Apple CEO Tim Cook has hailed the company's "deep connection" with the UK as it continues its expansion efforts across the country.

Cook's comments follow the publication of figures by Apple showing it has doubled the size of its engineering workforce in the UK over the last five years.

The tech giant has also invested more than £18 billion in the country during that time.

"We’ve been serving customers in the UK for more than 40 years, and we’re proud of our deep connection with communities across this country," Cook said.

"We’re thrilled to be growing our Apple teams here, and to keep supporting the extraordinary innovators, creators, and entrepreneurs who are pushing the boundaries of technology in so many ways."

The tech giant now supports 550,000 jobs through direct employment, its supply chain, and the iOS app economy, according to a recent announcement.

Its engineering teams in London, Cambridge, and elsewhere are working on support for key technologies in Apple Intelligence, such as Siri’s deep integration into Apple products, and Private Cloud Compute.

There are also UK teams working on silicon engineering, along with services like Apple Music and Apple TV+, where production has tripled in the last two years alone.

According to Apple, the UK boasts the largest developer community in Europe.

Since the launch of the tech giant’s App Store in 2008, developers across the country have earned nearly £9 billion from selling digital goods and services, it said

The company also highlighted its educational programs, including The King’s Trust, which it has since helped to expand its STEAM programming to every region across the country through the organisation’s Achieve programme.

Apple continues its UK expansion

Last year, Apple launched a major recruitment drive in the UK, looking specifically for AI development staff around the country. It currently has more than 150 positions open at various locations around the country.

It also opened a new office in Cambridge focused on AI and machine learning with several hundred staff, as well as a six-storey, 500,000 square foot headquarters in London at Battersea Power Station.

It's not all plain sailing in the UK for the company, though. It's currently facing a class action lawsuit for charging UK developers a 30% fee.

The case was last week given the green light by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) and could see Apple forced to pay back fees to 13,000 developers amounting to up to £785 million.

"Apple’s App Store is currently the only means by which app developers can distribute their apps on iOS devices.," said competition law expert Sean Ennis, who is leading the claim.

"Apple exploits this fact by charging excessive commission fees that do not reflect the significant value that third-party apps contribute to the success of iOS devices."

"Apple’s exploitation of its monopoly on iOS app distribution deprives developers of fair compensation and funds that could be better spent on research and development."

When you buy an Apple product, it can often feel like making a deal with the devil. On the one hand, you can be confident your new device will be slick, intuitive, and powerful. But on the other, you’re acquiescing to Apple’s locked-down ecosystem of apps and services. Want to run an unapproved app on your new iPhone? Forget it.

This is how it’s been since 2008 when the App Store first launched. Since then, apps have turned into an almost unfathomably lucrative business for Apple. In the year prior to Apple’s most recent financial statement, the store raked in a staggering $78 billion of services revenue, most of which is derived from the App Store.

If rumors are true, though, the gold rush could soon be coming to an end. According to well-connected business journalist Mark Gurman of Bloomberg News, developers are hard at work updating iOS so it can support third-party app stores and apps that have been “side-loaded” onto the device. Such a move would dramatically upend years of Apple’s uncompromising policy – and shake the foundations of the iPhone’s security model, too. 

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) spells trouble for big tech

The EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) was signed into law in September last year. This sprawling piece of legislation had been crafted with only one goal in mind.

“We've gone through several decades where a lot of these companies have been allowed to kind of grow globally unchecked,” says professor Vince Manzerolle, who studies the political economy of digital media at the University of Windsor in Canada. “This legislation is almost crafted to take down some of these big companies.”

When the DMA comes into force, many expect it’ll require Apple to allow third-party app stores on its devices. “If Apple is actually forced to comply with the letter of this new kind of legislation it will, I think, transform its operations in some fairly profound ways,” says Manzerolle. “Allowing sideloading and third-party app stores is a pretty significant change.”

One major point of contention between Apple and the EU is the 30% fee Apple charges for every transaction in the App Store – and most in-app purchases too. “I think the EU is just interested in lower prices and allowing more competition,” says Dr Kathryn McMahon, associate professor of competition law at Warwick University. “They say the 30% is an excessive fee. It's in no way related to the cost. It's also discriminatory because it's not charged across the board.”

Scrapping the ‘Apple Tax’

The fee – often referred to as the 'Apple Tax' – has long been unpopular with developers, as Apple imposes draconian rules on how apps can take payments. Under the current rules, all in-app purchases of digital goods must use Apple's own payment system.

Apps aren’t even allowed to signpost alternative payment methods, such as by linking users to a website. It means that, for example, you can download the Netflix app and log in – but if you want to sign up for a new account, you'll need to figure out how to do it yourself because the company doesn’t want to give Apple a cut of its revenue.

The option to use alternative app stores could be of huge benefit to developers across the board. “There are lots of rules and restrictions on what you can and can't do,” says Dr Greig Paul, an electrical engineer and security researcher at Strathclyde University. “You're playing in someone else's walled garden, so to speak.”

“If you give people the option to build apps [without approval], who knows what we will see?” he adds, arguing that it could ultimately be good for innovation if iPhone users could use a different way to download a web browser that hasn’t been forced to use Apple’s own web rendering engine, for example. “You might get the Firefox browser, using Firefox's engine on an iPhone, and that might push Safari to up its performance, or it might give you more extensions.”

Unpicking the iOS security concerns

Cracking open Apple’s app store monopoly could be good news for consumers, who would have more choice and control over the apps on their phones. But there could also be unintended consequences for iOS security.

“If you've been selling people on 'you don't need to think about security, you don't need to think about privacy', and then all of a sudden there are new [threats], maybe users are not prepared for that,” says Manzerolle. “I certainly think that's a possibility.”

Allowing other app stores or sideloading would put iOS policies broadly in line with Android, which has always been more open and flexible than Apple’s super-locked down operating system, but also more open to attack. “You're adding more complexity as you're opening up the platform,” said Manzerolle. “And there's all sorts of smart hackers and cyber criminals out there. They're probably looking for an opportunity to get into the Apple ecosystem and exploit people's trust in the platform.”

Will the EU’s measures backfire?

Of course, even if Apple does bend to the EU’s will, and alternative app stores do emerge on iOS, it doesn’t necessarily mean that consumers will follow. McMahon wonders if the EU could find itself in a similar position to the one it found itself in 2005 when it tried to rein in Microsoft’s ability to use Windows to push its own media playback software to consumers.

“Microsoft, as a result of the EU case, had to ship Windows without Windows Media Player,” says McMahon, who explains that when Microsoft later released a new version of Windows XP without Media Player alongside the bundled version, it died a lonely death.

“Nobody bought it. Nobody wanted to get it separately,” says McMahon. “The whole point of the antitrust case was to separate it out to allow much more competition in music browsers and streaming, but it didn't really have that effect. Because people just preferred [the bundle] and they just purchased the entire package.”

Will history repeat itself for iOS? Or will this be the beginning of a dramatic new era for the iPhone? If the rumors are true, we’re about to find out.

Apple has launched a feature for developers that facilitates the publication of apps for "limited audiences" to its App Store on an unlisted basis.

The new app distribution service is targeting the business and education sectors specifically, and unlisted apps will not appear in the App Store under any categories, recommendations, charts, search results, or other listings.

Possible use cases Apple suggested were apps built specifically for organisations, special events such as a corporate party or conference, research studies, or other employee resources. Feasibly, the feature would also be useful for businesses running remote workforces, but require business or sector-specific software on their staff's personal devices.

In addition to direct links, apps can also be accessed and distributed via Apple Business Manager - Apple's proprietary mobile device management (MDM) solution for businesses running Apple products, or Apple School Manager - its equivalent for the education sector.

Developers who have apps already approved and listed for public download on the App Store, and those whose apps have not previously been approved, can simply submit a request form to Apple which will then send them a link to their unlisted app.

Businesses who already have their app approved for private downloads in Apple Business Manager or Apple School Manager will need to re-submit their binary in a new app record within App Store Connect, and set the distribution method to 'public' before completing the request form. If approved, the app will be visibly shifted to an unlisted app within App Store Connect and developers can continue updating the app according to the normal app release process.

Apps that have previously been made public will keep the same unlisted direct link as they did when they were public but developers also have the option of converting the link via a URL shortener.

Apple recommends "implementing a mechanism within your app to prevent unauthorised use" as although the app won't be publicly searchable, the direct link could still be shared with unwanted audiences.

Apple has had a similar private app distribution policy as part of its Apple Developer Enterprise Programme for a number of years now. Eligibility requirements include: developer houses to have more than 100 employees in the business, have systems in place to ensure only employees can download the app, and be legal operation, among others.

The programme was eventually abused by rogue developers as a way to distribute malicious apps or apps that otherwise violate the App Store policies. Illicit app stores were built to distribute such apps and Facebook was one of the higher-profile abusers of the feature, marketing a data-gathering app masquerading as a VPN in just one small branch of the much wider Cambridge Analytica scandal.

We don’t see too many David vs Goliath court cases, but the anti-trust lawsuit filed by Epic Games against Apple may be the closest we’ve come for a while.

Following the decision to bypass Apple’s in-app purchasing system on Fortnite, Epic’s most popular game, the battle royale hit was removed from the App Store. Epic hit back with a parody of Apple’s famous ‘1984’ Super Bowl advert, before a trial eventually took place earlier this year.

Now, Epic Games is no humble shepherd, having made over $9 billion in revenue from Fortnite alone. Its objection, though, is one of principle; Apple controls who has the ability to put software onto its iOS devices, takes up to 30% of revenues made through the devices and makes strategic decisions, such as not creating an iMessage application on Android, that could be seen as anti-competitive.

On the other hand, Apple argues that opening up its iPhone and iPad operating systems would decrease security, adding that the reason for taking such a high commission on sales made on its devices is to fund the very ecosystem that Epic is taking advantage of to reach billions of customers.

A Sign of Things to Come

Both arguments were tested in the court battle in May, as Apple CEO Tim Cook and Epic CEO Tim Sweeney headlined the witness testimony from both businesses, and executives from Microsoft and Nvidia also took the stand.

But as the trial is yet to reach a verdict, consumers and pundits are asking what may happen in the iOS ecosystem, and how Apple is viewed in the industry. Technology and media analyst Paolo Pescatore argues that the company has built a market that works for everyone, saying: “No one wants to cede control and everyone wants to have a closer, more direct relationship with the customer as well.

“There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the current system as it works for all parties to a certain degree. The platform represents a key distribution channel for developers; more so among smaller players who lack the scale and resources to go directly, but fall short compared to bigger players who feature more prominently and, fundamentally, users are accustomed to the current approach.

“Ultimately this is part of bigger battles that lie ahead for Apple and other tech giants, given the upcoming antitrust battles. With growing regulatory and political pressure across the globe, it’s in everyone’s interest to work together and find a suitable compromise for the sake of consumers and Apple must strongly consider a back-up plan of how it operates the App Store, and new rules for developers.”

Developer Free Agency

As Pescstore points out, nothing has changed the way the App Store operates yet, but the possibility of change is a real one – even if those possibilities are varied.

If Epic wins the court battle, the technology industry has mused over what a new iOS operating system would look like. Could Apple decide to run an open source system that allows anyone to place applications onto iPhones? Could it look once more at the business model of the App Store, decreasing the fees it takes?

Shubha Gosh, professor of law at Syracuse University College of Law, says that, from a legal standpoint, if the court finds against Apple, a likely remedy is to just strike down the restrictions that Epic disagrees with. However he says that, in turn, this could create a level of “free agency” for developers, as businesses create their own platforms to monetise that Apple could not stop or profit from.

“If the court does find against Apple, the very narrow remedy, the minimum I think they would do would be to somehow strike down the restrictions for direct to consumer marketing,” he says.

“We'd have to see how the programmers are working within the companies, but it might be interesting to see if some developers find alternative ways to work with Apple or work with other larger companies, so that they can sell directly to the market, but can also work with Apple.”

Ghosh adds that “ideally it would be good to see smaller companies and developers band together to create their own platforms which would compete with the various Apple platforms”.

Walled Garden

That may be a troublesome thought for Apple. Without having control over the way customers use their phones, other businesses – such as Epic – will be able to profit from the experience they have created.

One of the cornerstones of Apple’s defence is the security of the iOS operating system, however. Ghosh points out that Epic would have to prove Apple’s policies were harmful to its consumers, something that may be hard to do given the restrictions allow children to use iPads safely.

Although it may be seen as anti-competitive by those who would profit from an open source OS, Apple argues it’s protecting its users. However David Benson, professor of strategy and security studies at the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, says the so-called “walled garden” is only effective if it manages to keep all threats out, adding that for enterprises and public servants, minimising threats in the system is only good if you can still identify them.

“Certainly people in government believe that tightly controlling an operating system is the best way forward. That works great until there's a problem.

“Organisations may want to minimise risk, but it's all about what kinds of risk are you minimising. If you tightly control the OS, you're minimising malware injection, but if [there is] a weakness there are fewer eyes to detect it, and it could go unnoticed.”

Such an argument could boost Epic’s chances of victory, but in the past 18 months Tim Cook has been called to give evidence more than three times on antitrust matters, each of which are yet to find an enforced conclusion.

According to Ghosh, the Epic case would need to define the market the company is operating in, prove Apple is dominant and then point to examples of harm to the consumer. On the other hand, even the narrow find against Apple would shake up the developer market and create new platforms.

What this all comes down to is a question of control. Whether it’s who talks to the customers, who develops the apps, or who secures the devices, having control of the consumer experience is clearly crucial on iOS – and Apple’s grasp may be about to be prised open.

App developers criticized Apple in front of Congressional leaders on Wednesday, arguing the company engaged in predatory business practices using the power of its app store.

Legal executives from Spotify, Tile, and Match all spoke out against the mobile giant at a hearing held by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary's Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights.

The hearing, entitled Antitrust Applied: Examining Competition in App Stores, explored potential antitrust issues in platform ownership. During the event, the executives recounted problematic business relationships with the company and accused it of using the app store to further its own business interests.

This week, Apple launched a direct competitor to Tile's tracking devices with its new AirTag, a device that links directly to its FindMy feature. Kirsten Daru, general counsel at Tile, said that Apple is willing to become hostile with former business partners to further its own business.

"Tile and Apple originally had a mutually beneficial, symbiotic relationship," she said, adding that things "took a very sharp turn in a different direction" in 2019, just as Tile began to hear rumors that Apple was working on a competitive product. It removed Tile from its physical stores without explanation and "started sending Tile customers confusing prompts encouraging our customers to effectively turn off Tile".

"If left unchecked, Apple will become a 3, 5, 10 trillion-dollar company, while countless other viable competitors will be unfairly marginalized and harmed," she warned.

Horacio Gutierrez, head of global affairs and chief legal officer at Spotify, reported that Apple had threatened to ban the streaming music service from the app store unless it used the in-app purchases feature and paid the 30% fee Apple typically charges for the service. This forced Spotify to increase its pricing. Apple then introduced its own, lower-priced Apple Music service and added a rule that companies couldn't direct users to their own external sign-up pages, he complained.

"Spotify is prohibited even from informing its customers about the opportunity to sign up for Premium on Spotify’s own website," Gutierrez warned, accusing the company of "bait and switch" tactics by changing the rules.

Jared Sine, chief legal officer for Match Group, which owns Tinder, had equally harsh words for Apple and Google, which also participated in the hearing. "At the heart of this strategy to control both developers and consumers is the requirement that app developers use Apple’s and Google’s often inferior in-app payment services — think of a credit card processor — for which Apple and Google charge a 30 percent tax," he said.

"Senators, this is not curation," he warned. "It is iron-fisted, monopoly control.

Apple sent executives to the hearing after initially declining to testify. Chief compliance officer Kyle Andeer defended the company's 30% fee for application purchases and in-app payments.

"Today, the commission for most developers who are required to pay one is just 15 percent," he said. "Last year, as many small businesses were struggling during the pandemic, and storefronts were closing around the country, we launched a Small Business Program, which cut the commission for developers making less than $1 million per year in the App Store."

Apple will now send an executive to an upcoming Senate hearing after it earlier declined to attend.

According to Bloomberg, the company will make Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) Kyle Andeer available to speak to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust and Consumer Rights later this month. Andeer has testified before the House of Representatives several times.

Senators sent a letter to Apple Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tim Cook on Friday confirming Apple had previously declined to participate in the hearings.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) added in the letter that Apple’s “sudden change in course to refuse to provide a witness to testify before the Subcommittee on app store competition issues in April, when the company is clearly willing to discuss them in other public forums, is unacceptable.”

“We strongly urge Apple to reconsider its position and to provide a witness to testify before the Subcommittee in a timely manner,” the letter read.

In a statement, Senators Klobuchar and Lee urged Tim Cook to reverse his position.

“This hearing will explore whether Apple and Google are using their power as gatekeepers to charge high fees and impose restrictions that suppress competition in mobile applications and related markets, and both companies‘ participation in the hearing is necessary,” the statement read.

Apple responded on Sunday, saying it was “surprised” to receive the letter and was simply looking for alternative dates to attend.

“We have deep respect for your role and process on these matters and, as we told your staff, we are willing to participate in a hearing in the subcommittee,” Apple said in its response. “We simply sought alternative dates in light of upcoming matters that have been scheduled for some time and that touch on similar issues.”

The Senate Subcommittee is investigating competition issues and has Apple and Google in its sights over app developers’ concerns.

In the letter to Cook, senators said Apple’s power over the cost, distribution, and availability of mobile applications on millions of consumers’ Apple devices “raises serious competition issues that are of interest to the subcommittee, consumers, and app developers.”

“A full and fair examination of these issues before the subcommittee requires Apple’s participation,” the letter added.

A separate Justice Department investigation into Apple’s App Store practices is ongoing and trying to determine if the company is harming competition.

Starting December 8, Apple will require app developers to detail app privacy information on the App store. The details, which Apple calls “privacy nutrition labels,” will better inform users what data apps collect and if that data is linked to them or used for tracking purposes — all without having to read a lengthy, confusing privacy policy.

Apple says it’ll require this information for new and updated apps. Developers can start submitting their apps’ privacy information now through the company’s App Store Connect website. They must have this information uploaded by December 8.

When preparing the app “privacy nutrition labels,” Apple expects developers to keep the following in mind:

• Labels must identify all possible data collection and uses, even if apps collect certain data for limited use
• Responses should follow the App Store review guidelines and applicable laws
• Only app owners are responsible for keeping responses (or labels) accurate and up to date

Apple will also ask developers to reveal all the user data that third-party partners may collect. This includes contact information, such as names, email addresses, contact numbers and physical addresses. For example, if an app needs to know your location, you’ll know it before downloading it.

If executed properly, the privacy labels will work much like nutrition labels on the back of packaged foods, which state the ingredients, calories and other nutrition content.

“Examples of data that may not need to be disclosed include data collected in optional feedback forms or customer service requests that are unrelated to the primary purpose of the app and meet the other criteria above. For the purpose of clarity, data collected on an ongoing basis after an initial request for permission must be disclosed”, Apple mentioned on its developer webpage.

To learn more about the privacy labels, head to Apple’s developer support page.

Epic Games is suing Google and Apple over the removal of its popular game Fortnite from their app stores, amid a growing battle around the slice of sales taken by the tech giants.

Google and Apple take a 30% cut of all payments made in games and apps downloaded via their stores. To avoid losing that revenue, Epic Games said it would offer a 20% discount to players who purchase in-game currency directly from Fortnite rather than through the app, prompting Apple and Google to boot the game from their official stores.

Apple said it removed Fortnite because the feature had the "express intent of violating the App Store guidelines," while Google also said the move violates its policies, but added that it would "welcome the opportunity to continue our discussions with Epic," according to a report from Sky News.

In response, Epic filed lawsuits against both companies — and released a video lambasting Apple's decision based on its own classic 1984-themed advertisement. Apple's original ad was released to both promote the forthcoming Macintosh and to criticise IBM's then-current monmopolisation of the desktop PC market. Epic's video turned this theme around on the company, saying Apple has "become what it once railed against" and calling for the platform-holders to "free Fortnite".

"Apple's removal of Fortnite is yet another example of Apple flexing its enormous power in order to impose unreasonable restraints and unlawfully maintain its 100% monopoly over the iOS in-app payment processing market," Epic said in its Apple complaint, according to CNN.

The company similarly said in its complaint against Google that the tech giant was "using its size to do evil upon competitors, innovators, customers, and users in a slew of markets it has grown to monopolize."

Fortnite only arrived on the Apple App Store and Google Play in April, 18 months after offering it for Android as a download outside of the official market. Epic had been slow to allow the game to be downloaded via the stores because of the potential revenue loss, instead offering its own installer. At the time, CEO Tim Sweeney said the 30% cut was "disproportionate to the cost of the services these stores perform." However, Epic said it had to shift to the official store because Google kept showing pop-ups warning that third-party software is dangerous or even malware.

It still remains possible to sideload Fortnite onto Android phones, but not iPhones. Anyone with the game already installed on an iPhone can continue playing for the time being, though updates may eventually break it.

This isn't the first time that Epic and its CEO Tim Sweeney have taken up arms against perceived monopolistic practises within the games industry; he has previously accused Microsoft of trying to build a "walled garden" for PC gaming through its UWP apps, and has been a vocal opponent of the dominance held by Valve's digital distribution service Steam over the sale of games, even going so far as to launch the Epic Store as a competing platform.

Epic also isn't the only digital developer to take issue with paying Apple and Google 30% of mobile revenue. Streaming app Spotify filed an antitrust complaint with the EU about Apple's cut, which the company said forced it to charge iPhone users more if they registered with the service via the App Store. Similar complaints have been filed to the EU against Apple by ebook seller Rakuten, tracking device maker Tile, and messaging app Telegram.

Those complaints have sparked an investigation into Apple's App Store rules, with European Commission executive vice-president Margrethe Vestager saying in June: "It appears that Apple obtained a 'gatekeeper' role when it comes to the distribution of apps and content to users of Apple's popular devices. We need to ensure that Apple's rules do not distort competition in markets where Apple is competing with other app developers, for example with its music streaming service Apple Music or with Apple Books."

In the US, the CEOs of both Apple and Google, alongside fellow big tech leaders Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, have recently been summoned before the House Judiciary Committee's panel on antitrust and monopoly issues. After questioning the CEOs, committee chair David Cicilline concluded that "they have too much power".

When the iPhone launched almost 12 years ago, no one realised it would become such a powerful business tool.

Originallylaunched as a premium smartphone at a time when smartphones were just taking off, it's evolved to be one of the most widely used devices in the world. Now available in a range of different models, including the newest releases - the iPhone XR, iPhone XS and XS Max - there's something for everyone.

What makes the iPhone such a smart business device is its power. It can multitask seamlessly and with more and more apps becoming available on the App Store every single day, it can seriously boost productivity both in the workplace and outside it if you rarely head into the office anymore.

The iPhone's security features are also market-leading and with a suite of business management tools available for admins to ensure their firm's security policies are adhered to at all times, there really is no better device for mobile working.

But what makes the iPhone an even better productivity tool is the wealth of apps available on the App Store. When it launched in 2008 (a year after the iPhone's debut), there was just 500 apps available to download. Now, there's an estimated 2.2 million apps available worldwide and these cover everything from productivity apps, design apps, security apps, social networking and education apps, collaboration tools and a whole lot more, to power your entire life.

Here are some of the best business apps for the iPhone and our reason why you should download them.

Bear

Published by: Shiny Frog

Category: Productivity

Price: Free, $1.49 (1.13) per month

Bear is an app that wants to make it as easy as possible to quickly scribble down notes, create lists, or write essays on the go - with the support of some powerful tools underneath.

With a range of customisable interfaces, style options for text, formatting choices, and support for 20 different programming languages, this incredibly slick app injects life into the process of writing into your device, a far cry from the fairly drab plain white page of most note taking apps.

Headline features include a focus mode that strips away notifications and options, in-line support for images and photos, the option to tag and cross-link to other files, and support for multiple format types, including PDF, HTML, DOCX and JPG.

Main Idea: Powerful writing app for notes, essays, to-do lists and coding wrapped up in a slick UI

Genius Scan

Genius scan is your own portable document scanner that uses the iPhone's camera to create perfectly presented copies of documents, in PDF format.

Take a picture of a page from your notebook, document, business card, whiteboard, presentation or anything else and it'll toggle the lighting, perspective and more to make the background white and text super-clear, so you can read it as easily as if it were a scanned file.

You can also stitch different pages together to make one PDF document. This is perfect if you need to digitise a text document you have or your notes. You can then file everything away in an easy-to-find format, so you hopefully won't end up with a stack of paper notes on your desk.

If you want to share your files with others, you can either upload them to a cloud drive or send to your contacts. Alternatively, protect each with a password or FaceID if they're confidential files you want to hide from anyone accessing your device.

Adobe Acrobat Reader

Adobe

Category: Business

Price: Free

Open, view, and share PDFs from your iPhone for all of the information you need to stay up to date on projects, presentations, and reports. You can comment on the files to offer feedback or leave yourself notes to refer to later.

Fill and sign forms with ease through Adobe's file reader that goes beyond simple file reading. Make sure to take advantage of Adobe Mobile Link - just turn it on in Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Readerwhich makes your recently viewed files available across all of your devices. As long as you stay logged into your account, your files will continue to be synced to your account and therefore available from all devices.

Main Idea: A file viewer and editor necessary for anyone that works with PDFs on a regular basis.

Alternative: PDF Reader

AirWatch Agent

AirWatch LLC

Category: Business

Price: Free

AirWatch Agent is an app for managing and supporting devices across your company. A tool for mobility management, the app can be used with the AirWatch console to monitor and manage all devices within a company. For organisations that rely on communication and collaboration between teams and employees, having a single app keeping track of everything can be very useful, and it couldn't be easier to set up and use.

Main Idea: With the rise of BYOD in business, it's already true that pretty much everyone works with a mobile device. This app helps to control and manage this, improving security at the same time.

Dropbox

Dropbox

Category: Productivity

Price: Free

Store and share files and documents between team members directly from the cloud with Dropbox. The app allows you to store photos, documents, and videos for access from anywhere across all devices, with 2GB of free space, included when you sign up. Sharing among team members is incredibly simple, with the ability to access files from wherever you are increasing mobility and easing collaboration. You can easily access files and document when out of the office, allowing you to continue working from wherever you happen to be.

Main Idea: There are a lot of cloud storage options out there. If you're not sure which is best for you, check out our more in-depth look at the most popular services.

Alternatives: Google Drive, Box, OneDrive

CamScanner Pro

INTSIG

Category: Productivity

Price: 3.99

Transform your phone into a portable scanner that gives you the ability to save documents as image files or PDFs. You can then organise files on the go, share them with colleagues via email, or store them in the cloud with services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, or Box. And you no longer need to bother with multiple copies because files will be automatically synced across all of your devices.

Main Idea: Get high-quality scans using just your iPhone, easily accessible and backed up from anywhere.

Alternative: Tiny Scanner Pro

Enlight

Enlight

Category: Photo & Video

Price: 2.99

Mobile photo editing suite Enlight won plenty of plaudits in 2015, and with good reason. Lightricks' app empowers users with the ability to touch-up images through an intuitive and precise interface. You can overlay photos, swap filters add artistic effects and more. And the app is equally as impressive on the iPhone version as it is on iPad.

Main Idea: Enlight offers a comprehensive toolset aimed at Instagramers, amateur photographers, as well as photo enthusiasts who are after greater power from a mobile image editor.

Alternatives: Adobe Photoshop Express, ProCamera, TiltShift Generator

Evernote

Evernote

Category: Productivity

Price: Free

Evernote syncs across all of your devices so that you don't have to fret about switching between devices. More than just a note-taking app, create checklists and clip web pages for later reference in one uncluttered workspace. You can even share and discuss pages from within the app, taking the hassle out of collaborative work.

Main Idea: This app is here to help you work, but only if you let it. Evernote is an indispensable tool if you use it regularly, but falls flat if you don't take advantage of its unique features.

Alternatives: Microsoft OneNote, Notability

Inbox by Gmail

Google Inc

Category: Productivity

Price: Free

Despite having automated cars, drones, and heavy machinery, we're still living the dark ages when it comes to email, which requires plenty of manual attention and time. Mail technology is getting smarter, however, and Google has learned from Dropbox's experiment with Mailbox when it comes to features such as bundling similar messages together and making reminders into separate entries for easy reviewing.

Main Idea: Google's latest offering in the battle to reach inbox zero, and keep it that way.

Alternatives: Microsoft Outlook, Gmail

Invoice2go

Invoice2go

Category: Business

Price: Free

This app lets you save receipts, sign documents, generate statements, keep a calendar, enter location information, and scan information to help keep your business organised. Real-time charts provide a visual representation of how your business is performing as well. Create three invoices for free with Invoice2go with an option to upgrade to Invoice2go Pro.

Main Idea: Create and send professional invoices using a variety of templates from any of your Android devices. If you have trouble keeping information organised and need a more comprehensive and professional way to track money owed, money paid, and money received, this is the app for you.

Alternative: Invoice Simple

Turn to page 2 for even more detail about the best apps you can download on your iPhone.

iPlanner UK

David Pejinovic

Category: Productivity

Price: 0.79

iPlanner UK is a highly customisable diary app for your personal schedule. The ultimate scheduling app, iPlanner UK lets you plan every moment of your day from work hours to meetings and personal errands and ensures you'll never miss an appointment or deadline again. What makes the app even more effective are its many customisation options, from icons and colour coding to different day/week/month views and time zone support.

Main Idea: Keeping track of meetings and events is important for everyone, not just those of us who are on the disorganised side; with so many options for customisation, this might be the right app for you.

Alternative: Planner Plus

iTranslate Voice translator & dictionary

Sonico GmbH

Category: Productivity

Price: 4.99

Translate into 42 languages with voice input, a dictionary, AirTranslate, and more with iTranslate Voice. Translating can be a lengthy and frustrating process, but this app is the perfect tool for crossing languages barriers. With 42 language options available, iTranslate allows you to translate spoken language into written English (or the language of your choosing), with AirTranslate even allowing you to connect devices and engage in a conversation with others.

Main Idea: This app can help you communicate more efficiently across languages and in a global context.

Microsoft Office Lens

Microsoft Corporation

Category: Productivity

Price: Free

This app originally started out as a Windows Phone exclusive. Use it to photograph typed text, such as a document, article or even a menu or sign, and it will upload the photo to Microsoft's servers. There, OCR (optical character recognition) will convert it into text which you can edit in Word or OneNote or save it as an image or a PDF.

This app saves endless retyping and may be sufficient enough to do away with the need to carry a portable scanner when you're out and about on the road. Plus, you can put it to all sorts of lateral uses, such as scanning business cards and converting brainstormed ideas on a whiteboard on the basis of a PowerPoint presentation.

Main Idea: A highly accurate cloud-based OCR app convert documents into editable text straight on your iPhone.

Alternative: Evernote

Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Corporation

Category: Productivity

Price: Free

Microsoft combines contacts, email, and calendars into one mail app for easy accessibility. Outlook sorts and prioritises your messages for you with the most important filtered into a focused tab and the rest placed in another to be dealt with later. Schedule meetings, set reminders, and attach files across all of your accounts. This app will help you focus a cluttered inbox and consolidate important information into one app.

Main Idea: Organising your messages according to what's important, Microsoft's official email app is here to make your life easier.

Alternative: Inbox by Google

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Corporation

Category: Productivity

Price: Free

Microsoft Word fits seamlessly into an app format with the capabilities in viewing, creating and editing documents. You can't lose formatting or access from different devices through cloud so this app is extremely useful for editing and updating documents on the go. It's the Word we know and love on desktop designed for Android.

Main Idea: Edits our documents across multiple devices without losing formatting or data. It's perfect for users travelling.

Alternative: Google Docs

Signal

Publisher: Open Whisper Systems

Category: Communications

Price: Free

The trouble with communicating with others using a smart device over the internet is that you can never be too sure that someone is snooping in on your calls. Signal offers complete end-to-end encryption, so even the developers of the app cannot see what you are talking about.

The app works with your existing contacts list, but whoever you are chatting to also needs to have the app installed too.

Main Idea: You will need this if you need to keep private conversations secret.

SwiftKey Keyboard

Publisher: TouchType (Microsoft)Price: Free (in-app purchases)

SwiftKey is a terrific alternative to the standard iOS virtual keyboard. The smart keyboard replaces your device's built-in keyboard and its unnecessary autocorrect functions with one that adapts to the way you type. SwiftKey learns your typing style over time to give you more accurate autocorrect and more appropriate next-word prediction. It also comes with more than 800 emojis, and additional design variants can be purchased for those that want a more personal touch.

Alternatives: Brilliant Keyboard, TouchPal Keyboard

Slack Team Communication

Slack Technologies, Inc.

Category: Business

Price: Free

Slack is the perfect app for workplace communication that connects team members. It creates organisation and structure through devolved channels for different projects, topics and teams. This can bring teams together in an organised manner without the chaos of a large sprawling group chat.

You can drag and share files quite simply and everything is archived meaning past conversations can be easily located.

Main Idea: Simple and effective in connecting team members.

Twitter

Twitter Inc

Category: Social Networking

Price: Free

What would the modern world be like without Twitter? This social media app allows you share bite-sized updates with the world, composed of text, photos, videos and web links. Twitter has become a central tool for professionals in the media and marketing industries, primarily thanks to instantaneous communication and the service's prevalence as a destination for communities of all kinds, from sport fans to TV viewers, gig-goers to political activists, to discuss events, and for those discussions to appear as trending topics.

Twitter has experimented with new ways to attract users lately, including altering user feeds from displaying real-time tweets to tweets from several hours ago. But fundamentally, if you've not given the social network a try for work purposes, or tried it and given it up, it's still worth getting involved to explore what opportunities it could offer your business.

Main Idea: Update the world on what you've seen, heard and done in 140 characters.

Alternatives: TweetDeck, Buffer, HootSuite

TapeACall Pro

Epic Enterprises

Category: Business

Price: 7.99

TapeACall lets you record calls that you're on or placing, then share or save the recording. Simply open the app and hit record when receiving a call to create a new file that may be transferred from your iPhone to your computer or shared with others via email, SMS, Twitter, or Facebook

Main Idea: This app is convenient, easy to use, and allows you to transfer and share recordings, making it essential for calls that you'll need to reference later.

Wolfram Alpha

Publisher: Wolfram Group LLC

Category: Reference

Price: 2.29

WolframAlpha is the mobile version of the database website that can solve almost any query you throw at it, whether it involves mathematics, linguistics, finance, chemical formulae, the list is huge.

Instead of throwing back a list of search results, the app will generate immediate answers. For example, a search for Intel will display revenue reports, share prices, and even employee counts. Forget asking Google for answers, WolframAlpha has you covered.

Main Idea: A vast database of knowledge that is regularly updated.

Workflow

DeskConnect, Inc.

Category: Productivity

Price: 2.99

Connect apps and actions to automate the things you already do with your device. You can create your own apps or use others' creations with over 200 pre-defined actions, leaving you with endless possibilities for new workflows. The app is highly customisable meaning you can make it work harder for you without having to deal with any sequences that aren't personally useful.

Main Idea: Once you get the hang of automating a series of events into one action, your iPhone will become more useful and your life, easier.

Alternative: IF by IFTTT

Citymapper

Citymapper

Category: Travel

Price: Free

Citymapper has become one of the world's most popular apps for city navigation. It provides a deeper view of the city's infrastructure and transport network than Google Maps, and allows users travelling through the city to take into account the speed of their journey based on their mode of travel.

The app shrewdly considers congestion and offers a personalised touch to travelling - such as a wish to be environmentally friendly.

It has useful tools like commute tracking, travel history and statistics to help with journeys.

Main idea: An app that optimises commutes for users within their town or city

Alternative: Google Maps

t's not a good day for internet freedom. Just over a year ago, the UN ruled that "the same rights people have offline must also be protected online," although the non-binding resolution has some notable dissenters including Russia and China. So it should come as little surprise that a year on, both nations aren't taking the resolution terribly seriously.

Blocked in Beijing

Let's start with China. Back in January, the country's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced that developers creating Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) must obtain a license from the government. VPNs give citizens a work around the so-called "great firewall of China" which not only censors politically sensitive websites, but also prevents access to other websites blocked in the country for fairly predictable reasons: Google, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube amongst others.

This weekend, Apple has complied with the tough regulations, banning at least three VPN apps from the Chinese App Store: ExpressVPN, VyprVPN and StarVPN.

In a statement to TechCrunch, Apple justified the move is a fairly prosaic way, treating the ban as just a case of following local laws as they would with any other country. "Earlier this year China's MIIT announced that all developers offering VPNs must obtain a license from the government. We have been required to remove some VPN apps in China that do not meet the new regulations. These apps remain available in all other markets where they do business."

That's fine, except China isn't just any other country, and many are appalled that a company of Apple's declared values would abet political censorship. Golden Frog, VyprVPN's distributor, said it would be appealing to Apple, arguing that it hoped the company "would choose human rights over profits."

It may not be that simple. Apple makes much of its hardware in China, and it's becoming a big sales market too. China doesn't tend to mess around when Western companies put their foot down on censorship issues, as Google did back in 2010 the search engine has been banned in the country since 2012.

Russia following suit?

Meanwhile, 3,598 miles away from Beijing in Moscow, similar ominous mood music is playing. President Vladimir Putin has just signed a law banning VPNs and proxies in Russia from 1 November. This, along with another law that requires chat apps to attach phone numbers from 2018, is ostensibly justified as a means to block access to extremist content, but critics view the crackdown as yet more political censorship. Especially given we're just seven months away from the next Russian presidential election.

The move will mean Russia joins the likes of Syria and Iran in blocking the use of VPNs. All in all, it's not a good time for the freedom of the internet no matter what non-binding UN resolutions may tell you.

Apple is increasing the prices of apps and in-app purchases in the UK as a result of the falling value of the pound against the US dollar.

Following the 2016 EU referendum, the pound fell sharply hitting just $1.20 on 16 January vs $1.49 on 23 June. Combined with the UK's 20% VAT rate, this means trading in the country has become less profitable than it had been for the first half of the year, leading to the price rise.

In real terms, it means an app that previously cost 79p will now be bumped up to 99p, one that was previously 1.49 would now be available to download for 1.99 and a 7.99 app will cost 9.99. In fact, all apps will now cost in pounds what they cost in dollars, making it a whole lot more expensive for Apple customers to load their devices with apps.

"Price tiers on the App Store are set internationally on the basis of several factors, including currency exchange rates, business practices, taxes, and the cost of doing business," Apple told the BBC in a statement. "These factors vary from region to region and over time."

For developers who are a little concerned people won't want to buy their apps at the new higher price, Apple will also be introducing a new 49p and 79p tier, which will have a higher proportion of commission so Apple won't lose out.

"It was certainly inevitable that Apple would change the price point for apps in the App Store to reflect currency changes," Ian Fogg, from IHS Technology consultancy told the BBC.

"But this is a normal part of the way the store works because it does not have dynamically changing prices that would change gradually."

Apple said the price hikes will roll out to the App Store by the end of the week.

Apple is lowering its App Store commission for the first time, giving publishers and developers a larger cut of their sold apps.

Since the App Store launched in 2008, developers selling apps through Apple's digital marketplace have had to make do with a 70/30 split between themselves and Apple.

Starting from 13 June, Apple will lower that revenue split to 85/15, on the condition that an app retains a subscriber for more than one year.

All current subscriptions are eligible, and the change will apply immediately to apps with users that are more than a year old.

The change means that an app offering subscriptions, such as Spotify, stands to make around $15 million (10.3m) in extra subscription revenue every month.

In addition to new revenue split, Apple is also overhauling its terms for subscriptions.

Previously only certain apps such those in media and entertainment or productivity could charge subscription fees.

From this autumn, all apps will be eligible to offer subscriptions.

Opening up all apps to subscriptions is been seen by some industry watchers as a way for Apple to stimulate more high-end productivity and creation apps on its iOS platform, which powers devices like the iPad Pro.

Technology writer and noted Apple watcher, John Gruber, wrote: "This could be the change that makes the market for professional-calibre iPad apps possible I think this is terrific news both for developers and users."

Games will also be eligible, which could potentially have a major impact on titles such as Candy Crush Saga and Clash of Clans, which have attracted millions of players, and operate on a free-to-play model, supplemented by in-app purchases.

VR-related apps, too, which serve the likes of Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive may benefit.

However, as Apple itself notes, though all categories of apps will be eligible, the subscription business model will not be appropriate for every app.

Further changes are being made to App Store very soon.

Apple's digital marketplace now offers some 1.5 million apps surpassed only by the Google Play Store. As such, finding content can be a struggle for users, and featured app' spots have become a much sought after positions for developers.

Soon ads will appear at the top of search results in the App Store. Apple said these promotions will be relevant to the given search terms. Location data may also be used to serve some ads, but users can opt-out of this in their settings. Ads will not to displayed to users under 13.

These announcements come ahead of Apple's annual Worldwide Developers' Conference (WWDC), which takes places in San Francisco next week. Expect further announcements about the Apple's plans for the App Store then.

Apple is the biggest company in the world with good reason. Its products, from the iPod and the iPhone to the Mac and the iPad, have changed their individual markets and, for some, the world. More than one billion people use an Apple product today and the App Store, which launched in 2008, has spawned entire industries, many valued at tens of billions of dollars.

The company was founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak over 40 years ago and focuses on creating high-end gadgets. Under the stewardship of Tim Cook, who took over as CEO after Jobs' death in 2011, Apple has spawned a moral corporate culture that regularly speaks out when it perceives an injustice is being done.

However, that's not to say that everything Apple touches turns to gold. No, many products emblazoned with the bitten fruit logo have actually been a flop. Here are some of the most notable.

Apple Newton (1993)

The Newton, launched in 1993, was one of Apple's first attempts at creating a tablet. The device, known as a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), was loaded with a proprietary operating system that included a calendar, note taking app, and more.

Unfortunately for Apple, the Newton was hard to use and received poor reviews. These lead to poor sales, which lead to its discontinuation in 1998.

The Newton has gone down in Apple folklore as a failure and was even featured in Apple's "40 Years in 40 Seconds" video before it was scribbled out. The product did have an influence over the iPad, its spiritual successor in a way, as key staff returned to Apple to work on the device.

PowerMac G4 Cube (2000)

A pet project of Steve Jobs, according to Walter Isaacson's biography, the G4 Cube was one of Apple's first experiments with designing a PC that looked better than it worked. As such, it flopped commercially, primarily because it was pricey at $1,799, as well as being under-powered.

The legacy of the Cube is tangible, however, and exists within the Apple TV, Mac Mini, and (early) Mac Pro models, all of which share a similar design.

Apple learnt from its mistakes and worked hard to make computers that not only looked goodthink of the new Mac Pro, for examplebut were powerful and worth the price tag.

iPod Shuffle (third generation) (2010)

The iPod Shuffle has always been the smaller, inexpensive cousin to the other models, but the third generation version, released in 2010, broke from that form and included a different design. Instead of being a square, it went for vertical height that ditched the volume control.

Apple backtracked on the design with the fourth generation model, which went back to having volume buttons on a squat, square design. This design has remained until this day, although the Shuffle hasn't been updated since mid-2015.

Ping (2010)

Described by Steve Jobs as "Facebook and Twitter meet iTunes", Ping was supposed to be a new kind of social network but for music, with a focus on connecting fans and artists. The project, however, was inundated with setbacks, like its lack of integration with Facebook, and never took off.

The service was shut down in 2012, two years after it launched, and was replaced by deeper Twitter and Facebook integration in iTunes.

Ping itself was a niche product inside iTunes, but it became emblematic of Apple's inability to build a decent software product. The company has always excelled at making great hardware and has arguably struggled with software. The failure of Ping did not help persuade sceptics.

Apple Hi-Fi

Not all of Apple's failed products were bad ideas: The iPod Hi-Fi, which launched in 2006, was praised for its quality but did not compare well with similar products from Bose, iBoom, and so on. As such it was killed in 2007 as Apple focused on the iPhone and iPad.

The Hi-Fi was likely driven by Steve Jobs, a renowned music lover, but fell into the classic Apple trap of being too expensive and undifferentiated from its rivals.

However, the Hi-Fi wasn't Apple's last foray into sound equipment. In 2014, Apple acquired Beats - the company founded by Dr Dre - for $3 billion and now sells a range of headphones, speakers, and other audio accessories.

Hockey Puck Mouse

Apple has a fairly long history of designing cool accessories for the Macthink the Magic Trackpadbut the Hockey Puck Mouse, launched in 1998 alongside the iMac, was definitely an exception.

While the mouse looked funky, it was incredibly hard to use thanks to its small, round shape. MacWorld even went as far as describing it as one of "the worst Apple products of all time". The mouse was discontinued in 2000, just two years after its release.

Apple has since figured out a good formula for accessories: make them pretty, functional, and useful and they sell well.

iTunes on Windows

Steve Jobs once described iTunes on Windows as "giving a glass of ice water to somebody in hell" but it certainly isn't like that anymore. Anyone who has interacted with the software knows that it is buggy, bloated, and nothing like its counterpart on iOS or OS X.

The Atlantic even wrote a post, entitled "Why Is iTunes So Bad?", that examined the problem. Essentially, the problem seems to be that there are so many features in iTunesmusic, movies, TV shows, Genius, the App Store, and so onthat it is a jack of all trades, but master of none.

Another problem, as put forward by Quartz, could be that Apple realises that the software is bad, but won't dedicate the resources to fixing it.

Either way, iTunes on Windows is one of Apple's worst products.

Over 25 billion apps have been downloaded from the Apple App Store since it set up shop in mid-2008.

The 25 billionth app downloaded was Where's My Water? Free, a game that sees a sewer-dwelling crocodilian named Swampy the Alligator looking to get his plumbing fixed.

The downloader of that app, Chunli Fu of Qingdao, China, is to receive a $10,000 iTunes Gift Card in celebration of the 25 billion mark being reached.

"We'd like to thank our customers and developers for helping us achieve this historic milestone of 25 billion apps downloaded," said Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet Software and Services

"When we launched the App Store less than four years ago, we never imagined that mobile apps would become the phenomenon they have, or that developers would create such an incredible selection of apps for iOS users."

iPad incoming

Meanwhile, Apple is preparing for a big launch tomorrow. The iPad 3 is expected to land sometime after 6pm GMT and the rumour mill has already been pushing out all kinds of conjecture.

Many expect the device to have a vastly improved display, with some suggesting it will even be called the iPad HD.

Others believer improved cameras and a better processor than the A5 in the iPad 2 will be announced in San Francisco tomorrow.

Check back on IT Pro tomorrow evening for the breaking news on the iPad 3.

A software hole in Apple's iPhone and iPad devices may permit developers to break through the App Store gates and control the device.

Security researcher Charlie Miller discovered the flaw, allowing developers to bypass the code signing restrictions and secretly install malware onto Apple devices.

"The flaw I found allows apps in the App Store to download new code and run it even if it's not signed or even if it hasn't been checked by Apple," Miller said in his YouTube clip below.

"Until now you could just download everything from the App Store and not worry about it being malicious. Now you have no idea what an app might do," said Miller.

Miller demonstrated the flaw by using a stock price checking application he created, InstaStock, which was approved even though it contained features to download unapproved code.

The app's code could let a hacker download an address book, view pictures, access other data and even make the phone vibrate.

Despite attempting to highlight security flaws in Apple's systems, because he had broken Apple's App Store rules, Miller was thrown off the iOS developer programme.

"Apple just kicked me out of the iOS Developer program. That's so rude," Miller tweeted on Monday. "First they give researcher's access to developer programs, (although I paid for mine) then they kick them out for doing research. Me angry."

"Just found out not only am I kicked out, I can't come back for a year. 1 year suspension," Miller tweeted today.

Apple has now removed the app from its App Store.

Amazon has been given permission to use the App Store name by a judge in the US for now, a court document has revealed.

Apple has been trying to keep the name all to itself with a number of legal tussles, including one against Microsoft.

The iPhone maker may have lost this first round of its lawsuit, but US District Judge Phyllis Hamilton did not agree with Amazon's claim the App Store name was generic, Reuters reported.

The judge allowed Amazon to use the name when approaching software developers in the US, as Apple was not able to establish "a likelihood of confusion" with Amazon's services.

The case is not yet over, however, and future decisions by the court could prevent Amazon from using the term from a later date.

Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet pointed to Apple's previous stance on the situation, simply saying Apple requested Amazon to not copy the App Store term as it would "confuse and mislead customers."

Apple filed the suit against the Amazon Appstore, which will sell Android apps, back in March.

Last month, Judge Hamilton said Apple faced a "stumbling block" in proving people would confuse the Cupertino firm's App Store for Amazon's Appstore for Android, according to an individual who was at the Oakland federal court hearing.

At the start of the year, Microsoft made its feelings known on Apple's claims over the App Store term.

"When viewed as a whole, the combination of the generic term 'app' with the generic term store' is nothing more than the sum of its parts and is not capable of identifying and distinguishing a single source," a court filing read.

Apple's announcement that it will introduce a new subscription service for the publishers of content-based apps is the subject of heated debate.

The new subscription service presented by Apple will apply to publishers of video, music content, newspapers, magazines, among others. Apple intends to extend the same billing service that it recently incorporated with News Corp's The Daily app.

The most polarising aspect of the new system is Apple's decision to keep 30 per cent of all transactions with in-app sold subscriptions, as it does with other In-App purchases.

Although developers will still be able to sell subscriptions through their websites, Apple has made it mandatory for them to sell in-app subscriptions at the same price or lower.

Some developers have complained about what they are calling an abusive initiative by Apple.

Apple seemed to anticipate the controversy, as chief executive (CEO) Steve Jobs defended the decision upon the introduction of the subscriptions initiative.

"Our philosophy is simple - when Apple brings a new subscriber to the app, Apple earns a 30 per cent share; when the publisher brings an existing or new subscriber to the app, the publisher keeps 100 per cent and Apple earns nothing," he said.

"All we require is that, if a publisher is making a subscription offer outside of the app, the same (or better) offer be made inside the app, so that customers can easily subscribe with one-click right in the app."

Some developers don't seem to agree with Jobs' view, and have complained about Apple's new subscription service directly.

Among those directly affected is music firm Rhapsody which, in a direct response to Jobs' statement, has described the situation as "an Apple imposed arrangement that requires us to pay 30 per cent of our revenue to Apple."

Rhapsody insisted that Apple's new subscription system would generate an "economically untenable" situation, as they would need to add the 30 per cent that Apple will soon start requiring to the content fees that they already pay to the music labels, publishers and artists.

"The bottom line is we would not be able to offer our service through the iTunes store if subjected to Apple's 30 per cent monthly fee versus a typical 2.5 per cent credit-card fee," Rhapsody said in a public statement.

Rhapsody has announced that it will consult its lawyers about the matter, and that it is willing to collaborate with its market peers in determining a response to Apple's measure, both from a legal and a business perspective.

Apple's App Store recently reached its 10 billionth download milestone.

ANALYSIS In the last week we saw Apple celebrating its 10 billion App Store downloads milestone.

The success of app stores has been fairly startling in recent years, altering the paradigm of how people use their web connections.

But with the rise of these virtual emporiums, more of which are set to pop up soon, has come an increase in security dangers threatening end users.

So should users be panicking about what they're downloading and is there even much to be concerned about?

The threats

Users could encounter a variety of threats on app stores. Some are bundled in with other apps, such as wallpapers.

This throws up another challenge for vendors as they try to split malicious apps from the legitimate ones.

Spyware-type applications have been spotted as well, where SMS messages were sent to unintended recipients.

More traditional, PC-like attacks are another danger. Symantec researchers recently spotted a piece of malicious kit that stole data and reported back to a command and control centre.

The app was monitoring SMS messages and was capable of receiving instructions from the command and control centre as well.

Other dirty apps have forced the user to call premium rate numbers, so the crooks get some of their target's funds.

Not so serious?

Despite the range of threats out there, users should not feel overly perturbed. Not just yet, anyway.

The fact that no precise figures have been given on how many malicious apps are present on the likes of the Apple App Store and Google's Android Market, indicates hackers have not yet identified them as fine places to acquire funds and data illicitly.

Compared to the amount and range of malware targeting PCs, malicious apps pale in comparison.

Greg Day, director of security strategy for McAfee in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), said the security firm had not seen any more than 1,000 mobile threats in total, whereas there are 60,000 PC threats emerging a day.

However, he claimed it was "blatant" that apps will increasingly be used as a basis for attacks.

"What we've seen happen over the last year is a lot of testing can I do it, what can I do it with?" Day told IT PRO.

"The question is, at what point does that floodgate open and this becomes mainstream?"

Smarter businesses will prepare now for when mobile app threats really start to escalate, according to Day.

Orla Cox, security operations manager at Symantec, said her company had also only seen "a very small amount of threats."

But Cox said she expects certain kinds of app attacks to continue to rise, such as the aforementioned premium phone dialler danger.

She also pointed to the Android Market, indicating many of the threats Symantec has spotted had come out of the Google offering, rather than the Apple App Store.

This brings more fuel to the fiery debate around open vs closed systems in the IT world.

Day said from his perspective, the Android store appeared not to have the same degree of "rigour" as the Apple option.

At the time of publication, Google had not responded to a request for comment on Day's suggestions.

According to Cox, closed systems like Apple's App Store (and now Mac App Store) are inherently safer.

However, she recognised the importance of open systems, which could be seen as somewhat more "user friendly."

"It's trying to get the balance of the two," Cox told IT PRO.

"Of course, on the Android side there is going to be a time-lag between something being released that is malicious and it being removed from the marketplace but then you can argue it is more user friendly, users have greater access to applications."

She also noted how Apple's system was inherently more secure, but it takes longer for apps to go up on the store.

"There is no perfect solution," Cox added.

Going unofficial

Whilst there appear to be limited threats on official stores, unofficial ones are somewhat more risky.

The blame would lie at users' doors if their phone became infected after a visit to an unofficial store, but as we have seen with illegal downloading of music and film files, people often do not care about officialdom.

A recent threat seen by Symantec named Gemini was seen propagating from an unofficial source in China, for example.

Whilst it seems these stores are not yet widely used, Cox has seen more spring up in recent times.

"It'll be really interesting to see ... how relaxed people are going to be with what they place on their phones," Cox said.

"Will we see the same approach on mobile phones as we've seen on PCs where people are just a little bit more lax about it?"

The same, it seems, would go for jailbroken, or homebrew, apps.

The message at the minute is clear though: whilst the number of app threats are far from frightening, users and businesses alike need to be sensible about what they download.

Microsoft has launched a legal challenge against Apple's trademark claim over the term App Store.'

The Redmond giant said in a filing with the US Trademark Trial and Appeal Board that the words app' and store' were simply too generic for Apple to have a trademark on the phrase.

"When viewed as a whole, the combination of the generic term 'app' with the generic term store' is nothing more than the sum of its parts and is not capable of identifying and distinguishing a single source," the filing read.

Microsoft even went as far as to provide dictionary definitions for both words that make up the phrase to prove just how generic they were.

The company said Apple's own use of the word app was proof of its generic nature.

"For example, Apple's website encourages consumers to discover 'apps made just for iPad,' and describes its App Store as offering tens of thousands of apps,'" the filing continued.

Apple chief executive (CEO) Steve Jobs was also cited as using the term app stores' when talking about competitors in the market.

Microsoft pointed to how the press uses the term app store' to define places that sell software apps.

The firm also said app store' was user by "many retailers" as part of their own application-selling stores.

"App store is a generic name that Apple should not be permitted to usurp for its exclusive use," the filing read.

"Competitors should be free to use 'app store' to identify their own stores and the services offered in connection with those stores."

As for whether Microsoft has challenged the App Store patent with another agenda in mind, considering its own virtual emporium is called Windows Phone 7 Marketplace, remains a mystery.

The news comes a week after Apple launched the Mac App Store. Over one million apps were downloaded from the store on the first day alone.

"We're amazed at the incredible response the Mac App Store is getting," said Jobs.

"Developers have done a great job bringing apps to the store and users are loving how easy and fun the Mac App Store is."

Amazon has launched the developer side of its upcoming Android app store, signaling the virtual outlet will be opening its doors soon.

Rumours about the store had been circulating since the second half of last year, when developers were reportedly contacted by Amazon but not given a date for an opening or much other information.

In October, the Wall Street Journal claimed it had seen documents showing Amazon would take a 30 per cent cut of app sales from its store - the same percentage both Apple and Google take for their respective offerings.

The document also reportedly contained a clause stating apps must not be offered at a lower price in other stores.

Now, developers can join the Appstore Developer Program and submit apps for the soon-to-be-launched Amazon Appstore for Android.

"The sheer number of apps available today makes it hard for customers to find high-quality, relevant products and developers similarly struggle to get their apps noticed," Amazon said in a blog post.

"Amazon's innovative marketing and merchandising features are designed to help customers find and discover relevant products from our vast selection, and we're excited to apply those capabilities to the apps market segment."

Google did not have much to say on the introduction of the Amazon marketplace, simply telling IT PRO: "Android is an open platform... and entities other than Google are free to create their own content and marketplaces, much like the web."

Amazon's offering would have a lot of catching up to do in terms of numbers.

Currently, the Apple App Store has over 300,000 apps, but Google's Android Market has been catching up rapidly in recent months.

A WikiLeaks app for iPhone has been pulled less than a week after it was made available for iOS users.

The app, which was placed on the App Store on 17 December, provided users with access to leaked cables and charged $1.99 (1.28) for access.

Of course, the communications have been accessible for free across the web and the app itself appears not to have been particularly popular with some.

A number of negative reviews were seen in a Google cached version of the app info, with one saying they would "rather go on wikileaks.com."

"This app is just a wrapper for the mobile web site," another poster called Murdock1450 said.

"There is no access to the actual released documents. Twitter feed doesn't count as up to date information."

There are a range of Android WikiLeaks apps where users can view leaked cables, a number of which are free.

At the time of publication, Apple had not responded to a request for comment.

The Cupertino company may have risked the wrath of pro-WikiLeaks web denizens such as the Anonymous hacking group, if Apple did take down the app.

Anonymous have launched various attacks on companies that have pulled support from Julian Assange's site, including MasterCard.

Last week, the Bank of America said it would no longer process payments for WikiLeaks.

Assange has reportedly claimed to have information related to Bank of America activity and threatened to release some damaging documents on senior members of staff at the financial institution.

The WikiLeaks founder remains at a mansion in Norfolk, where he has to stay under his bail conditions.

Apple will launch the Mac App Store on 6 January and will it available in 90 countries straight away.

The App Store experience will be brought to Mac OS X users and will feature free and paid-for apps covering a range of categories, including education, games and productivity.

The store, which had been announced by Apple earlier in the year, works in the same way as on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

Developers get 70 per cent of sales revenue from their apps and are not charged for free apps.

"The App Store revolutionised mobile apps," said Apple chief executive (CEO) Steve Jobs.

"We hope to do the same for PC apps with the Mac App Store by making finding and buying PC apps easy and fun. We can't wait to get started on 6 January."

Developers were able to start posting apps for the store in November.

Apple is due to have another big year of launches in 2011, with the latest operating system, nicknamed Lion, expected to be made available in the summer.

The next iteration of the iPad is also rumoured to be ready for February, just in time to go head-to-head against the RIM Playbook.

Opera Mini is headed to the iPhone, after Apple approved the browser for sale in the App Store.

Opera's mobile browser is the first major browser to be distributed via the App Store, other than Apple's own Safari. The Norwegian developers submitted the application three weeks ago.

Lars Boilesen, chief executive of Opera Software, said in a statement: "This app is another step toward Opera's goal of bringing the web to more people in more places."

Opera claimed that Mini users will "notice an uptake in speed" and will save money, as its compression will cut back on data bills.

More than 2.5 billion mobile apps were downloaded last year and most were from Apple, according to new stats.

Gartner has revealed that smartphone users downloaded 2.516 billion apps in 2009, worth $428 million in revenue.

ArsTechnica noted that Apple has claimed it pushed 2.5 billion downloads last year, meaning that the iPhone-maker is dominating mobile app sales with a 99.4 per cent share and given it takes a 30 per cent commission, pulling in a fair bit of revenue while it's at it.

Gartner said the mobile apps market will continue to grow this year, predicting 4.5 billion would be downloaded this year, pulling in revenue of $6.2 billion.

Still, the majority of apps will be free, with Gartner expecting that eight out of 10 won't cost anything to download.

Apple's rivals have jumped on the app store bandwagon and offered their own apps, but that will only lead to the market expanding - not necessarily to a decrease in sales for the current market leader, Gartner suggested.

"As smartphones grow in popularity and application stores become the focus for several players in the value chain, more consumers will experiment with application downloads," said Stephanie Baghdassarian, research director at Gartner, in a statement.

She noted most apps are downloaded for fun. "Games remain the No.1 application, and mobile shopping, social networking, utilities and productivity tools continue to grow and attract increasing amounts of money."

Click here for our top 10 mobile productivity applications for your smartphone.

Apple has continued to break records with its App Store, announcing that it has now had over three billion downloaded since its launch.

The App Store took the mobile world by storm when it opened in July 2008 and it now has 115,000 apps available for users.

Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive, has laid down the gauntlet for other companies to attempt to reach its dizzy heights of popularity, referring to its success as "like nothing we've ever seen before."

"The revolutionary App Store offers iPhone and iPod touch users an experience unlike anything else available on other mobile devices, and we see no signs of the competition catching up anytime soon," he said in a statement.

The company made its statement about the app store success on the same day that Google launched its own "superphone," the Nexus One, which is being touted as the next possible iPhone killer.

Despite being much younger than its Apple-flavoured rival, the Android Market is holding its own and is now showcasing some 20,000 apps.

So claims statistics compiled by AndroLib, a site that has tracked the Android Market since its launch.

Almost two thirds (62.2 per cent) of the available Android applications are offered for free, according to the stats. What's more, almost half (44.6 per cent) of reviewers commenting on their chosen apps give them 5/5.

While 20,000 is a solid number, it is still overshadowed by the Apple App Store's own figure, which is reckoned to be around the 100,000 mark. Indeed, Apple recently celebrated having reached the two billion app download milestone.

That said, Android is increasing in popularity with analyst IDC saying its market share has been pushed higher of late.

"Because of its openness, a developer will be able to modify the platform and make it better," Andy Rubin, senior director for mobile platforms at Google, said at the launch of the first Android-running handset - the T-Mobile G1 - back in September 2008.

"It is future-proof because it is an open platform."

The seasoned smartphone user loves getting their hands on new apps. Be they weather forecasters, mapping devices or just the sound of a light sabre ask an iPhone user it is a high point of owning one of these up-to-date, shiny devices.

But not is all love and flowers when it comes to creating the apps and getting them into a store so we can download and enjoy them. Developers who submit the apps have turned a grumble about approval processes into a yell recently and when the creator and developer of Mozilla takes a pop, people tend to sit up and listen.

We take a look at four of the big guns in the app store market and give you an insight into what they offer, both to the customer and developer.

Android's Market

Let's start with Google's offering to the mobile application scene, the Android Market. Originally launched on 22 October 2008, the Market has 10,200 apps to date and the Google platform-based handsets are increasingly rising in popularity.

We have yet to see a real foot stamping comment when it comes to the approval process but perhaps this is down to the lack of one.

Google has left approval in the hands of Android users. All developers have to do is create the app, register with Android and publish it. It is then down to users to report any offending apps. Although, in August, the company announced just one per cent had to be taken down.

The company puts a big focus on calling it a market rather than a store due to its open source community philosophy and seems to be a favoured method with app developers.

Of course, there is the concern that a lot of the apps will be useless or even offensive but that is down to Android users to decide.

Apple's App Store

Next up is the overlord of the applications space, Apple's App Store. Launching before any of the others we are discussing, the app store came into our lives back in July 2008. To date the store has over 85,000 apps with more than 125,000 developers involved in the creation.

However, being the biggest and perhaps the best doesn't negate the App Store from criticism.

Unlike Android, Apple reviews every app submitted to go onto its store, which it claims is in order to "protect consumer privacy, safeguard children from inappropriate content, and avoid applications that degrade the core experience of the iPhone."

Yet the long and arduous process of getting an app onto this mammoth store has lead to many complaints as developers were waiting a long time for approval and were reportedly not getting paid for their work.

Extra criticism also comes Apple's way when undesirable apps such as Baby Shaker or I am Rich manage to work their way through.

Carolina Milanesi, research director at Gartner, told IT PRO its size is its downfall.

"[The] Apple App Store remains miles ahead of any other current offering simply because of the sheer number of apps and the ease of use of the store," she said.

"However, we think the success of the store is now becoming a burden as apps are much more difficult to find. Adding the genius has helped but it is still not the optimal solution."

Microsoft's Windows Marketplace

The newest addition to the battle of the app stores is Microsoft's Marketplace. Only launched last week in the UK, the store has 751 developers involved and launched with about 200 applications so has some catching up to do.

It was launched alongside the new Windows Phone 6.5 operating system so may have a new lease of life that the others lack.

Microsoft lays out its approval process very clearly with a list of what is not allowed e.g. apps promoting other app stores, apps that enable VoIP and installation files over 10MB.

Perhaps youth is on its side, with so few apps available there have been few chances to complain. But a lot hangs on the performance of its new platform as previous Windows Mobile editions have not received much critical acclaim. If this platform performs well maybe the developers will follow.

Palm's App Catalog

Another relatively new contender is Palm's App Catalog but even in a relatively short amount of time, it has managed to cause controversy.

The Catalog as its known was launched on 6 June 2009 and has just 41 apps, but the Palm Pre is yet to even launch in the UK - until Thursday this week, that is.

It started just with free apps but in August allowed developers wanting to charge for their Palm webOS apps to submit them. All apps are reviewed, with a fee of $50 (32) per app but the company does waive a $99 programme fee for open source apps to encourage users.

However, it received a tirade of abuse from Mozilla creator and developer Jamie Zawinski, who was angered, not just by the time the approval process took, but the fact Palm wanted to have ownership of his open source software, not allowing him to distribute it anywhere but through the App Catalog.

Needless to say the respected developer made his thoughts known and refuses to do any further development for the platform. Such a high profile critic may well damage Palm's chances in the UK before it has even started.

Industry viewpoint

So are approval processes a necessary and suitable way to look after both developer and user in this relatively new market space or just over protective hoops for developers to jump through?

Ian Fogg, analyst at Forrester Research, said: "It is in the interest of the companies [Microsoft, Apple et al] that they have app approval processes that strike the right balance between keeping developers excited and keeping consumers interested."

He added: "It is a balancing act. What we have seen is different companies tweak their processes. It is not fixed and everyone is learning. It depends on the app store but each faces different challenges and has a different balance. App stores like Microsoft's new marketplace are in launch mode so the key is to get developers engaged with the new platform. Apple however faces the challenge with having so many apps to maintain."

It is clear why apps are so popular with users but what do these stores or markets offer to the developer?

Gartner's Milanesi added: "The value of the actual app store for generating more than exposure for developers remains to be seen as most of the apps being downloaded are today free. However, we do believe that consumers will be looking for applications more and more going forward."

She continued: "Developers will be looking for a fair revenue share opportunity, an easy acceptance process and a wide addressable market. Some of the players that are today present with a store cannot offer all."

But as Milanesi points out, this is hardly an industry first. "Although this has generated a lot of attention the behaviour is no different from not allowing software or services on handsets that might cannibalise operators' ARPU such as Wi-Fi and VoIP," she said.

Rob Bamforth, principal analyst at Quocirca, believes the key for future apps is to keep the serious developers interested who can offer less frivolous apps.

"The problem [for Apple and the other vendors] is more at the head end. How to create a marketplace for serious developers to offer more sophisticated applications that pay back the development investment required for significant applications that businesses can depend upon, rather than iTat," he said.

"There's nothing wrong with volume and the breadth of quirky, fun and trivial, but there also needs to be a space for professional, valuable and serious. Over time that may mean more rigorous approval processes or at least some tier-ing and discrimination."

He accepted that this may not appear to be the case now but expects it to turn that way, from the business perspective of the developer as well as manufacturer.

"Certainly developers are being wooed by an increasing number of app stores, developer programmes and the like. But as well as having fun, learning new skills etc, most developers or their backers will need to turn a profit," Bamforth added.

"A lucky few will from selling high volumes of trivia, but businesses need real solid tools and ultimately consumers do too that's where the mainstream longer term money will come from."

Conclusion

The vast amounts of developers accept the need for an approval process and are happy to abide by sensible rules. But it seems the more strenuous and exhausting the approval processes, the more both the app stores, and in turn the users, will lose out.

It is not good for any company to put off some of the top developers in the business but whilst the likes of Apple feel safe and secure with its plethora of applications, smaller and newer stores need to attract developers to bring life and choice to their offerings.

We as users are still relatively new to apps on our phones and there is still an element of novelty that hasn't worn off yet, but the market will mature and the users with it, becoming pickier about what they deem a decent app.

These stores have time but the balancing act, as Fogg referred to it, needs to improve for the future to be certain for any of the app stores.

Apple today announced that users have downloaded more than two billion applications from its App Store.

The news comes on the same day that mobile phone fans discovered that O2's exclusive hold over Apple's iconic iPhone is coming to an end as Orange will be offering it to UK users on its network by the end of the year.

More than 85,000 applications are now available to the ever-growing iPhone and iPod Touch user base, which Apple reckons stands at around 50 million at present.

Back in July, the company celebrated reaching the 1.5 billion app download milestone, showing just how quickly things have changed in a matter of months.

"The rate of App Store downloads continues to accelerate with users downloading a staggering two billion apps in just over a year, including more than half a billion apps this quarter alone," said Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive, in a statement.

"The App Store has reinvented what you can do with a mobile handheld device, and our users are clearly loving it."

Click here for our timeline of the App Store's first year.

Wikipedia is the latest service to make an appearance on the iPhone as the online encyclopaedia's parent company has launched an offical app.

Other developers have previously created apps that help users access Wikipedia's content when on the move, but this app dubbed Wikipedia Mobile - is the first one to officially come from the site's stable.

Users can already access the site's three-million-plus article base using the iPhone's Safari browser, but the Wikimedia Foundation claims that this app will make accessing such information even easier for users.

"This is our official application and we are working hard on making the absolute best Wikipedia app out there," states the blurb accompanying the app on the App Store.

"The app is focused on being very simple and very fast. Over time, we'll add features based on requests."

The foundation is also calling on the programming community to get involved and help move the app forward.

Click here for our timeline of the Apple App Store's first year.