Would you pay again for iOS 7 versions of apps you already own?

In a few months, Apple will release the largest update to its mobile operating system since the original iPhone debuted in 2007: iOS 7. The software has been virtually rebuilt from the ground-up, with new features and an all-new user interface.

Because this new version of iOS is so different than its predecessor, developers will have to spend a serious amount of time bringing their app code and UI elements up to speed. The question is, should they charge users for these major updates?

The question was first posed by Gedeon Maheux of Iconfactory, who is behind Twitterrificand other apps:

“I’m sure many users are expecting developers of popular applications to simply update interface elements, compile some code and easily drop a brand spanking new version of their app onto the App Store for free. There’s little doubt that the majority of iOS 7 updates to existing apps will be free (which will please Apple), but I suspect there will be a surprising number of developers who will use the launch of the new operating system to completely re-boot their app, and why not? The visual and interactive paradigms iOS 7 mark a natural breaking off point and a perfect opportunity to re-coup costs. Some existing paid apps might even adopt an iOS 7 only strategy which means they’ll have no choice but to charge again.”

Before we tackle the question at hand, it’s important to look at some of the economics of the App Store. Developers like Rovio and Imanji are very much the minority—even those with very popular apps rarely see anything close to $1 million in sales.

The reality is that they have to deal with issues like piracy and copycatting, and the never-ending ‘race to the bottom‘ that has forced many devs to price their apps well below what they’d like. According to Flurry, the average iPhone app goes for $0.19.

So with all of this in mind, would I pay for iOS 7 updates for apps I already own? Yes. Admittedly, I will make the choice on a case-by-case basis. But if a paid app I use frequently gets completely rebuilt for iOS 7, I will happily pay again to update it.

What about you, would you pay for iOS 7 updates for apps you already own? Why or why not?

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Apple Store app to be redesigned with free iTunes content in iPhone sales push

Apple will release a new version of its Apple Store application for the iPhone and iPod touch next week, according to a new report. The update will include a redesigned interface and a handful of new features, including free downloadable iTunes content.

The move is said to be part of Tim Cook’s goal to sell more iPhones direct from Apple’s direct sales channels. Apparently, the plan is to get the app installed on as many device’s as possible so that more people are exposed to the company’s choice products…

9to5Mac’s Mark Gurman has the scoop:

“Sources say that the new app update is also designed to go hand-in-hand with a new initiative in Apple Stores. When a new iOS Device is sold, Apple employees will be encouraged to install the new Apple Store app on the newly purchased device. According to comments from Tim Cook at last month’s secretive summit for Retail Leadership, only 20% of Apple customers are aware of the Apple Store app’s existence. This new plan will certainly increase that percentage.”

Gurman goes on to say that it was no coincidence that the Apple Store application was updated earlier this year with a push notification feature that will alert users when they become eligible for an iPhone upgrade. Apple is working to engage more customers.

The app update is scheduled to land on Tuesday, July 23rd—the same day that Apple isposting its financials for the June quarter. It’s only expected to announce 26-29 million iPhone sales, but Verizon’s strong quarter suggests it could have sold more than 30.

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Enormously popular WhatsApp goes free: gains iCloud chat backups and other features

WhatsApp, arguably the most popular cross-platform chatting solution, has just gone free on the App Store. We’re not sure whether the move is part of the upcoming iOS subscription switch or if there was a change of heart.

Either way, we’re not complaining. Previously a 99-cent download, WhatsApp for the iPhone and iPod touch is now provided free of charge (jump past the fold for the fine print).

In addition, the app’s been updated with the much-needed ability to back up your chats to iCloud so you don’t loose your chat history upon reinstalling WhatsApp. Other changes in WhatsApp 2.10.1 include support for URL schemes and the ability to send multiple photos at the same time…

URL scheme is a useful feature that allows WhatsApp to integrate more tightly with other third-party apps, provided you’re familiar with URL schemes in the first place.

When the App Store in May hit the 50 billionth download, Apple said WhatsApp was the sixth most popular paid iPhone app of all time, despite costing 99 cents a pop.

WhatsApp promised to detail its upcoming subscription model for new users by year’s and and if iTunes release notes are an indication, the app will be free for the first year and then cost $0.99 per year.

As for iCloud support, to manually back up your chats navigate to WhatsApp Settings > Chat Settings > Chat Backup and hit the Back Up Now button. And if you want to enable the automatic backup feature, just set the Auto Backup frequency to Daily, Weekly or Monthly.

iCloud backups include media files received and sent in chats, except for videos. A word of warning:  you’d be wise to limit Auto Backup to Wi-Fi only in order to avoid unwanted cellular data usage.

This has to be done outside the app so navigate to your iOS Settings > iCloud > Documents & Data and set Use Cellular Data to OFF (to disable cellular iCloud data for all apps that support it) or set just the WhatsApp entry to OFF.

So what are you waiting for?

Go grab your free copy of WhatsApp from the App Store Inc.now.

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Popular private taxi service Uber updates iPhone app with fare splitting

Users of Uber, the popular private taxi service that operates in 35 cities and fourteen countries, can now use the updated version of their iPhone application to easily split fares in-app with their friends. I use taxi pretty regularly and while Uber doesn’t operate in my area, our own Jeff Benjamin is ecstatic about the service, having confirmed it works as advertised (at least in the Chicago area). What’s best, billing associated with fare splitting in the new Uber version 2.8.6 is now social, too…

The new Fare Split arrow icon works by letting you invite friends directly from Contacts or by entering their mobile numbers manually. If they don’t have the app installed, Uber will send them SMS with an App Store link.

Folks can request fare splitting at any point during your trip. Once everyone confirms the invitation, Uber takes over and splits the fare evenly among everyone in the car.

Simple, no?

It certainly beats having to manually split payments before making an Uber payment.

The app is free on the App Store.

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StatusTab Replaces Pull Down Tab in Fullscreen Apps, Makes a Lot of Sense

When playing a game or using another fullscreen app, there are undoubtedly situations when you want to see your device’s status bar or read notifications. Currently, Apple has in place a small tab that makes sure you don’t do this on accident while playing that fast-paced racing game. That’s all fine and dandy, but what could we–or jailbreak developers, in this case–do to improve it?

StatusTab is a tweak that replaces that little tab with the status bar itself. If you want to see your notifications, you can pull down to view the status bar, and then pull down once again to view notification center. This is an improvement because, if all you want to do is see how much battery you have left, you can do so at a glance without interrupting your game. If this tweak sounds interesting to you (and you haven’t moved to an iOS 7 beta yet), head over to the BigBoss repo on Cydia and grab it for free.

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Here’s What Some of Your Favorite Apps Could Look Like on iOS 7

With the release of iOS 7, there will surely be countless developers ready to push UI updates for their apps. Apple has a new design language with this new operating system, and it expects developers to follow suit. How companies decide to do so, however, is up to them. One Tumblr account, iOS 7 App Redesigns, has been posting countless mockups of what many of your favorite apps–from Facebook to Rdio–will look like come the time iOS 7 is available. You can find the gallery after the break.

CloudApp

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Rdio

What’s App

Skype

Vine

Keep in mind that these are by no means real, but it’s reassuring to be reminded that many of the apps we use on a daily basis will likely be undergoing the same UI overhaul we’ve seen with iOS 7. Who’s ready? Which of the above concepts is your favorite?

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It takes 72,000 downloads a day for an app to reach top 10 spot in the App Store

You have a whiz-bang idea for an iOS app, but want to know how much effort it will take to get into the top 10 list? On general, it requires 4,000 daily downloads for an app to reach the top 10 paid apps, and it requires earning $47,000 per day for paid apps to reach rank 10 in the grossing charts, a new study finds. For the bean-counters in the audience, that translates to $32 in purchases per minute or $1,920 per hour.

Another tip: never try to break into the top 10 during weekends. Instead, you’ll have better luck on Thursdays. If you want little competition, try Google or Amazon, where all you hear are crickets chirping, according to an app analytics firm…

The numbers from Distimo’s monthly iOS App Store trends report, averaged app revenue and downloads during May. According to the report, apps looking to become No. 50 need on average to pull in $12,000 per day, less than one-third of that required to break into the top 10.

For free apps it’s all about downloads.

To enter the top 50, your app must get 23,000 downloads per day. Around a three times more downloads – 72,000 – are needed each day to enter the top 10 at Apple.

If the challenge is too stiff, you might want to focus on iPad-only apps.

A paid app needs to gross just $10,200 per day for top 50 status. For free apps aiming for the top 50 iPad list, you need just 8,200 downloads each day, nearly three times fewer than for iPhone apps.

Maybe competition for iPhone and iPad app status is too much for you.

If so, check out Google Play or even Amazon’s Appstore. A No. 50 app on Google Play earned $6,600 per day during May – half the $12,000 raked in at Apple’s iOS App Store.

The numbers are even more miserable at Amazon. It requires only 2,500 downloads per day to make it into the top 50 at Amazon – 9 times fewer than at Apple.

As in many things in life, timing can be everything – and that includes making it big at Apple’s App Stores.

For instance, weekends mean a crush of competition as apps compete for a slice of a huge audience. Think of it as the App Store equivalent of the rush hour.

Instead, you might be better off trying on Thursdays, which demand the fewest number of downloads to rank on the App Store.

Today’s findings aren’t that surprising, given Distimo’s previous report which found the top App Store earnings brought in 4.6 times that of top apps on Google Play.

And this is why there is such a demand to break into the App Store and the others are left to the crickets.

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Best Free Video Converter Apps For Mac OS X

The Mac app store is full of tons of video converters app for your Mac OS X, many of which are free, and some are paid but priced all too high. But don't worry, because right now I've got for you three full free video converters apps for Mac OS X and you will not pay a cent..

From now you’ll never be left with a useless video file or unreadable movie format again, so the next time you download a movie in an unusual format or copy one from that old Windows PC and think it can’t be opened or is unwatchable on that iPad, think again and use one of these free apps to get it converted on your Mac.

Miro: Easy Video Converter

Miro is one of the best and simplest video converters I love to use. If you need a simple and an easy video converter app then I recommend you download Miro, the app supports too many video formats including FLV, AVI, MKV, MP4, WMX, XVID and MOV. 

Miro also supports batch processing of groups of video and movie files, even if they’re different formats. If you are just looking to make a movie compatible with the myriad of other devices out there, it’s a great simple choice.

Download Miro Converter from the developer

How To Use Miro Video Converter On Your Mac OS X

• After downloading Miro video converter, open it and start dragging any type of videos I've mentioned above into Miro window.
• Now you will have to choose the device you want the video to be converted. 

Miro video converter supports a lot of devices like Apple devices, Android even PSP and Kindle Fire. 

As I said, one of the best things in Miro is it supports Apple TV, Universal, iPad, iPad 3 (HD), iPhone, iPhone 4 (HD), iPhone 5 (HD wide), iPod nano, iPod touch, Android devices from HTC, Motorola, Samsung, Sanyo, or any other device by video size, Kindle Fire, PSP Playstation Portable, MP4, Ogg Theora, and WebM HD & SD.

HandBrake: The Advanced Conversation Tool

HandBrake app is one of the most powerful video converters you could ever use, it supports many kinds of videos formats like MP4 M4V, MKV, and MPG. Originating as a DVD ripper, it has been around for ages and has now evolved into an excellent all-around video converter tool with tons of features and advanced options. All the expected conversion features are there if you want to keep things simple, but advanced options lay right under the hood, where you can add subtitles to video, add new audio tracks, change the video codec type, set and customize frame rate, adjust chapters for DVD or BluRay conversions, apply filters to denies and decomb videos, and so much more.

Download Handbrake from the developer

• After you finish downloading Handbrake, drag any file or video source (DVD, Bluray etc...)
• Now you will have to choose a device as the output format, you will find a list of devices at your left hand side. 
• Fiddle with the complex settings if desired, otherwise just click “Start” to convert the video.

Open the image in a new tab for a better resolution 

Reasons you’ll love HandBrake:

• Convert video from nearly any format
• Free and Open Source
• Multi-Platform (Windows, Mac and Linux)

QuickTime: Convert Videos Without Downloading Anything

Everyone probably heard about the well known video player QuickTime, but one of the things you may don't know, is QuickTime can be used as a video converter and it is very awesome. t can do much more than that, and whether you’re trying to get a video ready for any iOS device or PC, it works just fine. Plus it’s already bundled with your Mac, so you don’t have to download anything else or fiddle with much to get it working.

• Open QuickTime from the launchpad and drag any video you want to convert.
• Pull down the File menu and choose “Export”
• Now choose the desired format from the drop menu, there is 1080p, 720p and so on... 

It is a very important thing to keep such useful video converters apps in your Mac OS X.. So that you will not need to pay for anyone, because you have three full free video converters that you will love them...

[Tip hat OSXDaily]

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The Best Apps For Protecting Your Privacy

Privacy on iPhone is one of the most important things a user should look after. You probably heard plenty of commotion regarding data mining on the part of the U.S. government. It turns out that no one’s privacy is protected from the prying eyes of our leaders under any circumstance.

Of course we can't protect your phone calls from government access but we can safeguard some of our information and documentation from unwanted invasion by other companies, software programs, and sticky fingers. We’ve got a list of apps that are great for locking photos, hiding messages, and keeping your private things the way you want them to be, private…

Wickr – Self-Destructing, Secure, Private, Anonymous Messages & Media

The all-around go-to app for protecting your privacy while social networking on your iPhone is Wickr. This app gives control of messaging back to the sender. Each message is encrypted with its own unique keys that don’t have any decryption keys at all. It features timed removal of information so that no one will have access to your private messages. Meta-data is deleted, nothing is stored on the server, and all information is encrypted using military grade security. Wickr is perfect for people who don’t want anyone to know what they are talking about. This app is available for free.

Private Life Texting – Send secret SMS messages

It recently came to light that Apple’s iMessage service is particularly difficult to crack into. Actually, “impossible to intercept” was the exact wording used by the DEA. That doesn’t mean that conversations right on your iPhone can’t be seen by snooping moms, jealous partners, or idea thieves. This app makes it impossible for anyone to see your private text messages without knowing the password. You will also see a picture of the person who tried to access your text messages so you can confront them about their prying tendencies. This app is available for $0.99.

Picture Safe – Secure Photo Vault and Private Safe for your Privacy

I recently found out that Scarlett Johansson’s phone was hacked and her nude selfies were published on the Internet. Now, I’m not going to bother trying to understand why celebrities take nude pictures of themselves when they know they are targets for privacy invasions. All I can say is that you can protect your photos with a privacy app like Picture safe. Not only does this app require password-protected storage for your device, you can create hidden folders, back up pictures, and organize your photos into different sections. Use the Quick Hide feature to replace a secret picture with a boring old spreadsheet or other not-so-secret picture. This app is on sale for $0.99 for a limited time.

NQ Vault

This app takes privacy a step further by letting you secure your video clips as well as your pictures. The app automatically sends pictures and videos that you take to an encrypted place that can only be accessed when you enter the correct password. You can make Facebook chats private by letting NQ Vault connect to the Facebook app. Then, all of your chats will be private. You will also know if someone is trying to break into your private collection by snapping a picture. If you get caught using Vault by someone who feels they are owed access to find out what you are up to (like a wife/husband or parent), you can show them a decoy NQ Vault app that has a whole different set of pictures. This app is available for free.

Private Files and Photos – Hide Contacts, Bookmarks, Photos, Videos, and More

Not only can you keep your photos and videos private with this app, but you can also keep contacts and other documents private, as well. You can import photos and videos from your device’s library, take pictures from within the app, and more. The app requires a passcode, or you can use Dot Lock protection for a different kind of locking. If someone tries to unlock your private folder, you’ll see their unknowing face and find out where they were when they tried to break in with the app’s camera and GPS feature. This app is available for free.

Secrets Folder Pro

If you are the kind of person who wants to keep more than just photos private, you need an app that lets you keep almost all of your information private. With this app, you’ll be able to set passcodes for pictures, notes, contacts, bank accounts, web browsers, voice memos, and more. Photos can be imported from your photo library, printed and emailed to others, and organized into albums. Notes can be created and kept private similar to the native iOS Notes app. You can import contacts from you iPhone’s address book and manage your credit card and bank account login information. This app is available for $0.99.

Full Screen Private Browsing for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad

Everyone has a reason to hide their browsing history. Whether you don’t want your boss to know you’ve been looking for a new job, or you don’t want your husband to know how much money you’ve spent on online shopping, you’ve probably cleared your browser history a few times in your life. Instead of worrying about whether you’ve remembered to delete your activities, use this app for a completely private Internet experience. All history, cookies, and bookmarks, will be deleted every time you exit the app. Plus, you’ll get the full-screen experience that mobile Safari does not currently support by hiding the status bar. This app is available for $1.99.

Rando

This app makes it possible for you to send and receive pictures to others without them knowing who you are. It is a bit different than protecting your privacy from unwanted invasion. It is actually just a fun way to share photos with each other from all over the world without knowing who took the pictures. It is the opposite of social networking, even though it is a social sharing idea. This app is available for free.

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Forrester: iOS is shoppers’ platform of choice

Owners of mobile gadgets running on Apple’s iOS operating system are more likely to make purchases from their iPhone, iPod touch or iPad and use their iDevices for product research. According to research firm Forrester, iOS owners are nearly one-third, or thirty percent, more likely to make purchases using their smartphone or tablet and fifteen percent more likely to research products, compared to Android users.

Although Apple’s software is overwhelmingly chosen by shoppers, 96 percent of e-businesses planned to develop mobile applications for both Android and iOS. However, while companies such as Microsoft and others encourage developers to create apps for their platform, only very large companies intend to stray from the iOS-Android duopoly…

The prime reason for sticking with iOS and Android: budgets for developing mobile apps are a drop in the bucket compared to money spent on overall marketing.

Some 41 percent of businesses have just $500,000 to spend on mobile, while more than half (56 percent) have under $1 million, according to the Forrester report that polled some 50,000 U.S. professionals.

Because developing apps for iOS and Android requires much from companies, fewer resources are allocated to building mobile products for other platforms.

Per TechCrunch:

The more resources developers have to devote to catering to those top two platforms, the fewer they have available to spread out on a third or fourth horse, to the continued detriment of smaller players like BlackBerry and Microsoft.

Indeed, BlackBerry announced in May its much-vaunted BlackBerry Messaging app would be available for both iOS and Android. And over at Microsoft, they even held a workshop to convince developers to write for its Windows platform.

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Google ostensibly close to buying WhatsApp for $1 billion

WhatsApp, the cross-platform instant messaging application for smartphones, is rumored to be close to negotiating a landmark acquisition deal with Google. Sources reportedly close to the negotiations claim the Internet giant is considering dropping a whopping one billion dollars on the popular service that as of March 2013 had a cool 200 million users, a hundred million ones on Android alone.

The report ties nicely with talk of a new instant messaging brand from Google called Babble, and even more so given Facebook with its new Home UI layer for select Android devices is basically encouraging its one billion users to use its Messenger service right from their Lock screen or from whichever app they happen to be using at any give moment…

DigitalTrends reports that while the deal started four or five weeks ago, “we’ve been told that WhatsApp is ‘playing hardball’ and jockeying for a higher acquisition price, which currently is ‘close to’ $1 billion right now.”

The acquisition might make sense for both parties.

For WhatsApp, Google’s scale and reach would mean rapid adoption, especially on Android devices. More importantly, the software would probably gain video chatting, a feature it’s been conspicuously missing.

WhatsApp’s 200 million users come from more than a hundred countries and across an astounding 750 mobile networks.The number one paid app in more than a hundred countries, WhatsApp on New Years Eve 2012 alone saw a record eighteen billion messages processed in a day.

DigitalTrends lets us in on WhatsApp’s business model, said to pull in about $100 million in revenue:

WhatsApp has a proven monetization scheme. Its yearly but nominal $0.99 subscription fee keeps the service ad-free. Behind the scenes however, WhatsApp also generates revenue through profitable partnerships with international telecommunications companies.

For instance WhatsApp’s monthly local plan in Hong Kong with mobile operator 3 HK costs just $8HK ($1.03 USD) and an international package will run for $48HK ($6.18 USD) per day. And whatever Whatsapp is doing is working: The app has even had a direct hand in declining SMS usage around the world. 

It’s interesting that although Google played its cards well with Android, it somehow has managed to drop the ball when it comes to the mobile instant messaging playground.

The company is now rumored to be consolidating its many instant messaging offerings under the new Babble brand so it could certainly use a standout app such as WhatsApp to drive people away from rival offerings and give them another reason to go Android.

The search giant’s Nikhyl Singhal told GigaOM last June that “we have done an incredibly poor job of servicing our users here.”

WhatsApp is thought to be toying with a subscription model on iOS and has suffered its share or privacy-related hiccups. Google previously acquired some other popular developers who made names for themselves creating popular apps for Apple’s iPhone, iPod, iPad and Mac.

Most notably, it boughtemail client Sparrow last Jul and mobile productivity suite QuickOffice in June 2012. Last September, the company unexpectedly acquired Nik Software, the maker of the popular photo editing software Snapseed.

Viber, another popular IM app, has for some time been in a neck and neck race with WhatsApp over which service gets to become the default cross-platform messaging solution on mobile devices.

But taking advantage of Viber’s feature shortages and slow pace of development, WhatsApp zoomed past its rival, which as of February 26, 2013 had 175 million users.

Which one do you prefer for cross-platform messaging, Viber or WhatsApp?

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WhatsApp to bring subscription model to iOS this year

WhatsApp, the popular cross-platform messaging service, is going to be bringing its subscription model to iOS this year, according to CEO Jan Koum. Koum recently spoke with a Dutch news outlet about the company’s near-term plans.

Currently, iOS users can download WhatsApp for a one-time fee of $0.99. In the new model though, which it already uses on other platforms like Android and Windows Phone, the app will be free, with users having to pay an annual fee…

TechCrunch points to Koum’s interview with Dutch journalist Alexander Klopping onTechtastic:

“The new subscription model would apply to new users, Koum said, and would likely follow the same pricing structure as its other apps, which are free for the first year and then cost $1/year, compared to the single, for-life $0.99 purchase that users make on iOS today. “We’re relaxed on dates, but definitely this year. It’s on the road map,” Koum said.”

WhatsApp is easily one of the most popular messaging services around, with a reported 17 billion messages transmitted everyday—some 7 billion inbound and 10 billion out. And it’s believed it has over 100 million users on Android alone.

Koum wouldn’t give a reason for why they’re moving to subscriptions, but it’s not a difficult one to figure out. Users download, on average, 15 free apps for every 1 paid app. Which route would you take while trying to grow a user base?

He also wouldn’t give a timeframe for the change outside of “this year,” but it looks like it’s going to be sooner than later. The phrase ‘Purchase Now’ for renewing iPhone subscriptions was found in WhatsApp’s crowdsourced translation site.

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