Apps

Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow coming to iOS, will contain some entirely new episodes

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 18, 2017

Game developers FoxNext Games and Jam City (via its game studio TinyCo) announced today that Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow for iPhone and iPad will arrive sometime in early summer.

The new game will blend simulation, combat, galactic exploration and choose-your-own-adventure mechanics together to bring the escapades of the Planet Express crew to life. In his February interview with USA Today, Matt Goering said that the game will contain some entirely new episodes of the show.

“Oh, you guys wanna do a game? That’s fine,” he said. “But we’re gonna sneak some more Futurama episodes in there on whatever device people are gonna be using.”

The game features two main settings: New New York, which focuses on simulation and character progression gameplay, and Space Adventures, in which players explore and battle their way through planets, nebulas and other weird stuff across the Futurama universe.

Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow is being developed in partnership with Futurama and The Simpsons creator Matt Groening and his Curiosity Company, along with executive producer David X. Cohen and original Futurama writers.

“Jam City is working with the writers, animators, and cast to produce even more original animation that will have fans waving their tentacles in the air,” according to developers.

The official teaser trailer embedded below is the first new animation from the Futurama universe since the show's original TV run ended in 2013.

“I'm proud to say that Futurama lives! In mobile-video-game teaser trailer form, anyway,” said the series' creator Matt Groening. “If you squint, it's kind of like a little episode!”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2Izx4MQCwQ

“Working on this new Futurama animation has been a thrilling adventure,” said David X. Cohen.

“I finally understand how Neil Armstrong must have felt when he first landed on the lunar surface, watched some funny cartoons on the control screen, and did whatever else was on his schedule that day,” he added, jokingly.

In the New New York setting, your main focus will be on rescuing characters, collecting special items and materials, expanding your characters' capabilities by leveling them up and crafting ability-defining character outfits and tackling story-driven quests.

According to developers, events that occur in New New York will often move the game's overarching narrative forward, by allowing players to assemble a crew of their favorite Futurama characters and take to the stars for Space Adventures.

“While traversing the depths of space, players will fight alien enemies in retro arcade-style combat, rendered in beautiful 16-bit graphics, and explore strange lands in which their choices determine their fate,” they said.

Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow will arrive sometime in early summer to iPhone, iPad, Android and Amazon devices. More information on the game will be released in the near future and we'll be making sure to keep you in the loop.

You can pre-register at youwillplayfuturama.com to receive a special in-game gift when you start playing. More original Futurama animation is coming too, so stay tuned.

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Gmail for iOS now uses machine learning to provide smart replies

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 17, 2017

Google on Wednesday launched an updated version of the mobile Gmail app for iOS and Android, bringing out a handy new Smart Reply feature based on the company's machine learning technology. Like with canned responses in Apple's own Messages app, Gmail analyzes the contents of your emails to provide up to three canned responses based on what it thinks the sender is asking in their original message.

Smart Replies may include simple “Yes” and “No” responses. If the sender is asking whether to meet on Wednesday or Friday, Gmail may provide a bit more complex replies such as “Let's do Wednesday”, “Friday works for me” or “Either day works for me”.

Once you’ve selected one, you can send it immediately or edit your response starting with the Smart Reply text. By utilizing machine learning, the Smart Reply feature produces better responses the more you use it. “If you're more of a 'thanks!' than a 'thanks.' person, we'll suggest the response that's, well, more you,” says Google.

To learn about the smarts behind Smart Reply, check out the Google Research Blog.

Smart Reply will roll out globally in English first, with Spanish following in the coming weeks. Additional languages for Smart Replies will be added soon, Google has promised.

According to the search monster, the machine learning-assisted Smart Reply feature already drives twelve percent of replies in its Inbox email app.

Aside from Smart Replies in the Gmail app, today's keynote address at Google's annual I/O conference for developers saw the release of the official Google Assistant app for iOS.

Gmail for iOS is available at no charge from App Store.

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Hey Siri, make some room for Google Assistant on my iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 17, 2017

The rumors were true: the search giant Google today released a standalone Assistant app for iPhone to take on Siri. Available at no charge on App Store, it features a blend of the chat style functionality found in in the Google Allo version of Assistant and the voice-controlled version found on Android.

It even lets you call friends on Google Home or out on the town with your iPhone.

“Whether you need a reminder to pick up milk, help finding your travel photos or need to make a dinner reservation, your Assistant is ready to help,” says the company.

To get started with Assistant, press the microphone icon or start typing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ9MBYfu_0A

“And for when you want to see what you’ve previously asked, we’ll also soon add history within your conversation,” notes Google. And with an upcoming firmware update for Google Home, customers will be able to put responses to queries from Home's Assistant on a supported display, including your iPhone and even your TV (with Chromecast).

Apple users can use Assistant's chatbot-like capabilities as well as all of its interactive features without having to purchase Google's Pixel smartphone or another Android smartphone.

Here are a few things Assistant can help you with:

Make quick phone calls (“Call Mom”) Send text messages (“Text my bestie”) Send emails (“Email my boss the latest TPS report”) Set reminders (“Remind me to buy a birthday gift for Sarah”) Set calendar events (“Set a calendar event for dinner with Charlie tomorrow from 7-9”) Play music (“Play Jazz music on YouTube”) Navigate to places (“Get me directions home”) Ask it anything (“Will I need an umbrella today?”)

Google has promised to enhance Assistant with new features, including:

New chatbot abilities Integration with Google Lens technology

Google Lens will give Assistant for iPhone and Android some pretty cool camera capabilities with a little help from advanced artificial intelligence features. You'll be able to, for example, easily identify an object by pointing your phone's camera at it.

The company even demonstrated how Lens technology will permit Assistant users to snap up a photograph of a business's sign to quickly pull up useful information such as reviews, menu items, friend check-ins and other relevant data.

And in yet another example, Google demoed how Assistant could help Android users connect to a Wi-Fi network simply by taking a picture of a sticker on a router.

“If you see a marquee for your favorite band, you can hold up your Assistant, tap the Lens icon and get information on the band, tickets and more,“ said the firm.

Plus, starting today developers can build conversational apps for the Google Assistant on phones. In other words, soon you’ll be able to not only get help and answers from Google, but also from third party services.

The AI-powered helper will be rolling out to eligible Android phones in Brazilian Portuguese, French, German and Japanese, Google said. By the end of the year, Assistant will include additional language support for Italian, Korean and Spanish.

The company has more than 70 smart home partners supporting Assistant across Google Home, Android phones and iPhone, including August locks, TP-Link, Honeywell, Logitech and LG.

Assistant is already available on more than 100 million devices, said Google.

Grab Google Assistant for iOS for free via App Store.

The app requires an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch with iOS 9.1 or later.

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AI powered, end-to-end encrypted calls now available in Telegram Desktop

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 17, 2017

Secure instant messaging service Telegram today launched voice calls in its desktop app for Mac, Windows and Linux nearly two months after implementing the voice-calling feature in Telegram Messenger for iPhone and iPad.

To make sure Telegram calls are the best in terms of quality, speed and security, the app uses artificial intelligence to update its neural network after each call about things such as network speed, ping times, packet loss percentage and other factors that influence the quality of your VoIP calls.

Based on gathered data, the app optimizes dozens of parameters to improve the quality of future calls on the given device and network. By default, Telegram calls are lightweight.

https://twitter.com/telegram/status/864543129847955457

If there's a change in your connection during the call, the app will make necessary adjustments.

For instance, Telegram may boost your sound quality on stable Wi-Fi connection or use less data if your Wi-Fi or cellular coverage is spotty at best.

Whenever possible, your calls will go over a peer-to-peer connection using the best audio codecs to save traffic while providing “crystal-clear quality.” When a peer-to-peer connection cannot be established, the app will use the closest server to you.

Telegram has its own distributed infrastructure all over the world to ensure the fastest possible delivery of your texts and seamless voice calling experience. As mentioned, VoIP calls on Telegram use end-to-end encryption, just like the app's Secret Chats feature, to prevent eavesdropping.

For voice calls, however, they've improved the key exchange mechanism. “To make sure your call is 100 percent secure, you and your recipient just need to compare four emoji”, said the team.

Bottom line: the quality of Telegram calls will further improve as you and others use them, thanks to the built-in machine learning. And with group calling, video calling and screen sharing apparently on the team's to-do list, Telegram is bound to become a capable Skype alternative.

As soon as VoIP calls are enabled for your country, a phone icon will appear on every profile page in Telegram Desktop.

Telegram for iOS is available free via App Store.

Telegram Desktop can be downloaded from Mac App Store or through the official website.

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Viber for iPhone gains chat pinning and adjustable notification sounds

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 17, 2017

Rakuten-owned messaging app Viber is launching a pair of interesting enhancements in its mobile app for iPhone and iPad. The first improvement comes in the form of handy new options for adjusting Viber's default notification sound on a per-chat basis. The other enhancement lets you easily pin your favorite conversations to the top of the chat screen.

Aside from these improvements, Viber 6.8.8 for iPhone and iPad, a free download from App Store, includes unspecified bug fixes and performance improvements.

Chat pinning

With this feature, you can pin your favorite conversations to the top of the chat list where they're easier to spot. To pin a chat, swipe the conversations in the chat list, then select Pin to pin it to the top of the screen or Unpin if it's already pinned and you'd like to unpin it, as shown on the screenshots top of post.

Rival WhatsApp from Facebook is said to be working on chat pinning, too.

Custom notification sounds

Viber now allows you to override its default notification sound and replace it with the sounds listed in Settings → Sounds. You can choose a new default sound for all Viber notifications or select a different notification sound on a per-chat basis to make it easier to audibly distinguish between notifications for new messages from, say, your Mom and a co-worker.

Download Viber 6.8.8 for iOS via App Store.

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Apple to soon require app-specific passwords to access your iCloud data

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

According to an Apple Support email sent out today, all native third-party apps for iPhone, iPad, Mac and other platforms will be required to use app-specific passwords to access user data stored in iCloud, not Apple ID credentials.

App-specific passwords went into effect in October 2014.

Back then, enabling two-step verification for Apple ID would turn on app-specific passwords for web-based apps and services. Starting on June 15, app-specific passwords will become a mandatory requirement for any native app that wishes to access user data in iCloud.

You can generate app passwords in the Password & Security section of the Apple ID website.

A password created for one app, like Outlook, doesn't work in another app like Spark.

Come June 15, you'll be automatically signed out of all apps that use your Apple ID credentials. As an example, if you set up Fantastical for Mac with your Apple ID to access your iCloud calendars, you'll need to generate an app-specific password to continue accessing your iCloud calendars from within the app on and after June 15.

In simpler terms, you'll be required to enable two-factor authentication for your Apple ID and generate individual passwords for each app after the cutoff date.

The change is platform-agnostic: if you use Windows 10's Mail app to receive your iCloud data like contacts and calendars, you'll need to create an app-specific password for it. This is for the sake of everyone's security because signing into third-party apps with your primary Apple ID password may expose you to various attacks and hacking attempts.

To be clear, this only affects apps which access iCloud in a non-native way, which includes email clients like Outlook, Thunderbird and others. If an app has been updated to use iCloud Drive, it won't need an app-specific password to access user data in iCloud.

Bottom line: Apple still lets you grant apps access to your iCloud data, but soon you'll be able to do so in such a way that keeps your primary Apple ID password safe and secure.

Apple's first-party apps are not affected by this change.

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Instagram rolls out selfie filters, rewind option for videos, hashtag sticker & eraser brush

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 16, 2017

Instagram today announced several new capabilities for its mobile app, including selfie filters via the front-facing camera in what appears to be yet another effort to copy the last big Snapchat feature. Aside from face filters, Instagram 10.21 also includes a rewind playback option for videos, a new hashtag sticker an an eraser brush tool.

Face filters

With all-new face filters in the Instagram camera, you can turn an ordinary selfie into something fun and entertaining. A total of eight different face filters are included at launch, with more to be added at a later stage via future updates. To get started with this feature, tap the new face icon in the bottom-right corner of the Instagram camera.

Simply tap a filter to try it on.

The filters include effects ranging from math equations swirling around your head to furry koala ears that move and twitch. “Whether you're sitting on the couch at home or out and about, face filters help you express yourself and have playful conversations with friends,” noted the Facebook-owned company.

https://vimeo.com/217551217

Some of the filters work with a friend.

Moreover, all the face filters included in this edition of Instagram work with Boomerang, meaning you can now add an unexpected twist to the videos you share.

Rewind option for videos

Instagram also provides a new Rewind playback option for videos.

A new camera format next to “Boomerang” and “Hands-Free”, “Rewind” lets you share a rewind of your video. This mode captures your video normally, then makes it play in reverse.

Hashtag stickers

A new hashtag sticker joins Instagram's existing stickers and geofilters. To get started with it, tap the sticker icon in the top-right corner, then choose and customize the new hashtag sticker before adding it to your own Story.

Like with mentions, you can add hashtags using regular text as well.

Hashtag stickers are interactive: folks watching your Story can tap the hashtag sticker or text to visit the hashtag page and explore related posts.

Eraser tool

With the new eraser brush, you can remove parts of drawings or color.

Instagram advises selecting the fill tool after you’ve taken a photo or video to fill the entire screen with color. Then, using the new Eraser tool, you can easily and quite creatively reveal parts of your photo or video underneath.

These new features are available as part of Instagram 10.21 for iOS.

To learn more about these updates, check out Instagram's Help Center.

Instagram is available at no charge from App Store.

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Nintendo’s next big franchise coming to iPhone will be The Legend of Zelda

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 15, 2017

Nintendo's next big franchise coming to iPhone and other smartphones will be The Legend of Zelda, a high-fantasy action-adventure RPG video game series created by the legendary Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka.

The iOS port of The Legend of Zelda should hit App Store either in in the latter half of 2017 or in 2018, following the release of Animal Crossing for iOS, according to sources speaking with The Wall Street Journal.

The mobile game will be developed by DeNA, the studio behind Super Mario Run and Fire Emblem Heroes.

As mentioned, Animal Crossing for iPhone will be coming out some time in the second half of 2017, followed by the official Legend of Zelda game for smartphones. Separately, the report mentions that the Pokemon Company is working on a new digital card game app, too.

If you've never played The Legend of Zelda, you should give it a try as it's one of Nintendo's most successful franchises, selling over 75 million copies as of 2016.

The game's chief protagonist is named Link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rweamiexWHU

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The series' installments typically task the player with rescuing Princess Zelda and the kingdom of Hyrule from Ganon, who is the game's key antagonist. The games' plots commonly involve a relic known as the Triforce, which is basically a set of three omnipotent golden triangles.

Following its 1986 debut, The Legend of Zelda has expanded to include 19 entries on all of Nintendo's major game consoles, as well as a number of spin-offs. The series even gave birth to an American animated TV series and individual manga adaptations in Japan.

Following a multi-year hiatus from mobile, Nintendo eventually committed to bringing some of its most-prized intellectual property to smartphones, starting with the Miitomo app and on to Super Mario Run for iPhone and the iOS version of Fire Emblem Heroes.

Image: Breath of the Wild, the latest title in the Zelda series, is currently available for Nintendo's Switch and Wii U consoles.

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Big Keys, Subtotal, Dazzle Browser, and other apps to check out this weekend

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

This week's edition of our Apps of the Week roundup includes a third-party keyboard with extra large keys, a new app for saving money, and a mobile-friendly web browser. And as always, we have two great new games for you to check out this weekend.

Big Keys

Big Keys is exactly what it sounds like: a third-party iOS keyboard with extra large keys. I'm sure this isn't a brand new concept and the third-party keyboard implementation in iOS is pretty rough, but with Mother's Day this weekend, I figured this was worth a mention. Anyone who has trouble typing on (or seeing) the tiny keys on the iOS keyboard will love this. Now it only works in landscape mode, but you get large keys and large emojis. Plus it has a numeric keypad, supports gestures, and it's customizable. Big Keys is available for $2.99.

Subtotal

Get up to 10% cash back when eating out with the app Subtotal. It's simple: at the end of your meal, select your restaurant. Follow the on-screen instructions to enter and pay your bill (supports Apple Pay). Present the on-screen barcode to your waiter—it works just like a gift card. You get your cash back in a few days. Now it's a new thing, so only a handful of restaurants are supported so far (Applebee's, Chili's, Red Robin, etc.), but this seems like an app worth checking out for folks who want to save money with little effort. Subtotal is available for free.

Dazzle Browser

The third-party iOS web browser space is a tough one to get into. Apple's Safari, of course, has a huge head start with prominent placement and performance enhancements. Google's Chrome has solidified itself as the official runner-up. Then there are a bunch of smaller browsers fighting for a distant third. Dazzle throws its hat into the ring with a simple, mobile-first interface. It was built for one-handed usage with a unified search bar located towards the bottom of the app, and the ability to quickly swipe between pages. Dazzle Browser is available for free.

Sky Gamblers Races

Your favorite fighter plane franchise is back with the ultimate air racing game. Featuring more than 90 highly detailed WWII planes, Sky Gamblers Races tasks players with building their reputation on the air racing circuit. Unique visuals, sound effects, and gyroscope controls make for an immersive gaming experience. There are over 100 races in different environments and 5 game modes: normal, slow down, elimination, timed races and death races. You of course can customize your plane and even race opponents in real time. Sky Gamblers Races is available for $2.99.

Crash Club

If you're looking for something a little different this weekend, Crash City is the anti-racing game. Drive anywhere you want in this big coastal city, break everything and take down other drivers for points to rule the leaderboard! Massively multiplayer action with over 30 players live and real time in every game. Everything can be crashed, with weapons and abilities available in the middle of the action. There are over 25 unique cars that can be customized in both looks and performance. Crash City is available for free (with some IAPs).

More apps to check out Drop everything (except your bags) – this app is all you need for grocery shopping Apple’s free app of the week: Little Kitten Meet Breaker, a young podcast app with a social twist Infuse media player gains supercharged subtitles, 10-bit video playback & more PDF Expert 6 for iOS is out with revamped look, enhanced search, new editing tools & more Apple’s Workflow app gains new Apple Music actions, brings back Chrome and Pocket integrations
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Google’s Allo messaging app will soon let you create personalized stickers from your selfies

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 12, 2017

Google is working on a new feature for its mobile messaging app Allo that will permit iPhone users to create stickers based on their selfies. Taking advantage of neural networks, machine learning and the work of artists, the app will create virtual avatars personalized to match the user's own distinct look, said the company.

“Photography in the form of a selfie is a very direct form of expression. It comes with a set of rules bounded by reality,” wrote Google. “Illustration, on the other hand, empowers people to define themselves—it’s warmer and less fraught than reality.”

The feature is pretty straightforward: you just snap a selfie and the app returns an automatically generated illustrated version of you. You can also customize your new sticker manually with various facial features and other options.

What makes you, you?

Rather than algorithmically determine the colors, shapes and textures in selfies, Google's system takes advantage of an advanced algorithm that picks out qualitative features of one's face in a manner similar to the way people do.

“While we could have trained a large convolutional neural network from scratch to attempt to accomplish this, we wondered if there was a more efficient way to get results, since we expected that learning to interpret a face into an illustration would be a very iterative process.”

Toying with its existing more general-purpose computer vision neural networks, Google found out that a few neurons in these networks were good at focusing on things they weren’t explicitly trained to look at.

The company explains:

By virtue of being large general-purpose neural networks, they had already figured out how to abstract away things they didn’t need.

All that was left to do was to provide a much smaller number of human labeled examples to teach the classifiers to isolate out the qualities that the neural network already knew about the image.

They fed the neural network illustrations created by an artistic team which captured a wide variety of facial features, such as different hairstyles, skin tones and nose shapes. Human curators then trained the network to match the right illustration to the right selfie.

Google's research team has taken special care to ensure that the illustrations cover a range of race, age, masculinity, femininity and androgyny. Furthermore, they're working with a range of artistic voices because “it’s not enough to make an avatar that is a literal representation of yourself when there are many versions of you.”

The feature began rolling out today in Allo for Android, and will come soon to Allo on iOS.

The most recent update to Allo for iOS included Incognito chats for group conversations and new notification settings for selectively enabling and disabling individual notifications.

Google Allo is a free download from App Store.

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