App Updates

Facebook Messenger update prevents scammers from racking up your phone bill

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Facebook has begun rolling out an important update to its Facebook Messenger application on Monday, after it was found the app was susceptible to a security flaw forcing users’ iPhones to place expensive calls automatically - racking up a large bill.

Developer Andrei Neculaesei was first to identify the issue last week, saying scammers use the Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) scheme called ”tel” to trigger a call without a user knowing. Usually clicking on a link containing a phone number will take a user to Safari and then prompt them to confirm the call. However, apps like Facebook Messenger, Google+, Gmail, and FaceTime, make the call without asking the user.

Spotify now lets you save whole albums to Your Music and access more album info

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 25, 2014

Spotify, arguably the most popular subscription-based music streaming service, on Monday refreshed its free iOS client with a few improvements.

In addition to adding Finnish language support that recently appeared in Spotify's Android client, the updated software now makes it possible to save albums to Your Music, from any album page. Moreover, you can now easily check out album release dates and total play time, too.

Apple updates Pages, Numbers, Keynote, and iMovie to improve iCloud compatibility

Sébastien Page ∙ August 21, 2014

Apple just updated several of its applications for both iOS and OS X with the usual "stability improvements and bug fixes", but after looking into it more closely, it seems there is more to the updates than the changelog shows, with apparent iCloud compatibility improvements.

Pages, Numbers, and Keynote have all been updated for both iOS and OS X, while iMovie has only been updated for OS X so far. All updates show as "stability improvements and bug fixes," except iMovie for Mac, which "includes iCloud compatiblity improvements for iMovie Theater."

If these update look benign on the surface, it seems they do improve iCloud compatibility...

Tempo becomes the first iPhone calendar app with Uber integration

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

After adding in Reminders and Waze integration, Mailbox support and other new features to Tempo earlier in the summer, now developers behind the smart iOS calendar application have issued another update making it the first iPhone calendar app that integrates with Uber, the tremendously popular ride-sharing service.

Uber integration is another way Tempo ensures that you’re never late to that crucial meeting.

Unlike the vast majority of alternatives to the stock iOS Calendar app offered in the App Store, Tempo sets itself apart with a built-in smart assistant which anticipates what you need and surfaces that information right in the calendar, when you need it most...

Google Play Music update improves music management, accessibility and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 21, 2014

A month and a half ago, the Internet giant Google pushed a nice update which added several useful enhancements to its Play Music for iOS client, including support for gapless playback, playlist downloading and other nice-to-haves.

Today, another Play Music update has dropped. Available free in the App Store, the new 1.3.2.2559 build brings out even more useful stuff like ability to remove cloud tracks on the go, improved playback and accessibility features and more...

Vine finally lets you upload clips from your Camera roll

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 9, 2018

Vine has announced a significant update for its iOS client today, which will add a number of new features to the popular video-sharing app. The release includes a wide range of new editing tools, as well as the long-requested ability to upload clips from your device's Camera Roll.

A majority of today's changes fall within the app's new camera section, which aims to make it faster and easier to get your Vines just the way you want them. And with new Preview and Undo buttons, you can quickly screen your last clip, and decide whether you want to keep it or not...

SoundHound updated, now lets you add songs to Rdio playlists

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 20, 2014

Rdio users, rejoice!

The popular song-matching service, SoundHound, has updated its iOS application with the ability to connect with Rdio and add matched songs to an Rdio playlist.

You can then listen to them instantly in the Rdio app. The free SoundHound mobile client is available in the App Store. But SoundHound seems to be playing a catch-up game to rivals such as Shazam.

As a reminder, Shazam implemented Rdio integration last December. But unlike SoundHound's, Shazam's implementation not only lets you play recognized tracks through Rdio, but also play back full songs without switching apps...

Mailbox for iPhone and iPad gains Drafts

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 29, 2018

Less than 24 hours after releasing the first public beta of Mailbox for Mac bringing new snooze options and support for the Drafts folder, the Dropbox-owned startup has updated its Mailbox mobile client with the same capability.

Sitting at version 2.2, Mailbox now predictably allows you to access your work-in-progress messages stored in Drafts across desktop and mobile apps for Mac, iOS and Android...

Parallels Desktop 10 is out with OS X Yosemite support, better battery life, and more

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Parallels this morning announced the launch of Parallels Desktop 10 for Mac, the highly anticipated update for its popular virtual environment software. The new version is available now as an upgrade for existing users, and will launch on August 26th for new customers.

For those unfamiliar with it, Parallels Desktop makes it extremely easy to install and run alternate operating systems on your Mac such as Windows or Linux. And today's update adds in [experimental] support for OS X Yosemite, better battery life, and other improvements...

Facebook’s Slingshot picks up new features

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 29, 2018

It's been nearly two months now since Facebook rolled out its would-be Snapchat-killer, called Slingshot.

Thus far, the software looks like it could be going the way of Poke, the social networking giant's pathetic take on the popular ephemeral messaging software.

Surprisingly enough, Slingshot currently enjoys a three-star rating out of five stars in the App Store.

Besides, the app doesn't seem to be languishing as the team released its first major update three weeks ago bringing out much-needed new features, including a My People tab and brand new reactions.

Today, a second major update has landed on the App Store. Available to download for free, Slingshot 1.2 improves your experience by letting you jump straight to the list of shots by tapping a notification and more...

Xbox One SmartGlass now lets you install Xbox games remotely, live TV streaming due soon

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

Software giant Microsoft today pushed a nice little update to its Xbox One companion app for the iPhone and iPad, SmartGlass.

Version 2.8 is now available in the App Store, providing a handy new feature letting you buy and install Xbox games and other content remotely, from your iOS device.

Moreover, the application now supports in-app browsing of new and popular games, add-ons and bundles.

You can even rate your favorite Xbox game clips and activity feed entries, as well as view shared Activity Feed and Game Clips — all within the app. And in a future SmartGlass update due later this year, Microsoft will add ability to stream live TV locally to your iPhone or iPad...

Camera+ picks up improvements ahead of ‘cool new things’ in forthcoming iOS 8 update

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

My favorite iPhone photography application, Camera+ by a developer called Tap tap tap, has received a few very nice additions ahead of an upcoming iOS 8 update.

Camera+ 5.2, a free update for existing users, contains several bug fixes while introducing a new adjustment to the Vignette effect, improvements to the Soft Focus and Film Grain effects and the Clarity Pro feature and more.

Oh, and this version has fixed broken Flickr sharing stemming from a recent change to the way third-party apps like Camera+ access Yahoo's photo-sharing service...