News On App Stores, August 2021

App Store 

App Store targeted by bipartisan bill in US House focused on increasing competition

The legislation would allow app developers to inform customers that applications might be available at lower prices from other sources. It would also force Apple to open the iPhone to third-party app stores and alternative payment solutions, something currently prohibited by the App Store Guidelines.

Full content and details (external sources): 9to5Mac

App Store prices dropping in UK, South Africa, and countries where the Euro is used

Apple announced that prices of apps and in-app purchases, not including subscriptions, will soon decrease in the UK, South Africa, and all territories that use the Euro currency. This is due to changes in taxes or foreign exchange rates.

Full content and details (external sources): 9to5Mac

App Store targeted by bipartisan bill in US House focused on increasing competition

The legislation would allow app developers to inform customers that applications might be available at lower prices from other sources. It would also force Apple to open the iPhone to third-party app stores and alternative payment solutions, something currently prohibited by the App Store Guidelines.

Full content and details (external sources): 9to5Mac

Get ready for a new Game Center authentication certificate

From August 4, 2021, a new certificate for server-based Game Center verification is available via the publicKeyUrl. The previous certificate will no longer be available after this date. As a reminder, make sure your app always retrieves and uses the current publicKeyUrl value so it automatically uses the new certificate. If your app caches the certificate or hardcodes the certificate URL, it will require an update.

Full content and details (external sources): Apple Developer

Additional banking information required in App Store Connect

Due to changes in local regulations, the bank account holder’s address is now required if you have bank account information in App Store Connect. Account Holders, Admins, and Finance roles can now provide a valid address in the Agreements, Tax, and Banking section. Please provide this information by October 22, 2021, in order to avoid a potential interruption of your payments.

Full content and details (external sources): Apple Developer

Google Play Store 

Google Contacts reaches 1 billion downloads on the Play Store

Keeping in touch with your friends and family is much easier if you have their numbers saved and if you use Android then it’s almost certain that you’ll use Google Contacts — which has now joined the 1 billion download club on the Play Store. There has clearly been a surge in uptake of the stock contact book, as Google Contacts only surpassed the 500 million download milestone just under a year ago (as spotted by Android Police).

Full content and details (external sources): 9to5Google

Huawei App Gallery

AppGallery games download increased by 90% during Huawei Game Fest

Huawei along with 13 other game developers has recently organized its first co-hosted Game Fest. In the event, there were around 12 game markets from across the world and it lasted for six weeks. The Chinese tech giant aims to promote its app distribution platform – AppGallery at this game festival and encourage more of the users to use its own app store to find interactive and productive games. This promotion has helped the company to gain a number of users and more activity on AppGallery. According to the data, the average daily game downloads from AppGallery have increased by 90%, and more than 600 million digital ad impressions were recorded during the event.

Full content and details (external sources): HuaweiCentral

New Huawei Gallery app features under testing, GiF logo, magnifying glass and more

Huawei has started testing a new version of its Gallery mobile app. According to the public test information, this new beta version of Gallery adds a new GIF logo display, document correction as well as support for a magnifying glass. Also, the latest Gallery version has new optimizations to provide a better user experience. 

Full content and details (external sources): HuaweiCentral