Apple’s new bug, Zynga game and App Annie’s report in the news of the week for mobile developer



    New Apple device vulnerability


    In one of the previous issues, we wrote about a bug that allowed using a specially configured router to enter all iPhones in its coverage area into an infinite reboot cycle. This time, the developers exceeded themselves again , now cause a malfunction on your iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch under the power of a simple text message.

    The reason for the failure is the inability to display a specific Unicode string. If you send it as a message on the iPhone, the Messages application will stop running on it. And if, in addition, the message appears as a notification on the lock screen, the device will immediately reboot.

    If you received the same message, to restore the functionality of your device you need to send yourself several empty messages, thereby removing the dangerous notification from the lock screen.



    Apple is currently working on a fix for this error.

    The future of monetization is view-to-play


    Former head of Rovio gaming division Jami Laes founded his own mobile gaming startup Futureplay Games. In future projects, the studio will rely not on the usual free-to-play model, but on view-to-play.
    Jamie Laes, the former head of the gaming division of Rovio, founded his own mobile gaming startup Futureplay Games and claims that the future of gaming projects is with a view-to-play model, rather than the currently common free-to-play model.

    The view-to-play monetization model offers the user, instead of a transaction, just to watch video ads to continue playing. According to Jamie Laes, this model naturally combines affordable gameplay and advertising monetization. It is easier for users to accept this model than to spend real money in a free game. “We believe in a view-to-play model for a simple reason - it's cheaper, faster, and easier to watch ads than to do IAP,” Laes says.

    But somehow it does not look like a “new era in mobile games.” Already today you can meet many projects where players receive game currency for watching video ads. Perhaps Futureplay Games will surprise the genre or platform with how the advertisement will be presented, but this is still unknown. The team has already included Kai Auvinen, the former art director of Digital Chocolate, and Mika Rahko, who worked for Rovio as an executive producer, as well as other gamedev veterans. Let's see what they get, and whether they can surprise the market.

    New match-3 from Zynga




    Zynga introduced its new game to the mobile market in the very good-feeling match-3 genre. The game is part of a well-known franchise, as the name FarmVille: Harvest Swap shows.

    Well, there is an attempt to take a slice of a market full of sweet carrots, cabbage and apples with pineapples ... in general, it infuriates me and other farm products from King. The company clearly hopes to attract some people who already play or have played FarmVille in its hit, those who could combine a love of farming with a passion for three-in-one games.

    Mark Turmell, creative director of the San Diego studio, said in an interview that those who play FarmVille games will have certain advantages, since playing one game can earn resources for another. And he said that Zynga created the game not least because it could bring something new to the genre with stagnant gameplay, like that. "We created a new mechanics ... You can drag, or draw a line through different objects, and not just swap them."

    The game was released recently, we are promised more social stuff in the future, but there is already a tornado in the game, is it worth it to pull? We’ll try and see if someone can drag someone’s blanket, or at least a piece of it.

    App Annie: April 2015 Gaming Index


    Mobile analytical company App Annie summed up the results of the previous month . In the April 2015 review: leaders of the world gaming charts on the App Store and Google Play, trends in the mobile industry and much more. App Annie presented the results of mobile analytics for April 2015. The report shows the leaders of the game ratings of the App Store and Google Play, trends in the mobile industry and much more.



    Companies like General Adaptive Apps, XPEC and Tencent are approaching download leaders, but the Finns from Rovio continue to fall - they have lost three more points. The Chinese company NetEase is rapidly flying into the top 10 in terms of revenue, adding 24 points. Her flagship project, an RPG called Fantasy Westward Journey, immediately fell to 6th place in the global box office top. This is a title based on the eponymous game of a similar genre for PC. The game was released in late April in China and unconditionally holds the championship in all categories in the local App Store. Interestingly, the game has not yet been localized, and in the American store it has already hit the hundred best-selling!



    On downloads of games in the top ten, everything is not much changed, but with box-office hits it’s more and more fun. The South Korean role-playing action Raven rose to 8th place, and the Chinese MMORPG Fantasy Westward Journey immediately fell to 6th place in the world box office top. Perhaps in the near future it will rise even higher, since with localization it can win a much larger audience in Europe and the USA.

    Tagline of Russian Mobile Developers 2015 released from Tagline




    Tagline published a rating of Russian mobile developers 2015 , which is based on a survey of companies specializing in mobile development (to a lesser extent - design), as well as web studios and digital agencies with a production and / or client office in Russia, with the highest voices of mobile developers had weight. The final position of the company in the ranking was influenced by the completed business indicators, as well as the assessment of the portfolio, customer sheet and other important indicators by Tagline experts and moderators.

    Oddly enough, the rating does not include many mobile game developers who could well compete with the leaders, but perhaps these are just problems with providing some of the data that is necessary for participation ...

    Creators of Barbie dolls and Animoca Brands will jointly release mobile games



    In our previous issues, we talked about celebrity games. So I thought that nowhere to fall further, but no, it turns out there is where. For example, release a game with a Barbie doll. Just kidding. All sorts of games are needed, all sorts of games are important!

    Copyright holder Barbie Mattel and the mobile division of Animoca Brands have announced a collaboration and joint plans to release games for Mattel brands. In my humble opinion, this is a rather strange collaboration. Animoca Brands is not the most famous company on the market, although they specialize in creating games by brand. However, everyone can evaluate their portfolio themselves .


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