This Week in Apps: WWDC 21 highlights, Instagram Creator Week recap, Android 12 beta 2 arrives

This week, Apple introduced a slate of new developer tools and frameworks, changes to iOS that will impact how consumers use their devices and new rules for publishing on its App Store, among other things. While Xcode Cloud may not replace solutions designed for larger teams with more diverse needs, it’s poised to make app development easier — and deliver a new revenue stream to Apple. Now, they can actually build real apps and hit the publish button, too.I had to save for a couple of months – 8-10 months before buying my first Mac.Swift playgrounds on iPad is a very welcome move!— Pinal Naik (@swift_geek) June 7, 2021Antitrust pressure swirling around Apple has contributed to a growing sentiment among some developers that Apple doesn’t do enough to help them grow their businesses — and therefore, is undeserving of a 15%-30% cut of the revenues the developers themselves worked to gain. The new App Store updates may start to chip away at that perception.Soon, developers will be able to create up to 35 custom product pages targeted toward different users, each with their unique URL for sharing and analytics for measuring performance. The pages can include different preview videos, screenshots and text.Image Credits: AppleImage Credits: AppleApple will also allow developers to split traffic between three treatments of the app’s default page to measure which ones convert best, then choose the percentage of the App Store audience that will see one of the three treatments.Meanwhile, the App Store will begin to show to customers in-app events taking place inside developers’ apps — like game competitions, fitness challenges, film premieres and more — effectively driving traffic to apps and re-engaging users. What’s unclear, however, is why Apple is seemingly trying to solve the App Review issues using forms — to report fraud (and now, to appeal rulings, too) when it’s becoming apparent that Apple needs a more systematic way of keeping tabs on the app ecosystem beyond the initial review process.Apple’s new App Store Guidelines aim to crack down on fraud and scamsThe App Store discovery updates mentioned above also matter more because developers may need to reduce their reliance on notifications to send users back into their apps. Indeed, iOS 15 users will be able to choose which apps they don’t need to hear from right away — these will be rounded up into a new Notification Summary that arrives on a schedule they configure, where Siri intelligence helps determine which apps get a top spot. That  means any ill-timed push could be an app developer’s last.Image Credits: AppleImage Credits: AppleMeanwhile, the clever new “Focus” modes let iOS users configure different quiet modes for work, play, sleeping and more, each with their own set of rules and even their own home screens. Focus mode users will be power users and more technically savvy, so they’ll understand that an errant notification here was a choice and not a mistake on the developer’s part.Image Credits: AppleImage Credits: AppleApple has been steadily pushing out more tools for building augmented reality apps, but this WWDC it just introduced a huge update that will make it easier for developers getting started with AR. Highlights included a way to create stargazing videos, a car crash detection feature and a way to answer or reject calls hands-free.Pinterest wants to get more users clicking “buy.” The company this week added a new Shopping List feature which automatically organizes your saved Product Pins for easier access.Google discontinued its AR-based app Measure, which had allowed users to measure things in the real world using the phone’s camera. pic.twitter.com/UNr47w53yP— Benjamin Mayo (@bzamayo) June 8, 2021And all the ASO-related WWDC updates in one post!https://t.co/BCNmNYHHjP pic.twitter.com/9bRzmsNcdk— ilia kukharev (@ilyakuh) June 9, 2021Apple: we created new ways to report App Store scams and issues for developers.1.