App Store Apps

Snapchat’s latest update introduces data-saving Travel mode, emoji improvements and more

If you're a Snapchat fan and a frequent traveller who doesn't use the service abroad due to exorbitant international data roaming charges (or are simply on a budget plan), Snapchat has some good news for you.

Their latest update, now live in the App Store, brings an all-new Travel mode designed specifically to reduce mobile data usage when roaming. In addition to Travel mode, Snapchat's iPhone application now lets you see who viewed your Story and puts more emoji characters at your fingertips.

Today: Pomodoro Timer gets you focused on the task ahead

As a writer for iDB, sometimes, it gets difficult to stay focused on my work. I am easily distracted by chats with friends, social media, and playing games on my iPhone. The best way to combat distraction is to time my tasks and finish on deadline.

Today: Pomodoro Timer is a task manager that helps keep you focused by timing your daily tasks and giving you much needed breaks in between. You can get more done if you are aware of the time ticking away while you work.

Microsoft Translator hits iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch with support for 50 languages

If you’re traveling frequently or have a need to translate anything in your daily life, Microsoft is here to help. The software giant's new release, an app called Microsoft Translator, helps you translate words, phrases and sentences directly on your wrist.

Powered by the same technology used by Office, Bing, Skype, Internet Explorer as well as partners such as Twitter, Yelp, eBay, WeChat and many more, the app lets you speak to your Apple Watch and get an instant translation in a total of fifty languages.

Microsoft Translator is also supported on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad and is available at no charge in the App Store.

Operation Dracula review: a relentless vertical shoot-em-up from a 1980s dreams

As far as arcade shooters go, some of the most action-packed are the ones where you are being bombarded by a massive onslaught of firepower that you can't seem to get away from. Some call it the "bullet hell" genre.

Operation Dracula is a vertical shoot-em-up that can be considered a bullet hell game because your entire screen is filled with firepower coming at you from every angle. We've got a full game review of Operation Dracula for you today.

Google Maps for iOS adds a new night mode for navigation

Google Maps has entered the dark ages...literally. A new night mode is now available for night time navigation, which should make navigation a lot easier on the eyes while inside of a dark vehicle cabin.

For anyone who has tried to use navigation while riding around in the dark, you'll quickly understand why the presence of a night mode is such a much-needed feature. Instead of having to dim the screen to near unreadable levels, the new night mode will make your iPhone's screen easier to view during nighttime driving sessions.

3D photo editor Matter goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Apple has just named Pixite's "Matter" its App of the Week for this week. This means that from now through next Thursday, you’ll be able to download the impressive 3D photo editor for free on both iPhone and iPad—a solid savings of $1.99.

For those unfamiliar with Matter, it allows users to add realistic 3D objects to their photos, and customize them using a variety of effects. Sharing is quick and easy, and the app comes with a number of sample backgrounds for you to play with.

HBO NOW updated with support for Google’s Chromecast

HBO pushed out an update for its NOW mobile app this morning, brining the iOS client to version 1.2. According to the change log, the release includes performance improvements, and support for push notifications and Chromecast devices.

That latter item is by far the most significant, given that HBO's streaming service has been exclusive to Apple TV since it launched in April. Now, those with Google's $30 HDMI dongle can enjoy HBO NOW content on their big screen TVs.

Outlook’s Apple Watch app updated with replying from your wrist, all-new glance and more

Outlook's Apple Watch has been updated Thursday with the ability to reply to emails directly from your wrist using Siri dictation, emoji or canned responses, among other new features and enhancements.

The new features make the wearable app much more functional than before. Before today, Outlook for Apple Watch only allowed you to see your emails but not reply to or interact with them.

Other changes in Outlook 1.3.5 for iOS include a glance with upcoming appointments and incoming emails, rich notifications that can be interacted with and other tidbits.

Adidas buys fitness app maker Runtastic for $239 million

Runtastic has been acquired by sportswear giant Adidas, the company's CEO and co-founder Florian Gschwandtner announced in a blog post on Wednesday. The deal is said to be worth somewhere in the neighborhood of 220 million euros (or $239 million).

For those unfamiliar with Runtastic, it develops and maintains a number of fitness apps for iOS, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry. It has also dabbled in hardware with a GPS watch, a heart rate monitor, and the recently-released Orbit fitness tracker.

Apple’s TestFlight app receives support for native Watch apps and iOS 9’s App Thinning technologies

TestFlight, an online service for over-the-air installation and testing of mobile applications that was purchased by Apple last year, in its most recent version 1.2 update has introduced support for testing upcoming iOS 9 features, including native Apple Watch applications with watchOS 2.

In addition, the application has been optimized with support for App Thinning, a set of Apple-provided optimization technologies designed to reduce download sizes of iOS 9 and Apple Watch apps by tailoring app delivery to the capabilities of the user’s particular device.

Facebook launches live video streaming for celebrities

Facebook on Wednesday announced a new video streaming feature for its Facebook Mentions app called Live. The feature allows Mentions users, which is currently limited to "verified public figures using Pages," to quickly and easily share live video.

With Live, Facebook's Vadim Lavrusik explains, celebrities can take fans behind the scenes, host Q&As, share announcements and more. And the social network says that The Rock, singer Luke Bryan and many others have already signed on to participate.

WhatsApp for iPhone receives a dozen new features in latest update

Not to be outdone by rival Viber which rolled out animated stickers, location sharing, a brand new keypad and other enhancements in yesterday's refresh, Facebook-owned WhatsApp today pushed a substantial update to its App Store application.

WhatsApp for iPhone now features richer notifications settings with per-chat rules and mute options, a new swipe gesture to mark chats as read or unread, the ability to directly share contacts from the Contacts app and locations from Apple Maps, backups for your videos and much more.