Flurry Analytics has recently compiled developer research data from January to March, and found that 7 of 10 apps developed are on iOS, and that for ever dollar an iOS developer makes, Android developers make $0.24. It won't come as much surprise that the iPad fares particularly well among tablets. 88% of user sessions that ping Flurry's advertising network from a tablet are using an iPad, compared to 9% from a Galaxy Tab users and 3% from a Kindle Fire. Flurry said that "Apple offers the most compelling 'build once, run anywhere' value proposition in the market today" when it came to developing for iPhone and iPad. There are plenty of middleware providers that can bring apps from iOS to Android and other secondary ecosystems, but looking at graphs like this make it clear that devs hardly need to bother to stay in business. Flurry also took the opportunity to knock Android fragmentation across OS versions and manufacturers.

One of the big problems with the Android app ecosystem is piracy; say what you will about Apple's crystal prison, it ensures devs make the money that's due to them. Sure, sometimes copycats slip through the App Store approval process, but Android's ability to sideload apps from just about anywhere means that even moderately tech-savvy users have little reason to open their wallets.  For all of the restrictions Apple places on developers, they're definitely hoops worth jumping through if it enables them to make viable businesses out of apps. A few weeks ago, one developer told me that they still make more money on BlackBerry and webOS than Android - if that's even remotely the case for other devs, I can't help but wonder how healthy the Google Play store will be in the long term.

Devs, what can you say about your experience writing apps for Android? Is it really that unprofitable? Is making money the end-all-be-all of app development, or is there value in added freedom?

Source: Flurry

SplitMail is a jailbreak tweak for iPad that adds access to your mailbox list in portrait mode. Sometimes you just don't want to use landscape mode and since stock iOS limits Mail in portrait mode, this is a great fix.

By default stock iOS hides the mail list when you're in portrait until you've either tapped the All Inboxes button or rotated to landscape mode. Even then your messages don't appear in their entirety off to the right and the minute you tap somewhere else your mailbox list is gone. I am frequently jumping from folder to folder when organizing and sorting messages so portrait mode on an iPad has always been an annoyance to me.

SplitMail for iPad solves this problem in an instant since there's nothing to configure. Just install the tweak, restart your Springboard (you'll be prompted to do so), and then pop into your Mail app. You'll now notice that your mailbox list will stay static on the left of the screen instead of disappearing each time you go into a message or tap outside of it.

It will give you less screen real estate to work with when viewing messages in portrait mode but it's a compromise many will probably be willing to make for a consistent experience. And if you need more room to read or browse an e-mail you can always rotate your iPad into landscape mode.

I've found this feature to be quite useful when my iPad is docked and I don't want to have to pull it off just to sort through e-mails. It's free so what are you waiting for? Give it a try!

Free - Cydia Search Link

Additional Resources

• Best jailbreak apps for iPad
• Best jailbreak apps for iPhone
• Jailbreak apps, hacks, and themes forum

KloutScore is an iPhone app that provides an easy way to keep track of Klout Scores for yourself and the people you are interested in. In addition to your score number, you will also be given a description of what your score means as well as see lists of Twitter users you influence and who you're influenced by.

Before we jump into the details of the app, let's address a question that is probably on many of your minds -- what the heck is Klout? Klout is service that analyzes your activity and influence on Facebook and Twitter and gives you a score based on the size of your network, the content you create, and how other people interact with that content.

You can find out all kinds of interesting information about your social influence on klout.com, including your score, your influential topics, the number of mentions you've received on Twitter, the number of likes you've got on Facebook, and fancy graphs that chart your history, but KloutScore for iPhone is a great way to quickly check your score and also find a description about your score.

Klout consists of one main screen. At the top you'll see your avatar and score with a brief description. Underneath that, you'll discover your title, like "broadcaster" or "conversationalist" and an explanation about what that title means.

As you scroll through the page, you'll see a list of people you influence, followed by a list of people you are influence by. You can also tap on any of these users to see their score, title and influences. KloutScore also allows you to view any profile on klout.com or Twitter.

And that's KloutScore in a nutshell!

The good

• Quick
• Aesthetically pleasing design
• See title and description
• List of people you influence
• List of people you're influenced by
• View on Twitter or klout.com

The bad

• Doesn't show influential topics
• No graphs to chart score changes

The conclusion

KloutScore is the perfect app for quickly checking your score on Klout and finding out who you influence and who influences you. This isn't an app that's meant to blow your mind, but to have fun. Once you pick this one up, let us know what your Klout score is, share your Twitter handle, and see if your score goes up!

Free - Download Now

The folks at MacPhun and creators of FX Photo Studio for iPhone and iPad have brought their Mac app, Color Splash Studio, to the iPhone. Color Splash Studio allows you to apply selective coloring effects to your photos.

With several apps in the App Store that already offer this functionality, you may be wondering what makes this one special. Well, the developers at MacPhun are very experienced in the photography app business and they have done a great job with Color Splash Studio by making it easy to get detailed as well as allowing you to add effects and alter the look of the monochrome layer.

When you select the photo you want to edit, you are given the option to crop it as a square before importing. After importing, you are taken to the main screen which features toolbars on the top and bottom of the screen.

The bottom of the screen has three buttons. The Pan&Zoom button changes changes the editing mode. When selected, using one finger will pan the photo. When disabled, using one finger will paint the effect. Which effect is applied determined by which of the other two buttons you have selected: color or grayscale.

As you paint with your finger, a little box will appear in the upper lefthand corner of your photo displaying what's underneath your finger. Since these types of edits are dependent on being precise, this is an excellent feature. If you don't like it, however, you can disable it.

If you don't like the default brush settings, you can choose from 4 preset brushes or customize the diameter, opacity, and softness yourself. You can also add a Soft, Dreamy, or Hard Light effect to your photo as well as change the monochrome layer to be sepia or bluetone.

The Adjust tab in Color Splash Studio lets you adjust the saturation and hue of the color in your image. With the hue slider, you can change the original colors in the photo!

In the More Tools tab, you have options to show the mask, brush outline, and zoom preview, as well as clear the mask or invert it.

When you're finished with your masterpiece, you have the option to share to many different services including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr. You can also create a postcard with Sincerely Ink from directly with in the app just like you can with FX Photo Studio.

The good

• Well designed with one main screen
• Preview window to see what's under your finger
• Sepia and bluetone monochorom effects
• Soft, Dreamy, and Hard Light photo effects
• Adjust brush size, opacity, and softness
• Adjust saturations and Hue of colors
• Mail postcards through Sincerely Ink

The bad

• Preview window is sometimes a little laggy

The conclusion

I'll admit -- I'm not a huge fan of selective coloring -- but for those of you who are, Color Splash Studio is a fantastic app for the job. The sepia and bluetone monochrome effects are great features as is the little preview window that allows you to actually see what is happening under your finger. Color Splash Studio is definitely one of the best in its class -- and available a great price.

$0.99 - Download Now

It's not what a blogger has to take to Apple's WWDC event, it's how a blogger's going to take it -- and Incase provides a compelling solution

Tomorrow I leave for Apple's 2012 World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) and in addition to clothes, I have to bring with me a 13-inch MacBook Air and its charger, a new iPad and its charger, a Canon 5D Mark III, extra batteries and their charger, a 50mm lens, a 24-70mm lens, a 70-200mm lens, a couple of mophie juice packs, and assorted cables. Not only do I need to keep it all together on the plane, I need to keep it with me walking to and from Moscone West, to meetings with developers, and more.

That means I need a bag that's the gadget equivalent of a Dungeons & Dragons bag of holding. And the Incase Ari Marcopoulos Camera and iPad Bag might just be it.

Incase worked with photographer Ari Marcopoulos to create this version of their sling bag. That they focused on being compact yet comfortable, rugged yet accessible. The exterior is an almost interface gray, and made of heavy-duty, weather resistant canvas with white balance swatches printed along the side. A zippered pocket along the bottom hides a full rain cover for when the drizzle becomes a downpour and you need extra protection.

Inside, the Ari Marcopoulos Camera Bag has a padded iPad-specific pocket, a larger pocket that can fit a laptop up to the size of a 13-inch MacBook Air. It also has padded compartments that can fit a large DSLR with a lens or two, or alternatively a lens and secondary camera or laptop power supply. There are stash pockets on either side for film, or in my case pens and a stylus, and a zip pocket for batteries, memory cards, etc. There's also a brilliant quick access pocket meant for a point-and-shoot but which I'm using for mophie juice packs and, if I need to, my iPhone. Anything you put in this pocket can also be taken out via a zipper right on the front of the bag, covered by a magnetic flap.

There's a carry handle on one end and big, broad shoulder strap optimized for one-handed adjustment and rapid release.

It's not a cheap bag by any stretch of the imagination, and I'm usually leery of signature kit because names in and of themselves offer no value. Experience and insight do, however. The Ari Marcopoulos Camera Bag exhibits a lot experience and insight.

Ergonomically, I'm sure Geoff Gluckman would point out the unilateral nature of slings, and how they can adversely affect alignment and functionality and that's well taken. Switching shoulders can help alleviate the problem, but if you have any chronic pain, pay special attention or look at a more balanced bag, like a backpack, instead.

The good

• Extremely high quality construction
• Compact yet capable of carrying a lot of gear
• Excellent should strap
• Comfortable even for extended wear

The bad

• Can get heavy with all that gear
• Unilateral

The conclusion

The Ari Marcopoulos Camera and iPad Bag holds all the gear I need for a trade show or day trip in an incredibly compact, highly portable package. Everything from iPad to laptop to DSLR and lens all fit neatly and safely inside, along with all the extras they require.

I bought the Ari Marcopoulos Camera Bag specifically to use at WWDC and I'll report back after I battle test it on the roads to and from Moscone West, but in a week of use so far, it's been excellent.

The color and design might not appeal to everyone, nor may the branding. If they work for you, however, the Ari Marcopoulos Camera Bag is a tremendous solution to the carrying problems faced by any modern day photographer, blogger, or inspector.

$199.95 - Buy now

Phil Schiller is Apple's Senior Vice President of Product Marketing, but by all accounts his role in that job is as unconventional as Apple itself. Businessweek has delved into that -- as much as they could absent cooperation from Schiller or Apple -- and paints a picture of man who, in many ways, is very different than Steve Jobs yet who embodies many of his principles and visions.

Fairly or not, Schiller and other Apple executives are being measured against their former boss. Superficially, the two men had little in common. Jobs had no interest in sports; Schiller is a rabid hockey fan. Jobs eschewed public displays of wealth; Schiller collects high-priced sports cars and has kept miniature replicas of some in his office. Yet in business, Schiller channeled Jobs's perspective so consistently that he was known within Apple as Mini-Me. He found the nickname flattering and kept a cutout of the Austin Powers character in his office. Like Jobs, he is ruthlessly disciplined when it comes to choosing new products or features, which has yielded another nickname: Dr. No, for his penchant to shoot down ideas, according to one former manager.

Movie allusions aside, Businessweek paints Schiller as a fierce defender of Apple who goes on the offensive when it comes to things like curating the App Store, and keeping it "free of porn". They also cast him as controlling yet without Jobs' flare, and suggest he hasn't handled Apple's $1 billion dollar ad budget well, post-Jobs. Specifically, they point to the recent celebrity Siri ads as falling flat.

But Phil Schiller isn't Steve Jobs any more than Tim Cook is. And he's not singularly responsible for Apple's past, present, or future success any more than Cook or even Jobs were.

Apple may have had the best lead in the world, but they've always been a band, not a solo act.

Of course, a new version of so iconic a band will always weighed against the originals, but ultimately their music has to stand or fall on its own.

Source: Businessweek

Olo by Sennep recently slid into feature status in the game section of the App Store, promising a casual and minimalistic board game experience.

Olo takes a lot of inspiration from traditional board games like shufflepuck and crokinole, but adds a decidedly unique spin on things. Games are played online or locally with either 2 or 4 players. The goal is to get as many of your colored pucks into a goal area on your opponent's side. If you flick your olos too far and into your opponent's starting zone, he gets to keep the olo and fire it back at you on his turn.

Of course, you can always bump your opponent's olos out of the area on your side. Olos can be bounced back into your area to reuse, though you can only do that three times before an leaves play for good; that prevents matches from going for too long. Olos vary in size, which significantly changes their velocity and impact on other olos on the board, in addition to posing larger or smaller obstacles for your opponent to work around.

Olo's audio earns top marks. The menu music is this really classy jazz with a slightly surreal bent that you could honestly listen to all day on loop. I just wish it played during gameplay, or maybe something slightly different to mix things up. The olo pucks themselves make great xylophone sound effects on impact that vary in intensity depending on how hard they hit. The Retina-optimized graphics, though simple, are very sharp, minimalistic, and smooth. It's refreshing to see a game that manages to be fun without trying so hard to pull off crazy 3D models or insanely detailed textures. This also keeps the size down to 6.3 MB, which can be a godsend if you're running low on room with a 16 GB iOS device. Even the menu system is clean, pared-down, and colorful.

So, it looks pretty, but is it fun? Well, there are a few dampers. My first couple of rounds were plagued by full-blown crashes and and unresponsive multiplayer games - olos would zip to random locations after sliding across the board. From the sounds of other user reviews, I'm not the only one. After playing a little while more, things seemed to even out, but players would still drop out regularly in multiplayer matches during the initial matchmaking phase. That said, a single-player option versus AI would be great for those times you're outside of a coverage area and don't have any buddies around. The only real qualm I have with the game mechanics is that you can't use your entire starting zone to flick your olo; if your cross an invisible line that's too far to the left or right of the center, the game detects it as you letting go of the puck and you waste your turn. Not only is that unintuitive, but it also removes a lot of angles and limits the already shallow tactical depth of the game.

That's not to say the game isn't fun, though. There's a lot of nuance to the game, and the physics are accurate enough that you become acutely aware of how hard you're flicking your pucks across the screen. The slower pace also builds a fair bit of tension as you line up shots and watch your opponent do the same.

Olo features Game Center support to help you play with your buddies, and there's even voice chat; I could easily see myself shooting the breeze with friends and family over a casual game of Olo.It's also Universal, and plays just about as well on the iPhone as it does on the iPad. There aren't any saved games so to speak, so no worries about needing to sync anything over the cloud.

The good

• Sharp, fresh graphics
• Familiar but new game mechanics

The bad

• Simplistic gameplay can get boring fast
• Some general instability
• No single-player versus AI

The conclusion

It's great to see design studios stepping into the gaming space, but it's clear that there's still a lot of work these guys need to do on the technical side to make Olo a real winner. Occasional game crashes and and glitchy online multiplayer performance can potentially ruin what would otherwise be a sublime experience. Still, I have high hopes that these problems will be patched up pretty quickly, mainly considering this is a brand new game and just came out yesterday. Olo is a fresh, original take on an old idea, and with a bit of polishing, I'm sure it will be a relaxing addition to any casual gamer's library.

$1.99 - Download Now

 

 

iMore's authoritative guide to the very best, absolutely free iPad apps for kids

Looking for great free kids apps for your iPad? The App Store is home to over half a million apps and games, and a surprising number of them are available for free. Some of the most popular free apps are free apps for kids. We're talking videos, interactive books, games, music and more!

PBS KIDS Video

The free PBS KIDS Video app brings all your child's favorite shows right to your iPad. Curious George, The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That, Dinosaur Train, SUPER WHY!, Sesame Street and Wild Kratts and are all here and ready to entertain and educate.

• Download Now

Squiggles!

Squiggles! is a very fun interactive drawing iPad app for kids. Each drawing page asks the child to add squiggles to the picture to make cars drive, give nests to birds, create cotton candy, add water for fish to swim in, etc. When the child is done adding their squiggles and other additions to the picture, they press "GO" to watch it come to life. It's very fun and actually amazing that this app is free.

• Download Now

Toy Story Read-Along

What kid doesn't love Toy Story? The free Toy Story Read-Along app for iPad provides a fully interactive reading experience of Toy Story. It includes games, movie clips, coloring pages, sing-along tunes, and surprises on every page. You can choose to have the story read aloud, or to have to child explore at his/her own pace.

• Download Now

Magic Piano

Magic Piano is a great music app for children and adults alike. It's bound to provide entertainment to your child whether s/he is just a few months old or a teenager. The younger ones will love the musical response they get from touching the screen and the older ones will enjoy playing familiar songs. Everyone is a piano player with Magic Piano!

• Download Now

Block Builder 3D Free

Block Builder 3D is a free app that lets kids have the joy of building and then destroying structures made from blocks -- without causing a mess in your house! Block Builder 3D is freeform play, so there are no points or levels to complete -- just your child's imagination.

• Download Now

More free iPad apps

For dozens of additional free iPad apps, including free instant messenger and communications apps, education apps, entertainment apps, finance apps, fun and games apps, health and fitness apps, music apps, navigation and location apps, news apps, photography apps, productivity apps, reading apps, shopping apps, sports apps, travel apps, and general utility apps, see here:

• Best free iPad apps
• Best free iPad games

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