 "Apple to woo its app developers")
Apple's iPhone would be just a well-made phone without the apps that allow people to personalise it with their favourite games, news, social and video services. Software makers need Apple, too: They want to be on the devices that people carry with them, especially as websites and desktop computers fade in importance.
When Apple's App Store opened in 2008, there were well under a thousand apps, and the relationship was obviously beneficial for both sides. But now, when there are more than 1.5 million apps, the benefits for developers have become much less apparent.
For a long time, Apple didn't have to care. But now it faces flat sales of its flagship iPhones, a lack of excitement about newer products like its smart watch and Apple TV, growing competition from Google's Android platform and the rise of new challengers like Amazon's Echo device, which responds to a user's voice commands with the kind of magic that used to be an Apple hallmark.
Apple's charm offensive began in earnest in December, after it put Philip W Schiller, its senior vice-president of worldwide marketing, in charge of the App Store. Under Schiller, the company accelerated the app approval process, cutting typical review times from two weeks to a day or two.
© 2016 New York Times News Service
