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Opera and the Mac App Store

| Reviews, The UsedMac Blog | May 12, 2011

Opera in Apple's Mac App Store

Having been alerted by a tweet to an update to Twitter for the Mac, I found myself browsing the Mac App Store for the first time in a while. Having looked at the top Paid apps and noting that the rather geeky XCode (used by App developers) was doing well I had a quick browse of the Free apps. Within this I was surprised to see an entry for the Norwegian web browser Opera.

Opera has been around for some time now pitching itself against Internet Explorer and Firefox. In fact it predates Firefox having been first released in the druid days of the web: 1996! Despite this lead on Firefox and a Safari like emphasis on speed, it never seems to have broken through like Firefox has, even with it being available on a number of different operating systems such as Windows, OS X, Linux and even for a time Solaris.

So why my surprise that its in the store? Well Apple has notoriously placed pretty strict restrictions on what it will allow developers to do. One reason many app's aren't available is that Apple won't allow them to change or modify OS X. There are other terms and conditions for App Store entry that Developers for many good reasons may be uncomfortable with too, especially if they operate on Open Source licensing like Firefox. Given these aspects I've often expected the contents of the App Store to be from new startups and useful apps that can exist within the ecosystem at the free end of the market.

So it's good to see a serious app like an alternative web browser to Safari being in the App Store. There are other examples but they are based upon Safari's core technology (also used by Chrome and known as Webkit).

We aren't though going to see Firefox or Chrome appearing any time soon. Neither Mozilla or Google would be prepared to alter their browsers licensing models to appear within the store. It would be fascinating to see if their inclusion would have an impact however I suspect that a user that wants to seek out an alternative to Safari will be happy venturing outside of the easy install process of the Mac App Store.

So should you install it? Well if your often on a very poor internet connection such as Dial Up (probably unlikely nowadays) or you are using your Mac with a 3G dongle, then yes. Opera has a feature known as 'Turbo'. This switches it into a mode where it will call up pages you browse for via it's own servers that will compress the site to reduce the size of the page. So graphics may be of a lower quality but it means pages will load quicker over a slower internet connection. Clever, ey?

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Twitter for Mac update through App Store

| Latest News | January 12, 2011

Twitter for Mac Updated

Twitter have issued an update to the Twitter for Mac app through Apple's App Store. In what appears to be our first App Store delivered update, version 2.0.1 of the son of Tweetie and the official Twitter for Mac client is now available.

You are alerted of the new update in much the same manner as on iOS, with a badge appearing on the App Store icon in your dock:

Badge: 1 Update Available

Clicking on the App Store as you would expect shows the Update page (tab?) illuminated it and again clicking on it brings up the Update in question with a description of what's been fixed. In Twitter's case this:

  • Fixed a crash when blocking a user from search results
  • Fixed a crash with non-Roman input sources
  • Fixed problems with Window Positioning
  • Fixed @mention streaming with tweets indirectly addressed to you
  • Spaces behaviour improved
  • UI Tweaks

Having used Twitter all week I hadn't noticed any of these issues but its good to see some good old spit and polish going into the application now that it's live to the world.

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Mac App Store is here: our first impressions

| Reviews | January 10, 2011

So the Mac App Store has been with us for 2 days now. We've installed it without problems as part of the 10.6.6 update, however we spoken to others who haven't had such luck with them having to reboot a few times to get rid of 'Error 100'. Not a great start for an Apple product.

Here it is nonetheless. An App Store icon is added to the Dock for you to the right of the Finder icon, giving it a prominent position. So whether you like it or not it's in your face and ready to use! I suspect the average will not mind purely out of intrigue, especially as that App Store icon looks rather similar to to that gateway to Angry Birds on their iPhone and iPod Touch.

So diving in I found the initial first launch of the App Store was a little slow. It has since then cached all the entries and is a lot quicker with it.

So what is it like to use? Well no surprises here, it's pretty straightforward. Just like the iTunes Store there is a featured section, app categories and Charts of the top paid and of course free apps.

As it's separate to the iTunes Store you have to re-enter your Apple ID (you do have one, don't you?) even in order to get the free stuff. This is the same deal as with the iTunes Store though. In fact recently we have had friends who are first timers to iTunes scared that they have to enter payment details even for free apps. Now they have I'm sure they'll appreciate how easy it is to download and buy.

So I've downloaded a few of the free most popular apps, including Twitter (a marginally freshened up version of our favourite Mac Twitter client, Tweetie) which is the official Twitter App for the Mac and shares a cosmetic look with the lovely Twitter for iPad app. When you click to download there is a nice animation of the app's icon flying from the App Store into your doc:

Progress Bar: Rather Nice

It has to be said that this is both very easy and rather smart to watch - i.e. very Apple. For a new user it certainly beats working out how to mount and then unmount a DMG file.

So Twitter was the first app I downloaded. Soundcloud was the second, then the brilliant Caffeine (which I already had anyway but have replaced with an App Store version). All of which end up in the Dock. Which could get interesting if you carry on buying all of iWork and iLife, plus a few games. It's going to get busy in there! Apple have obviously thought it's better to add everything to the Dock so that it seems visible rather than people wondering if the purchase has worked. You can then rearrange or organise it yourself later.

So how about the range & quality of the Apps on the store? Well it's early days but its clear that some developers wont be on their as they cannot offer free demo versions or there programmes wont comply with the submission rules of the App Store. Rogue Ameoba, the maker of Audio Hijack Pro and the rather neat Fission audio editor, put their thoughts down on their blog. Other developers won't be overjoyed at the idea of handing 30% of their sale to Apple either.

But what if your after a free app? Well it should be a great shop window, however big hitters like Google Chrome, Firefox, AdiumX and VLC (all of which are essential OS X downloads) aren't in there.

Nor yet are Microsoft's labours or Adobe's.

So its time for a blogging cliche annoyingly: time will only tell. We'll have to wait and see if our favourite free Open Source apps get in there and whether the big rival companies sacrifice some profit for a better show window.

It's not all bad though, just look how much cheaper Aperture is now...

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New Year, New Store

| Latest News | January 6, 2011

Coming to a Mac near you

It's a New Year and that means a new App Store is nearly upon us!

It's the 6th January 2011 and anticipation is high for the arrival of the Mac App Store from Apple. This will start the coming together of OS X with its little(?) sister iOS as we march towards version 10.7 of the Mac operating system.

All rumours have pointed towards Apple launching its new Store today with an update to OS X with Snow Leopard rising to 10.6.6 and bringing with it a new way to get Apps onto your Mac. The App Store will mean its as easy as adding Apps to your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch when using your Mac: simply browse the Apps on the Mac Store and with 1 click it will download and install - with no messy DMG packages or ZIP files to deal with.

It's been reported that our favourite Mac Twitter client here at UsedMac will finally launch its highly anticipated Version 2 to coincide with the new App Store as well. It's highly likely that it will join its iOS cousin and be rebranded as Twitter for Mac (following Twitter's purchase of the programmes developer: Atebits), cleverly riding on the publicity wave of the new App Store.

When that update arrives we'll have the lowdown.

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The Mac App Store is coming soon

| Latest News | November 22, 2010

Coming to a Mac near you

Mac App Store: Never go without a Fart App on your MacBook Air

The Mac App Store will soon be open after Apple have emailed developers to remind them to get their Apps submitted. Just like all the Apps in the 'iOS App Store' (surely with a Mac App Store Apple will have to start clarifying between the two?), Mac Apps will have to go through a submission process in order to get into the store.

We have blogged before about what the Mac App Store could mean for us users and software developers out there. It's worth checking out our speculation to get some insight on what Apps you may be able to find in it when it launches. What is certain is that many column inches will be given to which Apps are and aren't in there: Will Office for Mac make it in? Is there a hope in hell of Adobe Photoshop getting in?

We can only wait and see. The wait may not be too long either.

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UsedMac ponders the Mac App Store

| Latest News, The UsedMac Blog | November 2, 2010

Coming to a Mac near you

Coming to a Mac near you

So the big stand out announcement of Back to the Mac was the new Mac App Store. It's less than 90 days (and counting) away from us now, so what can we expect from it?

Will Microsoft and Adobe be on it?

With Apple taking a 30% cut of the sale revenue, I initially would very much doubt it. Adobe and Apple are hardly best buddies either right now. Plus the Mac App Store is subject to the same stringent rules as its iOS equivalent. Then again, Adobe have made iPad apps, Microsoft have made iPhone apps. There is the other argument that they don't need to be. People who want Office for Mac or Adobe Elements will always seek it out and install them normally. Perhaps it doesn't really matter, but it will be fascinating to see how it pans out.

What's in it for small developers?

Awareness: Suddenly the App Store helps do their marketing for them. We already know from the iOS App Store that the viral effect of User Reviews - coupled with the simple show window that’s easy for users to navigate - has encouraged people to search out Apps and Games that they think they need.

The payment barriers are gone as well: If you fancied a punt before on say a £10 FTP app, you had to get your debit card out and fill out a web form. The iTunes Store (along with the likes of Amazon) has made it easier than ever to buy things by storing our Debit Card details. One Click and boom! You've got Angry Birds HD.

Is Apple first?

Well in terms of iOS: yes. However on the Desktop you could argue that Ubuntu got there first. Installing programmes in Linux has traditionally been more painful than a dislocated shoulder, however in Ubuntu you have been able to search it's 'Software Centre' since 2009 in order to directly download and install applications. In fact the goal of the Ubuntu development team in this area included encouraging other software makers to list their programmes within the Software Centre.

Is it the end of OS X?

Possibly. Once it is as easy to install Apps and Games on your Mac as it is on the iPhone and iPad (if my parents can do it, anyone can), why wouldn't people use the App Store? Simplicity always wins and if you don't need to use an Installer or deal with downloading a ZIP file, which you then have to copy into the Applications folder, then make sure you eject the DMG properly. Now I'm happy with this as I am a geek, but for the normal consumer that may be considering a Mac as they love they're iPad? They will lap it up. This is certainly the start of the iOS approach heading to the Mac not only with the features muted in 10.7 Lion, but also by making it as easy as possible for users to install, buy and always have the latest up to date version of the programmes that they want.

Why should I use it?

Well you clearly don't have to but why wouldn't you? It is likely to showcase lots of free apps that you would of been unlikely to have stumbled across without a recommendation. It could well bring some of the games titles that exist in iOS to the Mac although they will have the challenge of porting to hardware without Touch screen or an accelerometer.

The biggest advantage of running Apps from the Mac App Store will be you longer having to worry about staying up to date. All updates to Apps will be delivered via the App Store. This means developers don't have to implement their own systems. They'll also be able to piggyback on Apple's Crash Reporting tools. Logic would dictate that this will only improve the quality of code.

Why shouldn't I use it?

From what we know so far, some applications just simply wont get in the store given the approval process. Fans of bleeding edge builds and early 'Betas' (i.e. programmes that aren't completely finished, but usable) won't get these in the Mac App Store. You'll have to get your Firefox 4 Beta from Mozilla and install it yourself. The same goes for Free Trial and Demo software. Apple won't allow these 'try before you buys' in.

So is it a good or bad thing?

There is a lot of debate on the web and Apple podcasts about whether this is another step towards Apple controlling the entire experience or if it simply carries on the Apple ethos of making easy products for consumers.

In the near time, we think it’s all positive: you'll have an easy way to be showcased, then purchase, Apps onto your Mac. Initially I expect the quality of Apps to be high - so lets enjoy it before the Fart apps turn up.

Longer term is less clear. It may well push prices down which developers may not be happy about - unless of course they are selling a higher volume of Applications.

Even more extreme is that we could see OS X morph into iOS with the Mac App Store being the only way to get Apps into your MacBook Air. Geeks will hate this. I should know, I am one. My parents and colleagues that just want 'things to work' may well embrace it.

© 2012 Used Mac. All Rights Reserved.

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