Apple Developers Must Now Agree To Ad Identifier Rules Or Risk App Store Rejection

Apple has just updated a section iniTunes Connect, the service mobile developers use to distribute and update their applications on the iTunes App Store, with new language that details how the Advertising Identifier (IDFA) can and cannot be used, and asks for developers’ compliance with these rules by checking a box.

Though Apple began rejecting some applications in February which were using the unique identifier but not showing ads, this change now formalizes the process – meaning that Apple could now reject any non-compliant apps going forward.

For background, Apple had been signaling to developers throughout 2013 that it was time to make the switch over to the IDFA as the preferred ad tracking option within iOS applications.

The change has been a long time coming, following the initial phase out of the unique identifier known as the UDID, first announced back in 2011. For a number of reasons, including privacy concerns and a changing regulatory environment, the UDID was no longer the way Apple wanted developers to uniquely identify end users of Apple devices and apps, or track their activities.

While the intention with the UDID and other tracking methods were to offer functions that were similar in some ways to the way cookies work on the web, the problem was that, unlike cookies, users didn’t have any way to take back control over their data through opt-out features, or by resetting their identifier – a task which would serve essentially the same purpose as deleting cookies off your computer.

Though a number of other tracking methods created by third-parties emerged following the UDID’s phase-out, Apple’s IDFA (Advertising Identifier) is now the only official method, as the new text in iTunes Connect makes clear.

Specifically, the section advises app developers that the IDFA is “the only way to offer targeted ads” and offers three use cases which they must also check, if in place:

• Serve advertisements within the app

• Attribute this app installation to a previously served advertisement

• Attribute an action taken within this app to a previously served advertisement

In addition, developers have to check a box confirming that their application as well as any third party that interfaces with the application uses the Advertising Identifier and honors the end user’s “Limit Ad Tracking” setting in iOS.

That setting enables users to control whether or not advertisers can serve them ads targeted to their interests, and can be reset at any time by going to “Settings–>Privacy–>Advertising–>Reset Advertising Identifier” in iOS’s Settings app. Broadly speaking, this is the iOS equivalent to wiping your cookies.

The changes are ultimately about respecting user privacy choices on mobile, but were also prompted in part by increased governmental scrutiny into how iOS developers were collecting, storing and using consumer data. But even with the IDFA in place since iOS 6, the rules around its usage had been hazy. Though it was designed for use by app publishers, not advertisers, many advertisers have been accessing and passing the IDFA to ad networks for tracking purposes, while others including the developers themselves may have been warehousing ad tracking data for a number of purposes, including retargeting campaigns and building user profiles.

What Apple is saying with the changed language is that even third parties accessing the app would need to request the IDFA for things like serving ads or counting installs.

However, what’s less clear is whether or not developers can use another identifier as well (or in place of) the IDFA like the recently launched Open IDFA, for example. Thisidentifier addresses several advertising-related use cases the IDFA solution alone overlooks, while also balancing the needs of user privacy. (Built-in expiration prevents the long-term tracking that had been prevalent in the industry, and had violated user privacy.)

There’s also the question about Apple’s ability to enforce these new rules at scale. At best, the language serves as a warning to developers that if you decide to skirt these rules knowingly, at some point, if not immediately, Apple has the right to reject or pull your application from the App Store.

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Turning The Ship: Microsoft Might Have Begun A Subtle Shift From Windows To Services

Since Steve Ballmer passed the torch to Satya Nadella earlier this year, it marked a sea change in the organization: the first time in its history one of the founding team wasn’t running the show. Changes were expected and have happened. A surprising one is a subtle shift toward a service model and what appears to be an understanding that as long as people are running Microsoft tools, the hardware and underlying operating system don’t matter.

For a company that has been driven by the underlying OS for most of its existence, this is not a minor matter

It’s highly likely that such a shift started long before Nadella took the reins at Microsoft, but when it comes turning a ship the size of Microsoft, sometimes perhaps it takes a new leader to push the company in the new direction.

That’s partly because being such a large organization, Microsoft doesn’t just have to deal with the nuts and bolts of a shifting strategy, they also have to deal with internal politics and a strong culture that might fight any change. There is a hard and fast attitude inside many large organizations that any change is a threat on some level because it has impact on your power within the organization, whether you consciously acknowledge that or not.

Part of being a CEO is finding a way to manage the politics and culture and start the shift to a new way of working. Maybe Ballmer, because of his longevity and his own biases, simply wasn’t capable of bringing the company to the next level. That would take a new leader with a different vision, alliances and biases.

David Linthicum writing about the difficulty organizations have moving to the cloud pointed out, rightly in my view, that what was holding back many organizations from going all in on the cloud was not the technology itself, but that it required a cultural change inside IT to make it happen. I believe a similar dynamic plays out in any large organization when it comes to any major change.

So it was telling when one of Nadella’s chief lieutenants, executive VP in charge of operating systems Terry Myerson, told ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley that he was OK with a services model. Specifically, when she asked about the Nokia X line of phones–those new low-priced Android phones running Microsoft services announced at Mobile World Congress. He was cool with a phone running Android, precisely because he was happy to see Microsoft services running on as many devices as possible, regardless of the operating system

This is a huge acknowledgement from a senior executive that as a company, they see the value of selling services over the old Windows-Office model in which you bought Windows and ran Windows software. It remains how they make a good deal of their money.

Simply acknowledging this idea of services on many devices and operating systems is a change for Microsoft, and although it may be a quick answer to a question by a Microsoft executive, it shows a shift in vision that I don’t recall seeing before.

Of course, this one remark doesn’t mean the whole company has a new attitude about this, but even talking in these terms is a huge step for Microsoft, and if Nadella can continue to turn the ship, you never know.

It’s worth noting that I remain a skeptic that Microsoft can truly make this change, until proven otherwise, but I’m impressed to see at least some inklings that this old dog maybe could learn some new tricks. You never know.

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App.io Turns iOS Apps Into Playable Mobile Ads

App.io, a startup offering tools that allow iOS applications to run in the browser for testing or demo purposes, has now taken the next logical step: it’s bringing its technology the world of mobile advertising. With the company’s newly launched mobile ad product, developers can create ad units that are basically functional copies of their mobile app or game that consumers can play for a set amount of time, before having to download the native application in order to continue.

The company, previously called Kickfolio and backed by over a million in seed funding, has been developing its technology over the past 18 months, and today has more than 15,000 developers using its desktop browser product. Its service is reminiscent of an earlier Facebook acquisition called Pieceable, but instead of rendering apps in the browser using Flash, App.io uses HTML5 technology.

To date, App.io’s developer customers have run over 2 million interactive demo sessions via the desktop browser, and while the company declined to comment on revenue figures or growth, the company’s head of Biz Dev David Truong notes that itscustomer base has included “Fortune 500 companies and billion dollar startups.” (Those customers are under NDA, so he wouldn’t provide names, however.)

Before publicly launching the mobile app ad product, App.io worked with a few early clients to test the technology, and has now seen over 200,000 impressions of its interactive ad units. Conversion rates, so far, have been high – reportedly 3 to 5 times higher than similar ad units (meaning rich media or video ads, also run on App.io’s partner ad networks.)

Developers interested in testing the technology for themselves upload their simulator build to App.io, and optimize it for the mobile ad experience by removing things like login screens or tutorials, for example. App.io will then vet the ad and approve it, and it will then begin to run on the partner ad networks (also still under NDA, but there are several networks involved.)

The company is still exploring how to charge developers, and is considering a number of models, including CPI (cost per install), CPM (cost per thousand), CPCV (cost per converted viewer) and even possibly a new model based on the LTV (lifetime value) of the user.

“The cost is very similar to video ads – cost per completed demo,” Truong explains. “We’re essentially creating the industry standard, so are still experimenting with ad unit costs. We’ve had a lot of interest to charge CPI, but based on the high quality of the users (lifetime value),” he continues.

“Due to our infrastructure and economics, we’re able to cost our ads at a very similar – and sometimes the same – as current ad offerings like video or standard CPI campaigns. A good industry standard CPI cost for high quality users could be between $2-$3 per install,” says Truong.

The ads are both HTML5 and MRAID complaint, meaning they can technically run on any MRAID complaint ad network – those that are capable of running rich media mobile apps, in case you’re not well-versed in all the ad network lingo here.

For consumers, the ad experience begins as either a banner or interstitial which, when tapped, launches into a full-screen playable game. Users can then play the game for a set amount of time, then a full-screen conversion button appears prompting the user to download the app from the App Store to keep playing. If they want to buy the game, they can tap that screen to go to the App Store and install the app to their mobile device.

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iOS App Driving Curve Is A Fitness Tracker For Your Car

iOS app Driving Curve is an easy way to track your driving performance without having to fiddle with additional devices.

Some high-profile driving apps, likeAutomatic, a Y Combinator alum and Techstars-backed Dash, offer their own hardware to connect with smartphones. Other use a Bluetooth-enabled on-board devices (OBD), which plugs into an adapter under the steering wheel.

Driving Curve, on the other hand, is meant as simple alternative for people who are curious about their driving performance, but don’t want to deal with an OBD or a more complicated set of features just yet.

“All you need is a smartphone, which dramatically lowers the entry barrier and grows our user base quickly,” says Tim Huang, who founded the app along with Duoyuan Chen. “We focus on quantified human behavior rather than machine behavior.”

To use the app, you simply press its start button just before you start driving. It tracks your speed based on data from GPS satellites and the iPhone’s motion sensors.

When you arrive at your destination, stop the app and it automatically analyzes and records information about your acceleration, braking speed, fuel usage, and route distance.

Driving Curve is currently part of the TMI incubator program in Taipei, Taiwan. Other notable startups there include interactive toy company Roam and Wander, which recently joined 500 Startups, and Codementor, a Techstars Seattle pick.

Driving Curve’s founders are still working on a monetization model, but they say that the popularity of smartphones will allow them to collect data that can be useful for a wide range of companies.

There are other driving apps out there that don’t use an OBD, like MotorMate by Confused.com and Aviva Drive, are both meant to help drivers get discounts on their car insurance.

While Driving Curve could potentially be used by insurers, taxi companies, and delivery services to make sure their drivers are following traffic laws, the app is mainly meant as a self-diagnostic tool with a gaming element.

You can collect points and badges for safe driving and compare your performance with other users. If you drive poorly, the app will dish out insults, like telling you that you drive like a bank robber, before giving you tips on how to improve your performance.

Since I live in a city and don’t own a car, I tested Driving Curve while taking cabs in Taipei and Seoul and found that it captures speed and distance traveled accurately. One of my rides got a “speed ninja” warning, even though the driver wasn’t going particularly fast. He did have to stop frequently because of rush hour traffic, however, which can wear out brakes.

The disadvantage of Driving Curve is that you have to be connected to the Internet for its GPS check-ins. On the other hand, it is fun and easy to use and I can see the appeal for people who don’t want to fiddle with another device in addition to their smartphone. It’s also great for backseat drivers (like me) who take taxis or ride-sharing services frequently and want to make sure that their drivers are not only driving safely, but also taking the most efficient routes.

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Facebook is eliminating chat from its main app, forces users to download Messenger app instead

Facebook is becoming more focused than ever with its standalone app strategy. The social network has started notifying users that they’ll soon need to resort to using Facebook Messenger to send mobile messages as that functionality is being stripped from the main Facebook app for Android and iOS.

As TechCrunch points out, Facebook’s main app has always had a tab devoted to messaging. A few months ago, however, users that had both the main app and the standalone Facebook Messenger app noticed the messaging tab was replaced with a hotlink that would redirect users to the Messenger app.

This was pretty easy to get around – just uninstall Facebook Messenger and you could once again access the messaging feature in the main app. That workaround will soon no longer be an option.

The publication points out that some users in Europe are already getting notifications regarding the change. Users will reportedly have about two weeks to make the change and will receive multiple prompts until they download Messenger. Eventually, all Facebook users will forced to use Messenger for their Facebook chat needs – a move that will no doubt be less than desirable for some.

The shift in strategy shouldn’t be a surprise as CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed it was coming during an interview in November. He said the reason for the change is that they found that having messaging capabilities as a second-class thing inside the Facebook app makes it so there’s more friction to replying to messages. As such, he said they’d rather have people be using a more focused experience for that.

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Phones Go Back To The Future

I’m no fan of LG’s rear smartphone control keys — but turns out the company had its finger on the pulse of looming hardware disruption when it ushered in those backside smartphone controls last summer, with the G2.

Smartphone case-makers start quaking because all that unused real-estate on the rear of the proverbial handset — which, for years, you’ve been free to clad with lurid coloured plastic or rubber skins — is becoming a space to watch in its own right.

Hardware innovation that’s been forced to slow elsewhere, with the front of the phone becoming locked down with as near an edge-to-edge display as is technically possible, is moving in on the back of phones, an under-developed, mostly overlooked landmass ripe for spicing up.

Examples of interesting backside smartphone developments (for want of a better phrase) in recent times include some at the margins of the market, such as Jolla’s Other Half — an NFC-powered backplate that snaps onto the mobile-maker startup’s eponymous debut device (which went on sale in Finland last November) to allow users to customise the look and feel of their smartphone theme, thanks to the NFC connection betwixt the two.

The NFC connection on the Other Half also allows users of the handset to get access to branded content, such as a news feed or product catalogue from an Angry Birds or Makia co-branded Other Half.

But the rear of Jolla’s handset also incorporates a power and a bus connector — meaning the back of the phone has been designed to be a much broader platform (with its own SDK) that developers can extend in multiple ways.

Ideas for Other Halfs (Other Halves?) floating around the Jolla community include incorporating sensors into the back of the phone so you could mute it by waving your hand over it.

Or adding an OLED display for notification info such as the time and battery percentage (as seen in the video below). Or even an RGB display that changes colour so the user can customise the look of their device without having to swap out the back plastic for another colour.But perhaps the best example of backside smartphone innovation — still from the margins of the industry – is Russian smartphone startup Yota Devices, whose YotaPhone Android handset is a dual-screen device with an entire e-ink screen on its rear.

The e-ink display allows for the rear of the YotaPhone to be used for additional and companion functionality, supplementing the standard smartphone playbook of apps and games and YouTube in your pocket, with a display that draws less power, and which can permanently show a piece of static content without drawing any power.

Longer-form text content can be sent to the back pane of the YotaPhone for easier on the eye reading that can also help extend the device’s battery life. (The next-gen YotaPhone, pictured above and below but not due to be released until the end of the year, will offer a Smart Power mode that enables the user to switch off the colour display entirely to keep the device going when battery levels are at critical. This mode will allow them to retain basic functionality, such as making calls and sending texts, by performing them on the e-ink touchscreen.)

The e-ink display can also be used to display notifications permanently, including a real-time dashboard showing sports scores, or even quantified health data. It also enables user customisation and personalisation of the device, by offering a canvas for displaying photos and wallpapers. Even if the phone’s battery dies, an e-ink imprint can remain — so it can also be used to retain a map or mobile ticket without having to worry about keeping the device juiced.

The first gen YotaPhone, which has the e-ink second display but without it being fully touch-enabled, went on sale in its sixth market, the U.K., back in March.

Turning to larger players, Google’s Project Ara modular smartphone (actually inspired by Phonebloks and work being done at Motorola, the company since sold by Google to Lenovo), is another example of the rear of the phone becoming a canvas for change and creativity.

From the front, the forthcoming Ara handsets won’t look that different to any other standard smartphone. But turn them around and it’s a different story. Here the phone’s rear will be transformed into a mosaic for a user-choosable pick & mix of modules that will spec out the overall device’s functionality.

It’s early days for Ara, with Google only just releasing an MDK for hardware developers to think about building these modules — and a commercial release not likely before Q1 2015 at the earliest. But the modular concept introduces more possibilities for extending the phone’s functionality — and for making the smartphone itself a more mutable tool in hardware as well as software terms.

You may not want to upgrade your entire phone just to get a heart rate monitor or a pulse oximeter or a geiger counter but, assuming this phone makes it to market, an Ara owner could hot-swap particular sensor components that make sense for them at a given time. Adding a geiger counter if they’re traveling somewhere where radiation levels may be higher than normal, for instance.

Ara clearly takes inspiration from the crowdfunding-powered trend to extend standard smartphones via additional connected/sensor hardware which either plugs in via the headphone jack, or connects wirelessly via Bluetooth. But instead of plugging new stuff into a port in the side of your phone, Ara deconstructs the entire handset — turning all that underused rear space into a modular mosaic and allowing the user to choose the bits and pieces that make most sense for them.

The Ara concept supports user-customisation at both a design and functionality level — and it’s all thanks to the remaining wiggle room on the back side of the smartphone.

Ara is undoubtedly massively ambitious, and may well prove a user flop, but again it’s interesting to see phone makers trying to do more with the least exciting surface of the modern smartphone.

Even Apple, whose iPhone has had but the merest design tweaks over the years since launching in 2007, has been filing patents that could see some growths swelling on the rear of future iPhones.

Earlier this month it was granted a patent for bayonet mounts (pictured below) on the rear of the iPhone that could allow for swappable lenses in future. Other patents show Apple has also been exploring extensible iPhone cases and magnetic attachments — both for extending the camera.

These patents are nowhere near as radical as Ara, certainly, but it’s telling that even in Cupertino the unused space on the rear of the iPhone is being eyed up as a possible development plot where new hardware innovation could take root.

Android OEM behemoth Samsung, meanwhile, has slapped a heart rate monitor on the rear of its latest flagship handset, the Galaxy S5. Again, it’s not a huge change to its standard smartphone formula – but it’s still telling placement for the sensor, utilizing what is otherwise mostly wasted space.

The rear of the smartphone has always been a resting place for our hands and fingers – and Samsung is making more of that passive touch by siting a sensor that requires contact with human skin on the backside of the device.

The advantage of that positioning is it’s easy for the user’s fingers to reach and does not eat into screen space, allowing for usage of the heart rate monitor not to impede the screen.

HTC has not overlooked developments taking place on the rear of phones either. Its new flagship, the One M8, has two camera lenses on the back, extending the camera’s capabilities via twin imaging sensors.

These dual lenses can be used to improve the phone’s ability to recognise background and foreground portions of images to allow for filters to be applied differently to different portions of the picture. It also means the M8 can perform Lytro-style refocusing tricks on users’ photos, after the shutter has been clicked.

Again, as with Samsung’s S5, there’s still an awful lot of wasted space on the M8′s rear. But radical changes tend to take place in the margins of a market, before they filter into the mainstream, so these small initial steps by mainstream mobile makers are what you’d expect.

HTC has also cooked up something more radical with an accessory for the M8: a case that allows users to view dot-matrix style notifications through the casing itself. Admittedly this does not enhance the rear of the phone — the active portion of the casing is a screen protector cover for the front of the device which works by relaying LED and touch-sensitivity from that front display through the protective casing.

But even though this development is not focused on the rear of the smartphone, it’s interesting nonetheless, as another example of phone makers thinking about how to do more with previously uninteresting surfaces — whether that’s the back of the phone, or, as below, the plastic cover of a protective screen casing.

Making all surfaces smarter is the name of the game, here. The backside of the smartphone is just the most obvious candidate for upgrading, since there’s so much surface there – yet, in general, so little being done with that space.

Add to that, for certain smartphone users, the number of notifications pinging into view from the plethora of apps they have on tap is getting unworkable. Creative solutions for better managing ambient information transfer so that the main smartphone screen doesn’t get cluttered up with too many alerts makes plenty of sense.

In the hierarchy of information, certain apps and functions are always going to be more important than others. So here’s to lots more creative reworkings of the lesser seen side of smartphones — to better layer and manage the things we need our phones to do.

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Microsoft has finally ended support for Windows XP

After what has felt like an eternity, Microsoft has finally ended all forms of official support for Windows XP, more than 12 years after the operating system launched, and still with a significant portion of users globally.

Today, April 8, 2014, marks the end of the extended support phase for Windows XP and Office 2003. Mainstream support for these products ended a full five years ago, in April 2009, and Microsoft has since been giving users plenty of warnings that all support will (and now has) come to an end.

Over the past few days, Windows XP users running Microsoft Security Essentials have been nagged with pop-ups indicating support will end, much to the frustration of those who refuse to upgrade. However Microsoft has a point with the consistent messages: from now on, Windows XP will no longer receive any security patches, fixes or updates, leaving systems running the OS potentially vulnerable to attacks through unpatched holes.

As much as 28% of the world's PCs are running Windows XP - nearly four times the entire Mac OS user population - mostly due to business and government departments who are yet to switch to a newer, and inherently more secure operating system. Attackers will almost certainly ramp up attempts to infiltrate these systems, making third-party security solutions more important than ever.

Some large organizations who are yet to upgrade are paying Microsoft for custom support packages; the UK government, for example, is forking out £5.5m (~US$9.2m) for 12 months of Windows XP support. For the rest of us, upgrading to a supported OS such as Windows 8.1 or Windows 7 is a much more sensible option.

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Wall Mount MagBak Turns Your iPad Into A Fancy Magnet

The MagBak claims to be the world’s thinnest mount for the iPad. Indeed, the entire kit consists of a wall holder  (called the MagStick) that is only slightly thicker than pencil and a strong but thin magnetic grip which adheres to the back of the tablet. The latest version of the MagBak, which is available for the Air and Mini models, is on Kickstarterand has already raised nearly double its $15,000 goal with three days left in the campaign.

Like other “damage-free” iPad wall mounting kits, the MagStick sticks to walls or furniture with double-sided 3M Command strips, which are strong but not supposed to damage surfaces as long as they are removed carefully. But the MagStick’s hardware is smaller and sleeker than leading competitors, including the Koala Mount for tablets.

The grip, which a Smart Cover can attach to, is made from magnets covered with silicone, so it also sticks to refrigerators and other metal surfaces.

Attaching an expensive iDevice to the wall with double-sided adhesive and a magnet might seem like a recipe for disaster, but the MagBak kit, which first launched in 2013, felt very secure when I tested it out with an iPad Air.

(One thing to keep in mind, however, is that most small 3M Command strips aren’t suited for humid environments according to the manufacturer’s site. iPad users who live somewhere rainy or muggy should consider forgoing damage-free holders for more permanent, screw-mounted hardware.)

A small quibble about the MagBak is that I can’t use my favorite Moshi cover or a keyboard case while the grip is attached. On the other hand, Magbak’s makers claim that silicone makes the tablet more comfortable to hold if you remove it from the mount and I found that to be true. The MagBak starts at $34 for a basic bundle, which includes the grip and one MagStick.

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Mandatory Windows 8.1 Update failing for many

Windows 8.1 Update has been available to download for a couple of days now but the installation process has been anything but smooth for many. Hundreds of posts have piled up on Microsoft’s Answers forum regarding a myriad of errors associated with the update as highlighted by InfoWorld.The majority of posters appear to be experiencing issues about a third of the way through the installation process. Errors 80070020, 80073712, 800F081F, 80242FFF and 800F0922 are all common and have cropped up while attempting to install the update or while trying to run the DISM.EXE diagnostic process.Some users aren’t getting specific error messages at all. As poster StefanA noted, the installation process quickly reached 74 percent then slowed to a crawl until it reached 89 percent. At that point, the installation aborted without a specific error message. A further message simply said the updates couldn’t be completed and that Windows was undoing changes.Microsoft has released a few fixes and workarounds but trouble still seems to persist.It’s a big problem in its own right but it’s compounded even more when you realize the update is mandatory for all Windows 8.1 users. Users of said operating system won’t be able to receive further updates from Microsoft starting next month unless they get Windows 8.1 Update.Have you had any issues installing Windows 8.1 Update or are you holding out until Microsoft gets all of the kinks worked out? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Facebook’s India User Base Crosses 100M, Set To Become Its Biggest Market

India is inching closer to overtake the U.S. as Facebook’s biggest market, at least in terms of the number of active users.

With over 100 million users as of March 31, India is now the only country where Facebook can aspire to have 1 billion users, thanks to a growing base of Internet users (currently around 200 million) and increasing proportion of mobile phone subscribers in its over 1.23 billion population.

In an interview with India’s Economic Times newspaper, Javier Olivan, vice-president, growth & analytics at Facebook said getting 1 billion users in the country will be altogether a different challenge.

As we have been writing, while India was expected to become Facebook’s biggest market in terms of number of users later this year, but it’s always going be difficult to translate that into ad dollars for the Palo Alto company anytime soon. Indeed, companies like Facebook and Twitter are not new to this problem – their biggest user markets (mostly outside of the U.S.) are not necessarily top revenue sources.

For its part, Facebook is pushing aggressively to increase its revenue per user in markets outside the U.S. During its fourth quarter earnings announced in January this year, Facebook said its revenue per user increased to $2.14, driven by 33% growth in Europe and 17% rise in Asia.

Facebook established its first India office in Hyderabad in 2010 when its user base was less than 10 million. Of over 100 million current users in India, nearly 84 million access the platform on their mobile phones.

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