Some of you might have noticed that AppBoxx.com went down. With my recent move, I just couldn’t justify paying the 300/month for server. The website was growing rather well, but I would have to invest at least another year into it and right now I just don’t have that kind of money. Maybe if I start a few ‘smaller projects’ and build up to that level I will bring it back, but for now it will stay down.

You will begin to see the more traditional ‘app on sale’ posts that you used to see before I started AppBoxx.com. I’m sorry for the delay, but I will work something out and get on a schedule for showcasing the best deals in the App Store.

Some others might have noticed the ‘Most Popular Apps’ pages have disappeared. This has to do with me moving the website back to the cheaper hosting plans. For some reason the plugin that I was using before just doesn’t work with mysql 5.0(it was on 4.0 before), so I will try some other plugins and see what works.

Again, I know these two features are big features on AppStoreApps.com and I have already begun bringing these back ASAP.

I would start reviewing applications again today, but I have an inbox with well over 150 emails(I apologize for any emails that bounced during the migration).

To make up for the 2 days of no reviews, I will be taking this week to review some of the best applications in the App Store. I say best because at the time these apps were listed in the Top 50 Paid Apps list. . .so for the day these were the most sold applications in the App Store.

Again I just want to thank all of the dedicated readers we have here(and a special thank you to all of the sponsors). It’s because of you that I am able to move out and into my own place. So lets continue to scour the App Store and find out what new iPhone applications we can find.

For example, today I reviewed 5 applications but only posted 1. The 2nd review I did, I scheduled for tomorrow at 12:00pm, the 3rd I scheduled for the day after that at 12:00pm and the so on. Tomorrow when I review however many I review, I’ll post the first one that I do, and then schedule them out 1 per day. So since I had one scheduled, and will post one live tomorrow, you will see 2 new reviews tomorrow. And so on and so forth. This way you always have new content on the website(assuming you check the website daily).

You’ve heard me talk about different websites. I think I’ve started like 6 maybe 7 different iPhone websites or something. Some have done well(InstallerApps.com, AppStoreApps.com) and then some have yet to really capture anyone’s attention(iPhoneFTW.com, AppConception.com). The most recent launch was for www.AppBoxx.com and I have to say it’s done very well so far. In just 2 weeks it’s been able to maintain more daily visitors than other websites of mine that has been around for a year(SMBThemes.com). It started off with about 300 daily visitors and has now grown to over 500 per day. . .and the pageviews/visit average is a lot more than my other websites.

As time goes on you’ll see more features here as well as at AppBoxx.com. I’m already in talks with the developer to add some more features to the website(for AppBoxx), so be sure to check the website often. . .you might be the first to see some of these new features. Because of that website I’m able to spend more time here, so you’ll see more reviews(my goal is 10 per day) and some new features too. You might have seen the page peel ad that tells you how you can get free iPhone applications. This has started to become really popular among the developers and I have already started to give away more free apps. You have to be active on Twitter to be alerted to these free apps simply because the promo codes get used so fast(it’s first come first serve), and it’s easier if you follow me(although you don’t have to).

I think that’s about it. If the website continues to do well then, when I can afford it, you’ll begin to see new writers on the website(as I hire them to start doing reviews). As it is now, I can’t really do that, but we’ll see how things are in 6 months to a year.

I want to thank all the visitors here. You are the reason that I can continue to do this, and you are the reason why I do it. Some might think I do it for the money, and the applications. Don’t get me wrong, those perks are very nice, but those weren’t there when I first started. It’s very satisfying to know that something I created(the website) and something that I wrote(the reviews) is being read by thousands and thousands of people. The emails and comments that come in saying ‘I read your review and bought this application’ and ‘i wasn’t sure about this application until I read your review, and I love it!’. Those are the reasons why I do it. If I can show you the ins and outs of an application and that influence your decision(whether good or bad). . .or if I can show you a cool application that you’ve never seen before, then I’ve done my job. It’s hard to be unbiased about applications(especially the ones that I have no interest in), but I try to go into every review with an open mind, and try to show you the application itself. . .not tell you if it’s cool or it sucks. You know what you like and you know what you don’t like.

And as always, if anyone has any comments or suggestions about the website, how it’s run, the features(or even new features). I am always open to constructive criticism. You can leave a comment below, or send an email from the contact form.

Every now and then developers send additional promo codes when they ask me to review their applications. I give these away to anyone who is following me on Twitter. It’s free to sign up, and all you have to do is click here and then click the Follow button. Then you will see my ‘tweets’ on your Twitter.com home page.

Periodically I send out promo codes in these tweets and who ever uses the promo code in iTunes first, gets the free application. So technically you don’t have to follow me, you just have to monitor my Twitter page, but the code gets used within 60 seconds so unless you’re active on Twitter(and following me) you’ll probably not see the promo code in enough time.

If you’re new to Twitter, don’t just follow me, search the users and find other people with similar interests. There’s even a growing number of celebrities signing up with the website.

No need to worry though, new reviews are coming tomorrow, even if it kills me!

I just want to let everyone know of some changes that will be happening as the new website I mentioned is launched. I had originally wanted to manually track the updated iPhone applications, but after a few weeks I realized this was going to be impossible(even when only covering the fraction of apps that I own(2600). Also, as I mentioned in the last post I only post about 30 apps on sale and there can be upwards of 50 or 100 of these every day.

Since these will all be tracked on the new website I should be able to integrate that into this website. What I will try to do at first is add the RSS feeds into the sidebar on the front page. Just like how the apps on sale are listed now, I hope to use the RSS feed and list them down the side bar that way. If this works I can do another one right under it with the RSS feed for updated apps. The bad part is that I don’t think it will fit perfectly and if it doesn’t look right I won’t put it on the website. But if it doesn’t look right I will create two mini banners directing them to the correct pages on the new website. I don’t want to do this, but will if I have to. I might even do the same with new apps as well.

That’s it, nothing else changes. I have some features in store for the new website that will be interesting to integrate into this website, but nothing more. Not only will this new website benefit AppStoreApps.com and it’s readers, but it will also give me more time to allocate to reviewing iPhone applications here. It takes me about 2 hours(sometimes more) just to pull out daily apps on sale. So there is at least an hour extra every day to spend reviewing apps(I’ll probably need to spend at least an hour a day on the new website making changes, coming up with new features, and making sure it’s running smoothly).

Thankfully this isn’t a bad thing, actually it’s a very good thing. One thing that writers and bloggers complain about is not being able to find enough content to write about. For me that means I can write about 19,500 different applications, giving me an endless supply of content to pull from.

Aaron Liang!!!

Thanks to everyone who participated. I will be launching a new website very soon, so stay updated and I’ll announce another way for you to win a gift card.

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment and tell me what app store app(s) you will spend the 10 dollars on.

Good luck everyone, the contest will end on Sunday the 8th of February(midnight)

Because this is now a full-time job, and I use the money I earn to pay for the 300/month server/bandwidth bill, rent, car insurance, food, and other bills. . .I am not able to pay for another person to do help out with the reviews. So because I am the only person doing reviews, and I get over 20 requests per day(and I only review 4-8), my ‘list of apps to review’ is about to pass the 450 mark. That’s right, I have almost 450 applications in a text file that I have been keeping track of ever since I launched this website. From a writers perspective(and I barely call myself a writer), this is great because I have a seemingly endless supply of content to write about. From a developers stand point this can be frustrating.

I understand this and I am sorry that it takes so long for me to do a review(when I’m contacted about it today). With over 15,000 apps in the App Store there is no way a single person can keep up with it all. As the site grows the the revenue increases, then and only then will I be able to add additional staff to the website. And it is growing month after month(thank you everyone!).

There is one major point I would like to make in this post. I do not accept money for ‘accelerated reviews’ on this website. I do reviews in the order they are received and that is it! I keep the advertising aspect of this website completely separate from the reviews section. I don’t think it’s fair that a developer pays an extra 100, 500, 1000 dollars to a website(trust me, this is happening on many iphone app review websites) to get a review published today, when developers contacted me before have yet to get their reviews published. Just because 1 developer has deeper pockets than another doesn’t mean that their application is better(or deserves to be reviewed quicker).

I tell developers that want ‘instant exposure’ on the website to sign up for advertising and that’s it. Some developers don’t like this, and have even gone as far as requested to be removed from my ‘list of apps to review’.

Call it morals, call it integrity, call it whatever you want. Just know that you can trust me to keep things fair and unbiased around here.

Note – Entries are restricted to 1 per IP address and 1 per email address. This Gift Card is only redeemable for US iTunes accounts.

I will be going through the entries every night before bed, and keeping track of the duplicates, then at the end of the contest I will remove them. After they’re removed I will count the rest and go to random.org to pick the winner.

You can click here to subscribe to the new RSS feed, or you can find the link on the page.

Please remember, this feed does not list the ‘iPhone Apps on Sale’ that I post daily, or the site news/iPhone articles that get posted here(like the contests that we do for free stuff). I just know that some people didn’t like the 30+ iPhone Apps on Sale posts coming into their RSS feed every day.

Here are the winners(picked at random). . .

Sue
Jay
John P.
vvvlad
Mike K
R3cc4
Tristan
subliminalsun
Z
devon Liles

If you are in the list above then I will be sending you an email shortly with the promo codes for the applications you wanted.

Also we have a bonus winner. Thanks to IMAK Creations I have a lot of applications to give out, for FREE. The bonus winner is. . .

Andy Bilodeau

Again, I want to thank IMAK Creations for sending in the promo codes that made this contest possible. And I want to thank everyone who participated. Stay tuned in 2009(subscribe via rss), I have a plan for multiple gift cards in January alone!

Note – I do have extra promo codes for free applications. Follow me on Twitter. And I will give codes for free applications out at random times. The first person to see the tweet on Twitter and actually use the promo code, wins the free application.

Serpents
Dotty Shapes
ColorTouch
ColorTilt
Brain Blaze Add
Brain Blaze Multiply
Brain Blaze Spelling
Brain Blaze Subtract

This contest is only open for US residents only(the promo codes only work with a US iTunes account). This contest will be open for 1 full week and will end on the 29th at midnight. To participate in this contest you will need to leave a comment below. . .telling me which 4 applications you would pick if you won. At the end of the contest I will pick 10 people at random and send them the promo codes for the applications they have in their comment.

Note – Entries are limited to 1 person per IP address. . .per email address. I will be going through all new entries every day to check for duplicates(and all duplicates will be deleted at the end of the contest).

You will notice that the ‘Most Popular Reviews’ page, and widget is broken/blank. I had to revert back to mysql 4.0(from 5.0), so I don’t know if that broke something, but I am in touch with the programmer than made it for us so we should be able to get it up and running again.

You will also notice the ‘Most Popular Apps’ pages are MUCH faster to load. I will be redoing the main page to show the top 10 for EACH category. . .not just for the most popular categories(with links to the others).

Please, let me know if you see something that’s broken or doesn’t look right.

All you have to do is live in the United States. . .and then go leave a comment on this post.

Andy Bilodeau
Mikeman118
Ariff
Maxxie
Kristi
Bradzo3000
Dava
JalenJade
T3CKNO
cory crossan

Thanks everyone who participated! I sent an email to everyone listed above and your promo codes are in the email.

I will be announcing another contest later tonight, with help from IMAK Creations, where 10 lucky winners get to pick 4 applications(that they have released) of your choice.

I am in the process of upgrading the shared hosting plan that this website is on, to a Dedicated Linux Server. 1and1.com will be scheduling the upgrade soon(I’m not really sure exactly when). . .so the website might go up/down while this happens.

I want to thank the sponsors who stick with us month after month. It’s because of them that I’m able to afford to upgrade the hosting account.

I also want to thank all of the readers. The website seems to continue to grow. . .and it’s because of you that the sponsors keep coming back.

The downfall to the upgrade was that not everyone liked it. . .and I completely understand. I’m not a fan of change, and I know that the blog style is easier to navigate through(for most people). Thankfully the overall consensus was that the new theme was much better.

How the front page is now, the bottom part only lists the last 10 posts. I wanted to get it setup with the pagination at the bottom so anyone can go through the older reviews. Sadly the way the theme is setup, I was unable to get it exactly how I wanted. But we(myself and the coder I hired for some of the custom plugins here) were able to get the old school blog style in another way.

If you go here – http://www.appstoreapps.com/blog – that is a custom WordPress page that will list all of the iPhone application reviews. This will not list the ‘iPhone Apps on Sale’ but it will list any application review(both free and paid). Right now the next/previous links aren’t aligned correctly, but I will be going back into the template tonight and fixing this.

I also got a suggestion to add the dates into the posts(I assume in the preview of the post), so that it’s easier to skim through the page looking for new posts. If I can add this and make it look good(find the right spot for it), then I will. . .I’m not 100% sure if it’s possible. . .or if it will look good. And if it doesn’t look good then I would rather it not be on the site.

If anyone has any comments or suggestions about the website, I am always available via email(I just added a contact form on the contact page), or you can leave a comment below.

Thanks again everybody for all the support. I love working on the website and I hope this continues for years and years.