Apps

Kids under 13 can now have Facebook presence with new Scrapbooks feature

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 31, 2015

Facebook on Tuesday announced a better way for parents to organize photographs of their toddlers and kids under 13 on the service, the Scrapbook.

Rolling out in the United States across Facebook's mobile apps for iOS and Android, in addition to the desktop interface, this optional new feature actually allows children under 13 who are not normally permitted to create a Facebook profile to have an official presence on the service, sans the actual profile.

Facebook's internal survey has found that 65 percent of the parents who share pictures of their children on the service tag their partner in these photos to share them with their partner’s friends.

Google+ Photos now appear in Drive, Auto Backup for images and videos available in iOS app

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 31, 2015

The search giant Google announced yesterday it is adding support for Google+ Photos to the Drive app on iOS, Android and the web. “Starting today, the photos and videos you keep in Google+ Photos will also be available in Google Drive,” said the company.

In addition to storing your photos and files together in Drive, the refreshed Google Drive for iOS app has introduced a new Auto Backup feature to ensure that your Camera Roll photos and videos are safely backed up in the Google cloud.

TouchTone review: this is what crowdsourced NSA research might look like

Lory Gil ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

In this digital age, we are faced with issues about privacy and security. In no point in the history of the United States has more of our personal information been publically available than in the 21st century. What if the NSA sought out the help of everyday citizens to keep watch over each other?

TouchTone is a complex puzzle game with an underlying story that hits on such possibilities. How would our private lives look to an outsider? Would things we consider to be innocent look nefarious to our neighbor? We’ve got a hands-on game review of Touch Tone for you.

Cards and Castles: shuffle up and fight

Josh Gallagher ∙ Updated January 27, 2019

Cards and Castles mixes two of my favorite things together: turn-based strategy and card battles. It also throws in one of my least favorite terms: free-to-play. Has Bit Mass created a game that perfectly blends these characteristics? Read on, dear adventurer, and let’s find out together.

Facebook updates Messenger with third-party app support

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2016

After announcing support for select third-party applications inside its Messenger service last week, Facebook on Monday issued a refresh to the mobile messaging app which officially enables third-party integration.

Now available free in the App Store, the update puts a new button in the chat interface of Facebook Messenger. Tapping it brings up a sheet where you can browse and download supported third-party apps that extend Messenger's functionality, like apps for sending and receiving animated GIFs and more.

You can now create logins directly in 1Password’s iOS extension and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 27, 2016

Developer AgileBits on Monday refreshed its freemium password-manager utility, 1Password for iOS, with a much smarter extension that allows you to create logins and other items without switching to the main app.

1Password 5.3 is also packed with a dozen other goodies, including enhanced Dynamic Type support, a fixe for the broken Zoom Mode on the iPhone 6 Plus, a new Large Type option, tags in bubbles, the ability to switch time zones and much more.

Periscope, Beast Towers, Whipclip and more apps to check out this weekend

Lory Gil ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

There just isn’t enough time in the day to play all the games and use all the apps that flow through the App Store like a river of chocolate. How is one person supposed to find the cream of the crop on his or her own?

Instead of trying to check out every single title that comes along, you should check out our list of apps and games that we think you would find useful and fun. We weed through the mound of junk to find the highlights for you.

Favorite Contacts Launcher lets you call, message, or FaceTime anyone from Notification Center

Josh Gallagher ∙ March 27, 2015

Favorite Contacts Launcher allows you to have instant access to your most used numbers. Once downloaded, this app will allow you to quickly call, text, or FaceTime anyone directly from Notification Center. The concept sounds extremely useful to non-jailbreakers, but does this launcher deliver?

Vine upgrades video quality to 720p

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Vine, a service for sharing short 15-second looping clips, announced on Friday that it is finally upgrading video quality from a rather paltry 480p resolution to a more acceptable 720p.

“We’ve been working on technical upgrades that support Vines in higher quality,” the Twitter-owned company said. The 720p format offers a resolution of 1,280-by-720 pixels whereas the 480p standard tops out at 640-by-480 pixels.

Meerkat 1.1 gains better search, in-app streaming alerts and other enhancements

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 30, 2018

Meerkat, an app which kicked off the live broadcasting craze by letting you stream live video from your iPhone to all of your Twitter followers at once, has released its first major update since its App Store debut a little more than two weeks ago.

The app is now more stable and user friendly and comes with nearly a dozen improvements related to searching, following other people, getting notified about their activity, discovering new streams and more.

Strategy and timing meet in action puzzler ULTRAFLOW

Josh Gallagher ∙ March 27, 2015

ULTRAFLOW draws heavily from both the puzzle and action genres. Each level is essentially a two stage process. First, you have to figure out how to solve the puzzle. Then, you have to actually be able to do it. This creates a surprising amount of challenge in ULTRAFLOW, proving that it’s more than just a fun word to type.