The Google Maps app received an update today that includes a handful of new features, the most noteworthy of them being support for Apple Watch.
Upon launching the app on your Apple Watch, you will be presented two buttons: one for directions to your home, another for directions to your work, two locations that can easily be set up from within Google Maps on iPhone. A list of recent routes is also displayed on the screen to quickly browse and access your latest requested directions.
Twitterrific 5, The Iconfactory's freemium Twitter client for iOS and OS X platforms, has received its iOS 9-focused update this morning.
The app is now fully optimized for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices running iOS 9 and supports new Slide Over and Split View multitasking modes on compatible iPads. If you own an iPad Air 2 or an iPad mini 4, you can now run Twitterrific and another app side-by-side in iOS 9's new Split View mode.
This is a great feature as you can now pin Twitterrific on the right and configure it to use Safari as your browser instead of in-app. In addition to iOS 9-specific support, this edition of Twitterrific includes other changes and improvements listed further below.
Spark, Readdle's excellent iPhone app for Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, iCloud and other email services, is now compatible with iOS 9 features, including 3D Touch on new iPhones.
Spark 1.2 for iPhone also includes the ability to select any email account or alias as default FROM: address for new emails. The app now lets you customize canned replies to your liking and includes a host of other improvements.
Pixelmator, the tremendously popular Photoshop replacement available for both iOS and OS X platforms, today gained an update which adds several new features on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices.
For starters, Pixelmator 2.1 for iOS is now fully compatible with iOS 9 (in fact, it's now an iOS 9-only app) and supports Slide Over and Split View iPad multitasking modes.
With Split View on compatible iPads, customers can use Pixelmator and any other app at the same time. More importantly, the app now opening and editing images in 8K resolution.
Developer Flexibits today rolled out an update to Fantastical for Mac, its reminder and calendar replacement available on both iOS and OS X.
Fantastical 2.1, the first major update to the Mac edition, features full support for Macs running OS X El Capitan ahead of its release next week, including support for El Capitan's split-screen multitasking.
A host of other changes and improvements have found their way into this release of Fantastical, such as swiping to delete events on El Capitan systems.
People on Yosemite and earlier versions can now scroll to a specific day or week in the Week and Month views with a trackpad and organize Reminders by list, but that's just tip of the iceberg.
Now that the watchOS 2 software update has released to the general public, a healthy debate is developing amongst my techie friends about the benefits that native apps are supposed to enable.
The long story short, native apps run directly on the device and talk to its underlying hardware and sensors so most tasks should feel faster and smoother than before.
For instance, apps can now play sounds through the Apple Watch's speakerphone and take voice input from its built-in mic. To test how this works in the real world, I've spent a few hours with iTranslate by Sonico Mobile GmbH, arguably the best translator app you can put on your wrist to overcome language barriers, Star Trek-style.
A Twitter update last week was supposed to make the mobile iPhone and iPad app play nice with iOS 9's new text-based replies that are now available to third-party apps directly from notification banners, except it didn't.
Tuesday, the micro-blogging startup issued a new version of the iOS client which fixes last week's botched update.
Now iOS 9 users of Twitter's mobile app can take advantage of full support for the Quick Reply feature from push notifications, the ability to access muted and blocked accounts in Settings and more.
Shazam, the popular music and media identification software, has rolled out a brand new 9.0 update to its iPhone and iPad application in the App Store, bringing out support for Spotlight Search on iOS 9, improved Bluetooth listening and other tidbits.
Shazam songs and artists can now be searched from the Home screen on iOS 9 and tapping a Shazam result takes you directly into that content within Shazam's mobile app.
Picture in Picture mode is one of the several productivity-focused enhancements on iPads with iOS 9. This handy feature allows you to watch a video while doing something else. The video plays in a small window overlaid on top of your apps so you can, for instance, browse the web while watching your favorite show at the same time.
Developers can decide whether or not they wish to enable Picture in Picture mode in their apps.
Thankfully, some of the well-known developers have already implemented Picture in Picture mode in their apps, including Hulu, Pocket, MLB.com at Bat and BBC iPlayer.
Dropbox joins the onslaught of app updates today, following Apple's release of iOS 9. The new version of the cloud-based storage provider's iOS client is labeled 4.0, and it brings about a number of improvements, including support for some of iOS 9's new features.
Folks with the new Dropbox app on iOS 9 will see Dropbox files in Spotlight search results. This includes recently used files, plus any marked for offline access, and a quick tap will open them in-app. Additionally, any Dropbox link you tap on will open within the app.
At its 'Hey Siri' media event last week, Apple demonstrated how the all-new 'A9' microchip ticking inside the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus has enough oomph to edit 4K video by showing off native 4K video editing on both new iPhones and the iPad Pro with iMovie.
Today, iMovie for iOS receives a timely refresh in the App Store to bring this feature to the latest devices along with more than a dozen other enhancements for older iDevices.
AgileBits on Wednesday pushed out a significant update for their 1Password iOS app, bringing the popular password manager to version 6.0. The release includes a number of new features and improvements, including a refreshed design and broader support for iOS 9.
The new look isn't a major departure from its predecessor, but it's instantly noticeable. The developers said that they felt 1Password had become a bit "too monochrome," so they decided to brighten things up. You'll also notice new category icons and an improved browser.