions.
There are lots of potential solutions to these problems. But first, you have to identify which problems are the most important to solve first. There are a couple of areas that are particularly important.
One of those is the default search engine for Safari. Apple has a controversial special deal with Google that makes them boatloads of money. They agreed to make Google the default search engine on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and macOS in exchange for billions. Other search engines are at a severe disadvantage because you need to navigate through multiple settings levels to change it to another service.
Apple could easily wash away any sort of antitrust implications by including a search engine selection screen during the setup process. Google would still be selected by default, but it would give users an opportunity upon first use to change their search engine of choice. This is also important for users who care about privacy. It should be easier for any user to change their default service to something like DuckDuckGo.
Another setting that should be surfaced during first setup is default apps and services. Apple could frame this as a way to set Siri information and content sources, but it would also change the default app in that category.
This step would appear after you sign in to your Apple ID so that you can download an alternative, Siri compatible service before set up is over.
Apple currently offers the ability to set an app as a default within its own settings panel buried at the bottom of the main Settings view. There’s no centralized place to see all of your default apps.
If they created a default apps settings panel and moved it to the top level of Settings, users would be able to find this ability much more easily. This would help alleviate some of the concerns about apps like Spotify or Gmail being put at a disadvantage.
Apple could rearrange the main Settings view and move App Store and Wallet settings right to the top below Apple ID. They could also update the App Store menu to be “Apps & Subscriptions.” Any user would be able to easily find all of their subscribed services and cancel them if they wanted to. You can also see the new “Default Apps & Services” menu with the third group of cells.
Apple also ought to update their tracking and privacy menus by merging third-party settings with first-party app settings. Apple’s own apps have their privacy settings buried within the privacy section of Settings while third-party apps’ settings are right at the top.
To complement the new subscriptions menu, Apple could redesign the sheet that appears when you tap to subscribe to a service. The new sheet would show all available plans and hides all additional copy under an information button. You would select an available plan and tap continue to move to the final step.
This additional stopgap prevents people from accidentally subscribing to a service, especially on Touch ID enabled iPhones. The second screen within the sheet lets you change your payment method and accept the terms of your subscription with a double click on the side button.
Apple could also introduce a new API for unsubscribing to services. Developers could be required to build it into their app. When tapped, a new proprietary sheet would slide up, telling you how much time is left in your subscription. You could then tap to unsubscribe and then double click the side button to confirm it.
With these changes, it would not only make it harder for people to get sucked into subscriptions, but it would help people better understand what they’re signing up for. The new top-level menu in Settings combined with these new sheets would remove the suspicion that Apple is purposefully trying to keep people subscribed to services they don’t use.
The App Store Best of 2020 winners recognizes 15 apps and games notable for their positive cultural impact, helpfulness, and importance.
Apple celebrates 15 of the amazing apps and games that inspired the world in 2020
Apple today presented its App Store Best of 2020 winners, recognizing 15 apps and games that proved to be essential for making life easier, healthier, and more connected this year. Notable for their high quality, creative design, usability, and innovative technology, these apps and games are equally celebrated for their positive cultural impact, helpfulness, and importance.
“This year, more than ever before, some of our most creative and connected moments happened in apps. This was thanks to the amazing work of developers who introduced fresh, helpful app experiences throughout the year,” said Phil Schiller, Apple Fellow. “Around the world, we saw remarkable efforts from so many developers, and these Best of 2020 winners are 15 outstanding examples of that innovation. From helping us stay fit and mindful, to keeping our children’s education on track, to helping fight hunger, their impact was meaningful to so many of us.”
The independent developer of Wakeout! brought gentle exercise to home offices and classrooms with light-hearted and inclusive movements designed for everyone. Vast fantasy worlds in games like “Genshin Impact,” “Legends of Runeterra,” “Disco Elysium,” “Dandara Trials of Fear,”and Apple Arcade’s “Sneaky Sasquatch”delivered a great escape, while Disney+ offered a sense of unlimited possibility that many craved. Whether it was to facilitate distance learning through Zoom, create daily routines with Fantastical or lull us to sleep with Endel, the App Store Best of 2020 winners helped us live our best lives at home.
Best Apps of 2020
iPhone App of the Year: Wakeout!, developed by Andres Canella.
iPad App of the Year: Zoom.
Mac App of the Year: Fantastical, developed by Flexibits.
Apple TV App of the Year: Disney+.
Apple Watch App of the Year: Endel.
Best Games of 2020
iPhone Game of the Year: “Genshin Impact,” from miHoYo.
iPad Game of the Year: “Legends of Runeterra,” from Riot Games.
Mac Game of the Year: “Disco Elysium,” from ZA/UM.
Apple TV Game of the Year: “Dandara Trials of Fear,” from Long Hat House.
Apple Arcade Game of the Year: “Sneaky Sasquatch,” from RAC7.
App Trends of 2020
App Trend of the Year: Shine, for helping users practice self care.
App Trend of the Year: Caribu, for connecting families to loved ones.
App Trend of the Year: “Pokémon GO,” for reinventing the way we play, from Niantic.
App Trend of the Year: ShareTheMeal, for helping users make a difference.
Apps are a reflection of culture, and in 2020, developers overwhelmingly led a trend towards helpfulness. To help users get the daily self-care they needed, and to emphasize Black well-being, Shine launched a section specifically dedicated to the intersectionality of mental health and Black lives. For teachers and students needing to reinvent the classroom experience, Explain Everything Whiteboard offered a cloud-based collaboration tool so groups of students could continue to work on projects together, even remotely. For families seeking to connect with loved ones, Caribu added dozens of interactive games and more than a thousand new books to its real-time video-calling platform. “Pokémon GO” reinvented their popular outdoor gameplay with at-home experiences. The United Nations World Food Programme’s ShareTheMeal app made it easy for users to make a difference in the lives of others, with more than 87 million meals shared to date. Around the world, app developers channeled their creative energy into helping users stay healthy, educated, connected, and entertained.
App Trend of the Year: Explain Everything Whiteboard, for helping bring remote classrooms to life.
To commemorate these 15 apps, Apple designers brought meticulous craftsmanship to create the first-ever physical App Store Best of 2020 award. Inspired by the signature blue App Store icon, each award reveals the App Store logo set into 100 percent recycled aluminum, with the name of the winner engraved on the other side.
Fifteen exceptional developers received the first-ever physical App Store Best of 2020 award.
Beyond the App Store editorial picks, charts for the top apps and top games of the year are now available.
New program reduces App Store commission to 15 percent for small businesses earning up to $1 million per year
Cupertino California — Apple announced an industry-leading new developer program to accelerate innovation and help small businesses and independent developers propel their businesses forward with the next generation of groundbreaking apps on the App Store. The new App Store Small Business Program will benefit the vast majority of developers who sell digital goods and services on the store, providing them with a reduced commission on paid apps and in-app purchases. Developers can qualify for the program and a reduced, 15 percent commission if they earned up to $1 million in proceeds during the previous calendar year.
The App Store Small Business Program, which will launch on January 1, 2021, comes at an important time as small and independent developers continue working to innovate and thrive during a period of unprecedented global economic challenge. Apps have taken on new importance as businesses adapt to a virtual world during the pandemic, and many small businesses have launched or dramatically grown their digital presence in order to continue to reach their customers and communities. The program’s reduced commission means small developers and aspiring entrepreneurs will have more resources to invest in and grow their businesses in the App Store ecosystem.
“Small businesses are the backbone of our global economy and the beating heart of innovation and opportunity in communities around the world. We’re launching this program to help small business owners write the next chapter of creativity and prosperity on the App Store, and to build the kind of quality apps our customers love,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The App Store has been an engine of economic growth like none other, creating millions of new jobs and a pathway to entrepreneurship accessible to anyone with a great idea. Our new program carries that progress forward — helping developers fund their small businesses, take risks on new ideas, expand their teams, and continue to make apps that enrich people’s lives.”
While the comprehensive details will be released in early December, the essentials of the program’s participation criteria are easy and streamlined:
Existing developers who made up to $1 million in 2020 for all of their apps, as well as developers new to the App Store, can qualify for the program and the reduced commission.
If a participating developer surpasses the $1 million threshold, the standard commission rate will apply for the remainder of the year.
If a developer’s business falls below the $1 million threshold in a future calendar year, they can requalify for the 15 percent commission the year after.
The App Store’s standard commission rate of 30 percent remains in place for apps selling digital goods and services and making more than $1 million in proceeds, defined as a developer’s post-commission earnings. Earlier this year, an independent study by the Analysis Group found that Apple’s commission structure is in the mainstream for app distribution and gaming platforms.
Small business owners will continue to benefit from Apple’s unparalleled suite of developer tools — including development applications, programming languages, a secure payment interface, and more than 250,000 essential software building blocks called APIs. Apple is committed to giving developers the tools to turn their brightest ideas into apps that change the world. Tools like HealthKit give engineers secure access to user health data, ARKit empowers developers to explore new frontiers of augmented reality, and Core ML harnesses the speed and intelligence of machine learning to help developers build powerful features with just a few lines of code.
Earning the trust of users and developers has been an important goal of the App Store from the beginning. It’s why every one of the 1.8 million apps on the App Store undergoes a review process that developers and their customers can rely on — one that helps make sure every app is reliable, performs as expected, is free of objectionable content, and upholds the highest standards to protect users’ privacy and security.
Developers of all sizes have built successful businesses while benefitting from the App Store’s global reach encompassing users of the more than 1.5 billion Apple devices around the world in 175 countries and over 40 languages, with more than 180 local payment methods and 45 accepted currencies. In 2019 alone, the App Store ecosystem facilitated $519 billion in commerce worldwide — with over 85 percent of that total accruing solely to third-party developers and businesses of all sizes. The new App Store Small Business Program will build on that progress to generate even more digital commerce and app innovations, support new jobs, and help small and independent developers continue to bring great software to Apple users.
The App Store, which launched in 2008, is the world’s safest and most vibrant app marketplace, currently offering 1.8 million apps and visited by half a billion people each week. It helps creators, dreamers, and learners of all ages and backgrounds connect with the tools and information they need to build a brighter future and a better world.
Through the new App Store Small Business Program, qualifying small businesses that earn up to $1 million in revenue are eligible for a 15 percent commission rate — half of the App Store’s standard commission.
Developers see a world of possibilities with new App Store Small Business Program
Every week, half a billion visitors to the App Store engage with 1.8 million apps, from indie games like “Song of Bloom,” to virtual fitness coaches like MySwimPro, to coding apps for kids like Hopscotch. Many of these apps are created by independent developers driven by a single idea. Oftentimes, these developers maintain full-time careers that ultimately fund their ideas until they are launched into the real world.
Since the launch of the App Store, small businesses have been its driving spirit. Now more than ever, these businesses are core to the communities they serve, helping people stay healthy, connected, and learning. Apple unveiled the App Store Small Business Program, a new commission structure to support small and individual developers and spur innovation for the next chapter of apps.
Philipp Stollenmayer, an indie game developer with 20 titles in the App Store, is excited for the new App Store Small Business Program to help a new wave of creators launch innovative games of their own.
“This is a big opportunity for the indie gaming spirit to become truly mobile,” says Philipp Stollenmayer, a solo developer in the App Store. Stollenmayer, whose latest game, “Song of Bloom,” won an Apple Design Award in June 2020, was drawn to the appeal of iPhone as a new platform for gaming, one in its infancy and in need of its own set of standards. When his first game, “What the Frog,” launched in the App Store in 2013 and won a German Multimedia Prize (mb21), he knew he was onto something.
“I saw a whole world of possibilities and how easy it was to get something out there,” Stollenmayer says. “I had the chance to shape how mobile games work and how they differ from consoles. With mobile games, you use the phone in a much more personal way. I put that inside my games and make that active as gameplay, which is much more valuable than trying to create worlds that might not work so well on a small screen.”
“Song of Bloom” is a 2020 Apple Design Award-winning puzzle game by indie developer Philipp Stollenmayer.
With the new App Store commission structure, small and individual developers who earn up to $1 million in revenue for the calendar year are eligible for a reduced 15 percent commission rate — half of the App Store’s standard commission. The savings mean small businesses and developers will have even more funds to invest in their businesses, expand their workforce, and develop new, innovative features for app users around the world. Stollenmayer is excited about the new wave of games that may come to the App Store from people who are new to game design. “I’m most interested in games from people that didn’t make games before because they’re super fascinating,” he says. “You can publish something on the iPhone much, much easier than on any console without any obstacles. This is a super awesome opportunity for the indie studios that don’t want to take any risks.”
Fares Ksebati (left) and Adam Oxner, co-founders of the MySwimPro personal swimming coach and Apple Watch companion app, are excited to reinvest additional revenue earned from the new App Store Small Business Program into making the app better for its community of swimmers.
Beyond the world of gaming, the team behind MySwimPro is also excited about the possibilities to grow their company and expand the app’s offerings with less risk, thanks to the additional revenue that will result from the new App Store program. Co-founders Fares Ksebati and Adam Oxner, both born and raised in Michigan and both swimmers through college competing at the 100-meter breaststroke (though not against each other), met over their shared interest to build a platform that could replicate the elements of coaching swimming whether for fitness or performance goals.
“Adam and I, as well as everyone on our team — we all swim in some capacity,” says Ksebati, who is also MySwimPro’s CEO. “We try and build a community around people who use the app, because swimming is one of those things that you can do at any age, anywhere in the world. And so we are users of our own product in a lot of ways.”
Launched in 2015, MySwimPro currently has 50,000 active users who are swimmers of varying levels.
“We chose to add dryland training to our coaching experience to continue delivering value to our members,” says Ksebati. “We continue to focus on delivering a holistic coaching experience to our community members whether they have access to a pool or not.”
After spending five years building an app that started as a side project, Ksebati and Oxner have grown MySwimPro into a successful business with 12 team members around the world, and they are excited for its next chapter. “The new App Store program will be a huge help to our revenue from purchases in the App Store, and we’re hoping to be able to leverage any more proceeds we get to help make the app better,” says Oxner. “We’re looking forward to further improving the integration of our dryland workouts into the app to help swimmers who might not be able to get to a pool right now.”
Samantha John, co-founder of Hopscotch, looks forward to releasing more features to kids for free with the additional revenue earned from the new App Store Small Business Program.
Samantha John, co-founder of Hopscotch, which was the first coding language designed for iPad, sees the new App Store program as an opportunity to allow kids to do more with Hopscotch for free. “It actually allows us to take some risk that we wanted to take but we were pretty afraid to,” John says. “Specifically around our subscription, … I think it is a good strategy in terms of making money, but it also limits the audience of the app. And we’ve been wanting to walk back that paywall and let people do more for free in the hopes that farther down the line we will have even more loyal subscribers to Hopscotch.”
Started as a way to introduce programming to kids who wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to it, Hopscotch is the brainchild of John and co-founder Jocelyn Leavitt, who attended Apple Entrepreneur Camp’s inaugural class of female entrepreneurs in 2019.
“A key driving principle of Hopscotch is that we really want to respect kids as makers and creators and artists,” John says. “That’s really how we see these kids, and also as coders, so it’s very key to how we think about Hopscotch: How can we make sure that kids are able to make work that is meaningful and important to them?”
Hopscotch was the first coding language designed for iPad when the app launched in 2013.
John was intrigued by the possibilities of making programming more kid-friendly after the launch of the second-generation iPad. “There’s something about an iPad and a touchscreen and something you can hold in your hands that feels so much more personal and just so much more interesting.”
Since its 2013 launch, Hopscotch now has 200,000 monthly active users. John considers Hopscotch’s loyal users as its best content creators after seeing how kids are creating and sharing their own games and creation tools in the app. Once the App Store Small Business Program goes into effect in January 2021, John looks forward to bringing more features into the app for free.
“Hopscotch is not just a game and it’s not just an app,” says John. “It’s a skill, a creative process, just in the way some kids play violin. And as kids get older, they get better at conceiving games, better at making things fun, so Hopscotch really is a long-term investment. Having this little bit of extra revenue really lets us invest in things that we believe are going to be really essential for the future of our company.”
In recent weeks and months, Apple has been catching some heat for its App Store rules, particularly as they apply to gaming apps. Not only has Apple come under fire from Epic for the fact that it takes a 30% cut from each in-app purchase, but the company has also drawn criticism from Facebook and Microsoft, as its App Store policies have made it impossible to get their game streaming apps – Facebook Gaming and Project xCloud, respectively – on iOS devices. Today, Apple updated its App Store guidelines, and while the new rules cover a number of different apps, there are a few specifically for game streaming.
Apple’s updated App Store guidelines can be read in full over on the company’s developer site, but as that spans pages and pages of text, it’s probably easier to look at a changelog for this update that Apple published elsewhere. Apple has implemented new rules regarding App Clips, widgets, extensions and notifications, requiring that those all be related to the content or functionality of the app they belong to. Apple also now requires that “all App Clip features and functionality must be included in the main app binary,” and says that App Clips can’t contain advertising.
Apple has also relaxed some rules about in-app purchase requirements for apps that offer person-to-person experiences, which have become much more important in the age of COVID-19. Apple’s new rules say that apps which offer one-on-one services can charge using payment methods other than in-app purchases. Those that offer “one-to-few” and “one-to-many realtime experiences,” however, have to continue using in-app purchases to charge users.
With these changes, Apple is now allowing web-based tools to offer free standalone companion apps without the need for in-app purchases. So, your web provider can give you access to a standalone email app or VOIP app without rolling some kind of in-app purchase into that app. Furthermore, Apple has put in place new rules regarding in-app pop-ups that make you watch ads, request that you review the app, or click on advertisements:
3.2.2(vi): Apps should not require users to rate the app, review the app, watch videos, download other apps, tap on advertisements, enable tracking, or take other similar actions in order to access functionality, content, use the app, or receive monetary or other compensation, including but not limited to gift cards and codes.
Apps offering personal loans are now subject to some rather big restrictions too, with Apple saying that they can’t charge a maximum APR higher than 36% and can’t require that people pay back their loan in full in 60 days or less. The company also says that these apps must “clearly and conspicuously disclose all loan terms, including but not limited to equivalent maximum Annual Percentage Rate (APR) and payment due date.”
Arguably the biggest changes Apple made today apply to game streaming. Facebook has made clear its frustrations with App Store restrictions regarding its Facebook Gaming app, while Microsoft hasn’t been able to bring Project xCloud to iOS because of those same restrictions. Even Google Stadia has bumped up against these guidelines, which means there’s a distinct lack of game streaming present on the iOS App Store.
While these new guidelines are meant to ease game streaming restrictions, we’re not sure how much they’re going to help. Apple’s new rules for game streaming are as follows:
3.1.2(a): Games offered in a streaming game service subscription must be downloaded directly from the App Store, must be designed to avoid duplicate payment by a subscriber, and should not disadvantage non-subscriber customers.
Elsewhere in its changelog, Apple says that “Each streaming game must be submitted to the App Store as an individual app so that it has an App Store product page, appears in charts and search, has user ratings and review, can be managed with ScreenTime and other parental control apps, appears on the user’s device, etc.” Game streaming apps can offer a catalog app separately that points to these App Store listings, but if Microsoft and Stadia were looking to offer one, all-inclusive app that features their entire streaming catalogs, it looks like they won’t be able to do that.
According to Microsoft, Project xCloud will offer 100+ games when it launches as part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate next week, so in order for Microsoft to publish that app on iOS, it would not only need some kind of mainline Xbox Game Pass app for iOS, but also an individual App Store listing for each of the 100+ games on the service so Apple can review and approve each one. It seems those App Store listings don’t necessarily have to host the full game, but CNBC notes that they’ll need some kind of basic functionality.
It’s hard to imagine Microsoft, Google, or Facebook opting to bring their services to iOS even after these updated guidelines. While Stadia has a traditional storefront that wouldn’t see much in the way of rotation, it still seems like a huge endeavor to publish listings for each game it sells. When you consider that games rotate in and out of the Game Pass library each month, maintaining App Store listings for each game on the service becomes even more of a chore for Microsoft.
Still, services like Game Pass and Stadia now have a way to get on the App Store, but the question now is whether Google, Facebook, and Microsoft will think getting their streaming services on iOS will be worth the trouble of complying with Apple’s guidelines. Apple has indeed given these companies an in regarding the App Store, but it’s done so in a very complicated way, seemingly to ensure that it has granular control over what’s offered on iOS for better or worse.
Want to see the size of an app update that is available in the Mac App Store? Some Mac users may be interested in knowing the size of an available app software update before starting to download or install the app update, but the App Store in MacOS Mojave doesn’t openly display the size of available app updates by default. Instead, you’ll need to dig a little deeper to see the size of an app update in the Mac App Store.
How to See the Size of App Updates in Mac App Store
To check the size of an available app update before you start to download it, do the following:
Open the Mac App Store
Go to the “Updates” tab to find the available app software updates
To find the size of an app update, click the small “More” button
See the size of the app update in the little popup window
The “More” button will also reveal the downloads release notes from the developer of the application, as well as the release date of the particular software update. But of course for our purposes here we’re focusing on the size of the available update.
Many Mac users will appreciate knowing the size of available app updates before beginning the process of downloading and installing them, particularly if they’re on slower internet connections or have metered broadband service with limited bandwidth or tight data caps.
Of course once you start downloading the updates you can also check their download progress from the Mac App Store, but knowing the download size after the fact is not always as helpful as knowing it before you begin an update.
Do you miss having the App Store in iTunes? You’re in luck, because Apple has released iTunes 12.6.3, an alternative version of iTunes that retains the ability to download and install iOS apps directly within the iTunes application on a computer. App management via iTunes was a popular feature that was removed from iTunes 12.7 in favor of managing apps directly on iOS devices instead.
Apple apparently released iTunes 12.6.3 as an alternative version because “certain business partners might still need to use iTunes to install apps.” But even if you are not a “business partner” you can still download and install iTunes 12.6.3 and use the version of iTunes to manage apps with an iPhone or iPad connected through a Mac or Windows PC.
iTunes 12.6.3 is available to download for Mac and Windows users, and can be easily installed over iTunes 12.7 to regain the native iOS App Store functionality for improved iPhone and iPad app management. Users who would like to have the iOS App Store functionality in iTunes on their computers again should download and install the alternative iTunes release. The ease of installation prevents the need to downgrade iTunes 12.7 or fiddle with the somewhat hidden iTunes 12.7 method of transferring apps and ringtones to an iPhone or iPad.
Download iTunes 12.6.3 with iOS App Store Support
You can download iTunes 12.6.3 from the Apple support page, or using the direct download links below which point to the files directly on Apple servers:
Download iTunes 12.6.3 for Mac or Windows from Apple support here
Choosing a direct download link will start the file download for iTunes 12.6.3 immediately. The download is about 280 MB and can be installed like any other software onto a Mac or PC.
How to get the App Store back into iTunes
Accessing the App Store, apps, or Tones in iTunes 12.6.3 is basically the same as prior versions of iTunes, here’s all that is necessary to get app management and the iOS App Store back in iTunes again:
Download and install iTunes 12.6.3 onto the computer, you can install it over iTunes 12.7 or a prior release version
Launch iTunes as usual
Select the pulldown menu in the upper left corner
Choose “Apps” or “Tones”
Under “Apps” you will find the app library, updates, and an ‘App Store’ option to be able to download apps directly into the App Store via iTunes again
If you connect an iPhone or iPad to iTunes 12.6.3 and select the device by clicking on the tiny little icon in the titlebar of the app, you’ll also have direct access to apps and tones on the device through iTunes again as well.
Downloading and installing iTunes 12.6.3 also stops iTunes from asking the user to download any new versions, so if you want to stay on iTunes 12.6.3 with the App Store, ringtones, and other features that are since removed from future versions, you can easily do so.
iTunes 12.6.3 supports all existing iPhone and iPad devices, and the release also supports the iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus, meaning users of the newest model iPhone hardware will have full iTunes support without needing to bother with iTunes 12.7.
If you have been having difficulty adapting to the removal of the App Store in iTunes 12.7, you’ll likely appreciate installing iTunes 12.6.3 and getting app management back again, so check it out.
Keeping apps updated on an iPhone and iPad is generally a good idea, as app updates frequently include bug fixes, performance improvements, enhancements to compatibility, or even entirely new features to apps and games. iOS users can update apps by opening the App Store and going to the “Updates” tab, but sometimes an update may not show up despite being available either on other devices or to other users. The solution to such a situation is to refresh the Updates section and check for new app updates available
You can refresh the Updates section of the App Store on an iPhone or iPad, though how you refresh the Updates tab in the App Store has changed in the latest versions of iOS 11 compared to prior versions. The good news is the change is for the better, and checking for new updates to the App Store is better and easier than before.
How to Check for Updates in the App Store for iOS 11
Want to see if new app updates are available in iOS 11 App Store? You can use a nice little gesture to force the App Store Updates tab to refresh, here’s how this works:
Open the App Store in iOS as usual by tapping on the icon on your Home Screen
Go to the “Updates” section of App Store
Tap near the top of the screen near the ‘Updates’ text, then hold and pull down, then release
When the spinning wait cursor finishes spinning, any new app updates will appear
Once the Updates section has refreshed, you can find additional updates if they’re available, and the little badge indicator on both the Updates tab and the App Store icon will update accordingly as well.
As usual, you can update all existing apps that have new versions available by tapping on the “Update All” section, or by individually updating each app as desired.
This “pull down and release to refresh” gesture now introduced into the App Store is actually the same in various other iOS apps. In fact, this is the same pull gesture that will check for new email in Mail for iOS, though many users seem to not know about that capability either.
Keep in mind that prior versions of iOS App Store used either a series of quirky tricks, or a repeated tap of the Updates tab trick to refresh the App Store, so ultimately the change with the latest versions of iOS 11 are a notable improvement. Meanwhile on Mac OS, the Mac App Store can be refreshed via a keyboard shortcut that has remained the same since the introduction of the App Store on the Mac.