Finally the AppStore-Review-System get’s enhanced

It came as a total surprise but this morning I checked the ratings in iTunes and saw that the review system was enhanced. Now you can see when a review was written, which version it is reffering to and you can even filter for reviews for the current version only!

Oh…and for those who didn’t get it there’s a drop down list for rating now telling everyone that 1 star is baaaaad, 5 stars goood. ;-)

Still missing is a way to contact a review’s author via mail or something. So many people still don’t know how to change TouchScans settings…makes me so sad :-( …1 star!

85% don’t use iTunes to find Apps for iPhone

Lately we recommended you take part in an online survey the folks at Iliumsoftware were doing. So, after about 200 people answered their question the begin to publish the results. First comes the answer to the question
How do you find new apps?

Surprisingly enough 85% answered with “anything but iTunes”. Seems like Apple didn’t find the right solution for consumer satisfaction. On the other hand they don’t have to. Since every site dealing with apps and reviews and the like can put a deeplink to the AppStore, Apple can easily just wait and let third parties do their job for free.

On the other hand, as Iliumsoftware says as well, 200 people are not that much if you consider the millions of iPod/iPhone-users out there…so this might be misleading information. Espescially if you consider how a high ranking in the Top 100 apps increases your sales many people somehow *must* be using iTunes.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to more results.

Don’t Touch isn’t allowed to the AppStore

After a veeeery long wait of about 6 months Apple informed me again that it will not let Don’t Touch (a.k.a. Cracker) in the AppStore. The reason is the same as the other times before: misuse of standard user-interface elements. Since I used a button like the one in Awake in my last attempt to get it in the Store I don’t quite get it anymore…but anyway, that’s how they decided.

Lately I’ve seen many others trying their luck with similar applications but so far, none of them was accepted.

Blast from the past

Two new games got my attention in the last few days and both of them have been around quite some time, not on the iPhone of course. Both games are ports from other plattforms: Playstation 1 and Amiga were the places I got to know and love them.

Pinball Dreams was THE pinball simulation for the Amiga – at least if you ask me. Now it’s going to be the same for the iPhone. The tables were fun to play, the graphics were jist awesome and the sound was superb. Now, the graphics were revamped to match the new amount of available colors but the rest of the game was ported one to one. Just hearing the music gives me this nice warm and comfy retro feeling… :-) What’s best is that the tables are still fun to play and not overcrowded with gadgets, bells and whistles like in many other modern pinball sims. The graphics might look a little old and not as fany as with other pinball games for the iPhone but if you ask me this is a feature, not a bug!

One that was especially fun because of the light gun you could use it with was Time Crisis. Namco now released a version of the “shooter on rails” for the iPhone. To me this was the first First-Person-Shooter I played more than once. Granted, with the light gun missing it might be a little less fun but still it looks like a great way to waste some time.

Day of the dialer…again!

Okay, today is again one of those days where multiple apps for one and the same purpose are released to the AppStore. As before with the widescreen mailers and the dialshortcuts . Today is the day of the power-dialers that can also send SMS and/or e-mails to your favorite contacts.

There are several released today but I want to direct your attention to these two only because I like the visuals on both of them…especially SuperDial comes close to what I’ve been waiting for for my iPhone…Photos on a pinboard, one tap to call, doubletap to send a SMS.

Read on for more and for the daily freebie!
 

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