I've noticed while I'm out and about (specifically at HyVee and Walmart) that the Continuity prompt (bottom-left corner of the lock screen) shows the App Store. When I open it, it takes me to their respective apps to be downloaded.
I thought that Continuity only shared to other devices with your Apple ID, so how are they advertising their apps? Are they receiving App Store links from nearby iBeacons? Various Google Search terms haven't turned up any information.
This is the new Suggested Apps feature of iOS 8. This is an AppStore feature that uses geofences (not beacons) to find apps relevant to your location. The description of this feature in settings says:
Leaving this option turned on will allow iOS to offer suggestions for App Store apps that you do not already have installed. These can be based on what you already have installed or what people near you find interesting.
Apple's mechanism for suggesting apps is undocumented. Perhaps it is based on an algorithm (other folks regularly using an app in the vicinity), a database (known locations of major retailers), or paid marketing (e.g. Starbucks pays Apple to suggest their app when near one of their shops.) It could be a combination of all three.
I know that this technology is not based on beacons (at least not exclusively) because I received an app suggestion for Starbucks (without having the app installed) and then I immediately used a non-iOS-based beacon scanner that verified no beacons were in the vicinity.
My company is looking to move from Android to Windows 8.1 phones but one of the obstacles we are seeing is that there are no Pager apps. We are looking into building our own but it looks like the Windows.Devices.Sms type methods are not available in Windows Phone 8.1. Is there a reference I can use to get the same functionality?
There is no way an app can access the text messages. Only in special cases, for example, Truecaller app alone has special permissions to intercept caller ID's. Since you say that you belong to an organization, you can approach Microsoft directly. They may give you special API's for that purpose.
I have an app that is going to be pretty pricey and is a specialized to the wedding industry. My goal is to try and limit illegal distribution. I thought about offering it for free but with a big watermark over it. The user would have to register and pay in order to remove it. Two questions. Is this possible? And, if so, I would need to provide the user an "Unlock Code" specific to the device serial number so that one serial won't work on another device because it's a formula based serial that uses the serial number of the device. I would generate this unlock code manually. I am just wondering if this seems possible. Keep in mind, this app isn't for a large group of people. It's a specific group so I am not concerned with making it hard for users.
I don't think Apple would allow such an app to go on sale on the App Store. This is because if you offer a free version you're not allowed to significantly cripple its functionality, which adding a big watermark would do. Apple would also want the unlocking of the app to be done via an In-App Purchase rather than some proprietary scheme.
I will be developing apps using both my own Live ID and one specific to my employer. Can I register the same device to both IDs at the same time?
It wouldn't be possible at the same time. If you go to the Developer Phone Registration tool you'll see the message "This phone has already been registered. You can may click 'Unregister' if you wish to unregister it.
You could switch the rego between the two though.
With that said, perhaps it doesn't really matter which live id the device is registered to. After all you can deploy apps developed for either you or your employer regardless of which account it's registered too.
As a side note, the way the side loading limit of 10 apps is written is this is per device. But it may be worth testing whether switching live id's offers any benefit.
There is not official standard dealing with the layout of about boxes, which display the credits of a computer software and other information.
What should a good about box contain? And... is it okay to put an easter egg in?
(source: seasip.info)
I generally prefer to make tabbed "About" boxes. The first tab usually displays information about the application (name, version, copyright, etc.). The other tab is usually a log of changes with the most recent changes at the top.
Legal will want their copyright and stuff, marketing will want their branding (even though the user has already bought the product), the dev team will want their names up there in liquid crystal, but what do users need?
App name and version number. Users may need this to troubleshoot problems, perhaps while in contact with tech support or when using a knowledge base. Use a version number system such that this is all the user needs to specify their build. Version number is also needed for the users to know if they can upgrade.
A brief statement of what the app does (e.g., “Photograph and picture organizer.”). Users often end up with software for which they can’t guess the purpose. “About” is a logical place to tell the user what the app is about.
Put the above in conspicuous text at the top of About. Have a single OK button. Everything else that may be required by others in your company really isn’t of any interest to the user and can all be in “fine print.”
You could also include the web site or email for tech support if you can rely on that being stable for years, but usually users have this before going to the About box.
Easter eggs are fine if you think it’s appropriate to have a little fun in your app and your users lean towards the geeky side of things. Just make sure it isn’t something that will alarm a low-end user (or a future high-end developer; see: http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2005/10/20/483041.aspx).
Looking at a few examples of About boxes:
Name of the software
Name of the publisher/author
Copyright and licensing information
Version information
A nice logo
These days, it probably wouldn't hurt to have a way to directly go to the website for the software in the About box itself.
Microsoft's Windows Vista User Experience Guidelines tend to have useful information on designing good user interfaces. I wasn't able to find information specific to About boxes, but the section for Dialog Boxes may be somewhat relevant.
A team in my workplace actually has made the coolest About box ever:
Every time you open it, it displays a different simple game, with pictures of the dev. team (memory games, tic-tac-toe, sudoku, etc)
As for the About page content, that is the best place to have the version / release information so you can offer easy support.
I am using mine as the abstract description and a link to the legal pages and a credits page. If you have a website, its URL should be there as well -- might as well make that click-able into your own web-view browser to your big "Company About" page on your web server (don't launch a real browser, or the user just left your application).
Make it enjoyable to read but be concise. Avoid any scrolling or paging -- except to a completely different set of informational screens.
Also, let it be obvious and easy to dismiss.
By-the-way, if you add an easter egg to an app that is submitted to Apple Store, you have to disclose the sequence for Apple to 'test'; they promise to keep the sequence confidential. If they discover it later, which will make it back to them through forums, etc., then they will automatically pull it from the store.
I tend to add program name, version, company copyright, contact information, license information. I also add various variables for problem resolving. Winows version, servicepack, dll version if i use critical dll's etc. A large application icon. Sometimes I add an easter egg or some keycombo that launch parts of the program meant for debug and support purposes.