As acknowledged on Apple's System Status webpage, an unknown percentage of Apple Music subscribers have been experiencing issues with their subscriptions since Tuesday, ranging from the inability to download tracks for offline listening to being unable to connect to the service at all.
According to complaints on Reddit, some folks are also being greeted with a “Cannot Connect to iCloud” error message when attempting to upgrade or downgrade their iCloud storage plan.
Developer MacPaw's new Netflix-like subscription service for prime Mac apps has been in invite-only beta since December 2016. Beginning today, Setapp is available to everyone in exchange for a flat monthly fee of $9.99. An alternative to Apple’s Mac App Store, Setapp gives you unlimited access to 61 Mac apps, with more to be added as additional developers join the service. These are fully functional apps that update automatically and contain no In-App Purchases, paid upgrades or ads.
In a new report Tuesday, Mashable's Pete Pachal took a closer look at the early build of an upcoming live TV service from Hulu. Having seen Hulu's new iPhone, iPad and full-screen TV apps, Pachal shared his thoughts on the service. Hulu CEO said last week that the new service would be priced at under $40 per month.
The Wall Street Journal said earlier in the month that Hulu did manage to strike a deal with CBS to put both live streaming and on-demand content from CBS's various channels on Hulu's service.
The way you get apps is about to change: Setapp from MacPaw is one of the best things to happen to third-party Mac development in years. Think of Setapp as the Netflix of quality software or an “unstore” alternative to Apple’s store. But unlike the Mac App Store which continues to disappoint with sandboxing requirements, lack of paid upgrades and other missing features, Setapp unlocks dozens of high-quality, cherry-picked Mac apps in exchange for a flat-fee monthly subscription of $9.99.
You won't find subpar software in Setapp and all of the apps are fully functional and available without trials or In-App Purchases, including ones like Screens, Ulysses, RapidWeaver 7, Reveal and Eltima Player.
After testing Setapp for approximately two weeks, I've come to the conclusion that it is the best source of premium Mac apps that you can get for a fraction of their combined price, all at once.
iHeartRadio started out in April 2008 as a simple Internet radio service at the website iheartmusic.com before becoming both a music recommendations system and a radio network that aggregates content from hundreds of local radio stations across the U.S. On Thursday, the company stepped into on-demand streaming with a pair of subscription tiers, launching in beta, that let listeners create playlists from tracks, listen to music offline, play songs in any order, skip tracks and more.
Video wars are heating up with news that Vimeo is readying a consumer-facing subscription video service (not to be confused with its Plus, Pro and Business tiers for content creators). The firm prepared for the move months ago by buying VHX, a platform for over-the-top subscription video.
Vimeo, owned by IAC, broke news of its upcoming service on Wednesday as part of its earnings report.
In addition to beefing up App Store quality control by removing poorly maintained apps and those with 50+ characters in their name starting September 7, Apple also updated the official App Store Review Guidelines with details on app subscriptions, SiriKit and downloadable iMessage content. “As you plan and develop your apps for the upcoming releases of iOS 10, macOS Sierra, watchOS and tvOS, make sure to read these updated guidelines,” writes Apple.
Hulu said today it's phased out its free, ad-suported tier as it refocuses efforts on subscription services. According to Variety, free TV episodes will no longer be available on Hulu, but the current $7.99/$11.99 per month paid tiers won't change. All Hulu content that was available free with ads has moved to Yahoo View, a new service designed for hosting free, ad-supported TV shows from the likes of ABC, NBC, Fox and others.
Cable providers can complain all they want about Apple’s “hard-nosed” negotiation tactics when it comes to digital entertainment, but some of them seem to be enjoying unexpected success after introducing over-the-top subscription packages specifically aimed at cord cutters.
Take as an example CBS and its All Access and Showtime Anytime video-streaming services, which have now surpassed two million subscribers, with user bases evenly split between the two, as revealed by CBS's CEO on a quarterly results conference call with analysts and investors.
There has been a lot of confusion following Apple's App Store shakeup concerning subscription apps.
First and foremost, does Apple require subscription apps to be functional in some limited way without a subscription, as is the case with apps that use In-App Purchases, or will subscription apps require a subscription to use the app at all? If Apple's comment to MacWorld is to be taken at face value, both could be true.
Google surely didn't waste any time yesterday. Just a few hours into Apple's App Store announcements which revealed a new 85/15 revenue split for In-App Subscriptions, the Internet giant told Re/code that it, too, will be making a similar change concerning Android app subscriptions on the Play store.
But unlike Apple, which stipulates that devs will see the 70/30 revenue split turn into a 85/15 deal one after one full year of subscription, Google's Play Store 85/15 split would take effect immediately, without the one-year requirement.
Apple today announced a pair of major changes that will be coming to the App Store this fall, which it said were designed to help grow developer app’s business and engage with new and existing customers.
Both the rumored search ads and various subscription enhancements will soon be available across any app category, games included.