December analytics, plans for a new iPhone, Roskomnadzor measures - and other news of the week for a mobile developer

AppAnnie Releases December 2014 Report

The analytical company published a new mobile market index for the last month of 2014. The company has compiled lists of the most downloaded and earning apps and companies.

Interesting data on Russia, because all the games after a change in the exchange rate experienced a drop in revenue. The top most earned games in the AppStore and Google Play are:

1.Clash of Clans
2.Game of War
3.World of Tanks

The most downloaded applications:

1.VK
2.Talking Tom
3.Viber

You can find the full index by the link .

New rules for Google Play

Google supplemented the rules for naming applications with a clarification that the name should not start with someone else’s brand. That is, for Hyundai Turnlights Conserver (the idea for an original application from the future, full of applications for cars, does not allow turn signals to be turned on again) they can be punished, but for Turnlights Conserver for Hyundai they will no longer be.

The original explanation can be seen here when expanding the item Other product or brand names in app titles. The introduction of this change is explained by the fact that with a quick surface reading of the program name from a third-party developer, a false association may arise that the application is original for the specified brand. In addition, they say that most often a foreign brand in the name sin apps for social networks, and here it is not far from phishing.

Apple patents iPhone with joystick

The other day it became known that the Cupertino company has patented a phone with a built-in joystick. The patent has been pending since July 2013, and only recently the bureau registered the patent.

As you can see in the image, the Home button will have another mode - it will be able to rise above the body and thereby serve as a rather familiar and familiar stick for all gamers.

More than once, companies have accepted attempts to make control on smartphones more functional, and it cannot be said that their attempts were unsuccessful. There are many options for special joystick adapters for tablets and phones that you can buy, but these solutions do not differ in elegance, compactness and obviously will not be able to conquer the mass market. But Apple, apparently, has every chance.

This solution will allow in the normal configuration of the phone to get the control method so necessary for many players and will fully enjoy their games. Also, with the mass availability of such a solution, it can be stated that root and hardcore games on the mobile platform will get new fans, it remains to wait for the announcements and see how the Android phone manufacturers camp will respond to this.

The publisher’s shelf has arrived

Almost simultaneously, two Russian companies Nekki and Zeptolab announced that they would try their hand at publishing. The decision on their part is quite logical: both companies have a sufficient amount of traffic on which you can make good money. If you believe the statements of Nekki, they will not only pump up traffic, but also help with the development of the game itself, and it will be very thoughtful to choose projects for publication.

“We don’t want to spray too much - we plan to work with two or three projects for 2015. We do not plan to collect a huge portfolio of projects. Lower the entry bar - too. If we don’t understand the game shown or don’t like the genre (that is, we’re unlikely to give useful advice to the developers), then we simply won’t take it, ”said Sergey Babaev, development director at Nekki.

There are no details about Zeptolab's plans, but I think they will be similar to Nekki's comments.
Friends, this is a good chance for everyone who makes their game, but is afraid to enter the market on their own!

Roskomnadzor VS Steam

What everyone was so afraid of was nearly fulfilled , but, apparently, it was a joke. I'd like to hope that it will remain a joke.

“Due to the spread of information about narcotic drugs, the well-known digital distribution service for computer games and Steam programs has entered the unified register of banned sites.” Such a text was published on the page of Roskomnadzor in VKontakte.

The writing style is somewhat puzzling, especially the part where everyone is invited to help Roskomnadzor establish communication with Steam. Steam is not listed on the ILV site, and so far everything is working.