Late last month, Apple launched a new "Free App of the Week" promotion on the App Store, featuring a single app on each of the iPhone and iPad platforms and offering the normally-paid titles for free. Apple's digital content stores have of course offered free apps for years, but the new promotion seeks to bring greater visibility to content being temporarily discounted from paid to free.
In another sign that Apple may be looking to increase exposure for free content, the company earlier this week registered two new domains: freeonappstore.com and freeonibookstore.com. There is currently no content located at either of the sites, but it seems that Apple may be interested in either creating specific websites featuring free content or using them as redirects to point to existing features.
The two domains were registered the day after Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference keynote, but they do not appear to have any direct relationship to announcements made during the event. Consequently, Apple's intentions for the domains remains unknown.
Outside of the digital stores themselves, Apple has a number of other venues for promoting free and discounted content, including a partnership with Starbucks for free "Pick of the Week" offerings such as apps and book samples. The current Free App of the Week promotion also began as a Facebook promotion on Apple's App Store page, but has since migrated directly into the App Store.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects Apple to release new AirPods Pro this year, and he said the earbuds will have a key new feature: heart rate monitoring.
From his Power On newsletter today, with emphasis added:As for Apple's other devices, there's a lot in the fall pipeline — though many of the new products are only incremental upgrades.
There will be Apple Watch updates, faster Vision...
Apple's iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max should be unveiled in a few more weeks, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices.
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman corroborated a rumor that iPhone 17 Pro models will be "available in an orange color."
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models:
Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are...
Monday August 25, 2025 4:22 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple will offer the upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max in a new orange color, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Gurman made the claim in the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, adding that the new iPhone 17 Air – replacing the iPhone 16 Plus – will come in a new light blue color.
We've heard multiple rumors about a new iPhone 17 Pro color being a shade of orange. The ...
Sunday August 24, 2025 12:40 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple has "considered" releasing a bumper case for the upcoming iPhone 17 Air, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Similar to the bumper case that Apple introduced for the iPhone 4 in 2010, Gurman said the iPhone 17 Air version of the case would cover the edges of the device, but not the back of it. Those bumper cases were made of rubber.
Given that the iPhone 17 Air is expected to have ...
Tuesday August 26, 2025 9:01 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple will hold its annual iPhone-centric event on Tuesday, September 9 at the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California, according to an announcement that went out today. The event will start at 10:00 a.m., with select members of the media invited to attend.
At the September 2025 iPhone event, Apple will unveil the iPhone 17 lineup, which includes an all-new ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air. It...
Wednesday August 20, 2025 6:44 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
We're only weeks away from Apple's annual iPhone event – rumored to take place on September 9 – and along with the new iPhone 17 series, we're going to get a new version of the Apple Watch Ultra for the first time since 2023.
By the time the Ultra 3 is unveiled, it will have been two years since the previous model arrived. The intervening period has left plenty of room for enhancements,...
Tuesday August 26, 2025 4:17 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today announced its "Awe Dropping" iPhone-centric event, which is set to take place on Tuesday, September 9 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. There are a long list of products that are coming, but we thought we'd pull out five feature highlights to look forward to.
That Super Thin iPhone - Apple's September 9 event will see the unveiling of the first redesigned iPhone we've had in years, ...
Tuesday August 26, 2025 4:05 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple hasn't updated the AirPods Pro since 2022 other than a shift from Lightning to USB-C, and the earbuds are due for a refresh. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple will launch AirPods Pro 3 later this year, and apart from new features like heart rate monitoring, we're also expecting a few design changes.
The fourth‑generation AirPods offer useful clues to Apple's design cues for ...
Promoting paid apps that are temporarily free helps devalue the paid apps. Such promotions are a large part of the reason for the move towards freemium and ad-supported models.
I would rather Apple promotes normally free games, and choses games that have quality, but are unknown, rather than games that are already successful.
A problem for developers is that the downloads are concentrated onto a few massive hits, while other great apps go unnoticed. Apple promotions should be widening the circle of success, not narrowing it.
They should have free trials that last for 10 full hours of usage. there is no way I would download a $10 or $20 app without trying it out first... They would sell a lot more paid apps ( to me at least:)).
I would like to add that I also hate with a passion Freemium apps.
Never heard that term before I like it.
There should be 3 types of apps.
1: Paid for apps
2: Free apps that only give you say a few levels/and or require payment to advance or do much with the product
3: Free apps
Jeez, we are even getting full paid for apps now that try and get you to buy things in-game.
It's a nasty trend that's growing and I've never experienced it before I bought an iPad.
Hope they limit it to truly free aps. i.e. no freemiums. Nothing more annoying than seeing a "free" app only to discover it's freemium.
Freemium is applied in many different ways, not all bad. I have played Jetpack Joyride for many hours, yet never felt pressurised to use in-app purchases. While some others are in your face as soon as you launch the app and have little value before paying out.
Freemium is not inherently bad, but it is applied badly far too often, giving it a bad name. Don't write off the potential because of some applications of it.
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Does anyone know what fraction of the original price (0-100%) apple pays the developers for the downloaded free copies?
Considering the developers have to pay to be on some other free app promotions (I know, it sounds daft to pay to give stuff way for free), I suspect Apple won't have to pay anything.
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7 with Liquid Glass, plus new Apple Intelligence features and improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Shortcuts, and more. Developer beta available now ahead of public beta in July.
