MacRumors

The average iPhone user's spending on paid iOS applications and in-app purchases in free-to-play apps will increase by nearly 40 percent over the next three years, according to a new forecast based on data gathered by Sensor Tower. By the year 2020, iPhone users based in the United States will spend more than an average of $88 per year on both paid "premium" apps and in-app purchases in free apps.

Sensor Tower used previous app-based spending reports to predict how much users will spend over the next three years. Most recently, in 2016 it was estimated that the average iPhone user in the U.S. spent about $47 on apps, while 2017 is on track to increase that number to about $63/year. Afterwards, in 2018 the average U.S.-based iPhone user is predicted to spend $77/year on apps, and in 2019 Sensor Tower thinks that number will finally reach $88/year. That represents a 40 percent increase from the average user spending estimated for 2017, and an 86 percent increase from 2016.

U.S. iPhone users will spend an average of $88 per year on premium apps and in-app purchases (IAPs) by 2020 according to a new forecast based on Sensor Tower Store Intelligence data. Our projections place calendar year 2019 per-device revenue at approximately 86 percent higher than 2016 and about 40 percent higher than our forecasted average user spend in 2017.

While gaming apps will still dominate the spending landscape in the iOS App Store -- accounting for "nearly 70 percent" of all per-device revenue -- some other categories are forecasted to increase in popularity as well. This includes Entertainment, which Sensor Tower expects to overtake Music as the second-largest category of per-device spending in 2017, because of subscriptions in apps like Netflix and HBO NOW.

Specifically, in 2019 the Entertainment category is projected to account for about $8 of that year's $88 average user app spending, increasing from $2.80 in 2016. That still won't be anywhere near Games, with Sensor Tower anticipating the popular category to account for as much as $60 of the $88 spent by the average iPhone user in 2019.

In a separate story posted by Bloomberg this week, some of the reasoning behind the steady increase in user spending on paid games and IAPs can be connected to emerging technology being tested by game developers. A company based in Tokyo, called Silicon Studio Corp., has created a piece of software that uses deep-learning algorithms to predict how long users will play a game, what levels they might beat, and how much money they might spend and on what -- all amassed into a "psychological profile of each player" that aims to "mold player behavior."

The ultimate goal of the software is said to help developers maintain a healthy ecosystem, encouraging those who already spend a lot of money to keep doing so, while keeping non-spenders happy with the game. Besides smartphone apps, even massive multiplayer online game developers have approached Silicon Studio Corp. with interest in the software, which has been named "Yokozuna Data" after the highest rank in sumo wrestling.

Even more important, the technology lets game creators mold player behavior to keep them hooked.

“Game data is perfect for studying human behavior,” said Africa Perianez, chief data scientist at Silicon Studio and a former nuclear physicist at the European nuclear research organization CERN. “It’s going to change the industry, change the direction of personalized games.”

Apple recently updated the App Store in iOS 11, changing the layout and user interface with new tabs and editorialized content that updates every day. For Apple, the iOS App Store and other services consistently provide the company with yearly profit gains; in 2017 the App Store set a new quarterly record in May, while services did the same in August. This past June, Apple said that developers have earned more than $70 billion since the App Store first launched in 2008.

Fitbit Pay officially launched in the U.K. on Tuesday, but with only one bank currently supporting the mobile payment platform, access to it remains severely restricted for users of the company's latest wearables.

The Fitbit Pay payment system was introduced as an exclusive feature of the Fitbit Ionic, the activity tracker firm's first attempt at a smartwatch, released on October 1. The digital wallet works in a similar way to Apple Pay on the Apple Watch, but up until now it wasn't available outside of the U.S., Canada, and Australia.

Fitbit Pay users in the United Kingdom need to hold an account with Starling Bank, a newcomer and relative minnow on the financial banking scene, which will undoubtedly leave the majority of Ionic owners unable to take advantage of the payment system, at least for now.

Fitbit has confirmed the company is in talks with other U.K. banking services for future support, but with rivals like Apple Pay, which lists over 25 supporting banks on its official website, as well as Android Pay (over 20 banks) and Samsung Pay all jostling for contention, Fitbit will have a job gaining a foothold in the emerging mobile payment industry.

You can check out our in-depth review of the Fitbit Ionic here. Fitbit Pay is expected to land in other European countries sometime next year.

Several car manufacturers offer built-in Qi wireless chargers that are compatible with the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and the iPhone X, and Apple this evening published a new support document highlighting vehicles that support the feature.

According to Apple, Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Ford, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, PSA, Toyota, Volkswagen, Volvo offer Qi-based wireless charging options that work with the iPhone 8 and "might work with the iPhone 8 Plus."

Apple can't say for sure that the iPhone 8 Plus is compatible with these vehicles because some wireless chargers have physical size constraints that might not fit every phone.

Apple also lists several specific 2018 vehicle models from Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC that offer wireless charging that's compatible with both the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus, though the same size caveat applies.

- 2018 GMC Terrain
- 2018 GMC Yukon
- 2018 GMC Sierra
- 2018 Chevrolet Bolt
- 2018 Chevrolet Tahoe
- 2018 Chevrolet Silverado
- 2018 Chevrolet Suburban
- 2018 Cadillac Escalade
- 2018 Buick Enclave

Wireless charging in 2017 and earlier models from Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC does not meet the requirements for Qi certification and thus will not work with the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus.

Apple's support document does not yet mention the soon-to-be released iPhone X, but it features the same Qi-based wireless charging functionality that's in the iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus. The iPhone X is larger than the iPhone 8 but smaller than the iPhone 8 Plus and thus may also not be compatible with all in-car wireless chargers due to size limitations.

Before purchasing a vehicle with a Qi-based wireless charging feature, Apple recommends customers make sure that their iPhones will fit in the charger first.

Emilio Herrera, a 32-year-old man from Chicago, this week pled guilty to hacking into more than 550 iCloud and Gmail accounts, many of which belonged to female celebrities, reports Deadline.

Investigators uncovered Herrera's activities when looking into a 2014 "Celebgate" incident that saw the private photos of dozens of celebrities leaked online after their iCloud usernames and passwords were obtained through phishing attempts.

Herrera used a phishing scheme to get the usernames and passwords of his victims, sending fake emails that appeared to be from Apple and Google. He stole credentials from April 27, 2013 to August of 2014, and used that information to access the iCloud and Gmail accounts of multiple celebrities.

Investigators have not found evidence linking Herrera to the actual leaks that saw nude photographs of celebrities uploaded to sites like reddit and 4chan, nor have they determined that Herrera shared the data that he found, but he did access sensitive photographs and videos.

Herrera pled guilty to a felony violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse act, and he now faces up to five years in federal prison.

Edward Majerczyk and Ryan Collins were previously found to be involved in the Celebgate incident and both pled guilty to similar charges.

When hundreds of nude photos of celebrities were leaked online in 2014, there was initial speculation that iCloud had been hacked, but following an investigation, Apple determined the celebrity accounts had been compromised by weak passwords. A Find My iPhone vulnerability that allowed multiple password entry attempts may have also been at fault.

Apple has since improved security by adding two-factor authentication to iCloud.com, introducing email alerts when an iCloud account is accessed on the web, and requiring app-specific passwords for third-party apps that access iCloud.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Starting today, BNZ, aka Bank of New Zealand, is offering support for Apple Pay. BNZ customers can now use Apple Pay with their BNZ Advantage Visa credit cards and BNZ Flexi Debit Visa cards.

BNZ first announced plans to implement support in early October, and according to BNZ director of products and technology David Bullock, the bank made the decision to add support following feedback from customers.

Apple Pay launched in New Zealand in October of 2016 in partnership with ANZ, and until today, Apple Pay was only available to ANZ customers.

From now until January 10, 2018, BNZ Advantage Visa cardholders will earn double Fly Buys or Cash Rewards on eligible purchases made using Apple Pay as part of an Apple Pay promotion.

(Thanks, Mike!)

Snapchat for iOS received a somewhat significant update today that's designed to allow users to share links or photos from third-party apps with friends and to set a specific timer for location sharing.

Starting today, iOS users can use the Share Sheet in an app like Twitter or Safari to share links to content in a direct Snapchat message. The update makes sharing content simpler, as there's no need to copy and paste a link from an app.

Snapchat has also added a "Ghost Mode" that lets users temporarily disable location sharing for three or 24 hours, a feature that's been introduced as an alternative to permanently disabling location sharing features.

The app is also being updated with a new feature that lets you tap and hold on a person's name anywhere in Snapchat to access their Stories.

What's New in Version 10.20.0.0
- Press and hold on a friend's name to watch their Story, send them a Snap, and more.
- Tap the share button in another app to send links or photos to friends on Snapchat. If Snapchat doesn't appear in the share menu, tap (...) to add it!
- Choose how long you'd like to remain in Ghost Mode on the Snap Map.

In other related Snapchat news, a report today from The Information suggests Snapchat parent company Snap overestimated demand for its $130 camera-equipped Spectacles and is now left with hundreds of thousands of Spectacles and Spectacles components that are sitting in warehouses.

Earlier this month, Snap CEO Evan Speigel said Snap had sold more than 150,000 Spectacles. According to The Information, Snap now has a 150-person hardware team, but what's in development is not clear.

Delta plans to equip more than 23,000 flight attendants with iPhones and 14,000 pilots with iPad Pro models, according to a leaked internal email that Delta told Fortune is legitimate.

Flight attendants currently use Nokia Lumia 1520 phablets, which will be replaced by the iPhone 7 Plus as an in-flight point of sale and customer service tool.

Delta pilots are currently using Surface tablets in the flight deck as an electronic flight bag, with those tablets set to be replaced with the iPad Pro.

Though Delta is transitioning away from Microsoft products as it adopts the iPhone and iPad, the email says Delta "continues to maintain a strong and positive partnership with Microsoft." Some of the apps used on the iPhone 7 Plus are powered by Microsoft Dynamics.

The hardware change is pard of an "overall Delta hardware refresh" to standardize on a 10.5-inch form factor, a Delta spokesperson said.

iPhones and iPads will begin rolling out to flight attendants and pilots next year.

New York City is planning to replace its existing MetroCard transit payment system with electronic card readers that will allow New Yorkers to pay their subway and bus fares using Apple Pay, reports The New York Times.

A committee of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority this morning approved a $573 million contract for a payment system that mirrors the one in use for the London Underground and commuter railroads in London.

Starting in late 2018, NFC-based electronic readers will be installed in 500 subway turnstiles and 600 buses, with rollout expanding to all subway stations and buses by late 2020. Apple Pay, Android Pay, and Samsung Pay will work with the new system, as will contactless credit and debit cards that have an embedded NFC chip.

While the new system will replace the MetroCard, New York City will not phase out MetroCards entirely until 2023. Until then, the two systems will co-exist.

Christian Selig, a former Apple intern, has released a beautiful, modern, and fast Reddit client for iOS called Apollo after years of development.

Apollo was created specifically with Apple's official iOS design guidelines in mind, with input from thousands of Reddit users for over two years. The app is very customizable in the Settings tab, where you can select compact or large post sizes, a light or dark theme, modify gestures, and much more.

The dark mode can be enabled manually, scheduled at specific times, or set to activate automatically based on your device's brightness level.

By default, the current gestures include a short swipe from the right side to reply to a post, a long swipe from the right side to save a post, a short swipe from the left side to upvote a post, and a long swipe from the left side to downvote a post. These gestures can be changed to other actions like Hide, Author, and Share.

One of Apollo's key features is the Jump Bar, which allows for very quick switching between subreddits. When browsing a subreddit, simply tap its name in the top navigation bar to search for and go to another subreddit. A favorites window also appears with a list of any subreddits you have starred.

Apollo also includes an impressive media viewer for viewing, sharing, saving, or copying images, GIFs, videos, albums, and more from a variety of sources. A premium GIF scrubbing feature enables users to slide their fingers across a GIF in the media viewer to go backward or forward in the animation.

Apollo includes support for 3D Touch on iPhone 6s and later, Touch ID, and Face ID on iPhone X. The client also supports iPad natively.

Other features include a built-in Markdown composer for writing comments and posts, full in-line Imgur uploading for both images and albums, multiple account support, subreddit grouping, Safari View Controller for browsing articles and links, content filtering and blocking, direct messaging, search, and more.

In an announcement post on Reddit, Selig said he wanted to create a Reddit client that truly felt like an iOS app—not a hybrid, cross-platform one.

I really think an iOS app should look and feel like an iOS app, and an Android app should respect Material Design. I think designing for the middle results in a clunky experience where the potential of both platforms is never realized to the fullest. Apollo is an iOS app period, built to take advantage of iOS features and feel like a beautiful, familiar iOS app. I also think they discontinued Alien Blue without incorporating the best parts of it that people loved the most, such as the minimal, uncluttered UI (Alien Blue was much more compact and concise), as well as powerful features like swipe to collapse comments, full screen, inline previews for links in comments, etc. Apollo has all that and more, because I think it's essential part of browsing on iOS.

The developer also sees it as a suitable replacement for Alien Blue, which Reddit abandoned to focus on its official iOS app early last year.

Apollo is rolling out on the App Store [Direct Link] today as a free download without ads, with an optional $2.99 in-app purchase available to unlock features such as submitting posts, multiple accounts, a customizable app icon and gestures, Touch ID or Face ID authentication, and GIF scrubbing.

Earlier in the month, Sprint launched an iPhone 8 discount program that brought the total price of the smartphone down by $350 through discounting the cost of monthly leases. Today the carrier has revealed a similar promotion will be coming to Apple's iPhone X, just a few days before pre-orders for the device begin on October 27.

Like the iPhone 8 deal, there are a few stipulations to come with Sprint's discount. First, to get the 64GB iPhone X at $22.22/month (down from $41.67/month) you'll have to sign up for the Sprint Flex leasing program, and you'll need to trade in an eligible smartphone. The Apple devices currently eligible range from the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus to this year's iPhone 8 and 8 Plus; various Android smartphones are also accepted. Both existing and new Sprint customers will be able to take advantage of the deal.

Under Sprint's deal, you'll be paying about $400 for the 64GB iPhone X over the course of the 18-month lease. Afterwards you can trade in the device to Sprint for a new lease and continue the program (which you can do after 12 monthly payments with iPhone Forever), or choose to keep the iPhone X. If you do, Sprint's $22.22/month discount will no longer be applied for the remaining monthly payments and the price will again rise to $41.67/month. With the 18-month discount and 6-month regular price, the 64GB iPhone X would come out to about $650 total, down from $999.

Additionally, Sprint announced that it will offer a "best price guarantee" for the iPhone X, so if you see a nationally advertised lower price within 14 days of your Sprint lease activation or preorder, you can receive the difference via a Visa Prepaid Card.

Verizon also announced its own iPhone X promotion today, but it appears the carrier is simply offering up to $300 off the device in regards to eligible smartphone trade-ins. Verizon hasn't yet delved into what this could be on a monthly lease basis for the iPhone X, but the company did say that the $300 trade-in/promo credit will be applied over 24 months, and ends when the balance is paid or the line is terminated/changed to another plan.

If you're looking to trade in your current smartphone ahead of the iPhone X's launch, Gazelle is gearing up to debut a promotion where you can get 10 percent more cash back on any smartphone traded in between October 24 and November 7. Gazelle offered some pricing examples of how the promotion will affect the trade-in values of a few iPhone models:

• iPhone 7 256GB - up to $335 + 10% promo = $368.50
• iPhone 7 Plus 256GB - up to $360 + 10% promo = $396.00
• iPhone 6s Plus: 128GB - up to $215 +10% promo = $236.50

For more of the latest deals heading into the launch of the iPhone X, be sure to head over to our Deals Roundup.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with these vendors.

Update: T-Mobile has an offer similar to Verizon's, allowing customers to trade in a qualifying iPhone and get up to $300 off the iPhone X via 24 monthly bill credits on T-Mobile's installment plan. T-Mobile's offer begins Friday, October 27, alongside iPhone X pre-orders.

Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming tvOS 11.1 update to developers for testing purposes, one week after seeding the third tvOS 11.1 update and more than a month after releasing tvOS 11 to the public.

Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models, the tvOS 11.1 beta can be downloaded onto the Apple TV via a profile that's installed using Xcode on the Mac.

The tvOS 11.1 update appears to focus on bug fixes and performance improvements rather than outward-facing design changes, and no new features were found in the first three betas. Should anything notable surface in the fourth tvOS 11.1 beta, we'll update this post.

While there are no major outward-facing changes, Apple says the update addresses a serious vulnerability in the WPA2 Wi-Fi standard that protects many modern Wi-Fi networks.

tvOS 11 introduces features like full support for AirPods, automatic switching between light and dark mode based on local time, Home screen syncing options designed to keep multiple Apple TVs in a single household in sync, and new background modes and notification support.

Update: Apple has also made a new public beta of tvOS 11.1 available for public beta testers.