App Updates

Apple refreshes Final Cut Pro X, Motion and Compressor with new features

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 9, 2016

Monday, Apple announced a major update to its pro-grade video editing and processing programs for the Mac — Final Cut Pro X, Motion and Compressor — with a bevy of new features for motion graphics and key enhancements available to accelerate video editing, packaging and delivery.

“From Hollywood blockbuster directors to first time movie makers, Final Cut Pro X is changing the way we edit movies today,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing. “The updated Final Cut Pro X, Motion and Compressor make it even easier to edit, title and package everything from short videos to feature-length films.”

Final Cut Pro 10.2 introduces new easy to use 3D titles, improved masking for color grading and effects, and native support for more camera formats, as well as GPU-accelerated RED RAW processing.

You really need to check out the reimagined Product Hunt for iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 9, 2015

Product Hunt, an increasingly popular place for sharing and discovering new products, on Thursday released a major refresh to its somewhat underwhelming iPhone application. Lo and behold, the new Product Hunt 2.0 for iPhone is here.

First and foremost, the app brings out a beautifully revamped interface that's both super clean and useful, with snazzy animations that elevate the experience.

More importantly, new features have been introduced that let like-minded individuals like yourself create curated product collections to share with others, bookmark products for later and more.

Google’s Snapseed photo editor goes 2.0 with major redesign, new filters and more

Cody Lee ∙ April 9, 2015

Google on Thursday pushed out an update for its mobile photo editor Snapseed, bringing the app to version 2.0. The new build is a significant one, as it brings about a number of changes including a brand new design, new features, additional filters and more.

Those fond of Snapseed's simple, gesture-based interface may not like the new design. Google's really moved things around here, so it's certainly going to take some getting used to. New features like spot repair and brush tool, however, are welcome additions.

Twitter gives Periscope verified badges, Follower Only mode, new Global section and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 8, 2015

Twitter on Wednesday issued a second update to its live-broadcasting app on iOS, Periscope for iPhone. The new build brings an additional three new features along with a few enhancements and bug fixes making your experience more pleasing than before.

In addition to easier blocking and major scrolling improvements, a new Follower Mode can be now turned on before starting a broadcast to limit comments to only viewers that you follow.

Instagram announces new ‘Fade’ and ‘Color’ tools

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Instagram on Tuesday announced that it would be adding two new options to the suite of tools in its photo editing app. Those tools are 'Fade' and 'Color,' and they will allow users to further tweak the appearance of their photos before sharing them on the social network.

More specifically, Color will bring about the ability to tint the highlights or shadows within photos with choices of yellow, orange, red, pink, purple, blue, cyan and green. Fade, on the other hand, will enable users to bring a quiet tone to their photos by softening colors.

1Password for Mac gains 2-factor code generation

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

After releasing a massive update to its freemium iPhone and iPad password-keeping application back in January, developer AgileBits on Tuesday posted a matching update on the Mac App Store, bringing support for two-factor authentication codes and a bunch of other improvements to its 1Password for Mac utility.

In addition to two-step verification, the app has gained the ability to email and start a FaceTime Audio or Skype call by clicking numbers in the Identities section and given some existing features “a big power-up.”

Hotel reviews from Trip Advisor, Booking.com come to Apple Maps

Jake Smith ∙ April 5, 2015

Next time you're driving through Chicago looking for a nice place to stay - Apple has you covered. Over the last several days, the Cupertino company has added more hotel review data to its Apple Maps app on iOS, as it works to continue bolstering Maps to compete with the king, Google Maps.

The new data for hotel reviews isn't being served up by Apple itself, outsourcing the work courtesy of Trip Advisor and Booking.com, along with reviews from Yelp that have been there for quite sometime.

Skype adding 12 new languages to iPhone app, Skype Qik gains 8 new video effects

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 30, 2018

Microsoft today announced a pair of updates to its Skype for iPhone and Skype Qik for iPhone apps. Skype 5.12 for the iPhone will introduce a dozen new localizations over the coming week while Skype's Qik app has added eight fancy video effects.

“Within the coming week” Skype users on the iPhone will be able to take advantage of additional country support with Croatian, Slovak, Catalan, Vietnamese, Thai, Hindi, Greek, Hungarian, Indonesian, Malay, Turkish and Estonian languages.

Twitterrific 5.1 gains drafts, better muffling & muting and much more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 9, 2018

Twitterrific, a slick Twitter client from The Iconfactory available for the iPhone, iPad and Mac, has been refreshed in the App Store on Thursday.

At last, the iPhone and iPad client lets you save unfinished messages so you can work on them later. A major update, Twitterrific 5.1 also includes the ability to view and manage your list of muffled usernames, URLs and hashtags.

You can now add keywords to the terms that can be filtered or turn any muffled term into a full mute: just swipe left on the item in the list and select the Mute option.

Waze now tells you how long you’ll be stuck in a traffic jam

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 2, 2015

Waze, a crowdsourced GPS, maps and traffic service owned by Google, has refreshed its iPhone and iPad application with a few new features.

Now available at no cost in the App Store, the new Waze 3.9.4 is much faster than before. More importantly, it has added a cool new feature which tells you how long you'll be stuck in a traffic jam.

Other features like navigation, route select and re-routing have been sped up significantly, an important feat given that you'll be using the app while driving.

Scanbot 3.7 arrives with Slack and Wunderlist integrations and new document naming feature

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 2, 2015

Scanbot for iOS, the sleek and powerful document scanner and QR reader, has received an update Thursday.

The new version expands on the list of third-party integrations with the addition of Wunderlist and Slack apps while introducing a brand new document naming feature across both iOS and Android editions.

Available on a freemium basis, Scanbot 3.7 also includes optimized performance, functionality improvements, enhanced manual sharing and more.

Twitter’s Periscope app receives its first update with live broadcast improvements

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 2, 2015

Twitter's live-streaming software, Periscope, was released in the App Store a week ago and today the app has received its first feature update. Periscope 1.0.1 fixes issues with chat not working sometimes and addresses performance concerns when watching broadcasts with many users.

Now people you follow who are live-broadcasting appear at the top of your feed, allowing you to jump into the action with just a tap. Video streaming and in-app maps showing broadcaster's location have been enhanced as well.