Late last month, Apple launched a new "Free App of the Week" promotion on the App Store, featuring a single app on each of the iPhone and iPad platforms and offering the normally-paid titles for free. Apple's digital content stores have of course offered free apps for years, but the new promotion seeks to bring greater visibility to content being temporarily discounted from paid to free.
In another sign that Apple may be looking to increase exposure for free content, the company earlier this week registered two new domains: freeonappstore.com and freeonibookstore.com. There is currently no content located at either of the sites, but it seems that Apple may be interested in either creating specific websites featuring free content or using them as redirects to point to existing features.
The two domains were registered the day after Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference keynote, but they do not appear to have any direct relationship to announcements made during the event. Consequently, Apple's intentions for the domains remains unknown.
Outside of the digital stores themselves, Apple has a number of other venues for promoting free and discounted content, including a partnership with Starbucks for free "Pick of the Week" offerings such as apps and book samples. The current Free App of the Week promotion also began as a Facebook promotion on Apple's App Store page, but has since migrated directly into the App Store.
Saturday February 7, 2026 9:26 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple today shared an ad that shows how the upgraded Center Stage front camera on the latest iPhones improves the process of taking a group selfie.
"Watch how the new front facing camera on iPhone 17 Pro takes group selfies that automatically expand and rotate as more people come into frame," says Apple. While the ad is focused on the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, the regular iPhone...
Thursday February 5, 2026 12:22 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld.
The report, citing industry sources, is available in English on Macworld.
Apple announced the iPhone 16e on Wednesday, February 19 last year, so the iPhone 17e would be unveiled exactly one year later if this rumor is accurate. It is quite uncommon for Apple to unveil...
Thursday February 5, 2026 12:54 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple turns 50 this year, and its CEO Tim Cook has promised to celebrate the milestone. The big day falls on April 1, 2026.
"I've been unusually reflective lately about Apple because we have been working on what do we do to mark this moment," Cook told employees today, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "When you really stop and pause and think about the last 50 years, it makes your heart ...
Friday February 6, 2026 3:06 pm PST by Juli Clover
In the iOS 26.4 update that's coming this spring, Apple will introduce a new version of Siri that's going to overhaul how we interact with the personal assistant and what it's able to do.
The iOS 26.4 version of Siri won't work like ChatGPT or Claude, but it will rely on large language models (LLMs) and has been updated from the ground up.
Upgraded Architecture
The next-generation...
Tuesday February 3, 2026 7:47 am PST by Joe Rossignol
While the iOS 26.3 Release Candidate is now available ahead of a public release, the first iOS 26.4 beta is likely still at least a week away. Following beta testing, iOS 26.4 will likely be released to the general public in March or April.
Below, we have recapped known or rumored iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 features so far.
iOS 26.3
iPhone to Android Transfer Tool
iOS 26.3 makes it easier...
Promoting paid apps that are temporarily free helps devalue the paid apps. Such promotions are a large part of the reason for the move towards freemium and ad-supported models.
I would rather Apple promotes normally free games, and choses games that have quality, but are unknown, rather than games that are already successful.
A problem for developers is that the downloads are concentrated onto a few massive hits, while other great apps go unnoticed. Apple promotions should be widening the circle of success, not narrowing it.
They should have free trials that last for 10 full hours of usage. there is no way I would download a $10 or $20 app without trying it out first... They would sell a lot more paid apps ( to me at least:)).
I would like to add that I also hate with a passion Freemium apps.
Never heard that term before I like it.
There should be 3 types of apps.
1: Paid for apps
2: Free apps that only give you say a few levels/and or require payment to advance or do much with the product
3: Free apps
Jeez, we are even getting full paid for apps now that try and get you to buy things in-game.
It's a nasty trend that's growing and I've never experienced it before I bought an iPad.
Hope they limit it to truly free aps. i.e. no freemiums. Nothing more annoying than seeing a "free" app only to discover it's freemium.
Freemium is applied in many different ways, not all bad. I have played Jetpack Joyride for many hours, yet never felt pressurised to use in-app purchases. While some others are in your face as soon as you launch the app and have little value before paying out.
Freemium is not inherently bad, but it is applied badly far too often, giving it a bad name. Don't write off the potential because of some applications of it.
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Does anyone know what fraction of the original price (0-100%) apple pays the developers for the downloaded free copies?
Considering the developers have to pay to be on some other free app promotions (I know, it sounds daft to pay to give stuff way for free), I suspect Apple won't have to pay anything.
