Even this year’s CodeMash 2.0.1.2, a developer’s conference in Sandusky, Ohio sold out in an amazing twenty minutes to over 1,200 attendees.  So rather than holding out to see if Apple expands its own event, you should check out these upcoming alternatives:

• MacIT in San Francisco at the Moscone Center Jan. 26-28, 2012.
• 360|MacDev in Denver at the Embassy Suites Feb. 3-4, 2012.
• CocoaConf in Chicago at the Elk Grove Village March 16-17, 2012.
• 360|iDev in Denver at the Crowne Plaza Sept. 2012.
• MacTech in Los Angeles Oct. 17-19, 2012

You may even be able to score an event closer to home by checking Eventbrite, or by contacting a local CocoaHead. However, if you have your heart set on attending WWDC, there may be something you can do about it.

Cult of Mac points out that there is a service that will send you an SMS message the moment WWDC tickets go on sale.  WWDC Alerts, the site  extending this offer, also has a Twitter account that you can follow if you prefer. So sign up for the alerts, monitor your Apple information channels, and you just might get in.

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Hedging bets in case of an Apple television

That’s something Revolution Studios co-founder Tony Warriner suggested could be a good idea for game devs in an interview on Wednesday with PocketGamer.biz. Warriner said that AirPlay is “worth doing now, because as we all know, a big TV play from Apple is just around the corner,” even though for now it’s “like the big forgotten iOS feature” in many game developers’ minds.

Warriner’s suggestion for game developers to bake in AirPlay features now is mostly about future-proofing products. But even if an Apple TV set takes a long time to come to market, there is plenty of cause to use AirPlay now, for game developers and makers of any and all iOS apps, regardless of their niche or focus.

Apple TV’s shifting role

The current Apple TV is basically a great Netflix box for most users, which now also has the added advantage of being a full-featured audio and video streaming device for your mobile phone or tablet for just $99 (or $89 now, at Best Buy and Amazon). But in the near future, the Apple TV could see a role switch, with the expanded content of the entire App Store displacing the Netflix appeal as a No. 1 reason for owning and using the Apple set-top device.

The increased flexibility allowed by AirPlay Mirroring on Apple’s latest iPhone and iPad means that developers should start thinking about AirPlay not as an afterthought or preventative measure against future obsolescence but as a value-add competitive advantage that can help their product stand out from the growing crowd that is the App Store.

Go beyond the bare minimum

AirPlay compatibility isn’t just about allowing your content to be displayed on a TV when thrown from one device to another. It’s about making sure there’s a unique experience that only AirPlay users can access. Note that this also doesn’t mean taking anything away from the app itself as a standalone mobile product, just that users who can take advantage of the benefits of owning the Apple TV do have something more to make use of.

For some developers, providing a value-add AirPlay experience could be as simple as deciding to include a video or slide show alongside an article that can be thrown to the screen instead of providing text-based content alone or making sure it works in landscape orientation so it looks better on a TV. But more-ambitious (and therefore more-standout) examples could provide supplemental information or additional screens with hands-on demonstrations displayed back on the originating device while AirPlay video or slide shows appear on the TV screen. It’s definitely possible, as Real Racing 2 HD’s dual-screen gameplay mechanism demonstrates.

One more reason to buy

The bottom line is that if I’m looking at a video-focused app right now, I’ll try to find out how well it handles AirPlay. If it doesn’t, or if the experience is less than ideal, I’ll pass and try to find another. Soon, if any two apps are relatively close in terms of features and function but one offers a tailored AirPlay experience while the other doesn’t, it could become a crucial factor in a buying decision. The Apple TV isn’t yet a barn burner in terms of sales, but lower prices should help. It is still ranked No. 1 in Amazon’s Digital Media Devices sales charts and No. 2 in Television and Video.

Plus, AirPlay will only come to more devices as Apple goes about its regular update cycle, and it could even come to the Mac. In an ecosystem where discoverability can be a problem and marketing advantages are few and far between, real AirPlay innovation and dual-screen interfaces are the next frontier, and I can’t wait to see some pioneering developers stake their claim.

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The new version of TestFlight comes with an SDK that allows developers to make their beta testing process a lot more involved, and it provides improved tools for gathering feedback. Feedback and communication are key to a successful beta test (which is why I’m not a great tester myself), and the new features available to developers through TestFlight’s API are all about improving information flow between devs and testers.

Highlights of what developers can look forward to include:

• In-App Questions. Trigger questions at specific checkpoints to get feedback from users as they’re using the software exactly at points where you think there might be an issue.
• In-App Updates. Make sure your test group is on the same page with in-app update prompts, which also allow you to update to the latest version instantly over the air.
• Feedback. In-app forms and tester email responses all feed into the developer dashboard and allow for instant replies between tester and coder.

There’s more, too, so be sure to head over to the official TestFlight website and check it out if you’re interested. Developers and testers alike can still sign up for free, too, and all of these new features arrive as free updates for existing and new users alike. Inevitably, TestFlight will have to bring some tiered paid options or advertising to the table to keep things going, but judging by developer response and its adoption by big brands so far, it won’t have too much trouble getting people to pay for the product when it does.

As for general consumers, even if you never actually use or see TestFlight in action, you’ll probably feel its effects: A better beta process with more communication options built in should lead to better shipping products popping up in the App Store.

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Screentaker ($4.99) from developer Fabian Kreiser lets you drag and drop screenshots taken on an iPad, iPhone or iPod touch onto a simple window, choose from device and display options using drop down menus, and output a finalized screenshot ready for your website or display ad in no time at all. The app detects what device the screenshot came from automatically, but you can also override this and choose yourself.

Aside from device frames, you can also choose to remove the status bar (useful if you don’t want carrier or time info distracting from the app itself), and add a thin border and shadow to iPhone screens, among other options. Enterprising users can also create their own plugins for Screentaker to add their own custom effects to the options already available.

If you’re a developer, you can also grab screen captures from the iOS device simulator that comes with Apple’s suite of development tools, so that you can mock up how an app will look on a device before it’s ready to be deployed. This is especially handy for selling your early-stage projects to investors or clients.

Resulting files are in .PNG format, with background transparency preserved, so you can plug them into whatever graphic presentation you need to easily. As someone who regularly uses iOS screenshots, I’m happy to have found such a neat little tool that will add a little more visual appeal to app reviews and profiles, and I’m sure devs will welcome this time saver even more.

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Dorsey’s post, in which he points to a new discussion thread opened by Twitter in order to gather feedback about what tools and materials developers are looking for from the company, seems like a bit of a peace offering aimed at smoothing relations with a community that might be understandably skittish. In April last year, Twitter raised developer suspicion by acquiring Tweetie, a client for the service that had been independently operated by developer Atebits. Then earlier this year Twitter implemented new limits on third-party applications plugging into the system that prevented developers from accessing any of the real value of the Twitter ecosystem, as Mathew Ingram noted at the time. The company also bought another client, TweetDeck, in May, seeming to indicate that it wanted control over all major app and web-based access.

Twitter has been trying to turn the relationship around, introducing a dedicated site for platform developers in June, but it has a lot to make up for to win back developer trust. Persistent, system-level iOS integration could go a long way toward winning them back, but for that to happen Dorsey and Twitter need developers on their side as much or more than developers need Twitter.

For Twitter to capitalize on iOS 5 integration, it needs to make sure iOS app developers take advantage of that integration by building sharing options into their apps. System-level login will help put Twitter in front of many more users, but the service still depends on active sharing to exist, and third-party apps are the key to providing users with something they want to talk about.

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The free API will allow developers to create apps that provide access to Spotify’s more than 15 million tracks, so long as developers have a Spotify Premium account and app users are active subscribers to the service. We’ll likely see some attempts at straightforward third-party clients, including maybe one tailor-made for the iPad, but there are a number of other more interesting possibilities that also come to mind.

Imagine, for example, a game that lets you choose Spotify as the source of the soundtrack while you play. Or a game that actually uses Spotify more directly, like a music trivia app that has you identify tracks from the service’s library. Another interesting possibility that comes to mind is an augmented reality app that can match tracks available in Spotify’s library to real-world landmarks and locations via the iPhone’s camera or geolocation abilities; a real-life soundtrack for your walking tours, or even just a trip to the grocery store.

There’s one big limitation on the API, however: it’s for non-commercial use only. That means developers won’t be able to use it in apps that aren’t free. Spotify does offer to talk about a partnership with for-profit apps that want to use the API however, so it could be a good way for developers to test interest in Spotify integration among its users before entering into a binding business agreement.

Where would you like to see Spotify integrated in your iOS apps? Let us know in the comments.

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News apps racked up the longest average session length (how long a user spends in an app once its open) according to data taken from Localytics’ mobile app analytics platform, with users spending over 250 percent more time engaged with news apps when compared to the average time spent in any app. Close behind the news category in average time spent with an app per session were music (228 percent of average), health and fitness apps (210 percent) and reference apps (162 percent). Music apps tend to be turned on and then run in the background, which might account for their lengthy session times.

Games ranked much farther down the list, with users spending only around 75 percent of the average session length playing, and entertainment apps were last of all categories measured, with around 20 percent.

When measured another way, however, games rank very highly in terms of user engagement. Localytics also checked in to how many sessions per month users had with each type of app. Games accounted for the highest number of sessions per month, with an average of 13 per user. The next closest categories were news and music apps, which were both used an average of five times per month. Apps in the reference category, which showed a high per-session length, appear not to actually be opened all that often. According to both scores, entertainment and sports apps showed very limited engagement.

The results are good news for news app developers and publishers hoping to convert app downloads into lucrative contracts with advertisers and marketers, but I’m thinking it also might indicate areas where consumers have yet to be impressed with any currently available app offerings. I think many entertainment apps are too narrowly focused, and only fit the description in the loosest sense of the word, which is probably bringing down the average when compared to oft-used software like the iPad Netflix app. And many sports apps tend to offer little of value beyond the ability to check scores when your favorite team is playing, which isn’t likely to encourage much engagement.

My iPad usage echoes the Localytics findings: I use my iPad mainly for consuming news (from a variety of sources), and I occasionally open a game to kill a few minutes before dinner or while on hold, but I don’t spend as much time with these as I do with my news reader and periodical apps. Does the study ring true with your experience?

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1. High-end platform. Customers will pay more for apps because the devices they appear on are seen as high-end.
2. Closed environment. Customers are more willing to trust apps (and spend money on and in them) because Apple has vetted them.
3. Possibilities for innovation. Apple’s APIs and the benefits of a phone-based platform have only begun to be fully utilized.
4. Harder than web development. Eidhof’s logic is that because the barrier to entry is higher for iOS development, fewer people will attempt it, so it’s easier to stand out.
5. Great libraries. Apple’s readymade frameworks are great, with Eidhof citing animation as a perfect example.
6. Quality in the DNA. Mac and iOS developers tend to strive to live up to the “culture of quality” that surrounds Apple software and devices, and Apple’s defaults help devs start out at a much higher level to begin with.

Eidhof goes into much greater detail about each individual point, so be sure to check out his post in full. I’d also add that iOS is still way ahead of Android (and therefore all other mobile platforms, too) when it comes to actual money made by developers. Android does appear to be slowly gaining favor, and it seems to hold some appeal for developers who want more flexibility with what their apps can access. But for now iOS is still top dog, and competing market channels that can offer devs a raw deal like Amazon’s Appstore  won’t help Android’s situation. Do you think Eidhof is right about why iOS is winning in terms of attracting high-quality developers, or is there something else behind it?

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1. An ever-growing software library

Apple’s iPhone has been a hit with developers since before official third-party app support even launched. But now that it has the top honor among hardware makers, it’s more or less guaranteed that high-quality iOS software development will be of a level that competitors find even harder to match. Having the widest reach and being the most viable route for making money will do that.

2. Greater component control leads to lower prices

Apple’s ability to command good prices from suppliers grows as its smartphone business expands. It can place even larger orders, more effectively stocking its own coffers and leaving competitors high and dry. This means that the supply-level savings it can command will either trickle down to the consumer or, maybe more likely, that Apple will be able to equip future iPhone models with more-sophisticated technology sooner than its competition, who don’t benefit as much from a high-volume business that can offset per-unit costs.

3. Continuing efforts to stay on top

Apple wasn’t the only star of the show in yesterday’s reports. Samsung’s growth, especially when measured year over year (from 5.0 to 17.5 percent market share), was nothing short of astounding. If it remains on course, it could take away Apple’s newly won crown as the world’s top smartphone maker. But that’s a big if. First, Apple is set to deliver the iPhone 5 within the coming months, which is sure to change the mobile landscape once again. Second, Apple has expressed interest in pursuing lower-cost additions to the iPhone line, which would surely broaden its appeal. Recent rumors suggest such a device may arrive soon, and the timing is right; pre-paid plans are becoming more popular, and a cheap iPhone would likely have a considerable effect on Samsung’s advance.

For Apple, reaching the top spot is a virtue unto itself, in terms of the value to the brand and to stockholders. But it’s also a win for anyone who owns an iPhone now or is planning to own one in the future. For that reason, Apple fans should hope this victory isn’t short-lived.

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The recognition tech was presumably acquired through Apple’s 2010 purchase of Polar Rose, a company that specialized in face detection algorithms. 9t05Mac found iOS 5 APIs that use the tech, which means they should provide an easy way for developers to implement facial recognition for various purposes in their own apps, quickly and easily.

The unearthed APIs are described as “highly sophisticated,” and can determine where a user’s mouth, and left and right eyes are located, as well as process images taken by the iPhone for face detection. Aside from providing Apple an easy way to introduce Faces (which recognizes specific people in iPhoto) to both its own Photos app and any third-party apps that access that library, it should also open the door for much more advanced facial recognition applications.

You could create apps that track a user’s eye movement and dynamically change content accordingly, for instance. App developers might even be able to use data gathered from facial recognition APIs to identify so-called “hotspots,” providing insight about where a user is looking most within an app and arranging content accordingly. In time, an iPhone app might even be able to assess the emotional state of the user, based on whether they’re frowning or smiling, and address the user in a manner appropriate to their mood. It might also be able to tell how engaged users are with mobile ads and content, which might be useful for iAd customers, among others.

Apple could also use the tech to implement something many have been asking for on iOS device in a unique way: user account switching. Currently, iOS devices don’t have user accounts the way a Mac does. On the iPad especially, which is a shared device for many, it makes sense to offer multiple accounts that offer different levels of access to different sets of content. Facial recognition could intelligently and automatically switch iOS user profiles, setting restrictions if a child picks up a device, and changing the app load-out and home screen arrangement for different family members.

But before all that, which is admittedly something still likely quite a way off in terms of the development of iOS, we should see implementations that improve Apple’s existing video products. So features like FaceTime, for instance, could get the ability to judge which person deserves focus during a group video chat (which is also likely in the works). A similar system has been described as one of the possible motivations behind Google’s recent acquisition of facial recognition company PittPatt, for use with Google+ Hangouts.

Whatever else it leads to, facial recognition should provide developers with the opportunity to create some impressive new apps, so long as they keep in mind what Facebook learned the hard way: People don’t like it when you implement recognition without asking nicely first.

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