Mobile OS crash analysis firm Crittercism (Really? Who’s naming this stuff?) has posted the chart above, which shows that as a percentage of crashes overall, the latest version of iOS claims the highest total. In fact, many versions of iOS show a large percentage of crashes, and clearly iOS overall seems more prone to have an app crash rather than Android.

Of course, there are quite a few qualifiers here. This data has been normalized, so we can presume that this isn’t just a quirk of the numbers: There are likely more crashes happening on iOS devices than Android devices, and not just because there’s more iOS apps being used (Crittercism says it monitored about 215 million app launches across all platforms, and there were three times as many launched on iOS, but again, this chart shows a percentage of all app launches).

So why more crashing? Crittercism suggests it’s because iOS 5.0.1 had just released, while the latest version of Android had not yet arrived, and the new OS was causing more issues than usual in Apple’s system. I would also suggest that iPhone users (who have likely paid more for their phones) tend to overtax their devices — keep in mind this is just an app crashing, not the full iOS, and we’ve all done that once or twice, right? And as you can see, there’s a fair amount of crashes on older iOS phones, which means customers might be running newer apps on older hardware, almost always a recipe for disaster.

At any rate, interesting figures. With so much more usage on iOS devices (both from skilled and not-so-skilled developers, and users of both types as well), it’s not that surprising that there are so many more crashes. Have crashes on iOS seriously affected your user experience?

Study: iOS apps crash more than Android apps do originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 05 Feb 2012 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you want to pass like Tom Brady from the comfort of your living room chair, then you should grab a copy of NFL Flick Quarterback for the iPhone. The app is a flick-style passing game that lets you take on the role of an NFL quarterback. The game isn’t a full-fledged football simulation like Madden 2012, but a passing game as its name suggests.

Even though it focuses on only one aspect of the gridiron game, NFL Flick Quarterback is a lot of fun. You star as a quarterback of your favorite team and get to choose your jersey number. Your goal is to complete passes to receivers down field. Sounds easy until you throw in a defender or two who’ll try to deflect your pass.

You throw the pass by flicking the ball out of the quarterback’s hand. The faster and straighter you flick the ball, the harder and straighter your pass will be. Once the pass is in the air, you can swipe left or right to nudge the ball in either direction. The game is easy and enjoyable which makes it perfect for the casual iPhone gamer.

NFL Flick Quarterback is available for $.99 from the iOS App Store.

Daily iPhone App: NFL Flick Quarterback originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple set to reveal next iPhone this summer, according to reports.

London, United Kingdom – Football chants and soccer songs website www.FanChants has just released NFL songs to the free FanChants iPhone app and website. 24 new NFL chants have been added to the archive, just in time for the Super bowl this Sunday. From New York Jets to Pittsburgh Steelers there’s a wide selection of NFL songs to choose from. The app plays over 10,000 real football chants recorded from fans of 500 teams and is free to download on iTunes. FanChants receives hundreds of chants weekly from football fans all around the world so the archive keeps growing with new chants, as they are sung.

Alerts – New chants and Staff Picks:
All NFL teams supporters can register their team within the app to be notified of new chants that are hot off the press via push alerts. Staff Picks are a hand picked selection of the best chants from teams all over the world and are updated daily, giving fans a taste of terrace culture from other countries.

Upgrade to use chants as ringtones:
For an upgrade fee of 4.99 all chants are available to use as ringtones so Giants fans are able to use any chants as profile tones for when their friends call. Different chants can be used for different people. Chants like ‘You’ve never seen a salad’ are funny additions to ringtone libraries, users have access to all chants and can use as many as they want.

Non-UK chants translated into English:
All non-UK chants are translated into English, enabling users to understand what fans from other countries are singing. It’s now possible to hear how songs and support for football differ from country to country. Italian chants are melodic, Greek chants are very foot stomping and generally shorter and English chants are more original and creative than most.

“The noise of the crowd, the singing and the chanting, is the oxygen we players breathe.” – Danny Blanchflower

The new app lets iPhone users play and listen to all chants in a smart, easy way via their iPhone.

Device Requirements:
* iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad
* Requires iOS 4.0 or later
* 4.4 MB

Pricing and Availability:
FanChants: Football Songs & Soccer Chants 1.1 is Free and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Sports category. For an upgrade fee of 4.99 all chants are available to use as ringtones.

FanChants
FanChants: Football Songs & Soccer Chants 1.1
Download from iTunes
Screenshot
App Icon

FanChants is the number 1 site for football chants, with over 10,000 chants from 500 teams to download for free and the database is growing all of the time due to chant submissions and new recordings. FanChants aims to be the beating heart of the terraces; to collect and archive all lyrics and audio of football chants past, present and future and to act as a forum for fans to share the wit, the banter and rivalry of the terraces – in all countries, for all teams. Copyright (C) 2012 Fanchants Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.

The pocket version of Ticket to Ride by Days of Wonder is among the best board game adaptations for the iPhone, and it’s just gotten better with asynchronous multiplayer support. Now you can start a game with friends through Game Center, and take turns back and forth across the Internet. The experience is similar to popular multiplayer games like Words with Friends and Hero Academy.

This free update also expands the game’s local multiplayer mode, so that users on the same Bluetooth or Wi-Fi network can play across devices. Ticket to Ride for the iPhone and iPod touch is available for US$1.99 in the App Store, while the iPad version is priced at $6.99.

Days of Wonder notes that Ticket to Ride has been extremely popular. It has sold over 350,000 copies, and a new online game is begun every four seconds on average. The game is definitely excellent, and the success is well-deserved.

Ticket to Ride Pocket adds asynchronous multiplayer originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chichester, United Kingdom – CodeStore has announced the availability of an updated iOS app templates Story Book App v1.3, and Comic Book App v1.2. The iOS app template projects are a quick and easy way to create an interactive book-style app, without the need to learn software development. The easy to use templates load your pages in JPEG format, and output native iPad or iPhone apps, ready for the App Store.

The Story Book App v1.3 project has the following features:
* Loads pages from image files – simply save your pages as .jpg files and the Story Book App will display them in sequence. (page1.jpg, page2.jpg, page3.jpg, etc)
* Swipe between pages, or use the menu to jump to any page
* Animated page transitions. Animated launch sequence on iPad
* Supports an unlimited number of pages, example book included
* Universal – supports full resolution on iPhone & iPad, including Retina Display
* Portrait & landscape books supported
* Narration audio (save your files as page2_narrate.mp3, page3_narrate.mp3, etc)
* Button to link to website or App Store on the in-app menu (eg, link to paid app from your free ‘lite’ app)
* New: Include printable extras such as coloring pages, activity sheets, or posters. (simply name print1.jpg, print2.jpg, print3.jpg, etc). Printable extras can be printed wirelessly via AirPrint or shared via email
* New: Add ‘tap sounds’ – MP3s which play when the user taps on each page (name them page2_tap.mp3, page3_tap.mp3, page4_tap.mp3, etc)
* New: Add an extra layer to your pages with PNG files (eg. popup speech bubbles)
* New: Animated startup sequence for both iPhone & iPad
* New: Choice of page transition styles (flip, fold, slide)
* New: Right-to-left option for Arabic, Hebrew, Chinese books
* New: Includes Universal (iPad iPhone), iPad-only, and iPhone-only projects

The Comic Book App project v1.2 has the following features:
* Loads pages from image files, easily add pages to the project, no coding required
* Simply save your pages as .jpg files and the Comic Book App will display them in sequence. (page1,jpg, page2.jpg, page3.jpg, etc)
* Tap-to-zoom, adapt the zoom level to suit your comic
* Supports high-resolution images for great detail even when zoomed. (up to 1536×1920)
* Optional background music, simply add a file named background.mp3, easy
* Swipe between pages, or use on-screen buttons
* Quickly jump between pages with the on-screen menu
* Link to your website or other apps from the on-screen menu
* Animated page transitions, and app launch animation
* Supports an unlimited number of pages. Example comic book included
* New: Pages can be printed via AirPrint

CodeStore offers a range of projects for producing apps for iPhone and iPad, the projects on offer allow authors who may not be familiar with coding or software development to easily create an app from their content. The projects are apps that load content in JPEG and MP3 format – so no knowledge of the Objective-C programming language is required to create a native iPad and iPhone app using the templates.

The CodeStore templates have opened up the App Store market to a world of authors who had previously got stuck at the hurdle or either learning iOS software development, or paying an expensive price to have an app built for them. Hundreds of projects have been sold, and many of the best creations are showcased on the CodeStore website, along with links to download them from the App Store.

Requirements:
* Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard or 10.7 Lion
* Xcode 4.2 (Free download via Mac App Store)

Pricing and Availability:
The Story Book App v1.3 project can be purchased for $29.00 (USD). The Comic Book App v1.2 project can be purchased for $29.00 (USD). One purchase allows an author to release as many apps as they like. A bundle of CodeStore template app projects can be purchased together for just $59.00.

CodeStore
Demo Video
Story Book App Screenshots

Chris Mayer is an iOS and Mac developer based in Chichester, UK. Chris has developed apps in a number of categories, mostly focusing on games, entertainment titles and books. Copyright (C) 2010-2012 Chris Mayer. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod, iPad and Mac are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Gizmodo has raised awareness a serious problem regarding an iMessage bug that, under the wrong circumstances, might result in your messages being seen by others, or you seeing someone else’s messages. It’s not a new issue; Ars Technica reported on it in December with stolen iPhones, and the problem is an ongoing one.

The behavior is most likely linked to Apple retaining the UDID of older phones in its database. The theory is that when a new UDID from a replacement device is linked to an Apple ID, the old identifier is not being removed. In the scenario Gizmodo discusses, the phone involved is owned by a minor who’s now seeing iMessages that an Apple retail employee is sending to friends and loved ones — all without the employee being aware. Gizmodo believes that when the minor’s iPhone was taken to the Apple Store for repair, the employee swapped his SIM card — not a standard practice — with the phone being repaired, which is enough to cause the issue.

As underscored by the previous reports, this is a serious problem. But Gizmodo, apparently not having learned its lesson from a couple years ago, decided to make its point about this security flaw by plastering the Apple retail employee’s iMessages on its site.

Gizmodo boasts that it’s found a plethora of information on the employee, dubbed “Wiz,” including his home address, Facebook, email, where he exercises and the Apple Store where he works. “We know enough about this guy to stalk him, blackmail him, and harass him, using nothing more than what we’ve picked up,” writer Sam Biddle brags. The site has posted screenshots of Wiz’s iMessages, which involve attempts at getting a date, discussing Apple’s first quarter financial results, photos alone and with friends, and more.

While Gizmodo has made its point, it does so in a way that outs an employee who was just doing his job by repairing the kid’s phone — and he probably had no idea that this was happening until his photos and iMessages began to be plastered all over the Internet today. While the employee’s name and face were blurred out, enough identifying details remain that it wouldn’t be hard to figure out who he is. If Gizmodo can find him, so can anyone smart enough to do a bit of digging on Google.

What Gizmodo has done is sensationalistic and in extremely poor taste, even drawing criticism from content partner MSNBC, which chastised the site for posting the iMessage images. The sensationalism only serves to draw attention away from the bigger issue of people’s information being compromised. Gizmodo could have gone about this in a different manner. Exposing the employee’s private life to this degree was not necessary to make the point that something is seriously wrong with iMessage.

iPhone bug opens up stranger’s life to the world originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Don Lee, CEO of Nomad Brush, was kind enough to meet with us for a few minutes on the floor of Macworld | iWorld 2012 last week to chat about his creation, which is one of the nicer brushes available for virtual painting on Apple’s devices. Nomad’s got a few different makes and models for various uses, but Lee says his goal for them is all the same: To provide a “good bridge between analog and digital painting.” The brushes all do that — they’re solid brushes that respond well to the iPad’s screen.

But what they don’t do is what all brushes and styluses can’t yet do, and that’s invoke pressure sensitive information onto Apple’s glass screen. Lee says that it’s actually a choice on Apple’s part. He says that the software can determine the size of a touch on the screen — in other words, if your finger touches it only slightly, that’s a smaller screen space than if your finger (or a capacitive brush) is completely pressed up against the glass. But Apple doesn’t allow developers to take advantage of that information with their apps. “If they were to let that open,” says Lee, he’d obviously be able to sell more useful brushes, but until then, brushes are basically finger substitutes, not the full tools they could be.

Now developers, being developers, have come up with lots of little tricks to get around this lack of pressure information. The app Zen Brush, which Lee says makes a nice example for his brushes, actually uses the speed of your finger swipe (along with “projected” virtual ink on the screen) to make a more realistic representation of how the brush would interact with an actual page.

Nomad doesn’t have its own app, but Lee says the company “would love to talk to some developers” about possibly making an app built to work with its brushes. In the meantime, of course, they work just fine with almost any drawing app.

As for the brushes themselves, Lee says the biggest difference between them is basically just the size of the tips — some are wider and better used at painting bigger strokes, and some are better for closeup work (only in the feeling, of course — again, the size of the brush’s contact on iOS’ surface doesn’t really matter, and all of the various brush settings have to be worked on in the actual software). But one thing Nomad is thinking about doing that customers have asked about is creating brushes with interchangeable tips, so that users can customize their handles with whatever brush they’d like to use.

There are a few different choices in terms of brush styli for the iPad and iPhone, but Nomad seems like a good option, and it was interesting to talk to Lee, who’s actually an architect by trade. All of Nomad’s brushes are available on its website now.

Nomad brushes with wide strokes at Macworld | iWorld 2012 originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Magic Window was one of the first apps on the App Store when the store launched. It is a simple idea, but wonderfully executed and now available for the Mac as well as iOS. Magic Window is time-lapse photography — for iOS it serves as a relaxing “picture window” and on the Mac it can play on your desktop. Plus, by adding a projector (in the video below it is connected to an iPhone) you could have an enormous wall of a sunset slowly changing over time.

There’s really a bit more to Magic Window than mere novelty, including weather (supporting micro-climates as you find here in San Francisco), sleep timers and an efficient use of your processor. Check out the demo below by Josh from Jetson Creative, the smart folks behind this wonderful app.

See beautiful time lapse images with Magic Window on your Mac, iPad or iPhone originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 28 Jan 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hong Kong – The innovative “Drop’n’Roll” feature allows instant, one-tap replacement of video fragments in a movie after it has already been automatically edited by V.I.K.T.O.R. Users are now empowered to cut into the process of automatic editing by replacing individual video parts as they see fit more, and leaving the rest of the edited movie intact.

V.I.K.T.O.R.’s original feature, “Refresh”, enabled users to create unlimited number of movies by editing sets of video clips located on user’s phone. With the new “Drop’n’Roll” feature, users can now reassemble parts of their movie clip by clip, much like a construction toy set, until they are perfectly satisfied with the outcome.

V.I.K.T.O.R. is also the only video editing app to interactively arrange filed size shots for editing. It is well-known among movie makers that for a comfort viewing experience video shots in a movie should alternate by their field size. However, due to a very subjective nature of the field size concept, this ground principle of film-making cannot be successfully applied mechanically. V.I.K.T.O.R. suggests users to manually sort their video clips by field size, and with the new “Drop’n’Roll” feature, the app takes full advantage of an automatic editing, saving users time and effort, and adding a bonus of interactive replacement, which prevents best video clips from being misplaced or left out from the final movie.

The app developers at the New Photographers Burning Factory intend to upgrade V.I.K.T.O.R. with more fun and interactive features similar to “Drop’n’Roll” in order to inspire users to assist the robot app with movie managing tasks available only to humans.

About the app:
Released late in December 2011, freemium iPhone app V.I.K.T.O.R. automatically edits video clips. With frequently updated library of “Themes” – movie editing scripts created by movie makers – the app allows making and sharing of professionally-looking short movies. With its “Drop’n’Roll” feature the app puts a new spin on developers’ challenge to seamlessly combine robotic editing with fun and creative interaction between a user and the app. Positively welcomed by users and mass media, the product is currently featured in dozens of regional App Stores.

Features:
* automatic instant editing
* regularly updated collection of Themes from professionals in editing
* random choice of videos
* replacement of individual shots
* sorting shots by their field size
* unlimited number of movie versions for the same set of videos
* trimming & cropping of video clips
* 20 sec, 1 and 2 min short movies
* web, standard and HD quality (720p) output
* sharing via Youtube, Facebook or e-mail

Device Requirements:
* iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad
* Requires iOS 4.3.5 or later
* 20.4 MB

Pricing and Availability:
V.I.K.T.O.R 1.1 is Free and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Photo & Video category.

V.I.K.T.O.R 1.1
Download from iTunes
Screenshot 1
Screenshot 2
Screenshot 3
Logo

Founded in Hong Kong, New Photographers Burning Factory is a small enthusiastic team of professionals who enjoy bringing their experience in movie making, computer graphics, design, and software development to the new cross-cutting platform, helping to inspire creativity and sharing of precious memories. Copyright (C) 2012 New Photographers Burning Factory. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.