App Updates

FiftyThree launching new toolkit for iPad drawing app Paper next month

FiftyThree, the makers of the popular iPad drawing software Paper which works with their Pencil stylus, on Tuesday announced a new set of drawing tools coming to Paper in the form of an app update due next month.

The next-generation of tools, dubbed ThinkKit, will dramatically speed up the creation of diagrams, charts and presentation sketches, the company argued.

Wunderlist gets smarter with folders, Quick Add for iPhone, overhauled design and more

German developer 6Wunderkinder just pushed a major new update to its excellent list-making app, Wunderlist.

Billed as one of the biggest updates to Wunderlist ever, both the iOS and OS X edition of the software have received a brand new look stemming from a refreshing pop color and twelve hand-crafted pictograms. The facelift simplifies the Home view and makes it a lot easier on the eyes.

Wunderlist users on the web, Windows and Chrome can expect to see the new look interface over the course of the next few weeks.

OneNote for iPhone gains note previews, Mac edition improves collaboration

Thursday, Microsoft made the iPhone and Mac edition of OneNote even better by adding previews to help quickly find notes on the Apple smartphone while bringing out more notebook sharing enhancements on the Mac.

Note previews are comprised of a headline and an excerpt of the text and include a small thumbnail to help visualize its contents.

These snapshots are readily glanceable from your page list and your Recent Notes list and even incorporate handwriting so it's really easy to quickly locate the note you want to read or edit on the go.

Fleksy Keyboard gains Tips and Color Pops extensions, three new themes and more

Fleksy, a popular 99-cent keyboard for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices running iOS 8 or later, has received another newsworthy update following its equally massive Valentine's Day release.

A dedicated Tips Extension shows you helpful tips throughout the app while a new Color Pops Extension lets you customize the colors of your key pops (disable them completely via a transparancy slider).

BBM for iPhone updated with Touch ID and landscape support, ad removal and more

The latest BBM for iPhone update is now available for iOS users in the App Store, featuring support for Touch ID-based fingerprint verification, a custom PIN feature, the ability to remove in-app advertising through an In-App Purchase and more.

The free messaging software can now at last be locked with a passcode and Touch ID to keep your messages hidden from prying eyes. You can set how long you would like BBM to remain unlocked before a password is required again.

Full-width timeline photos launching today on Twitter for iPhone

Twitter, a 140-character messaging service and a social platform, today said that it's supersizing photos in mobile apps for the iPhone and Android.

Bigger photos should make browsing profiles on Twitter for iPhone “even more fun” while allowing for more visual impact, according to a tweet issued Wednesday.

The visual types are going to have a field day seeing full-bleed images in their timeline. Suffice it to say, this is a cool improvement compared to small thumbnails that needed to be tapped on to enlarge.

Twitter for iPhone and iPad is available free in the App Store.

Tempo gets a facelift, now optimized for iPhone 6 screens and with reminder improvements

Tempo Smart Calendar for iOS received a significant update today. The iPhone and iPad application now has a new look and feel and takes full advantage of the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus resolutions while introducing several improvements to reminders.

Moreover, the team has improved Tempo's localization to several languages and made other notable change that elevate your overall experience with the software.

Screenshots show WhatsApp for iOS’ calling feature currently in beta

Italian blog iPhoneItalia has posted a series of screenshots showing the new calling feature currently in beta testing for WhatsApp, the hugely popular communications app owned by Facebook.

WhatsApp has been rolling out the functionality to select users as part of a beta testing program over the past few months, with plans to release it to the public in the near future. Since more texts in the world are being sent through WhatsApp than traditional SMS, the new VOIP calling from WhatsApp could be a very big deal.

Google updates Sheets, Slides and Docs for iOS with doc copying, accessibility improvements

Thursday, Google issued updates to its trio of cloud-powered productivity apps in the App Store: Sheets, Slides and Docs. These apps let you create, edit and collaborate with others on spreadsheets, documents and presentations and now include the ability to make a copy of a document, a feature previously reserved for the web UI.

Moreover, a new accessibility settings menu appears within Slides and Sheets when VoiceOver is enabled in Settings.

Asphalt 8 gains car decals, new Ferraris and car collections, revamped garage and more

This morning, French games maker and publisher Gameloft pushed out an update to Asphalt 8: Airborne, its arcade-y racer for the iPhone and iPad.

The download brings out car decals (the most requested feature) and five new Ferrari sports cars that Gameloft says you'll be able to drive “soon”. On top of that, the garage has been redesigned from the ground up and there are new car collections to enjoy now.

The update is available now on iOS and is coming soon on Android and Windows 8.

Waze is rolling out AMBER alerts in US

Waze, a popular crowdsourced GPS, maps and traffic service, announced on Wednesday that it's rolling out AMBER alerts in the United States.

Realized through a partnership with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the move brings AMBER alerts to Waze users when a child in their area has been abducted or gone missing.

Facebook’s forgotten Slingshot app introduces Explore section

Following a major version 2.0 update last December and another one that added swiping between back and front cameras, things have been quiet on the Slingshot front.

But Wednesday, the Facebook-owned disappear messaging app has received another update bringing out a new Explore section in an effort to increase usage time.

Slingshot is available free in the App Store.