Apple to increase App prices in Canada (update)

As expected the price of apps in the Canadian Apple App Store have increased. Previous apps for 99 cents now cost $1.19 and apps that were $1.99 now cost $2.29.

According to reports on CBC and iPhone in Canada websites, Apple is set to increase prices of its Apps in Canada within the next day. According to Boy Genius Report this price increase will involve the Mac App Store as well. The increase is a result of the recent changes in the Canadian-American exchange rate. Changes are also expected in all EU countries as well as Russia. So get those 99 cent Apps while you can.

EA iOS games on sale

For those of you who don’t know today is President’s Day in the US. To celebrate the holiday, Electronic Arts is offering some of it’s iOS games at big discounts for a limited time only. For example Monopoly World Edition is only 99 cents today, it is regularly priced at $9.99. Other titles available include: The Simpson’s Tagged Out, Scrabble, The Game of Life, Tetris, World Series of Poker and more.

Source: iPhone in Canada

Update for Skype on iOS

If you have Skype on your iDevice you may want to get the latest update from the App Store. The new version has reduced it’s battery consumption so that you can keep it running all day in the background. Another welcome addition to version 4.1 is the ability to send and receive photographs directly from the app.

Source: iPhone in Canada

Apple free app of the week -August 10-16

If you are in the process of planning your summer vacation you may want to download this week’s free app, Kayak Pro. The app allows you to search for flights and car rentals as well as search and book hotels. It even allows you to view and mange your itinerary and track the status of your flights. New features include information on over 100 airport terminals.

YouTube native app removed from iOS

In preparation for the release of the upgrade to its mobile OS expected in the fall (likely next month), Apple recently released iOS 6 beta 4 to developers.  This latest beta includes a long list of fixes, upgrades to old features and additions of already announced new features, for example Address Book, shared calendar alerts, iTunes, Safari and Maps. One change that came as a bit of a surprise was the exclusion of the native YouTube app which has been a part of the OS since the first iPhone was introduced in 2007.  In a statement from Cupertino, Apple announced that its licensing agreement with Google has ended and therefore the YouTube is being removed in the update.  I guess this shouldn’t come as a complete surprise given the recent removal of Google maps from the new OS.  Apparently Google is working on a new app for its popular music and video sharing site that will have to go through the same Apple approval process that all of the other apps in the App Store have to undergo.  Devices running iOS 5 and earlier will continue to support the native YouTube app.  It is expected that the dedicated app on Apple TV will also remain.

Source: Mobile Syrup , iPhone in Canada and The Verge

New study finds that the App Store contains more than 400,000 undownloaded apps

A study performed by Adeven found that Apple’s App Store contains more than 400,000 applications that have never been downloaded.  These so called, “zombie” apps make up nearly 2/3 of the total apps in the store and are virtually invisible to users.  According to Adeven CEO, Christian Henschel, there are only a couple of thousand apps that really get a lot downloads due to Apple’s closed system and lack of an adequate search capability. The only way to discover apps is through promotions, reviews or through the App’s Stores, Featured and Top lists.  Mr. Henschel goes on to say that only large companies get on these lists, if you’re an independent small app publisher it is very difficult to get discovered.  Adeven obtained this data from its own analytics tool, Apptrace, that collates data from the 155 countries where Apple’s App stores are in business.  A similar app for Android is set to be released later this year.

Source: iPhone in Canada and GIGAOM

360 Panorama free in the Apple App Store (Aug 3-9)

This week, 360 Panorama is Apple’s free app of the week.  As the name implies this app allows you to take 360 degree panoramas with your iPhone, iPod or iPad.  All you have to do is pan your device and it automatically starts taking pictures and stitches them together in real time.  Once finished you can save the photo to your camera roll or share it on your favourite social network.

Source: iPhone in Canada

Readdle iOS apps 70% off for 48 hours

To celebrate its 5th anniversary on the App Store, Ukraine based Readdle is offering 70% off many of its applications for the next 48 hours.  Some of the applications available are: Scanner Pro, PDF Expert, Printer Pro and PDF Converter.  Readdle was one of the first companies in the App Store when it first opened for business back in 2008.

Source: iPhone in Canada

Diptic is Apple’s free app of the week – July 13-19

If you like making collages with the photos you’ve taken on your iPhone then you won’t want to miss this week’s free app, Diptic. This app which is regularly $0.99 features 52 layouts and 14 filters that are actually included.

Apple’s App Store nearing 25 billionth app sold (update)

Apple announced recently that it has reached its 25 billionth download on the app store. Given the recent high profile launch of its devices in China, it was not surprising to learn that the lucky person resides in China. The winner of the $10,000 iTunes gift card was Chunli Fu who made the free version of Where’s My Water, a puzzle game designed by Disney, the record setting download. Apple said that there are now 315 million iPhones, iPads and iPods that have contributed to this milestone. Given that a new magical device is set to be released on Wednesday, there is no doubt that the 40 million apps daily download rate will continue to increase. For those interested, the Android market hit the 10 billion app download milestone in December, about 2 years after it opened. Apple took 2.5 years to reach this same number.

Source: Boy Genius Report