Size of the Average iOS App Increased 16% in Six Months

According to a study by ABI Research, the average size of an iOS app increased by 16% from March to September 2012; iOS games have grown even faster, jumping 42% over that same time period.

The increase is thought to be partly the result of the iPad's new retina display, as well as a March increase in the over-the-air App Store download limit from 20MB to 50MB.

Universal apps include all the resources needed for the iPad and iPhone, regardless of which device the app is downloaded onto. These factors, combined with the new high-resolution graphics needed for the new iPad Retina display have ballooned app sizes.

The flipside of the increasing file-sizes is that the internal storage of smartphones and tablets is becoming a scarcer resource, as the device capabilities struggle to keep up with the requirements of apps and mobile content. Markkanen predicts, "Especially the consumers with 16GB devices are likely to become more conscious about what apps to keep and what to uninstall, so the developers’ bar to impress will be getting even higher than it is now. This could also speed up the adoption of the mobile cloud as a storage remedy quite significantly."

Some have speculated that Apple could hold down the entry-level pricing on the iPad mini by offering an 8 GB model, but as universal apps with Retina iPad support push app download sizes ever higher, Apple is likely to maintain 16 GB as the floor for its tablet devices.

Even the iPhone has trended toward larger capacities, with Apple adding a 64 GB option for the iPhone 4S and now offering only the free iPhone 4 as an 8 GB device. Though it doesn't support downloadable apps, the new iPod Nano is also only offered in an 16GB capacity, dropping the 8GB capacity that the prior Nano was offered in.

Last month, Apple stopped selling any iPod Touch model in an 8GB capacity -- the smallest iPod touch nowadays is the 16GB 4th generation model, available for $199. The new 5th generation model starts at 32GB.

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Apple's Split with Google Over iOS Maps Driven by Turn-by-Turn Navigation Dispute

Apple and Google that saw Apple replace its Google-powered Maps app for iOS with its own solution have continued to trickle out, with AllThingsD now reporting that the lack of turn-by-turn directions on Google's Maps app for iOS was the key motivator for Apple.

[M]ultiple sources familiar with Apple’s thinking say the company felt it had no choice but to replace Google maps with its own because of a disagreement over a key feature: Voice-guided turn-by-turn driving directions.

Spoken turn-by-turn navigation has been a free service offered through Google’s Android mobile OS for a few years now. But it was never part of the deal that brought Google’s maps to iOS. And Apple very much wanted it to be. Requiring iPhone users to look directly at handsets for directions and manually move through each step while Android users enjoyed native voice-guided instructions put Apple at a clear disadvantage in the mobile space. And having chosen Google as its original mapping partner, the iPhone-maker was now in a position where an arch rival was calling the shots on functionality important to the iOS maps feature set.

Apple reportedly pushed hard for voice navigation in Google's maps on iOS, but Google was unwilling to hand over the functionality without concessions from Apple. As detailed by other sources, Google was seeking greater control over the mapping experience on the iPhone, such as Google branding and Google Latitude integration, concessions Apple was unwilling to make.


Combined with the deterioration of the overall Apple-Google relationship and Apple's concerns that Google was collecting too much information from iOS users, Apple ramped up its mapping efforts in order to bring its own turn-by-turn directions to the device, ultimately deciding that it could afford to do away entirely with Google's maps.

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How To Report a Problem With iOS 6 Maps Data

A large amount of criticism has been correctly directed towards Apple regarding the new Maps app in iOS 6, with common complaints focusing on Points of Interest data. This is the information that Apple has purchased from third parties relating to addresses and phone numbers of stores, museums, hospitals and the like.

Google Maps is a much more complete, more polished product offering, but that's mostly because Google Maps has been around for years. Its developers have had plenty of time to refine it -- but its users have helped a considerable amount as well. Every Google Maps page has "report a problem" located somewhere on it, allowing the company to crowdsource and verify much of its data.

Like Google Maps, Apple also allows users to submit error reports and correct POI data. Last week, Apple said that "the more people use [Maps], the better it will get." Reporting errors in information is surely part of how Apple plans to improve the product.


The Home Depot in Durango, Colorado is located at 1301 South Camino del Rio, but, Apple's map data puts it at 1301 Camino del Rio, in the middle of downtown Durango. It's unclear how quickly the data will be integrated into Maps, nor what sort of quality control processes the company has in place to deal with malicious submissions.

However, with Apple aggressively recruiting former Google Maps employees, it seems likely that lessons learned during Google Maps development will soon be implemented at Apple. Incidentally, Google Maps gets the address correct.

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How to Put iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch In DFU Mode With A Broken Home Or Power Button

Are you unable to put your iOS device in DFU mode because the Home or Power button is broken? Or simply having trouble putting your iOS device in DFU mode?

 No worries, few weeks back iPhone Dev team released a new version of Redsn0w that allows you to put your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch in DFU mode without the need of the Home or Power button.

In this article, we will take you through the step-by-step procedure to put your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch in DFU mode using Redsn0w on Mac or Windows.



Step 1: Download the latest version of Redsn0w from this link and save it in a folder named "Redsn0w" on your desktop.

Step 2: Download the latest iOS firmware file (.ipsw) for your iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch from here: iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch

Step 3: Double click the Redsn0w zip file and extract the application to the Redsn0w folder and then launch the Redsn0w application.

Windows users should run Redsn0w as ‘Administrator’ (right-click on the Redsn0w exe and select 'Run as an Administrator').

Step 4: After launching Redsn0w, click on the Extras button.

Step 5: Then click on the Even more button.

Step 6: Now click on the DFU IPSW button.

Step 7: You will be prompted to select an IPSW. Use the file browser to select the .ipsw file that you had downloaded in Step 2.

Step 8: Redsn0w will start creating a DFU mode IPSW file.

Step 9: After the IPSW file has been created, you will be notified. Click on the Ok button. Please note that the IPSW file will be created with prefix ENTER_DFU_.

Step 10: Now launch iTunes (please ensure that it has been updated to the latest version).

Step 11: Select your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch when it appears in iTunes under Devices. (If you haven't backed up your iOS device, then back it up by right clicking (or Control-clicking) on the device and clicking on the Back Up menu option.)

Step 12: Select the Summary tab. Then hold down the Option key (Windows users hold down on the Alt key) and click Restore.

Step 13: Select the DFU mode IPSW file (.ipsw file with prefix ENTER_DFU_)

Step 14: After your iOS device has been restored it will be automatically put in DFU mode (the screen should be completely black)

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Apple iOS retains commanding lead in enterprise through Q2, report says

A study released on Wednesday tallied up mobile device activations among enterprise users and found Apple's iOS maintained a dominating presence in the sector during the second quarter on strong iPhone 4S adoption.

In its report, mobile enterprise services vendor Good Technolgy crunched data from thousands of corporate and government entities that had at least five activated devices to determine trends in the mobile OS space. It should be noted that the company only supports iOS, Android and Windows Phone as BlackBerry uses a proprietary enterprise server and as such is not present in the report.

According to the compiled data, Apple took a 70.8 percent share of all activations during the second quarter of 2012, down from 79.9 percent in quarter one. The findings support comments made by Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer during the company's third fiscal quarter earnings conference call on Tuesday.

"iPad continues its rapid adoption within the enterprise," Oppenheimer said. "We estimate that the number of iPads in the Fortune 500 is more than tripled in the past year."

Google's Android rebounded in the second quarter to hit nearly 30 percent of total activations. The bump in share represents a 10 percent growth quarter-to-quarter after the platform fell to only 20 percent at the end of May. Good attributes the rise to popular handsets made by Samsung like the Galaxy S II and a market over-saturation of iOS devices. 


Apple's iOS remained dominant in the sector over quarter two and was trailed by Android and Windows Phone activations which accounted for 37 percent and 1.2 percent of the market, respectively. Apple products accounted for six of the "top ten" most-activated devices for the quarter ending in June.



Digging deeper, Good found Apple's iPhone 4S and third-generation iPad to be the most-popular devices in the April to June period and accounted for a combined 44.1 percent of all mobile activations. The iPhone 4S took 30.8 percent of the market, driving nearly twice as many activations as any other smartphone, while the Retina display iPad garnered a 13.3 percent share. Apple's last-generation iPhone 4 came in third and garnered 12 percent of all activations. The last-generation iPad 2 captured fourth place after Apple carried the tablet over into the current product cycle as a more affordable option to the New iPad.

Taking the number five spot was Samsung's Galaxy S II which managed 4.6 percent of the market as the most-activated Android device for the quarter. Motorola's Droid Razr followed with 3.2 percent and led both the original iPad and entry-level iPhone 3GS which took 2.3 and 1.8 percent shares, respectively. Samsung's Galaxy Nexus and Galaxy Note rounded out the top ten for the second quarter.


As part of the study, Good tracked activations by industry and found the financial services sector continued to lead with a 37.8 percent share, up from 36.1 percent three months ago. The company believes the industry's high adoption rate is a result of a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) model. Business and professional services saw a significant 17 percent drop compared to the first quarter possibly due to early adoption and rollout of mobility programs by companies staffed in part by traveling professionals.

Apple's iPad crushed the tablet competition, though its share dropped slightly from 97.3 percent in the first quarter to end June at slightly less-dominating 94.5 percent of activations. The iPad's performance overshadows Android's 5.5 percent of activations but Good notes the platform did see a 2.7 percent increase mostly attributed to the Galaxy Note.

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Apple To Fix In-App Purchase Hack in iOS 6; Provides Temporary Fix For Now

Apple has responded to the recent App Store in-app-purchase bug and fraud with an email and temporary solution for registered iOS developers. This email includes a link to a new Apple developer web document that describes the issue and teaches developers how to temporarily plug the issue. Apple says that it will fix the bug completely with the upcoming release of iOS 6 (thanks, @natesiphone).


iOS 6 will address this vulnerability. If your app follows the best practices described below then it is not affected by this attack.
Apple has provided a question, answer, and solution section for three common questions from developers during the past few days (since the major App Store flaw was discovered):


A vulnerability has been discovered in iOS 5.1 and earlier related to validating in-app purchase receipts by connecting to the App Store server directly from an iOS device. An attacker can alter the DNS table to redirect these requests to a server controlled by the attacker. Using a certificate authority controlled by the attacker and installed on the device by the user, the attacker can issue a SSL certificate that fraudulently identifies the attacker’s server as an App Store server. When this fraudulent server is asked to validate an invalid receipt, it responds as if the receipt were valid.



My app performs validation by connecting to my own server. How am I affected?
If your app follows best practices and performs receipt validation by sending the receipt to your server and having your server perform the validation with the App Store server, your app is not affected by this attack because it does not connect to the App Store server. However, it may be vulnerable to similar attacks when connecting to your server.


If your app connects to the App Store server directly from the device, your app may be affected by this vulnerability. You can address this vulnerability as follows:
Check that the SSL certificate used to connect to the App Store server is an EV certificate.
Check that the information returned from validation matches the information in the SKPayment object.
Check that the receipt has a valid signature.


Use the appropriate cryptographic techniques to ensure that your app is actually connected to your server, and that your server is actually connected to the App Store server. You can use the mitigation strategy outlined in this document as a starting point. For more information, see Security Overview.
My app performs validation by connecting to the App Store server directly. How am I affected?
The best practice for validating receipts is to send the receipt to your server, and have your server perform the validation with the App Store server.

Check that new transactions have a unique transaction ID.
How can I validate transactions that have already completed?

Consumables: If you have saved the receipts, either on the device or on your server, revalidate the receipts after implementing your mitigation strategy. If you have not saved the receipts, you cannot validate these past transactions; you should not take any action.
Nonconsumables: Set aside the current receipts, perform a restore operation, and validate the new receipts. Avoid redownloading content that is already on the device during this process.

Apple has also provided developers with code and a step-by-stop process to mitigate the issue:
The code listings in this document’s companion files illustrate an implementation approach for the mitigation strategy described in this document.

Note: This listing uses the symbols kSecTrustInfoExtendedValidationKey and SecTrustCopyInfo, which are not public API. Your app is allowed to use them for this specific purpose.
To add this code to your project:
Download and unzip this document’s companion files. (The link is in the top right corner of this page.)
Add the VerificationController.h and VerificationController.m files to your project in Xcode, and add them to the appropriate targets.

Link your project against the Security framework.
Provide a base64 encoder, a base64 decoder, and the action to perform when validation succeeds.
Apple previously responded to the issue in a statement:
“The security of the App Store is incredibly important to us and the developer community,” Apple representative Natalie Harrison, told The Loop. “We take reports of fraudulent activity very seriously and we are investigating.”


It seems that iOS 6 will be the only true final solution to the issue, and Apple’s outreach to developers, today, is a temporary solution. It seems that the end of the issue will only be reached by Apple and developers working together. Apple is readying the iOS 6 patch this fall, and developers need to better protect their in-app-purchases with the new tools and guidelines that Apple released today.


We first publicized the issue one week ago today, noting that Russian hackers were able to circumvent Apple’s in-app-purchase process with only thee steps. We previously noted that the issue affects iOS devices ranging from iOS 3.0 to iOS 6.0, so Apple will likely rollout the fix in the next betas of iOS 6 or wait for the final release this fall.

A few days after the original news about the hack hit, Apple began making moves to stop people from being able to steal in-app-purchases from App Store developers. Apple’s early attempts at stopping the scheme included issuing takedown notices on the servers that powered the fraudulent hack. The hackers fought back by moving their servers to less-accessible locations.


Read more at http://9to5mac.com/2012/07/20/apple-says-ios-6-to-fix-in-app-purchase-fraud-gives-developers-a-temporary-fix/#U1lWpyGsdVDFY2su.99

via 9to5Mac

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