Apps

Twitter transitioning Vine into pared-down camera app

Cody Lee ∙ December 16, 2016

Twitter on Friday announced that it would not be shutting down its popular video social media service, but will instead transition it into a 'Vine Camera' app. The new app will be a very pared-down version of the current client, and will be available in January.

With Vine Camera, you'll still be able to record looping 6-second videos, but your only other options will be to share it to Twitter or save it to your phone. The goal here is to allow folks to continue to create Vines, but to move the social media aspect to Twitter.

Instagram passes 600 million users

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 15, 2016

Aping Snapchat seems to have paid off in a major way for photo-sharing service Instagram as it announced passing a whopping 600 million users earlier today. The last hundred million Instagrammers joined the service in the past six months, said the Facebook-owned company.

Instagram infamously ripped off Snapchat Stories with its own Stories feature, which debuted in early-August.

Dropbox for iOS gains bulk renaming of photos, offline folders & recent save locations

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 15, 2016

Popular cloud-storage service Dropbox has refreshed its iPhone and iPad application on the App Store with three new features: bulk-renaming of photos, offline folders and recent save locations. In addition, the company announced a major infrastructure push enabling faster sync speeds thanks to several new proxy servers established across the globe, including accelerators in California, Texas, Virginia, New York, Washington, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Google Drive becomes Android migration tool with contacts, photos, videos & calendar sync

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 15, 2016

Google wants to make it even easier for Apple fans to switch from iOS to the Android platform so it's turning the mobile Google Drive app into a migration tool of sorts with new features that let you upload and synchronize your contacts, photos, videos and calendar events.

The search giant also provides a Quick Switch Adapter with its Pixel smartphones that allows users to quickly transfers data directly from an iPhone to their Pixel phone.

Google Drive is available at no charge from the App Store.

Instagram launches Saved Posts, expands live video to all US users

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 14, 2016

Instagram today announced a new feature in the mobile app for iOS and Android: Saved Posts. As the feature's name suggests, this lets you save posts you’d like to revisit later (don't worry, only you can see what you saved). Simply tap a new bookmark icon underneath a post in your feed to save it to a new, private tab on your profile, labeled Saved. This feature requires Instagram 10.2 for iOS, a free download from the App Store.

Camera+ update brings RAW shooting and editing, support for iPhone 7 Plus dual camera & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 14, 2016

Taptaptap's Camera+, one of my favorite camera/image-editing apps, has received a major update on the App Store today. Bumping version number to 9.0, the new Camera+ enables both RAW shooting and editing on compatible iOS 10 devices. Moreover, the app brings out extensive support for the iPhone 7 Plus's dual-lens camera and wide color photography while implementing rich haptics on the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.

Camera+ is available for $2.99 from the App Store.

You can now stream live video from Twitter app

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 14, 2016

Twitter today announced that users of its mobile app can now broadcast Periscope-powered live video. Why go live on Twitter? Because live video broadcasts “bring moments and events to life in a way that no other medium can,” said the popular microblogging service. This newly added feature requires an update to Twitter's mobile app, which is rolling out to everyone on the App Store today.

New Apple Support app lets you explore personalized support options in a straightforward way

Sébastien Page ∙ December 13, 2016

After soft-launching a dedicated Apple Support app in the Netherlands last month, Apple is currently rolling out this application to more countries, including the United States, where it is now available for download.

Amazon’s shopping app is now available for Apple TV with purchasing support for Prime members

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 13, 2016

Online retail giant Amazon today rolled out a tvOS version of its existing shopping app for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Apple Watch.

With Amazon App for Apple TV, you can browse Amazon's entire product catalog on a big screen TV from the comfort of your couch using Siri Remote and your fourth-generation Apple TV.

The app lets you get product details and watch videos for products that are available on Amazon.com and from other merchants. And if you're a Prime member ($99 per year), you'll even be able to make purchases on your Apple TV.

Snapchat update enables group chat, Shazam integration, sticker creation & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

Snapchat today updated its iPhone and iPad app on the App Store with a trio of new features. You can now engage in groups chats with multiple users at once, create your own stickers from within the app and even identify a song that's currently playing around you thanks to Shazam integration.

There's also a new Paintbrush tool in Snapchat 9.45 for iOS that will turn your snaps into artistic-looking images.

Adobe updates Photoshop CC for Mac with rich support for Touch Bar shortcuts

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 13, 2016

Adobe today refreshed Photoshop CC 2017 for Mac with support for customizable shortcuts on the new MacBook Pro's Touch Bar. Apple showed off Touch Bar shortcuts in Photoshop during its Mac event last month, and now you can try them out yourself. This release brings three categories of Touch Bar-supported functions to Photoshop CC for Mac: Layer Properties, Brushes and your Favorites.

Apple rejects Pay Mini app from Samsung

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 12, 2016

Apple has rejected the native Pay Mini app for iPhone from Samsung, ETNews reported Monday. The Cupertino company reportedly did not disclose why it had refused to host Samsung's app on the App Store, but it's fairly safe to speculate that it might have something to do with competition.

ETNews previously reported that Samsung was planning to release Samsung Pay, its mobile payments service, as a downloadable iPhone application.