Apple allows in-app purchases for free apps
Posted by Jeff Morgan (10/15/2009 @ 8:44 pm)
Apple has decided to lift yet another App Store restriction, one that has bloated the App Store (that app count isn’t entirely accurate) for some time. Developers are now allowed to have in-app purchases in free apps, a move that spells the demise of all those “lite” apps.
As things used to be, developers were required to charge for the download of an application if they also wanted to charge for content to be added later. By lifting the restriction, Apple has finally enabled developers to make just one version of an application that can then be unlocked through in app purchases.
I know this makes trial or limited downloads a lot more appealing. Downloading two apps for one purpose always seemed like a hassle to me. I’m glad things have finally turned the corner.
Posted in: Apple, Apps, iPhone, News
Tags: app approval, app dlc, app restrictions, app store, app store policies, free apps, in-app purchases, iphone games, iphone lite, lite apps
Will the New iPhone Preview at WWDC This Year?
Posted by Jeff Morgan (05/14/2009 @ 2:27 pm)
There has been a whole lot of back and forth today about regarding whether or not Apple will announce its latest iPhone at WWDC this year.
Most folks were saying no, citing Steve Jobs’ absence from the conference this year. Instead, the Keynote will be given by Phil Schiller, Apple’s Senior VP of Worldwide Product Marketing. Prominent Apple analyst Gene Munster thinks the address will primarily deal with software (at a developer conference? No way!), specifically Snow Leopard and the iPhone OS 3.0. Munster expects Apple to hold a special event in late June, early July, which will herald the return of Jobs and the release of a new line of iPhones.
So why wait? We already know the iPhone App Store to be the fastest growing developer community in the world. Wouldn’t Apple want to let that massive developer base know about the new hardware they’ll be working with at…the developer conference? And what makes the Senior VP of Worldwide Product Marketing a bad choice to do this?
Dan Frommer, an analyst at SAI, agrees, and cites quite a few compelling reasons for Apple to roll things out in June. For starters, the first round of iPhone contracts expire in late June. Also, the Palm Pre drops later this month. What better time to get people to start thinking about some new hardware?
