iTunes Store Archives

Apple Pay can now be used to pay for Apple digital content

JC Torres | May 14, 2019

Yes, it does sound a bit ironic. Although Apple has had its own mobile payment system for quite a while now, you couldn't use Apple Pay to buy stuff from Apple's digital stores. That has silently change now and it seems that Apple has flipped the switch for some markets. Users in those select countries will now, if not soon, be able to use their Wallets associated with their Apple Pay account to buy apps, ebooks, and music from Apple's iTunes and App stores.

Apple removes purchased movies from users’ iTunes library

JC Torres | Sep 12, 2018

Purchasing digital copies of usually physical goods is so easy and convenient these days, most of us don’t give a second thought about it. We don’t have to carry books around, deal with fragile DVDs, or fumble around for cartridges whenever we want to switch games. But depending on where you bought said digital content, buying might not exactly mean what you think it means. That was the bitter truth that a Canadian iTunes user learned when Apple quietly removed content he already bought because the items were no longer being sold on its digital content store.

Apple is killing its App Store Affiliate Program for apps

JC Torres | Aug 1, 2018

App stores are a convenient way to find great and presumably safe apps for devices. But even with a search function, looking for that perfect app is like searching for the metaphorical needle in a haystack. Apple has utilized its affiliate program to encourage web sites and writers to bring more users to its App Store with a little monetary incentive. Starting October, however, that will no longer be the case and some such news sites are fearful for their survival.

Apple Music, iTunes Movies, iBooks launch in China

JC Torres | Sep 30, 2015

Continuing its quest to conquer the Chinese market, Apple has announced the arrival of some of its entertainment apps and services to the country. For the first time ever, Chinese users will be able to enjoy Apple's entertainment ecosystem, or at least a part of it, through Apple Music, iTunes Movies, and iBooks. This opens up China's doors to a wealth of new content to devour and gives Apple a new market to chew on that is marked to be a billion strong.

Apple Store down, Music down: social network freak out

Chris Burns | Jul 21, 2015

Online services including the Apple Store and iTunes experience outages across all app and media sales outlets. This outage approximately 9:00 AM Central Time and ramped up over the next several hours. Downed service checkers have seen troubles appearing mainly in the United States and in central Europe as well as Japan. Service troubles have been acknowledged by Apple System Status ticker as well, with a general "some users are affected" status appearing this morning. Meanwhile, the general iPhone-owning public has either not noticed or went and jumped headfirst into a tizzy.

Tidal did NOT just jack up their price

Chris Burns | Apr 29, 2015

Earlier today it appeared that the iOS version of Tidal's music streaming app had pushed a price increase on users. In fact, this price increase isn't new. Also in fact - it isn't universal. It's only through Apple's mobile products. With iTunes, according to Tidal, "Apple's policy is to charge TIDAL subscribers a 30% fee on your monthly subscription, for the life of your subscription, if you activate your subscription through the TIDAL app on your iPhone that you have just downloaded."

Apple Services may soon beat hardware

Chris Burns | Apr 27, 2015

It's Apple's Q2 2015 and one category stands out to me above all others: Services. While the iPhone has had a 40% growth over this time last year and the Mac has had 10% growth year over year, it's the Services category that I'm most interested in. Why? Because it contains Apple Pay and all of Apple's software stores. Because its growth has been far more tempered than any other category on Apple's basic Product Summary list, and because it's about to break past two categories for the first time in a long time: iPad and Mac.

Google Play Movies can now download movies on iOS

JC Torres | Sep 8, 2014

Google might have its own platform and services ecosystem, but it isn't shutting out others from the party. At least not all of them. As a gesture of good will, Google is updating its Play Movies app from iTunes to include one very important feature: the ability to download movies for offline viewing.

iTunes Pass available in US, UK without good reason to use it

Nate Swanner | Jul 17, 2014

Apple has made iTunes Pass available to a wider audience. The service, previously only available in Japan, has come to the US, Canada, UK, Germany, and Australia. The US and Australia are the only countries officially listed, but users are reporting they’re available in other territories as well.

Apple updates iTunes, Apple TV; adds media extras

Nate Swanner | Jul 10, 2014

Apple has updated iTunes today, bringing the software to version 11.3. The goal this time is to get you consuming more media. How do we know that? The extensive list of tweaks to media playback, and a synchronized update to Apple TV.

Apple likely bought Beats because iTunes is in decline

Nate Swanner | May 29, 2014

Now that Apple has Beats under their wing, some are searching for answers. Did they covet Beats’ headphones? Was it a quick grab to get a streaming music offering? The answer to both is probably a firm “yes”, but when it comes to Apple’s music offerings, the proof is in the numbers.

Calvin and Hobbes ebooks appear: iPad, Kindle, Nook readied

Chris Burns | Nov 13, 2013

Here near the end of 2013 the comic adventure universe of Calvin & Hobbes has reached the digital realm at last, being presented as a set of ebooks for several platforms. While it's not entirely clear whether this is the doing of Bill Watterson himself or those that he'd battled for years over the rights to his own artwork, the results are in: three of the most over-produced treasury books of this century are now digital.