App Updates

Dropbox iOS 7 update: AirDrop, video uploads, full-screen iPad viewer and more

The popular cloud-storage startup Dropbox recently teased an image that gave us a glimpse into its iOS 7 makeover and we were pretty ecstatic about the new look. The good news is, the app is now live on the App Store - and it looks even better than we were hoping for!

Dropbox 3.0, now available for download on the iPhone and iPad, is a major redesign that feels right at home in iOS 7 because it honors Apple's guidelines.

It's not just the looks - Dropbox packs in some interesting and much welcomed new features like an improved PDF viewer, wireless AirDrop sharing (finally!) on iOS 7 devices, enhanced exporting and video importing, speed improvements and more.

As a bonus, full-screen viewer for photos and files is now but a tap away. Do give me a favor and jump past the fold to check out release notes and some really nice iPhone and iPad screenies...

Apple adds new features to iWork for iOS and Mac

As you know, Apple earlier in the month has promised to bring back dozens of recently-removed iWork features over the course of six months. In keeping with that promise, a barrage of updates has gone live Wednesday on the App Store and Mac App Store, adding new capabilities to the iWork suite of applications on Macs, iPhones, iPads and iPods.

This is the first major refresh since last month's downgrade stealthily removed arguably less popular though essential features in favor of cross-platform document compatibility between OS X, iOS and the web.

I've included full release notes and a couple of highlights right after the break...

WhatsApp’s iOS 7 update caught on video

Some time ago, a source with dubious credentials approached me with a bunch of claimed screenies of WhatsApp's long-anticipated iOS 7 refresh.

The genuine-looking images apparently showed off work-in-progress code, but I was reluctant to publish as the source's veracity couldn't be established with a satisfactory degree of certainty.

WhatsApp (free download) recently passed 300 million users and is quite popular.

With that in mind, one could imagine yours truly has since been on the lookout for more proof for it seemed to me there had to be some fire to go along this smoke. Finally, yesterday I stumbled upon a video hands-on which I felt was credible enough to warrant sharing here.

Without further ado, this is what WhatsApp's forthcoming iOS 7 refresh will look like...

Microsoft’s SkyDrive app redesigned for iOS 7

Continuing with today's line of app updates, Microsoft has posted a new version of its SkyDrive client for the iPhone and iPad. The update brings the app to version 4.0, and includes a handful of improvements and an all new design for iOS 7.

The client itself allows you to upload photos, videos and other files to Microsoft's cloud service. And today's release adds Camera Backup for automatic media uploads, improved integration with Office Mobile for iPhone and OneNote, and more...

Personal assistant Donna gets smarter meeting scheduling, Lock screen calling and more

Remember Donna, a third-party personal assistant for the iPhone by San Francisco-based Incredible Labs? Cody explained in June how the program takes advantage of such features as Smart Notifications, Anticipatory Calendar and GPS directions to manage your day efficiently to make sure you’re never late again.

Incredible Labs today pushed version 2.0, Donna's second major update since launch. As you could image, it brings a host of visual changes in line with the iOS 7 design principles.

But more importantly, version 2.0 takes Donna's prediction engine to the next level by prompting you when you need to leave for your appointment based on your location and ensuring that meeting participants are notified in a timely manner in case you’re running late after all...

ESPN rebrands ScoreCenter app, adds League ‘Clubhouses’ and other features

ESPN’s rather excellent and successful (43 million downloads thus far) ScoreCenter app for the iPhone and iPad has just gotten a tad better as today's update brings more video content, a new League Clubhouses feature, enhanced game pages and a brand new name. Yup, ESPN decided to rebrand ScoreCenter as SportsCenter, which better reflects its emphasis on all things sports.

SportsCenter now provides one-tap access to GameCast live scoring information while the Clubhouses feature collects content from various sports leagues into a single hub. As part of the update, the app's appearance has been refreshed slightly to better match the iOS 7 look and feel...

Pinterest app updated with new ‘Place Pins’ for planning trips

Pinterest announced last night that it's moving into new territory: travel. The popular photo-sharing service announced Place Pins, a new feature that will allow its users to share photos of the amazing places they’re visiting.

That new feature is now available in the iOS app. And with it, users can essentially plan vacations by easily adding maps to their pin boards, as well as other useful travel information like hotel addresses and phone numbers...

Tumblr redesigns iPhone and iPad app for iOS 7

Tumblr, the popular blogging platform that Yahoo acquired for north of $1 billion earlier in the year, has won me over with its sleek little iOS app.

I'm sure the millions of mobile bloggers would agree that Tumblr for iPhone lets really just about anyone publish their own news stories, images, videos and other content in just a few taps, without too much hassle or messing with complicated CMSs.

Though Tumblr wasn't immediately updated for the new iOS 7 look following the software's September 18 release, today's refresh has seen to that. Tumblr for iPhone and iPad has been bumped to version 3.5 and the biggest news is of course the revamped user interface which now follows overall aesthetics and animations of Apple's latest mobile OS.

As the saying goes, that's not all for Tumblr now has a few new tricks up its sleeve that allow for even easier mobile blogging. As per usual, I've included a few nice screenies along with some highlights after the break...

Tweetbot for Mac updated with quick notification replies, smoother scrolling

Tapbots has updated Tweetbot for Mac this afternoon, bringing the app to version 1.4. The update brings about the ability for OS X Mavericks users to reply to tweets or direct messages, directly from notifications.

The new app also includes a number of other welcome improvements as well, such as smoother scrolling (10.9 only) and faster refreshing on lists and saved searches. And as usual, there are a flurry of bug fixes...

Chrome for iOS updated with synced autofill, faster related image search

In line with its announcement last week, Google has updated its Chrome browser for iOS this afternoon, bringing the app to version 31.0.1650.18. The update includes several bug fixes, and a couple of handy new features.

The headlining new feature is called synced autofill, and it will auto-complete forms on the web that you’ve previously filled out while logged in under the same Google account. And there's also a new long-press function...

Readable’s iOS 7 redesign does away with RSS in favor of Tweeticles

Tweeticles? Say what? Just bear with me for a second...

I happen to consume a ridiculous amount of written content every day, fast-reading tons of news stories, review articles, op-ed pieces and what not. And when I'm out and about, I need a clean-reading app to do away with bells and whistles on web pages so I can focus on text, akin to iOS 7 Safari's Reader feature (this also helps save precious cellular bandwidth).

Readable for iPhone is one of the best apps for this purpose and with today's massive 2.0 update it's become way more useful.

For starters, it's moved away from HTML5 to native experiences as Readable has been re-written from the ground up with iOS 7 design and features in mind.

It's 64-bit, Dynamic Text aware, syncs across devices via iCloud, lets you navigate using one-tap pagination or read hands-free using 10x speed auto-scrolling, can share specific page positions, accesses your favorites and history offline and lots more.

Tweeticles?

Read on...

PayPal refreshed with iOS 7 design, bar code payments, Wallet improvements and more

PayPal has long had a nice albeit somewhat limited iPhone application available in the App Store. Back in September, they gave the software a much-needed redesign while expanding on feature set with useful new capability like the ability to pay at local shops, save offers and order ahead, to name a few.

Today, the team followed up with another feature-laden update. PayPal 5.2 for iPhone does away with skeuomorphism in favor for a much cleaner look that fits nicely into the overall iOS 7 aesthetics. More importantly, you are now free to withdraw cash, pay using QR codes and more...