Apple Store app, now with alerts for iPhone upgrades and order shipments

Apple may have been trying to divert our attention from its upcoming earnings call by timing two small software updates. First up, the iAd Producer application has been bumped up to version 4.0, with new features like iBooks Author Widgets, support for iTunes Extras and LPs and more. With iAd Producer 4.0 you can now create, say, a widget that allows users to “stream video from the Internet, draw using their finger, or interact with a timeline,” the company writes in help documents.

The company also updated its shopping iOS application with Push Notifications for order shipment and delivery (U.S. only), including alerts for when your iPhone is eligible for upgrade pricing, a neat feature ensuring you won’t forget about taking advantage of your carrier’s early upgrade policy…

From Apple Store v 2.6 release notes:

- Choose to receive notifications that let you know exactly when you’re eligible for upgrade pricing on a new iPhone. And since all you need to complete the order is your Apple ID and password, buying your new iPhone is fast and easy (US only).

- Stay on top of your delivery with notifications. We’ll let you know when your order ships, keep you informed of any updates, and notify you when it’s delivered.

And here’s what’s new in iAd Producer 4.0.

This release contains a number of new features and improvements, including:

Improved Object library interface
Improved Actions library interface
Support for folder-based organization in the asset library
New HTML, Stack, Drawing, and Panorama objects
New actions for adding and removing CSS classes, animating background position, animating image masks, and text slide-in animation
Support for applying CSS filters as well as image and gradient masks to objects.
In-app quick preview
Project-wide search in the Code Editor
Better export performance
Improved menu layout
Improved font support, including support for OpenType fonts
Improved rulers and alignment guides
Enhanced inspectors, with pop-up color pickers, and gradient sliders that now represent opacity
Support for QuickLook previews in iAd Producer project files
Support for iTunes LP, iTunes Extras, and iBook Author widget project types
Other fixes and improvements

The new Apple Store app is a free download from the App Store.

iAd Producer is a free download available only to Apple’s registered iOS developers.

You may also want to check out this knowledge base article pertaining to importing images into iAd Producer 4.0.