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Apple’s iOS App Store has been a huge success since it first launched in July of 2008, with billions of downloads occurring over the past three years. So naturally, Apple decided to recycle the model for software built for its Mac OSX desktop platform, launching its own App Store in January of this year.

It’s doing well, to say the least. Apple announced on Monday over 100 million Mac apps have been downloaded since the Mac App Store debuted nearly one year ago.

“In just three years the App Store changed how people get mobile apps, and now the Mac App Store is changing the traditional PC software industry,”Apple SVP Phil Schiller said in a statement.

The Mac App Store, a feature of OS X Lion, is structured similarly to Apple’s well-known iOS App Store. The iOS App Store has seen over 18 billion downloads and houses more than half a million apps. The Mac App Store is home to “thousands of apps” including things like Photoshop Elements and products from Autodesk.

The 100 million downloads figure only reflects individual app purchases. It does not include sales of OS X Lion or updates to apps purchased from the Mac App Store.

As Apple’s success with the app store model has grown, others have followed suit with their own versions. Last week Microsoft detailed its Windows Store, Microsoft’s marketplace for Windows 8 desktop and tablet applications. Although its policies and pricing scheme differs from that of Apple, it’s clear where the inspiration for the store stemmed from. Microsoft, however, boasts a much larger user base compared to Apple’s, with 500 million Windows 7 users worldwide compared to approximately 30 million Mac users.

With those sorts of numbers, it’s possible that Microsoft’s Windows Store could eventually prove to be more successful than Apple’s. But for now, Apple’s success in the app store arena is the one to beat.

Lookie here — an iPad app just got miniaturized. It’s not too often we see the progress work in reverse, but one of Apple’s flagship iPad programs has just been converted for use on the iPhone and iPod touch. It doesn’t seem as if too much is changing — outside of the shrunken display options, of course. You can still plug your electric guitar into either of Apple’s more bantam iOS devices in order to record through classic amps and stompbox effects, or record your voice or any acoustic sound using the built-in microphone. The app enables users to record and mix up to eight tracks and then share the finished product with friends or send it to your Mac to keep working on it in GarageBand (the “real one”) or Logic Pro. It’ll run new users $4.99, but if you already purchased the iPad build, it’s a free update to get the new ports. Oh, and if you’re curious, the app now runs on iPad, iPad 2, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and iPod touch (third and fourth generation). Tap the iTunes link below to snag your own copy.

Continue reading Apple brings GarageBand to iPod touch and iPhone users, because rocking out shouldn’t require a tablet

Apple brings GarageBand to iPod touch and iPhone users, because rocking out shouldn’t require a tablet originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Nov 2011 12:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Come and get it! The very first, fully fresh issue of Engadget Distro is ready for you to consume, and it’s not just for the iPad anymore — a PDF version is available for download below. So what’s on the menu this week? We’ve got a very thorough review of iOS 5 by Dante Cesa, a look at Nikon’s first mirrorless camera by Zach Honig, Brian Heater’s thoughts on the fourth generation Kindle, Ben Heck’s journey to geekdom, Tim Stevens’ take on T-Mo’s Galaxy S II, and so much more. So if you haven’t had a chance to gobble up absolutely every last word that’s crossed your monitor this week, let us do the honors of bringing you the very best of what Engadget had to offer, bundled in a beautiful package and absolutely free of charge. Either hit the appropriate link below or check your app for the download — we promise it’s yummy. After all, we baked it ourselves.

Distro Issue 7 PDF
Distro on the iTunes App Store
Like Distro on Facebook
Follow Distro on Twitter

Engadget Distro Issue 7 is ready for download! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Oct 2011 09:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apps, books or music? Looks like we just can’t get enough apps these days. Image: Asymco

Our appetite for downloading apps is tremendous, and just seems to keep on growing, and yet our need to download other forms of digital entertainment isn’t nearly as staggering.

Market intelligence blog Asymco found that the rate we’re downloading iOS apps at these days absolutely dwarfs iTunes music downloads, and crushes iBooks downloads. Only in recent months though have total app downloads exceeded mp3 downloads.

We’re downloading approximately 34 million iOS apps each day, weighing in somewhere in the neighborhood of 1 billion app downloads per month. Mp3 downloads, however, are relatively modest in comparison: We’re downloading 8.3 million songs every day. Up until around 2010, the rate of iTunes song downloads increased steadily, but has leveled off over the past year. In comparison, iOS users’ year-over-year appetite for apps is practically exponential.

Unlike music and literature, apps are relatively versatile. They’re a source of entertainment, they’re a way to discover new information, they’re a way to keep your life organized. While important, music and books are primarily consumption-based forms of entertainment and enrichment — wonderful cultural objects, though not immediately practical.

There’s another factor potentially affecting the number of songs we’re downloading from iTunes: The rise of streaming music services. There are a host of competing alternatives including Google Music Beta, Turntable.fm, Rdio and Spotify. Many of these are also available in app form, negating the need to download a bunch of songs onto your mobile device.

Before smartphones came into wide use, we were all obsessed with loading up our iPods and mp3 players with music. Now, smartphones are replacing the need for a dedicated mp3 player.

Similarly, we just don’t accumulate books the way we consume apps or music. They’re generally a more expensive purchase (in 2010, the average iBooks purchase was $12.31). Compare that to the App Store, where around 80 percent of the content is free, while the average paid apps price is around $1.44. iTunes song downloads generally hover around a buck.

With iOS and Android neck and neck in the mobile race, it’ll be interesting to see how these patterns play out over the next few years. Will we continue to download apps at increasingly astounding rates, or will we eventually hit critical mass and slow down a bit? Guess we’ll have to see.

via GigaOM

If you’re all hot and bothered by today’s announcement from Apple, there’ll be a new way for AT&T customers to snatch up the iPhone 4S. Later this evening, Ma Bell expects to introduce a gem into the App Store that lets users check their upgrade eligibility, and beginning Friday, October 7th, customers will be able to pre-order the A5-wielding beauty from the comfort of their current iPhone. Of course, we’ll be sure to provide an update as the final details become available. Who’d have thought your current handset would play such an active role in its own demise?

Update: As expected, AT&T’s Upgrader app is now live in the App Store. Just take a peek at the source link to get your download on.

Update 2: Apple giveth, and Apple taketh away — in other words, the download has been pulled. Better luck next time? In the meantime, all AT&T customers may check their upgrade eligibility at the carrier’s website.

AT&T goes meta: your iPhone 4S upgrade is just an app away (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Oct 2011 22:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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