App Store Apps

You can now mark recommended videos as ‘Not Interested’ in YouTube for iOS

Google today issued a small update to its YouTube client on the App Store, adding a feature that enables better suggestions while fixing three annoying bugs.

Bumped to version 11.32, the iPhone and iPad application now makes it easy to improve personalized suggestions by marking recommended videos under the Up Next section as “Not Interested,” which helps train the algorithm to better tailor recommendations to your personal tastes.

Pinterest just bought Instapaper

In a newsworthy move that in all likelihood makes lots of sense, the photo sharing service Pinterest has acquired Pinterest, the popular app and web service for saving webpages to read later.

According to the announcement, Pinterest will continue to develop and maintain the mobile Instapaper app, available at no charge on the App Store.

This just made my day: Oceanhorn 2 is in development—and it looks awesome!

Inspired by Nintendo's wildly popular Legend of Zelda console game series, Oceanhorn by Cornfox & Bros is one of the best-looking, most satisfying RPG-based action adventure games “for the rest of us” that I've had a blast playing on my iPhone, iPad and Apple TV.

Ever since completing the game, I've been rooting for Oceanhorn's developers to make a sequel and now, GameMob points us to the official confirmation that it's indeed being worked on as we speak.

Titled Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm, the game's mechanics are based on a third-person camera angle versus the original game's isometric view. The storyline revolves around a new hero—a grown-up boy who is training to become a Knight of Arcadia.

Skype for iOS gains connectivity status bar, more informative notifications & other perks

Microsoft today pushed an update to its mobile Skype application for iOS, bumping the app's version number on the App Store to 6.22. The new edition includes several enhancements related to notifications and Skype Credit, which can now be purchased from within the app in more currencies than before. Skype for iPhone and iPad are available free on the App Store.

Facebook launches Lifestage, a teens-only social app built around video profiles

If you're a high-schooler aged under 22 and eager to connect with your classmates within an environment that harkens back to the Facebook from 2004, when it was exclusively a college student network, then today's Facebook where everyone creeps on others may not be the safest place to engage in such interactions.

That's why Michael Sayman, Facebook’s 19-year-old product manager, created Lifestage, a teens-only iPhone app that encourages high-schoolers to create video profiles and share them with their school network.

Canvas, Spark Pro, Mimo and other apps to check out this weekend

It's the weekend again, and you know what that means! It's time for another edition of our Apps of the Week roundup. This week we have some awesome selections for you including a new realtime collaboration app, a minimal video capturing app, a new app that makes learning to code fun and easy, and of course two games that we think are worth checking out.

Twitter gains features to limit notifications and filter out lower-quality content

Twitter continues adding features to let users control and personalize their experience on the service with yesterday's announcement of a new quality filter and notification settings.

Now available in Twitter 6.6 for iOS, the new content quality switch allows you to optionally weed out lower-quality tweets from your feed, notifications and other parts of your Twitter experience.

“It does not filter content from people you follow or accounts you’ve recently interacted with – and depending on your preferences, you can turn it on or off in your notifications settings,” cautioned the service.

NYT is shutting down its Now app on August 29

Released in March of 2014, The New York Times' news curation app, NYT Now, is scheduled to shut down on August 29, the newspaper announced in a blog post.

The app debuted as a more affordable alternative to the paper's digital subscriptions, offering premium content for as low as $8 per month. It was regularly updated and at one point even gained features like 1Password integration.

Apple’s free app of the week: Pixel Cup Soccer 16

Apple on Thursday updated its App of the Week promotion with the game Pixel Cup Soccer 16. This means from now through next Thursday, you’ll be able to pick up the retro-style football title for free on both iPhone and iPad—saving you $3.

As you've probably gathered by now, Pixel Cup Soccer 16 is a retro-style, dynamic arcade game. It features fast-pace gameplay, nostalgic graphics and soundtrack that will take you back to the 90's, and 3 game modes: Friendly, competition and PKs.

3D Touch controls have come to Jetpack Joyride

Jetpack Joyride by Halfbrick Studios, one of the few games I still play and always keep on my phone thanks to regular content updates, has been refreshed on the App Store with support for 3D Touch, letting you press the display on your iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus to control the character.

Thanks to 3D Touch's ability to sense multiple degrees of pressure, the harder you press, the faster you'll jetpack.

In addition, the game introduces a new Hardwood costume whilst ditching the rolling inventory, which means you can now buy any extra item whenever you want.

Snapchat optimized for iPhone’s Low Power Mode

Earlier this week, Snapchat issued a small update to its free of charge iPhone application on the App Store. Bumping version number to 9.37, the app is now optimized for iOS's Low Power Mode which debuted in iOS 9 last year.

“When your device is in Low Power Mode, Snapchat will now automatically reduce its battery usage,” according to release notes accompanying a 96.1-megabyte download.

Instagram gains Events channel highlighting media posted during specific events

Instagram yesterday announced a new Events channel in the Explore section of its free of charge iPhone app. Currently limited to users within the United States and resembling Snapchat's Discover channel with Live Stories, it brings in one place all of the photos and videos posted on the service during specific events, such as concerts, sports games and more. Like the rest of Explore, the new Events channel is personalized for you and highlights events you might like.