Whenever we discuss our inability to update the TouchArcade app (Free), inevitably comments pop up asking how it is that we get our updates rejected while other apps like CheapCharts (Free), AppZapp and similar are allowed on the App Store. Well, it’d appear this morning we have our answer and all it comes down to is good ol’ Apple inconsistency. Per a Facebook post, Apple has kicked CheapCharts out of the App Store, and the reasoning is all too familiar for us between the TouchArcade app and the AppShopper app. Apparently, when they added Mac apps to their price tracker, that was the final straw for Apple who “suddenly claimed that our business model would not be in compliance with Apple’s guidelines and that the look and feel of CheapCharts would be identical to that of the App Store."
It’s the same song and dance we’ve been through, and it appears Apple’s goal is clear: They want to be the sole source of curation for the App Store and will not accept any competition, regardless of how little sense that actually makes. All CheapCharts, like the TouchArcade app and AppShopper app, really does is encourage people to buy more apps.
We hear all the time that people download a particular game because they have it on their TouchArcade watch list, or got a sale alert via AppShopper. CheapCharts isn’t any different, and those are sales which Apple is more than happy to take 30% of which likely never would have occurred otherwise.
But, Apple makes the rules on the App Store, and as unbelievably frustrating and nonsensical as they may be, we all agree to them when we accept the terms and conditions of being a registered app developer. If nothing else, this makes me happy we’ve decided to focus our efforts on redesigning and improving our web site to have a mobile experience that duplicates all the functionality of the app over continue to attempting to update it. CheapCharts, unfortunately, served as a fantastic example of what would have happened had we gone down that road.
Speaking of the new site, we’ve been giving Patreon backers sneak peeks of its development, and while we likely won’t have it live before iOS 11 launches and the TouchArcade app officially dies… Hopefully it won’t be long after that. Turns out there’s lots of moving pieces and things to consider when updating a decade old web site, who knew!
To the CheapCharts team, we’re sorry this happened, and know exactly how it feels. We’re proverbially pouring one out for ya’ll and hope you guys figure out what to do next.
I don't know why Eternal can't get any traction on here, I've been playing for months and loving it. I don't play any other CCGs to compare it to but it has an awesome UI and is just fun to play - there are both PVP and PV AI and you never have to pay a dime if you don't want. If you're interested use my link to sign up, trying to get this avatar! If anyone wants to try here's my referral code to get you a free deck! https://www.direwolfdigital...
Thanks to whoever used my code, hope you enjoy the game!
"cygames that we'd actually never heard of before" dude youre a mobile game journalist but never heard about one of the most popular game company in Japan? lol
The company yes, the game no. We primarily follow the US market.
They've been advertising on a lot of conventions recently: E3, Anime Expo, Japan Expo, and now PAX West. Cygames certainly has a lot of money to throw around. They even signed a sponsorship deal with Juventus and added Italian language support for the game.
Now that you're aware of the game, do you have any plans on covering it on this site?
What kind of stuff do you want to read about it?
edit: Wait, we have posted about this in the past, the stories have gotten very little traction.
Yeah, I remember Toucharcade posting about it summer 2016, and that's why I started playing it. You guys also posted about its expansions, every single one, so your comment on not hearing about it caught me by surprise.
However, I did have the feeling that you guys weren't particularly familiar with the game considering that you posted a lot more Elder Scrolls Legends stuff.
On a side note, another expansion is coming out this month on the 28th: Starforged Legends: https://www.youtube.com/wat... You guys have done a good job covering those, so don't forget this one!
It's difficult to cover games like this unless someone on staff spends a ton of time playing them. Our community has never seemed particularly interested in Shadowverse (judging by how the articles performed) so we've not prioritized covering it very much beyond big stories like expansions and similar.
I figured as much. I think that it's decently popular (especially on Steam) but that's probably not the case on Toucharcade. I think that it's a solid game, but I don't mind if you don't care much for it.
Yeah Shadowverse has been around longer than either of the other games, and I think it even has more going for it with its huge single player campaign with full voiceover work and all the different deck types.
Shadowverse Earns $100M 2016 (never herd of it right).
https://mmos.com/news/digit...
Eternal is not a Hearthstone clone by any means. It has a terrible RNG but so does every CCG out there so might as well play the one that's the most fun. That's Eternal. The speed of Hearthstone and the complexity of MTG.