Apps

Instagram is removing GPS-aggregating Photo Maps from user profiles

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 7, 2016

Mashable is reporting that photo-sharing service Instagram has begun taking away Photo Maps from user profiles, a feature that renders photos on a world map based on where you took them as determined by the embedded GPS data. An Instagram spokesperson said they've begun ditching Photo Maps because they didn't prove popular with users (your individual Instagram posts remain geotagged). Photo Maps will remain on your profile tab for now though Instagram plans to remove them from there, too.

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iOS 9 adoption increases to 88 percent of devices ahead of iPhone 7 and iOS 10 release

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 6, 2016

Eighty-eight percent of iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices are currently using iOS 9, a one-point increase over the iOS 9 adoption rate of 87 percent which was recorded about three weeks ago.

During the same timeframe, iOS 8 has gone from ten percent of devices in August 15 to nine percent of devices. 'Earlier' versions continue to power three percent of older devices out there, as per newest stats on the App Store dashboard for developers.

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Apple Music for Android tops 10 million downloads in less than a year

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 6, 2016

Apple Music for Android has passed ten million downloads, according to meta data from Google's Play Store. Apple Music's Android app was last updated on August 25, bumping version number to 1.1.1 and bringing out various app and performance improvements. The app made its debut on Google's ubiquitous mobile platform as a public beta in November 2015, six months following Apple Music unveiling at WWDC 2015. In August 2016, it exited beta and is now for the most part on par with its iOS counterpart in terms of features.

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Airmail 1.2 for iOS is out with notification enhancements & other improvements

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 6, 2016

Airmail, a powerful email client for iOS and macOS, has received a feature-packed update on the App Store, bringing a number of new capabilities to iPhone and iPad owners. Airmail 1.2 for iOS, a free update, is more useful with a brand new Apple Watch complication for your watch face, Dynamic Type support on iPhone and iPad, smart notifications with a scheduler, alerts based on location, auto-refreshing Read status in alerts and more.

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Pro Tip: create an applet to watermark images

Anthony Bouchard ∙ September 2, 2016

Adding watermarks to photos is an invaluable tool for photographers who want to put a company logo or information on a photograph to share the proper credits that made the photo possible.

It can be done manually in a variety of different kinds of photo-editing software, such as Adobe Photoshop or Pixelmator, but in this tutorial, we'll show you how you can create an applet that automatically watermarks photographs for you.

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AppDye 2 subtly throws a splash of color across the UI in iOS

Anthony Bouchard ∙ September 2, 2016

Adding a splash of color to the various UI elements throughout iOS 9 has never been as easy as it is with a new jailbreak tweak called AppDye 2.

With this tweak, you can colorize many parts of iOS based off of a single color you choose, or you can color your apps on a per-app basis with individual color schemes. Among some of the things that the tweak can modify the color of are:

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Apple’s free app of the week: Noodles!

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

Apple on Thursday updated its App of the Week promotion with the game Noodles!. This means from now through next Thursday, you’ll be able to pick up the addictive puzzler for free for both iPhone and iPad, a solid savings of $2.

For those who aren't familiar with it, Noodles! is a strategic game in which you must connect tube-like objects to create a desired shape. Your score depends on how fast you can solve the level, and it gets more complex as you progress.

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Apple to impose 50-character limit on app names, remove poorly maintained apps

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 1, 2016

Apple just sent an email blast to its registered developers to inform them that it's implementing two suggestions from the developer community starting September 7, 2016, the same day the iPhone 7 event is scheduled to take place. The first concerns “abandoned” apps that no longer function as advertised and the other deals with funny tricks some developers resort to in an effort to game the system.

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Facebook Messenger picks up live-streaming feature, called Instant Video

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 1, 2016

Facebook today announced a new live-streaming feature on the mobile Messenger app, dubbed “Instant Video”. Similar to the live-streaming feature built into the mobile Facebook app, Instant Video allows you to start streaming live video with a friend on Messenger by tapping a new button found in chat windows. The video streams in a small window so that you can continue chatting while streaming.

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Apple shares examples of Siri’s third-party app integration on iOS 10

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 1, 2016

Following first hands-on demonstrations of Siri's app integration that select developers gave to The Wall Street Journal's Nathan Olivarez-Giles last week, Apple on Thursday published an article of its own to share more details regarding Siri integrations for payments, messaging apps and more.

As a quick backgrounder, Siri on iOS 10 will work with your apps thanks to Apple's new SiriKit framework which was designed to help developers integrate Siri functionality into their own apps.

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