Apps

Analytics data suggests that we’re downloading fewer iPhone apps this year than last, but spending significantly more money on them. That’s because almost half of developer revenue now comes from subscriptions.

App Store downloads declined slightly in the past 12 months, but the total spend increased dramatically from $73.7B last year to $91.6B this year …

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has for the first time revealed the daily number of Threads users, stating that there are now more than 100 million daily active users. It’s also been suggested that the current trajectory means that the app could catch up with the social network formerly known as Twitter.

Zuckerberg is likely aiming to fight back against the growing popularity of Bluesky, also citing a new milestone in monthly active users …

The TikTok ban is once again in doubt, despite an appeals court rejecting the company’s argument that it was protected by the First Amendment.

Parent company ByteDance has applied to the US Supreme Court for an emergency injunction against the law requiring it to sell TikTok to a US company or be banned …

Apple has revealed the most downloaded App Store apps and games of 2024. Its top charts are localized for many parts of the world, so you can see the most popular downloads in your own country. Here are the top apps and games of the year.

Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact.

TechniCalc is a fully featured calculator app, with all of the advanced features you’d need – but without a clunky or outdated UI. It focuses on being clean, easy to use, while being good for mathematicians. It’s available for iPhone, iPad, Mac.

Christmas is almost here, and although it’s already a magical time, technology can certainly help make this time of year even more special. With that in mind, an app called “Better Call Santa” lets you arrange a call with Santa for your children, all with the help of AI.

Plenty of people have tried to replace Twitter/X, but only a few new social media apps have achieved any traction, notably Threads and Bluesky.

But a new app created by Twitter co-founder Ev Williams isn’t trying to replace those, but instead do one of the things I most value about social media, and absolutely nothing else …

Every now and then a developer creates an app that lets you turn your iPhone display into a classic iPod. They never last long before Apple pulls them from the App Store, but there’s a new one you can grab before Tim spoils the fun.

To skirt Apple’s rules, developers have to employ various tricks to disguise the functionality, and this latest example is no exception …

Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact.

Griply is an all-in-one app that brings together your goals, habits, and tasks – making them easier to accomplish, and keep track of. It helps people turn big goals into daily actions.

I recently wrote about Karo, a new iPhone app from developer Mustafa Yusuf that helps people create to-do lists and assign tasks to others. Starting today, Mac users can also try out Karo with a native version for macOS.

Looking for a way to bring some holiday cheer to your Mac? Festivitas is a new app from developer Simon Støvring that does exactly that.

Welcome to Indie App Spotlight. This is a weekly 9to5Mac series where we showcase the latest apps in the indie app world. If you’re a developer and would like your app featured, get in contact.

Minizones is a sweet and simple Mac app that allows you to glance at varying timezones across the globe, right from your Mac’s menu bar. It’s a nice tool if you work remotely and have to communicate with coworkers across the globe, or regularly need to communicate with people in varying places.

Kaleidoscope, the popular file comparison and merge tool, recently released an update with significant improvements to its merge conflict resolution tools. The new version introduces new features and refinements that aim to streamline the process of resolving Git merge conflicts and provide users with a more comprehensive understanding of code changes.

HomePass is a must-have app for HomeKit and Matter users, making it easy to keep track of all your accessories. This week, developer Aaron Pearce has unveiled HomePass 2, a complete rewrite of the app that adds several excellent new features for HomeKit enthusiasts.

The premise of HomePass, available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, is that it gives you a central location to store your HomeKit accessory setup codes. This new version further upgrades that experience.

Note: This report contains links to reports about teenage suicides

Australia has followed France in imposing a social media ban for kids, and other countries are expected to follow. The French government is now pushing for an EU-wide ban.

Social media platforms are of course pushing back as they face losing a demographic seen as key to their future, and questions are being raised about how the ban will be enforced …

The streaming era has certainly changed the way we listen to music. There are curated playlists, algorithms and many other influences. With this in mind, the developers behind NowPlaying are now launching an Apple TV app, which aims to encourage people to listen to entire albums like in the old days.

Update: Australia has now voted to ban social media use by children under the age of 16. In a 9to5Mac reader poll on the issue, the vast majority of you thought the US should do the same – see the end of the piece.

The impact of social media use by kids is perhaps one of the hottest topics in tech. There’s significant evidence that social media apps like Instagram can be harmful to the mental health of children, while others argue that it can also enable social connection.

Popular video conferencing platform Zoom agreed to pay $85M in compensation back in 2021 after it was revealed that the company lied to users about the type of encryption it offered. It has now offered to pay an $18M fine to the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) in order to settle an investigation into the same security and privacy issue.

Zoom disclosed the offer in a regulatory filing …

It’s Black Friday season once again, meaning it’s the best time of year to save some money. We’ve gathered a list of our favorite indie app deals this holiday season – allowing you to try out something new on your iPhone, all while supporting small, independent app developers. There are 25 apps highlighted here, but there’s even more deals to find, linked at the bottom.