App Updates

Bing for iPad updated with new iOS 7 design, SkyDrive bookmarks and more

Microsoft has posted a significant update for Bing for iPad this evening, bringing the app to version 2.0. The update includes a number of improvements, including an all-new design for iOS 7 and new SkyDrive bookmarks.

The new design features flat images and text, and a lot of open space (good news though, it's not all white). And with the new bookmarks feature, you can now save bookmarks and images, and access them via SkyDrive...

1Password for Mac gains custom password fields, better search, auto-save and more

AgileBits' 1Password is my favorite program to manage all of my secure notes, passwords, logins, credit card information and other sensitive data.

The developer in mid-October updated the 1Password for iPhone and iPad client with local Wi-Fi sync, improved iCloud support and other tweaks and today a major new version of 1Password for Mac is scheduled to go live in the Mac App Store.

1Password 4.1 for Mac, which has been in beta testing for weeks, includes a host of changes and improvements, like the all-new custom password fields which vastly expands the software's usefulness, an improved search, an auto-save feature and lots more. Go past the fold for the full breakdown...

Skype updated with redesigned sign-in screen and other improvements

Microsoft has updated its iOS Skype client today, bringing the app to version 4.1.5. The update brings about a number of improvements including a redesigned sign-in screen, performance enhancements and bug fixes.

The new sign-in screen was designed to reduce startup time so you can start chatting quicker. And it accomplishes this by making it much easier for folks to login to the service with their Skype ID or Microsoft account...

Google updates Search iOS app with support for French, German and Japanese

Google issued a major mid-August update to its free Search app for the iPhone and iPad with new Google Now cards for flights, reservations, package delivery information and more.

And last month, the firm followed up with another sweet update that implemented 'OK Google' hands-free voice control functionality, support for single sign-on, reminders, alerts for delayed flights and upcoming appointments/events and other perks.

This afternoon, the Internet giant pushed a minor update which expands international support to three new languages: French, German and Japanese...

Foursquare releases its major iOS 7 overhaul

Foursquare, the location-based social networking website, has seen the September 18 release of iOS 7 come and go without a matching update to its iOS app on its part.

The company last month issued a fairly significant update that brought out a new recommendations feature which sends you useful location-based information, in real-time, like current specials at a restaurant.

Today's update finally brings Foursquare for iPhone and iPod touch on par with iOS 7 aesthetics. Foursquare is one of those apps that already had light design of sorts, but now it's much prettier and easier on the eyes...

2K Drive gets Mercedes-Benz and other new cars in Euro Car Pack update

2K Games in co-operation with Lucid Games released its iOS racing game on the App Store, 2K Drive, back in September. Featuring a number of real world vehicles, more than 25 tracks, over a hundred unique events and impressive graphics and gameplay, 2K Drive arrived as a nice alternative to Electronic Arts' Real Racing 3 and other racing titles available on Apple's platform.

In today's major Euro Car Pack content update, 2K Games has added five new cars to 2K Drive for iPhone and iPad, including the Mercedes-Benz vehicles, as well as new events...

Plex app updated with new look for iOS 7

Plex for iOS has been updated with an all new design taking cues from iOS 7. As expected, translucency, new buttons and icons are at the heart of this update, which doesn't really bring anything new in terms of features, besides a new player for music and videos and the ability to detect URLs on the clipboard for quick queuing to myPlex.

This update also brings the usual performance and stability improvements that are to be expected.

The app is a free upgrade for existing users. For everybody else, it is available in the App Store for $4.99.

Google Wallet gets single sign-on, lets you add credit card via iDevice camera

Following a significant delay, the Internet giant Google finally released its free Wallet for iPhone app back in September 2013. But in bringing its troubled mobile payment service to Apple’s platform, Google left out some of the capabilities found in Wallet's Android counterpart, such as the ability to make in-store payments with the app (not surprising considering iPhones lack NFC). The company added a few new features via two recent updates and today the Wallet app has been refreshed with some new functionality.

For starters, you can now instantly sign on to Wallet if you use other iOS apps from Google. Google previously rolled out this rather useful feature to its popular iOS apps, allowing you to, say, just tap your Google Account already used in Chrome in order to log in to the Gmail iOS app.

Go past the fold for additional details...

Infuse iOS media player gets thorough iOS 7 makeover, now free

I'm a big fan of Infuse, a versatile iOS media player by jailbreak developers FireCore, the same team that brought you aTV Flash Black for the Apple TV. Why? Because consuming video in file formats that are foreign to iOS is high maintenance. I'm just reluctant to waste my precious time figuring it all out. Infuse elegantly takes the pain out of messing with the dull file conversion, syncing and hunting for subtitles and replaces that whole mind job with an enjoyable movie-watching experience.

Infuse supports 14 non-iOS video formats, features high-performance playback for 1080p content and has auto-download of cover art and other metadata from TheMovieDB and TheTVDB, with one-tap subtitle downloads from OpenSubtitles.org. It also implements the best AirPlay subtitle streaming I have ever seen on an iOS device, hands down. That Infuse supports multiple audio tracks/subtitles and integrates with trakt.tv to scrobble plays back to your account, submit ratings and post shouts doesn't hurt either.

As not everyone was down with Infuse costing five bucks, not many people got a chance to enjoy Infuse goodies. Not anymore. Starting today, Infuse 2 for iPhone and iPad is free in the App Store, with advanced features available as an in-app purchase upgrade. Infuse used to rely heavily on skeuomorphism so I was curious to see how developers would transition its graphics-heavy interface to clean iOS 7 aesthetics...

Readdle rolls out PDF Expert 5 with iCloud, shared folders, new Review mode and more

The Ukraine-based app maker Readdle today released a big update to its PDF management app, PDF Expert for iPad. The software makes reading, annotating or editing PDF documents on your iPad a snap, with advanced capabilities like highlighting and handwriting support, the ability to sign your PDFs digitally (useful for contracts and other legal documents), insert text and stamps and more.

PDF Expert can even merge multiple PDF documents into one so it's much like the OS X Preview app feature-wise.

The fifth major iteration offers such enhancements as the new shared-folder capability, AirDrop sharing, a revamped file manager, iCloud storage and sync for your PDFs and lots more. The full breakdown is after the break...

Amazon Cloud Player now available in BMW Apps and MINI Connected-equipped vehicles

In time for today's rumored iOS in the Car launch across select Honda vehicles, Amazon has announced a new version of its free Cloud Player for iPhone and iPad which integrates straight with the dash. Cloud Player is the online retail giant's official cloud-storage client which lets you access your MP3 files residing in the Amazon cloud. Today's update makes it easy for music lovers to play songs through their BMW Apps and MINI Connected-equipped vehicles' in-dash system...

WhatsApp iOS 7 update is out with new design, broadcast lists and more

The highly anticipated iOS 7 update for WhatsApp finally landed in the App Store this afternoon. The update brings the iOS client for the popular messaging service to version 2.11.5, and includes an all new design, new features and various improvements.

One of the big new features in 2.11.5 is called broadcasts lists, and it allows you to send messages to many people simultaneously. So say for instance you have a list of your classmates or work colleagues, you can message them all at once instead of individually...