As we told you this morning, Apple announced big changes are coming to the App Store this fall in the form of some well thought out improvements to In-App Subscriptions and all-new paid ads for apps in App Store search results.
Yesterday, SVP Phil Schiller sat down for an interview with The Loop's Jim Dalrymple to discuss other changes aimed at making app discovery better. The app review process, however, won't be going away anytime soon.
Slack, a cloud-based, cross-platform team collaboration service, has rolled out support for voice calling, the team announced yesterday. With it, team members can call one another without leaving Slack, and calls even have an emoji response feature.
Calls are currently voice-only, but Slack says that features like video calling and screen sharing will come in the future. Slack is available across iOS, OS X, the web and other platforms.
Apple's iTunes U application has received a refresh in the App Store, bringing out a few new features. For starters, iTunes U 3.3 for iOS now takes advantage of third-party Document Provider extensions.
This enables iPhone, iPod touch and iPad owners to easily add new materials from various cloud services for which they have an app installed on their device, such as iCloud Drive, Google Drive, Dropbox and so forth.
Music and media identification service Shazam pushed a new update to its mobile application in the App Store which enables offline mode. The feature used to be present in Shazam from day one before it was temporarily removed in the overhauled app.
With it, you can still Shazam while offline and the app will name any songs you captured in offline mode when you're back online. Shazam is a free app. The paid $6.99 Shazam Encore app is available to those who want to get rid of ads and use advanced features.
MCX (the Merchant Consortium Exchange) has notified testers that it will be ending its CurrentC beta test soon. The Consumerist on Tuesday shared an email sent by the company, telling users that it's going to shut down the mobile payment service on June 28.
On that day, all active accounts will be disabled and beta testers will not be able to access their accounts through the CurrentC app. Worse than that, the email also says that MCX is postponing further releases of CurrentC, and there are no plans for an official launch.
Google today announced it's launching a brand new iPhone application aimed at those who wish to turn their Live Photos into animated GIFs. Aptly named Motion Stills, the app turns Live Photos into Motion Stills with Google’s stabilization technology and cinematic backgrounds.
These Motion Stills can then be shared as looping GIFs on social media. Motion Stills is available free in the App Store.
If every day is a game, then there should be prizes, right? Foursquare's Swarm app has started offering just that, real-life perks depending on where and how often you check in. Called Swarm Challenges, this is yet another feature that Foursquare has brought back to Swarm from its main mobile application, which is now focused on places reviews while Swarm is all about the check-in game.
Sprightly, a Microsoft Garage project which launched on Android in February, is now available on iOS. The free app lets you create detailed catalogs, beautiful fliers, multiple price lists, e-cards and discount coupons on the go.
“No need to hire expensive designers to make professional designer quality content for your business or personal uses,” says Microsoft.
It's hard to tell from release notes alone, which only mention bug fixes and performance improvements, but Instagram's version 8.2 update that went live this morning on the App Store packs in a much improved Share sheet extension.
Long overdue, the new extension finally lets you upload photos and videos directly to the service, without needing to open the app at all.
Over the years, I've learned or picked up a few Instagram hacks and tricks that I'm going to share with you. They aren't life changing by any means, but they can be helpful, fun, or just make your Instagram usage more enjoyable. Chances are, you already know some of these tips, but I'm hoping you will still learn a thing or two along the way.
Focus for iPhone, a new task manager by Oslo, Norway-headquartered digital marketing agency Dots Design, is a beautifully conceived application with a minimalist user interface which makes creating lists built around your lifestyle a breeze.
Available at no charge on the App Store, Focus, as the name suggests, is all about focusing on the task at hand. The minimal user interface lends itself nicely to keeping the app very easy to use, with gestures-driven actions and a single screen on which everything takes place.
Messaging service Viber this morning pushed a new update to its App Store app, adding several new long overdue features. For starters, iPhone users can now back up and restore their chat history through iCloud, making keeping their conversations after an iOS restore possible.
The application now has a brand new native watchOS 2 app for your wrist with canned responses on your Apple Watch. Other new features in this edition of Viber include support for sending and receiving animated GIF images, sending money from within the app and low-rate Viber Out calling plans via a redesigned screen.