App Stores Statistics on iOS, Android, Windows & Blackberry [Infographic]

People are crazy for apps on different mobile operating systems like Android, iOS or BlackBerry. Everyday millions of apps are downloaded and used by billions of people. Here is an infographic which shows the statistics on how the app stores really stack up.

This cool infographic reveals interstering stats for App store and how the trend is increase over year and year. This Infographic also available in animated Version on Source URL. Have a look into this infographic and give your review in comments.

Source: Visually.

Apple Launches iOS 8 - Improved Features

Mac OS 10.10 Yosemite is the latest OS on its non-smartphone segment. With the release of iPhone 6, Apple has presented the new mobile operating system i.e. iOS 8. This amazing and modified mobile operating system added a lot of improved features over iOS 7. Out of the all features you can take the "real time sync between multiple iDevices".

iOS 8 offers multitasking and ease of access that has been iOS's all time preferred feature. It has different gestures and the swipes make navigating iOS 8 really cool. Lets check out all the improved features that "iOS 8" has.

1. Photos : This improved Photos app will be major attraction for iPhone users. Apple is introducing the same features that Google has. The feature is Google introduced Mobile Backup to Android devices and apple is introducing backup with iCloud. Easy navigation for the photo albums and the photo editing options which make iOS 8 a Photoshop tool. 

2. iMessage : iMessage app has the feature to send and receive audio and video messages. Sharing short messages is very simple, being accessible with only a few taps. Apple has transformed it much more accessible by adding support for multiple languages that are useful. Apple has also improved in Group messaging feature, which now has an option for Do Not Disturb function and also the ability to rename threads or add and remove other people.

3. Quick Access People : iOS users usually double tapped the Home button to switch between different apps. But with iOS 8, this feature has been improved by adding the user’s favourite contacts with corresponding options to send messages, call or accessing any other app.

4. Mail App : Apple introduced gestures to the mail app, allowing users to quickly mark as unread, flag or delete messages. The ability to add Calendar events directly from the Mail app is another app introduced in iOS 8.

5. Improved Notifications : Notifications feature was updated in iOS 8 totally. In iOS 8 you can see interactive Notifications that allow users to quickly access and deal with Facebook, Twitter, Email or Google apps without leaving any currently using apps.

6. QuickType : iOS 8 keyboard got some update. Apple makes it easier to type messages with an improved UI as well as the QuickType predictive dictionary that predicts proper words to the conversation.  “Share My Location” option is modified with ease of access.

7. Family Sharing : A family-oriented app that allows users to connect their iDevices with other family members' Apple devices. All their media libraries like Music, Movies, iBooks Apps etc and all will be accessible from all other devices. This feature enables to location sharing and parental approval for buying apps also.

8. iCloud Drive : iOS 8 brings an update to Apple’s cloud storage system in the form of iCloud Drive. The service allows users to organize personal files into folders as well as connect iCloud enabled third party apps which has its own folder. Files are accessible across all your devices. It includes Finder integration also.  Windows compatibility is another major feature.

9. Health : iOS 8 offers a dashboard containing the user’s information, like calories burned, sleeping postures etc. It also allows the owner to input medication, nutrition and other relevant information. It has combined multiple health apps into one and named as HealthKit. This HeathKit app is designed that integrates the Health app with other third party heath and fitness apps very easily.

10 . Spotlight : Spotlight has been a good feature in iOS and they improved it as well. With modification, Apple enables It to show results from the App Store, locations, news, music, restaurants and a lot according to your requirement.

Other minor updates that include Siri integration with Shazam, Enterprise features and Developer SDK app having thousands of APIs that developers can use to add more functionality to their apps. iOS 8 will be available on almost all the iPhone and iPad series.

Slidejoy Introduces Advertising To Lock Screens

Slidejoy is launching a new advertising app which will enable users to reduce their monthly bill amount at the same time they are promoting specified advertising campaigns. Yu can imagine it like an Android phone users’ lock screen features an advertisement from various companies.

Image Credit : Slidejoy

Once the app is enabled in the phone, users can see an advertisement from a wide range of companies. It has been scheduled to feature ads from Adidas, Macy’s and Best Buy etc. There is a good thing for this app is that when users see those ads and download the app, users will get paid.

This app introduces a monthly payouts which range from $5 to $15 according to the progress of app.  Once users have earned the money which is updated daily, they are given either to take via cash or donate it to a charity.

When user slides to the right the ad is ignored and if user left sweeps on ads then the users are given further information on the featured product. Though accepting ads or ignoring ads doesn't have any impact on the payment.

There is an option for the Advertisers to design their own ads. If they can't then Slidejoy can do it for them. Mostly the ads are distributed to users based on geography, demographic profile and the device being used.

Slidejoy will introduce the app for Android phones initially later on they planned an app for iOS.

Flappy Bird Will Be Available In Windows Phone

Flappy Bird, a game which has recently become the most downloaded game in the App Store and Google Play, makes its position on top since several weeks. The good news is that this game is coming to Windows platform too. The release date is not fixed but likely to land on Windows App Store some time this month.

WMPowerUser, in a blog post mentioned that "Flappy Bird is a fun and addictive game which has become quite popular now about mobile gamers. Even though the game play looks incredibly simple, it is super tough. Your goal is to reach the end of the stage, without touching the obstacles that are presented to you. Break your own highscores or that of a friend. Compete with each other to see who has the best flapping skills! The graphics of the game give it a kind of nostalgic arcade feeling, though the game itself is designed according to our modern standards. It may be a game in a small package, but addictive!"

Vietnamese developer Dong Nguyen who developed the game has confirmed on Twitter that he is working on it to develop for Windows version  too.

Lets hope for the best. It will also rock on Windows platform too engaging huge number of  mobile game lovers.

Flipboard Introduces Customized Cover Stories

Flipboard has already made its recognition as most used app for reading news and updates connecting to any websites just like a magazine by flipping pages. It is going to make some more personal customized approach to "Cover Stories" section.

Cover Stories is the section of the app which constantly updating it with various news feed of interesting articles and photos. Now it can be organized by source, social network and topic by catagories.

Flipboad in its blog post told that “In the coming days, you’ll start to see a new look and feel inside Cover Stories on Flipboard. Groupings make it easy to catch up with the highlights, skip what you don’t want to read, and dive deeper when you want more. Use it as a starting point for everything you follow on Flipboard.”

This modification is being done to know how people use Flipboard to offer a more customized experience. In future the app will feature articles and photos from the sections users most frequently browse. Mute people, post or stories can be possible at the section Cover Stories if you don't wish to get updated from them.

Clickdrive Lauches Device To Drive Car

Clickdrive has officially announced that they are going to launch “a device placing the intelligence of cloud computing into the driver’s seat” by incorporating with data analysis to create a reliable, more efficient and intelligent driving experience. Sutheran has developed Clickdrive to create the world’s first device to be entirely dedicated to driving along with business partner Rishi Saraswat.

Mark Sutheran who tried to build up such device long back in 2004 but had flopped for poor maintenance. Sutheran stated “We all saw the revolution in mobile technology; Wi-Fi, and high-speed networks become ubiquitous,” “But I could not understand why our cars are mostly no more connected than the Ford Model-T?”

Sutheran left his job in 2012 to develop Clickdrive and advance automotive technology for cloud-connected service. 

How it works? 

The device will be directly plugged in to an automobile, which enables motorists to download a number of apps to enhance their driving experience and given them information readily available when their hands are on the wheel. It means that it can be connected to iPad or any android device which will show the readings.

It was also heard that “So far, the Clickdrive team has worked out a strong prototype that works — and works well. Clickdrive outperforms existing smart driving technology by up to 500 percent.”

This project will be funded by a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. Till date they have managed to raise $4,000  out of the $100,000.

Check out the below teaser to know more.

iOS 7 : Inspired By Android And Windows Phone

The new OS from Apple made it full of fundamental changes. If you have iPhone 4, iPhone 4S or iPhone 5 you mish have upgraded to iOS 7 and if not go for it now. Feature wise it is the best iOS version that Apple has ever introduced with some issues for battery life which can be saved by following some tweaks.

When we say iOS7 is inspired by Android and Windows Phone, then there should be some reason which made us to write this post. If you have an Android device or a Windows Phone then you should be aware of some features which is similar to iOS 7.

Apple used to have skeuomorphism design which helps in turning on the faux glass effect and with this they used real world symbols giving a 3D look. Once Microsoft made their logos and operating system apps look like 2D and very flat, Google introduced a flatter used interface afterwards and released Ice Cream Sandwich. In a similar way Apple also followed the same concept and they removed the skeuomorphism design  with all the decorations and moved to flatter and sleeker designs with apps.

Here are the iOS 7 features which resembles with Android And Windows Phone :

1. Control Center : 

Similar to Android gadgets, iOS7 also introduced a easy approach where you can easily switch on or off Wi-Fi/data connection or change brightness by opening the notification shade by swiping down from top of the screen.

2.  Thumbnail View : 

Thumbnail view was introduced by WebOS in 2009 and late on this feature was adopted by Google Android. Even Microsoft stepped into the same method implementation of multitasking in Windows Phone.  Apple also shows thumbnail view of open apps when multitasking in going on. It means it is similar to the Android where we find apps keep running at background.

3. Swipe On Lockscreen : 

Like Android phone, now you can swipe at any area on iOS 7 device to unlock it. Earlier it used to be there but in a particular area. 

4. App Updates : 

If you want to change the setting for app update automatically, Android allows you to do that when phone is connected to internet. Apple has also added similar feature.

5. Dynamic Wallpaper : 

You can select from multiple dynamic wallpapers of faux 3D. This is similar to Live Wallpaper in Android.

Even it is having multiple useful features, it lacks in some areas where Android is ahead. Here are the aspects where iOS 7 stays behind Android :

1. Fixed App Usage : 

Unlike Android, you can't change the web browser in iOS 7 because it is fixed and you have to use Safari as Apple wants it to be used. On the other hand, Android has the option to choose the default browser from Chrome to Opera or any other.

2. Third Party Apps : 

Apple is very much strict when it comes to device security and that is the reason iOS 7 has very few approved apps which can be used. On the other hand, Android has plenty of third party apps which can be used to share information. 

3. Widgets : 

In Android widgets are used and useful also. iOS 7 has no provision for widgets.

Apple has already made huge changes to iOS 7 and hopefully it will be able to fix the ongoing issues and will work on the pitfalls. Share your experience with iOS 7 and comment.

How To Stop iOS 7 Battery Consumption

iOS 7 offers some great features and with these features people are crazy about the latest OS from Apple. With some eye-catchy, excellent features, iOS has been in news for destroying battery life. iOS is supported on all older devices on or after iPhone 4 models but with some limitations.

If you want to make a stable and standard battery life of iOS device, you may try the below tweaks on settings.

1. Background App Refresh :

This feature is very useful when you don't use your device but it is a big reason to drain your battery. If you disable this feature then you can save your battery life but just a few apps would refrain from refreshing, that can be ignored.

2. Location-Based Service :

Through tracking of location is useful for us but running these services lead to a quick battery consumption. Apps like Maps would give you a well tracked location service, but we can stop using this whenever not required would help us to save battery life. Sometimes people authorize other apps like Facebook or Twitter to track your location unknowingly. At least we can totally disable this feature on these kind of apps. iOS 7 has system level option for location tracking with compass and GPS. If you disable tracking these services on few apps would give you boost in battery life.

3. AirDrop :

iOS 7 has a cool feature called AirDrop to iPhones. It is very new features only introduced for iPhone released versions after iPhone 4, has dropbox style look. You can turn it off whenever you son't use it. To access this, iOS 7 has new Control Center which can be seen by swiping upwards on home screen. Once you get the center, you can disable AirDrop.

4.  WiFi And Bluetooth : 

From the same place where you disable AirDrop, you can find the options for WiFi and Bluetooth also. Disabling these features can also help you to save the battery life. 

5. Reduce Motion : 

 iOS 7 introduced an interesting and fancy looking 3D parallax wallpaper effect. You might be little bit upset while disabling it but it would definitely save your battery life. From option in the Accessibility menu, you can disable this feature by toggling on the "Reduce Motion".

6. Dynamic Wallpaper : 

Using dynamic wallpaper kills your battery life. Setting this feature might make your device look good but at the same time it drains your battery life.

Following the above features would definitely brings down the risk of battery consumption. Share your experience with iOS 7 with valuable comments and suggestions.

How To Find Who Deleted You On Facebook

Getting connected in Facebook is very easy as we just have to send friend request to the person we know and once they accept, their names come in our friend list. We add people to get in touch with them and to know them better. We find so many friends from whom we can learn something. We normally don't track how many friends we have now and the total number after a month. In that time some friends might have closed their account or someone might have deleted you from their friends list due to some reason. In this case how will you find the people who deleted you?

There is a website which helps us to find who deleted us. Who.Deleted.Me is the website where you can login via Facebook credential and check the friends deleted you.

It asks for permission. Accept and allow the application to connect to your Facebook profile. Once it is over, you will find the app installed in your Facebook profile. It offers stats and graph, which shows how your friend number graph increased or decreased over the time as shown in the below graph.

From this graph you can get to know the statistics also organized via day, week, month etc. Who.Deleted.Me website can be used free of cost. An Apple iOS app is also available in iTunes with $0.99 and this app keeps track of your friendships and lets you know who and when someone unfriends.

Hope you have tried this and got to know some friends who deleted you. 

PayPal Here - Credit Card Reader App For iPhone

PayPal introduced PayPal Here, a simple way to accept credit and debit cards, PayPal and checks – anywhere you do business. This global mobile payments solution allows small businesses to accept almost any form of payment. The new service includes a free app and fully encrypted thumb-sized card reader, which turns any iPhone, and soon Android smartphone, into a mobile payment solution. With PayPal Here, small businesses, service providers and casual sellers can send invoices or accept debit and credit cards, checks and PayPal using one simple product.

Image Credit : PayPal

Download PayPal Here for iPhone (Now available for United States, Canada, Australia and Hong Kong only)

PayPal Here gives merchants more choice than any mobile payment solution on the market today. No matter how consumers choose to pay, PayPal Here makes it easy, giving small businesses more sales opportunities. Merchants can accept payments by swiping cards in the card reader, scanning cards and checks using their phone cameras, or manually entering card information into the app. They can also send an invoice and set payment terms directly from the app and they can accept PayPal payments in a brand new way.

PayPal also released the latest version of its PayPal Mobile app for iPhone today, a consumer app that complements PayPal Here. PayPal users will be able to use the “Local” feature on the PayPal app to find nearby businesses that accept PayPal Here. Once the customer is ready to pay, they can notify the merchant by a quick tap on their mobile phone. Merchants can use PayPal Here to accept the payment by simply referencing the shopper’s name and picture – no wallet needed.

PayPal Here offers a competitive fee structure with no monthly account or set-up fees. Merchants pay a simple flat rate of 2.7 percent for card swipes and PayPal payments. In addition, every PayPal Here merchant will receive a business debit card for quick access to cash and 1 percent cash-back on eligible purchases. If merchants use the debit card for purchases, their fees effectively come down to 1.7 percent.

Beyond all of the unique capabilities offered by PayPal Here, the key differences from other existing mobile payment solutions are that it includes PayPal’s world-class fraud management capabilities, as well as 24×7 live customer support. PayPal has more than 100 million customers around the globe and 13 years of experience providing secure payment products that have helped millions of merchants grow their businesses globally.

PayPal Here is the latest addition to a comprehensive suite of payment solutions for small businesses – from PCI-compliant express checkout options and invoicing, to debit cards and mobile-optimized checkout. The company plans to announce even more functionality to its merchants later this year.

Availability

The PayPal Here card reader and merchant app for iPhone are both available exclusively to select merchants in the United States, Canada, Australia and Hong Kong. It will be generally available in those countries next month. The Android version of the PayPal Here merchant app will also be available at that time. PayPal will announce the availability of PayPal Here in more countries soon. U.S. businesses can join the wait list to get a free PayPal Here card reader at www.paypal.com/here. International merchants can register their interest at their local PayPal site.

PayPal Here: Summary of Benefits and Features for U.S. Small Businesses 

• The most payment types: swipe credit and debit cards, manually key in or scan card information, scan and process checks (U.S. only), invoice directly from the app, and accept PayPal 
• Immediate card acceptance: download the PayPal Here merchant app, sign up and start accepting payments immediately 
• One simple flat fee: the mobile app and card reader is free for both merchants and consumers, with no account setup or monthly fees, competitively priced at 2.7 percent 
• Be paid quickly: merchants receive funds directly into their PayPal account whether the sale is online, mobile or via PayPal Here 
• PayPal debit card for quick access to cash with 1 percent cash back on eligible purchases, fees effectively come down to 1.7 percent 
• Security: PayPal Here uses end-to-end encryption to help protect card information as it swipes, backed by PayPal’s world-class security, risk and fraud management systems 
• 24×7 customer support: live phone and online customer support – more than 6,000 customer service agents across 17 centers around the globe 
• Backed by PayPal: One of the world’s most trusted ways to pay and get paid with more than 100 million active accounts worldwide in 190 markets and supports payments in 25 currencies. 

Source : PayPal