There have been several bits of App Store-related news over the past day, so here is a roundup of some of the more prominent items:
- iPad Swiping: As noted by MacStories, Apple has improved navigation of the iPad App Store, now allowing users to swipe between pages of featured apps and other listings. Users had previously needed to tap navigation arrows to move between pages, but moving to swipe-based navigation makes for a more natural interface and faster page changes.
- Yuan Now Accepted in China: Penn Olson reports that Apple is now accepting renminbi, the local Chinese currency, for App Store purchases in China. With the new pricing in yuan, Chinese customers will no longer be required to make purchases funded by credit cards in U.S. dollars. Apple has also begun accepting payment via local bank cards, with customers able to top-up their iTunes Store accounts with prepaid amounts from their bank accounts to fund their App Store purchases.
- Kindle Fire Added to 'Amazon Appstore' Lawsuit: Despite the fact that Apple has not yet won a trademark registration on the term "App Store", it sued Amazon back in March over the company's use of the term in its Amazon Appstore for Android. A judge declined to issue a preliminary injunction against Amazon in July, and the full trial is not set to take place until October 2012.
With Amazon having just launched its new Kindle Fire tablet, Apple has expanded its lawsuit to address the fact that Amazon is promoting its "Appstore" in conjunction with the device. As reported by paidContent, Apple has also included new claims of false advertising in the lawsuit.
Apple's revised complaint is intended to show that Amazon has continued to use the "Appstore" term even in the face of Apple's prior claims of trademark infringement, hoping to establish a pattern of willful misrepresentation on Amazon's part leading to customer confusion over the app marketplaces. The courts and trademark examiners have yet to look favorably upon Apple's claims regarding "App Store" being an allowable trademark for the company, but it is clear that Apple is still trying to press its positions.
Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more.
Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1.
Release Date
Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors.
...
Apple Maps could feature integrated ads as soon as next year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports.
In his latest "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that Apple's plan to bring more ads to iOS is moving "gaining traction," with the Maps app being next in line. The project will apparently give restaurants and other businesses the option to pay to have their details featured more prominently in...
Friday October 24, 2025 2:30 pm PDT by Juli Clover
In the fourth iOS 26.1 beta, Apple added a "Tinted" option that reduces the translucency of Liquid Glass for those who prefer a more opaque look. I saw some comments wondering whether the setting might preserve battery life, so I thought I'd do some testing.
Test Settings
I did four separate tests using the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and I kept the parameters as similar as possible. Here are the...
Monday October 27, 2025 9:15 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple this month refreshed the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, and higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are expected to follow in early 2026. However, these machines will represent the final update to the current design, with Apple reportedly developing a completely new version of the MacBook Pro packed with next-generation hardware...
Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below.
Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas.
The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...
Wednesday October 22, 2025 6:15 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more.
iOS 26.1 is currently in beta testing. The update will likely be released in the first half of November, and it is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer, but some...
The first preview release of the Swift SDK for Android was published this week, allowing developers to build Android apps in Swift with official tooling and making it easier to share code across iOS and Android.
The SDK enables Android apps to be built in Swift using officially supported tooling rather than community workarounds. In June, it was announced that Apple's Swift programming...
I don't understand people who think that App Store is generic.
What do you think if you walked into a CVS Store and saw a sign "Winter is here! Get your kleenex and bounty stocked up!"? Then you walk to the isle to find CVS branded paper towels and tissue papers looking like those brands but not them at all.
I don't think that's fair, and CVS does this all the time. There's an expensive bottle of shampoo on the shelve and right next to it is CVS' one looking exactly the same, same colors, shapes and design, just a slightly different name.
This is just a free ride for Amazon, Google and Microsoft and they know it.
Just going to point out in for Kleenex and Bounty the companies made a point of providing a generic term for their product and using that generic term when describing others.
Apple on the other hand failed to do both those. They used the term app store generically multiple times. You have keynots from their CEO Steve Jobs using "app store" to describe Google's Market, Blackberry's Appword and Microsoft's Marketplace.
That kind of kills a good chunk of Apple's arguments of the term is not generic. It hard to argue that when ones own CEO used it that way in public keynotts. This does not include it being used by the press that way time and time again.
Even if Apple somehow wins the trademark they still have to win again in court that the term is not generic. Getting the trademark is going to be the easier for the two battles for Apple. Amazon only has to win one of them. Apple has to win them both and both are going to be a huge up hill battle for Apple.
Before the first iPhone "App Store" was NOT a generic term. It was hardly used if at all. When the first iPhone came out and Apple pushed the term as their store and the "App" branding then it became a term everyone knew. Then of course it feels generic, but really no - its not generic at all. Its a common phrase NOW but pre-iPhone most people had never heard it used.
Yes, it was. "App Store" existed on a number of mobile phones, pda's, etc long before the iPhone was even conceived.
"App" has been a known word for "Application" for years...Apple did not invent the word.
not to get sidetracked here but this is part of the original post:
I LOVE the new App Store Swiping. I was annoyed with this and told my wife about it last week (just got an iPad on Halloween) and said, "with all the swiping capabilities on the iPad I wonder why I have to hit that tiny button rather than a swipe."
the full trial is not set to take place until October 2012.
Until then, Apple and Amazon are free to pursue each other.
Apple is looking for some form of injunction or penalty against Amazon, though on the trademark grounds Apple hasn't got one yet, and probably never will.
I hope Apple drops the trademark issue. It's clear, at least from a lay perspective, that that's a lost cause.
They might have chance in the "willful misrepresentation" line, however. Probably plenty of fodder there.
I think we're seeing an Apple vs. Samsung-type battle play out here. Pretty soon we'll be seeing Apple vs. Amazon news.
Hopefully Amazon will be a little brighter in the courtroom.
I am as shocked as I am sure LTD will be when I say that I agree. I think this is a lost cause and a waste of time and resources. I don't begrudge Apple for trying - but I think the likelihood of success is nil.
