Last month it was found out that very few users are ready to pay for iOS 7 app updates on apps they already owned. Most of them would prefer to stay on iOS 6, rather than to update to iOS 7 and pay again for the apps.
Let's have at what developers think.
Craig Hockenberry, developer at Iconfactory (Twitterrific):
Like many of my fellow developers, I am in the middle of an update of an app for iOS 7. As you’d expect, it’s a lot more work than previous versions of iOS. But results are stunning: both David Lanham and I have commented that our shipping version was “feeling old and clunky.”
While cranking along on the update, a couple of thoughts occurred to me: how many other developers were doing the same thing and were they going to commit fully to iOS 7? The depth and breadth of the changes in iOS 7 makes it difficult to support older versions of the OS.
Apple posted faulty moisture indicators for older iOS devices. They were interpreting wrongly that a device had been damaged by water. Therefore, many customers were denied a warranty claim based on the faulty indicators. So Apple agreed to pay $53 million to resolve the lawsuit concerning these indicators.
Currently eligible customers are being contacted through email concerning the class-action settlement and damages. The owners of older iPhone and iPod touch models are likely to receive a cash payment from Apple. Although the court is still to have the hearing concerning the topic of benefits payment.
It was reported earlier this week that Apple executive Bob Mansfield has given up his management duties at Apple. He is rumored to have focused on 'special projects', concerning development of new products for Cupertino company. So his responsibilities will be taken over by other executives.
Dan Riccio will be responsible for Apple's antenna design team. Moreover, he will still lead the department of Mac, iPhone, iPad and iPod engineering. Dan Riccio was promoted to lead Apple's hardware engineering teams when Bob Mansfield first retired last year.
Jeff Williams will acquire the job of managing Apple's special projects engineering teams. He is the Senior Vice President for Operations and has bee working with Tim Cook for years now. Though it is Mansfield who will focus on Apple's newest and most innovative designs. Thus he will not be distracted with management issues any longer.
You know that the company from Cupertino previously restricted iTunes accounts to children aged 13 or older. However, things have changed and Apple has revised its policy.
Pebble Smartwatch in an iOS application developed for... Pebble smartwatch. If you don’t know what’s this, I’ll try to explain. In short, this is a tiny smart gadget you wear on your wrist that is paired to your iPhone via Bluetooth. And here there’s an update for the app that controls this gadget.
One of the most interesting Samsung Galaxy S4’s features is probably Smart Pause. This is the feature that automatically pauses video playback each time you look away. For quite a long period of time those who use iPhones had to put up with the fact that there’s nothing similar for the iOS platform. And then FaceHalt was released.
Earlier this year - in June - a new iOS flaw was discovered that theoretically made it possible to hack your device with the help of a malicious USB charger. A group of developers, who were the first to find this breach, has successfully installed malware on a non-jailbroken iPad and iPhone to prove their theory.
Something very similar to a new Apple A7 processor has been recently spotted inside the iOS 7 filesystem by a developer Nick Frey. What is more - this chip includes Samsung components. Again.
It is rumored that Apple is testing a new iPad Mini with an A6 processor but without a Retina display. It is proved by a hidden file that lists all supported iOS 7 devices.
According to this information, Apple will be launching three new iPad mini models: iPad “2,8,” iPad “2,9,” and iPad “2,10.” The devices ill be called J75, J76, and J77 respectively. One of the three models will support only WiFi connection, while two others will be cellular-compatible. (just like the current iPad minis). The internal nomenclature for these iPads follows the current iPad minis, which are iPad “2,5,” iPad “2,6,” and iPad “2,7.”
The new iPad minis will boast a s5l8950x processor. It has the same A6 chip as current iPhone 5. It is a shame that the coming iPads minis will lack "@2x" hooks to higher resolution images. Thus it may be assumed that they will not have a Retina display.
According to the recent Apple job posting, iOS keyboard is likely to start supporting some new languages and script soon.
Nowadays iOS supports 50 languages and different script systems across the iOS keyboard system. Due to the reason mentioned above, this number can increase. Cupertino company is ready to employ even more engineers to "work closely with international teams and native speakers to accommodate all the world’s script systems."
Among language unsupported by iOS Keyboard are Farsi (Persian), Maltese, and Afrikaans. They are likely to be added soon.
Among the latest updates and improvements for iOS 7 and older iOS versions, there’s one connected with iMessage app. Now any user can report an unwanted message or SPAM to Apple.
Google Chrome for iOS got another update today. As to the features, embedded to a new version of Google browser, well, there’re only two of them. Both of them are connected with efficiency and stability. If you’re using iOS 5.1 at the moment - you should definitely download this app.
Apple iOS 7 Beta 4 is finally released and available for developers. It’s been three weeks since the company from Cupertino unveiled the previous - third - version of its new mobile operating system. Such a long delay is caused by the recent hacker attack on Developer Center.
iOS market share has grown over the past year. According to the latest Kantar research, by the end of the June quarter, Apple had 42.5% of the U.S. mobile device market, while Google with its Android - 51.5%.