Submitted by Sammy Snyder on
The Apple TV 4 has been available for a little over a month and there have already been conflicting reports about the success of its App Store. AppFigures, a reporting platform for mobile app developers, has been tracking the progress of the Apple TV App Store since its launch in October. The company has released a report detailing how many Apple TV apps have been launched, average pricing and more. "There are currently 2,624 apps available for download in the Apple TV App Store," according to AppFigures. At this rate AppFigures estimates that there will be 5,000 Apple TV apps available by the end of 2015, and around 10,000 apps in early 2016.
This is good news for Apple, who needs developers to port and release new games to its App Store for it to be a success, but according to Touch Arcade developers of "successful" apps are struggling to make "$100 a day on a good day." If this trend continues after the holidays game developers may start to ignore the Apple TV App Store, and the set-top box will not become the video game competitor Apple had hoped it would be.
AppFigures' report shows that games make up roughly 38% of all Apple TV apps, but Apple TV owners are mostly downloading apps from the Entertainment category. This makes sense since the original purpose of the Apple TV was to stream videos, movies and television shows. The report also shows that most of the games released to the App Store cost $2.99 or less, and that 39% of apps are paid apps. Nobody seems to know how to judge this data. On one hand the Apple TV will not be able to compete with consoles, such as the PlayStation 4, if its App Store is mostly flooded with cheap games. On the other hand a lot of developers are releasing paid games instead of freemium titles, which could put an end of the "race to the bottom" mentality of the iOS App Store if customers are ready to pay for apps up front. I should also mention that the price of an app does not account for its quality. There are a lot of high quality free and affordable games available on both the iOS and Apple TV App Store.
It is really too early to tell if the Apple TV App Store is a success, especially in the gaming department, but AppFigures thinks its numbers show that it "has the potential to turn into a more substantial revenue source for developers very soon," especially with the upcoming holiday shopping season in full swing.
Facebook closed its in-house app creation divsision, Creative Labs, and it pulled three of its failed apps from the App Store.
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Don't forget to check out our 2015 Holiday Gift Guide and 5 Chirstmas apps list.
Here are this week's most noteworthy games, apps and jailbreak tweaks released to the App Store and Cydia through 16/06/15 to 12/12/15. Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to keep updated on all the latest iPhone and iPad news. Click here for this week's iPad-only App Store releases.
Cortana: Free for the iPod touch, iPhone and iPad (Requires iOS 8.0 or later) Rated 17+
Microsoft has released their version of Siri to the App Store. iOS users with a Microsoft account can use the personal assistant to set reminders and make appointments on their PC and have Cortana remind them on their iPhone or iPad later. Cortana can also set location reminders, send emails, track packages, flights, scores and stocks, and tell jokes.
Battle Bros: Free for the iPod touch, iPhone and iPad (Requires iOS 5.1.1 or later) Rated 9+
Battle Bros promises to take the tower defense genre to a whole new level with its real-time multiplayer co-op gameplay. Players can invite their friends to battle hordes of minions controlled by the wicked Evil Corporation, and fight through 4 different seasons to discover new enemies and strategies. The game features the ability to upgrade and unlock new traps, melee and ranged attacks, 18 different enemies with different abilities, singleplayer and multiplayer modes.
Focus by Firefox: Free for the iPod touch, iPhone and iPad (Requires iOS 9.0 or later) Rated 4+
Firefox's latest iOS app offers mobile Safari users the ability to block web trackers and improve browsing speeds. If you're worried about search engines and social media websites tracking and recording your browsing habits, then this is the app for you.
More App Store Releases *The listed prices are launch prices and are subject to change
- Metro 2033: Wars: $7.99 (Universal) "Turn-based, open-world, strategy game, based on the story of Dmitry Glukhovsky's best-selling novel series, Metro 2033
- Slide – 3D GIF Camera: $1.99 (iPhone 5s or later) Shoot 3D photos with your iPhone camera
- Auxy: $4.99 (iPhone) "Brings real music creation to iPhone in a simple and inspiring format"
- Fortress: Destroyer: $2.99 (Universal) Battleship RPG from the makers of Bloons TD 5
- Camera Noir: $2.99 (Universal) Black and white photo editor
- Fishdom: Deep Dive: Free (Universal) Match-3 with fish
- Power Hover: $3.99 (Universal) Action game about hoverboarding robots
- A Good Snowman Is Hard To Build: $4.99 (Universal) Puzzle game where you have to build a snowman
- HeartWatch: $1.99 (iPhone) View and get notified about heart rate data captured on your Apple Watch
- Devouring Stars: $4.99 (Universal) "Real-time strategy game based on adaptative unit combination and space resources harvesting"
- Lifeline: Silent Night: $2.99 (Universal, Apple Watch) Sequel to Dave Justus's Lifeline
- Flewn: $3.99 (Universal) "Immerses you in the surreal journey of an old whale walking on stilts through a desert in search of a lost ocean"
- Dungeon Time: $1.99 (Universal) Dunegeon crawler / RPG with up to 4 people
- Star Billions: $2.99 (Universal) "Choose from four unique AIs to tackle dangerous and delicate situations as you guide the human race to a new home"
- Audulus 3: $14.99 (Universal) Build synthesizers, design new sounds, or process audio
- Basketball Time: Free (Universal) Factor in both timing and angle to make free throws
- Fantastic Plastic Squad: Free (Universal) "Travel back to 1984 and join forces with a team of 5” action figures known as the Fantastic Plastic Squad"
- BMO Snaps - Adventure Time Photo Game: $2.99 (Universal) Use BMO’s camera to snap pics of your favorite Adventure Time peeps
- Party Gods: $2.99 (Universal) Rhythmical game about fighting bunnies while they’re trying to steal your dancing spot
- Tilt: Quill's Quandary: $1.99 (Universal) " Tilt your device a lot to slide the cargo and rearrange it to grant him safe passage"
- Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials: Free (Universal) Endless runner based on the YA film franchise
- TMNT Battle Match - Ninja Turtles Matching Game: $1.99 (Universal) Travel back in time to save the Earth after it is destryoed by the Triceratons -- Match 3 fighting game
- Mafia Watch: Free (Apple Watch) Social RPG multiplayer for the Apple Watch
- Magic: The Gathering - Puzzle Quest: Free (Universal) Match 3 title set in the Magic universe
- Community College Hero: Trial by Fire: $3.99 (Universal) "Outwit your professors at superpower school! Ace your exams, date your classmates, and bring down the nation’s most wanted villains to earn your degree"
New Jailbreak Tweaks
- Nightmode9 ($0.99) Puts your device into "dark mode" with white text and dark backgrounds
- NotificationCards ($2.99) Reorganize Notification Center with app cards
- EasyAppOrientation (Free) Set rotation lock for individual apps
- AnySpot ($2.99) Enable Spotlight Search anywhere on your iOS device
- Goodges (Free) Replaces app badges with text notifications