Snapchat today issued a small update to its iPhone application, which can be downloaded for free from the App Store. The app's version number has been bumped to 9.43.0.0 as the latest update enables two new gestures for easier sharing of content and navigating your Stories and the Discover tab. As a bonus, Snapchat fans now have an easier way to use Lenses.
App Store Apps
The Trail is a beautiful jaunt in the palm of your hand
In gaming circles, the mentioning of Peter Molyneux’s name alone will cue plenty of associations. The Brit gained industry fame at the helm of projects such as Black & White or Fable, inextricably linking his name to figments of fantastical worlds, deep characters and far-reaching decisions on virtue and morality. In 2012, Molyneux founded 22Cans and branched out to mobile gaming. So far, remarkably little has come off it on iPhone.
In view of the latest product out of 22Cans' think tank, the rules might however just have changed. Their latest adventure goes by the name The Trail and revolves around the ostensibly quiet premise of wandering nature. Contrary to some notions inherent to hiking though, it is remarkably entertaining, oddly social and distinctly Molyneux. Oh, and it is a visual treat for your eyes.
Find out if the game with the curious premise is cut out for you in our review.
Pokémon GO update brings improvements to gyms and fixes bugs
Not even one day after launching a server-side update for Pokémon GO bringing daily bonuses to players, Niantic pushed a new version of the game to players via the App Store on Monday with improvements pertaining to gyms and some miscellaneous bug fixes.
Apple clamps down on fake shopping apps, invites users to report problematic apps
Fake apps that pretend to be from well-known brands have been an incredibly annoying issue for almost as long as the App Store has existed. Like clockwork, apps that spoof big brands manage to make their way into the App Store ahead of a pre-holiday surge and this year's no different.
As The New York Times reports, rogue app factories in China have been busy churning out counterfeit shopping apps by the hundreds, with one particular developer being responsible for an avalanche of fake apps for brands like Puma, Nike, Canada Goose, Celine and others.
Beware these apps as they're scams designed to fool you into providing your passwords and credit card data. Thankfully, Apple is clamping down on the latest round of fake apps as the Great App Store Purge continues unabated.
Video: developers read 1-star reviews
User-submitted reviews on the App Store can be quite mean. There's no denying the fact that people too often slam app makers with 1-star reviews without much thinking.
Now, some of the most unfavorable app ratings are based on complaints about the most mundane things such as the size of the font, the color palettes or the lack of features users think developers should have prioritized over the others and what not.
In case you haven't yet seen this video in which well-known developers read aloud some of the 1-star reviews their apps contend with, give it a quick watch now and meet us in comments.
Google overhauls Gmail for iOS, adds swipe to archive/delete, Undo Send & more
Google today pushed an update to Gmail for iOS, bringing out several new productivity-focused enhancements. Gmail 5.0.3 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, a free download from the App Store, has been overhauled to make navigation easier than before. More importantly, the refreshed mobile Gmail client packs in an Undo Send feature, improved search with spelling suggestions, a new swipe to archive or delete feature and more.
Bear, Workfrom, 60dB and other apps to check out this weekend
It's been a long week so let's just get right to it with our latest round of Apps of the Week selections. We have the hot new note-taking/writing app Bear, a new app for finding cool places to work from, and an app for listening to personalized, short-form news and entertainment audio clips from ex-Netflix employees. And as usual, we have two cool new games for you to check out.
Surenix releases Power 2, an iPhone battery life companion app for Apple Watch
Thientam Bach, better known by a large amount of the jailbreak community as Surenix for his design work on high-end themes and jailbreak tweaks, released his first app in the App Store last year called Power.
It was essentially an information-based app that showed data about your iPhone's battery level on your Apple Watch at a glance. But because so much has changed in iOS 10 and watchOS 3, Bach has released Power 2 in the App Store on Thursday with new features and support for the latest operating systems.
Apple’s free app of the week: Lost in Harmony
Apple on Thursday updated its App of the Week promotion with the hit free runner Lost in Harmony. This means that for the next 7 days, you'll be able to pickup the popular game for both iPhone and iPad for free—a solid savings of $4.
For those unfamiliar with the title, Lost in Harmony is a cross between a rhythm game and free-runner. It features beautiful visuals, a mesmerizing soundtrack, and easy, addictive gameplay that gets more challenging as you progress.
Vimeo to rival Netflix, Amazon, YouTube & others with its own user-faced subscription service
Video wars are heating up with news that Vimeo is readying a consumer-facing subscription video service (not to be confused with its Plus, Pro and Business tiers for content creators). The firm prepared for the move months ago by buying VHX, a platform for over-the-top subscription video.
Vimeo, owned by IAC, broke news of its upcoming service on Wednesday as part of its earnings report.
Broadcast live interactive video to the world with Hype for iPhone from Vine creators
Just a few short days ago, Twitter announced plans to phase out Vine, a shortform video-sharing service it acquired nearly three years ago.
Vine's discontinuation's prompted its creators Colin Kroll and Rus Yusupov to pursue new projects and yesterday they unveiled a live interactive video app, Hype for iPhone.
Does the world really need another video-streaming service?
Only time will tell. For the time being, Kroll and Yusupov are hoping that Hype's rich feature set will help set the app apart from Twitter-owned Periscope, Facebook Live and similar video broadcasting services.
Strategy role-playing game DC Legends launches globally on App Store
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment today announced that their new mobile game called DC Legends is now available worldwide on the App Store following a recent soft-launch in select markets. A strategy role-playing game for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, DC Legends has you forming unlikely alliances of Super Heroes and Super-Villains from across the DC universe. The game is available for free from the App Store.