Top Downloaded iOS Apps of 2014 Include Minecraft, YouTube, Heads Up and Facebook Messenger

Apple today shared cumulative lists of the best performing apps in the App Store across 2014 with various media sites, highlighting the iPad Top Paid, iPad Top Free, iPhone Top Paid, and iPhone Top Free apps that were most popular with consumers this year.







The number one free iPhone app in 2014 was Facebook Messenger , which continues to have a two and a half star rating in the App Store due to Facebook's unpopular decision to remove messaging capabilities from the main Facebook app in an effort to get users to download the standalone Facebook Messenger app. Other popular free iPhone apps included Snapchat, Instagram, and Google Maps, with the top 10 listed below.



1. Facebook Messenger

2. Snapchat

3. YouTube

4. Facebook

5. Instagram

6. Pandora Radio

7. Google Maps

8. Flipagram

9. Spotify Music

10. 2048



The number one paid iPhone app in 2014 was popular party game Heads Up! , which was skyrocketed to fame thanks to its multiple appearances on The Ellen Degeneres Show. First launched in 2013, Heads Up! asks players to guess a word based on clues given by friends. Other popular paid iPhone apps included workout app 7 Minute Workout Challenge and photo editing app Afterlight.



1. Heads Up!

2. Minecraft - Pocket Edition

3. Afterlight

4. Plague Inc.

5. Sleep Cycle alarm clock

6. Facetune

7. Cut the Rope 2

8. Bloons TD 5

9. A Dark Room

10. 7 Minute Workout Challenge



The most popular paid iPad app was, unsurprisingly, Minecraft - Pocket Edition, which also ranked as one of the top paid iPhone apps. Minecraft first debuted on iOS in 2011, but since that time, the app has been updated more than 20 times with new features, better graphics, bug fixes, and more. Its constant updates and pervasive popularity have kept it in the top list of apps for several years running. Other popular paid iPad apps were Terraria, Notability, and Minecraft-style apps Survivalcraft and Terraria.



1. Minecraft - Pocket Edition

2. Cut the Rope 2

3. Heads Up!

4. The Room Two

5. Survivalcraft

6. Notability

7. Terraria

8. Plants vs. Zombies HD

9. Hide N Seek : Mini Game With Worldwide Multiplayer

10. Card Wars - Adventure Time



The App Store's most popular free iPad app for 2014 was Google's YouTube app, which is a standalone app that lets users watch YouTube videos on their devices. Netflix was the second most downloaded free iPad app in 2014, followed by a calculator app, Skype, and Microsoft Word. Facebook and Facebook Messenger, two of the most popular free iPhone apps, were also popular on the iPad.



1. YouTube

2. Netflix

3. Calculator for iPad Free

4. Skype for iPad

5. Microsoft Word

6. Facebook Messenger

7. Facebook

8. Candy Crush Saga

9. Chrome

10. Clash of Clans



Earlier this month, Apple released its iTunes Store awards, highlighting some of the best apps, music, movies, and TV shows that were released in 2014. Those winning apps included Elevate - Brain Training , Threes! , Pixelmator , and Monument Valley. Of those apps, only two made Apple's top charts for 2014 -- Threes! was the 25th top paid iPhone app while Monument Valley was the 46th top paid iPhone app and 35th top paid iPad app.

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Posted in 2014 at 10:03PM, December 23

iPhone 6 Demand Remains Strong As Supply Improves

Demand for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus has been growing even as Apple has significantly boosted available supply, according to a new survey conducted by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. According to Munster, who surveyed 1,004 U.S. consumers about their upcoming smartphone purchase plans, demand for the iPhone has only increased since the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus launched in September.



Of consumers surveyed who plan to buy a smartphone in the next three months, 50 percent said they planned to buy an iPhone. In a similar survey conducted in September, only 47 percent were planning on purchasing an iPhone. In 2013, demand for the iPhone 5s fell following the device's launch, whereas demand for the iPhone 6 appears to be rising.

We conducted a survey of 1,004 US consumers. Of those looking to purchase a smartphone in the next three months, 50% said they plan on purchasing an iPhone vs. 47% in September, following the iPhone 6 announcement. By comparison, demand for the iPhone decreased from 50% in Sep-13 to 44% in Dec-13 following the iPhone 5S launch. Overall we believe this shows that consumers are extremely interested in the larger screen iPhone 6, a testament to the strength of the current upgrade cycle.

Munster also notes that supply checks have pointed towards increased numbers of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus devices in retail stores. As of last week, 77.6 percent of stores had iPhone 6 units in stock, compared to 56.1 percent two weeks ago.



Apple's online store shipping estimates also point towards a significant increase in supply, with Apple growing close to reaching supply/demand balance. Over the course of the last few weeks, iPhone 6 and 6 Plus shipping estimates have improved from 7 to 10 days to just a single business day. As of Thursday, December 18, 16 and 64GB iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models ship from Apple within a day, while the more constrained 128GB models ship within 3 to 5 days.

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Posted in 2014 at 08:58PM, December 23

LEAK: This is the latest phone from the company that makes billions ripping off Apple

Sometimes, copycat allegations in the mobile industry can be argued. Just ask Samsung, which has spent millions upon millions of dollars defending itself in court against allegations that it stole Apple's smartphone and tablet designs. Then, there are times when it's impossible to deny that one company has ripped off another. Such is the case with Xiaomi, a Chinese smartphone maker that has turned copying Apple into a $45 billion business.

Now, the latest phone from Xiaomi has just leaked for the first time.

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Posted in 2014 at 08:30PM, December 23

BlackBerry’s CEO just missed being named CNN’s CEO of the Year

It's still too early to say BlackBerry is in great shape but the company is clearly much better off than it was a year ago when it looked like it was in its last throes. A lot of credit for this turnaround goes to CEO John Chen, who has helped the company stabilize its finances while also moving it away from relying on mobile device sales and more toward making money from enterprise software and services.

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Posted in 2014 at 07:55PM, December 23

Apple Pay Website Updated to Suggest Some Partners May Not Make 2014 Rollout Goal [iOS Blog]

As the end of the year approaches, Apple today slightly altered its micro site dedicated to Apple Pay to update the status of several of its partnerships. Retailers that teamed up with Apple and plan to implement Apple Pay support in retail stores and apps in the near future are now listed under sections labeled "Coming soon" instead of "Coming later this year."



The minor change in language suggests that many of Apple's Apple Pay partners will not be able to implement Apple Pay support in the last week of 2014, instead rolling out support in the first months of 2015. Many retailers that have chosen to implement Apple Pay may still be working to train employees, update hardware, and swap out point-of-sale systems, leading to variable launch dates.



Just in the last few weeks, multiple partners who were initially listed under the "Coming later this year" category managed to implement support before the end of the year deadline, including Walt Disney World, which will begin accepting Apple Pay later this week, and Ticketmaster, which updated its app to support Apple Pay on Monday.





On Apple's site, retail partners listed under the "Coming soon" headings now include ACME, Albertsons, Anthropologie, Free People, and Urban Outfitters. Walt Disney World continues to be listed, as Apple Pay will not be available until December 24. Upcoming app partners include Starbucks, StubHub, and Tickets.com, with Ticketmaster continuing to be listed despite implementing support earlier this week.



Since its October 20 launch, Apple Pay has proven to be popular with iPhone 6 and 6 Plus users. Despite only being available for six weeks, Apple Pay was responsible for 1 percent of digital payment dollars in November, with the most money being spent at Whole Foods, Walgreens, and McDonald's.



Apple Pay is currently limited to the United States, but according to comments from Visa and a recent job posting, Apple has an Apple Pay team in London working on bringing the payments service to new countries in 2015.

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Posted in 2014 at 06:18PM, December 23

Video: Watch the first trailer for AMC’s highly anticipated Breaking Bad spinoff

Breaking Bad might be over, but parts of that universe will stay alive in Better Call Saul, a spinoff series debuting on AMC in a few weeks that focuses on the life of Saul Goodman, the lawyer who handles Walter White’s legal matters.

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Posted in 2014 at 05:15PM, December 23

The Microsoft Surface wins its most high-profile iPad convert yet

Microsoft's product placement strategy for the Microsoft Surface has generally not gone well, but that doesn't mean the company isn't winning some genuine converts among the people it's been paying to use its flagship tablet. If you want an example of this, check out Engadget's interview with Seattle Seahawks star quarterback Russell Wilson, who explains in detail how the Surface helps him and his team prepare for games every Sunday.

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Posted in 2014 at 04:40PM, December 23

Tim Cook Named 'CEO of the Year' by CNN

CNN has named Tim Cook as "CEO of the Year" for 2014, pointing towards a hefty rise in stock price and some record-breaking product launches as the main reasons behind the award. Cook sits in first place ahead of a number of other high-profile CEOs, including John Chen of BlackBerry, Mary Barra of GM, and Meg Whitman of HP.



Though CNN mainly points to Apple being the "apple of Wall Street's eye again," with its stock up 40 percent this year, individual factors contributing to the rising stock price are taken into account as well.



CNN argues Cook did "an amazing job" this year, ushering the company through major events such as the successful launch of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, as well as the growing ubiquity of Apple Pay. The crescendo of excitement surrounding the Apple Watch's launch in early 2015 is also cited as a big win for the Apple CEO.

Cook has arguably the toughest CEO job in America. He's had to convince skeptics that Apple can still innovate after the death of Steve Jobs. He's proven all the naysayers wrong.

CNN's CEO of the Year isn't the only award Cook will walk away with this year. Earlier in December, he received the Financial Time's "Person of the Year" award, which cited similar reasons for the award, namely proving Apple can succeed in the wake of Steve Jobs' passing and his infusion of new and fresh ideas into the company. Cook was also nominated for TIME's 2014 "Person of the Year" award, but ultimately lost out to the Ebola Fighters.

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Posted in 2014 at 04:51PM, December 23

Apple-Led Rockstar Consortium Sells Remaining Patent Portfolio for $900 Million [Mac Blog]

San Francisco patent company RPX today announced it is purchasing more than 4,000 telecommunications patents from Rockstar, an Apple-led consortium that previously acquired the patents from bankrupt Nortel Networks. The sale will net Rockstar $900 million, a fraction of the $4.5 billion the conglomerate of technology companies paid for the entire patent portfolio in 2011, although many of the high-value patents were previously dispersed to the consortium's members.





As reported by The Wall Street Journal , RPX confirmed its subsidiary RPX Clearinghouse, will license the patents to a syndicate of technology companies that include Google and Cisco Systems. RPX is making the patents available with non-exclusive licenses to all syndicate members, whose funds helped pay for the purchase. RPX also will license the patents to outside companies under fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms, and members of the Rockstar consortium will retain licenses for the patents.



Rockstar was formed in 2011 when Apple, BlackBerry, Ericsson, Microsoft, and Sony joined together to purchase patents from bankrupt communications company Nortel. The consortium purchased 6,000 patents, with 4,000 patents being held under the Rockstar umbrella and the remaining 2,000 patents being distributed to member companies.



The sale of the patents follows Rockstar's rather unsuccessful attempts to license the patents. The consortium also filed patent infringement lawsuits against a variety of technology companies with Google and Cisco recently settling their disputes for undisclosed amounts. As part of this patent sale to RPX, Rockstar has agreed to drop its existing suits against Samsung, LG and HTC.

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Posted in 2014 at 04:06PM, December 23