App Updates

Shazam brings tighter Spotify/Rdio integration, streamlined charts and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 9, 2015

Shazam, a media identification service, on Monday released an update to its iOS application in the App Store.

The enhancements include deeper integration with Spotify and Rdio with the ability to listen to full tracks and rate them with the player, more reliable saving of your Shazams to a dedicated playlist in Spotify or Rdio, consolidated charts and other goodies.

Both the free Shazam 8.3 app for the iPhone and iPad and the $7 Shazam Encore have received these new features in their respective updates.

Skype for iPhone introduces new chat picker, brings back URI support and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 9, 2015

Microsoft today released an update to Skype for iPhone in the App Store. In addition to general improvements, Skype 5.10 for iPhone lets you quickly call people and groups straight from a new chat picker: just tap on a new chat icon and choose who to talk to.

The update enhances Skype's dialer with a useful auto-complete feature that searches for Skype contacts as you’re entering a phone number.

Most importantly, the new version brings Skype URI support back to iPhones so third-party developers can again write apps that integrate with Skype.

SwiftKey gains iPad gesture typing, 800+ predictive emojis, key click sounds and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 5, 2015

SwiftKey, the popular third-party keyboard for the iPhone and iPad, has received a nice refresh today. The new version brings out support for eleven more languages, enables gesture typing on iPads, implements a new picker which provides access to more than 800 emoticons along with emoji predictions, adds the option to accompany each tap of a key with a click sound and other goodies.

Paper by FiftyThree makes all tools free in iPad app

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 5, 2015

App and accessory maker FiftyThree on Thursday announced a big change in their business model. All the creative tools in Paper for iPad that used to be locked behind In-App Purchases are now available at no cost, including Sketch, Outline, Write, Color and Mixer.

These essential tools used to cost four bucks when purchased together, or $0.99 each when bought individually.

“By making Paper accessible to all, we hope to see more great ideas come to life – on Mix and everywhere,” developers said.

WhatsApp gains improved image chooser, new Call button and Dynamic Type support

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 31, 2023

WhatsApp for iPhone got updated Thursday with three noteworthy improvements. For starters, it now honors your preferred font size set in Settings > General > Accessibility > Larger Text so all text labels throughout the app get rendered in your chosen typeface size.

There's also a new call button in chats. Lastly, a built-in image chooser has been redesigned so you can now quickly add recent images from your Camera Roll right after tapping on the camera icon in chats.

Twitter, Google reportedly ink deal to put tweets in search results

Jake Smith ∙ February 4, 2015

Twitter and Google have struck a deal that will allow the microblogging network's 140-character tweets to appear in search results. The deal is believed to help Twitter reach more non-users, and at the same time, allow searchers to gain more real-time information.

Bloomberg reports that tweets will begin appearing in Google within the first half of this year, and tweets will start to be visible in Google’s search results as soon as they’re posted, thanks to a deal giving the Web company access to Twitter’s firehose.

Under Armour acquires MyFitnessPal, Endomondo apps for a combined $560 million

Jake Smith ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

Sports apparel company Under Armour announced on Wednesday that it's adding two mobile fitness apps to its arsenal: MyFitnessPal for $475 million and Endomondo for $85 million. The two apps could be what the company needs to continue to go after the Nike+ app that's relatively popular on the App Store.

Tweetbot 2 for Yosemite coming soon, will be free update

Jake Smith ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

Tapbots, the development firm behind popular Twitter application Tweetbot, announced on Wednesday the app will soon see an update for OS X Yosemite.

Along with a teaser image for the update, which shows a more transparent user interface to better gel with Yosemite, Tapbots said the update would be available to existing customers for free.

Videos in Instagram for iPhone now play on loop

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 4, 2015

I rarely, if ever, publish videos on Instagram, but those who do should know that the latest version 6.5 update, which rolled out this morning to Instagram's iPhone app, has quietly enabled looping videos.

Previously, you had to tap on videos to pause and resume playback. And as first spotted by AppAdvice, the option to set sound to play when the device’s ringer is on or to be always off has been removed as well.

Although Instagram videos now automatically replay in your feed, the company insists that this won't affect how much data the app uses.

Twitter rolls out instant timeline for new users, curating tweets automatically

Jake Smith ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

Twitter is working to cater to new users and make it easier for them to get started with the service with an instant timeline feature. Instead of requiring new users to go out and follow Twitter users on their own, the instant timeline feature brings in content without going through the traditional setup process.

After Twitter scans your contacts in the signup phase, it will automatically present new Twitter users tweets based on who their contacts are and who they follow on Twitter. Essentially, Twitter is guessing which accounts and topics might interest you.

Revamped Yahoo for iPhone brings interactive magazines, Weather and News Digest

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 29, 2015

Ever since Marissa Mayer took the CEO job in the summer of 2012, mobile software and digital magazines have been a big part of her turnaround efforts at Yahoo.

Having released new apps like News Digest and revamped key ones such as Mail, Search and Weather, the pioneering Internet company's focus now sharpens on its namesake mobile app.

Now available in the App Store, the new Yahoo 6.0 sports a redesigned appearance with fresh new features that make it more in line with Yahoo's new digital strategy while resembling Flipboard in certain functional aspects.

SoundCloud for iPad finally gets its facelift, but drops the audio recording feature

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 29, 2015

SoundCloud, an online audio distribution platform hailing from Berlin, Germany, has finally refreshed its user interface on iPads, following a major revamp on the iPhone and iPod touch side last summer.

And just like the iPhone revamp, the more visual iPad experience with an emphasis on album art in the new SoundCloud 3.7.1 comes with a major disappointment as the audio recording feature has now been killed.