App Updates

Endless snowboarding odyssey Alto’s Adventure receives its first major content update

Alto's Adventure, an endless snowboarding odyssey for iOS unlike any other, has received its first major content update after making its App Store debut in February of this year.

Available free to existing users, the 'Workshop' update includes support for Apple's 64-bit processors, iOS's low-level graphics frameworks called Metal, along with a bunch of other new things.

Alto's Adventure 1.1 also packs in six new languages and a bunch of fun new items available via the in-game workshop, such as helmets, llama horn, wingsuit timer and more.

Google Maps revamps transit directions, adds image galleries and new sharing options

Google Maps for iOS has been refreshed in the App Store with a trio of useful new features ahead of a brand new native Street View for iOS app due in mid-August.

Google Maps for iPhone and iPad now sports revamped public transport directions while adding new choices for alternate routes and real-time data about your arrival time.

Newly added sharing features include options to post Google Maps locations to Facebook and send map URLs to your Facebook Messenger friends. There's also a brand new image gallery which presents various photos of a location in a grid view.

Fleksy Keyboard goes free forever, now auto-suggests themes, extensions and more as you type

Fleksy Keyboard, one of the first and arguably the most popular third-party keyboards available in the App Store, has been slashed to zero bucks permanently. The iPhone and iPad app used to retail for 99 cents a pop and went free briefly just twice following its App Store debut last fall.

What's more, the new price point is valid forever moving forward. Those who have previously bought the app will be treated to new themes and extension slots worth $8 as a gift. In addition to the price cut, developers have refreshed Fleksy Keyboard with some notable personal assistant-like features.

Infuse 3.4 is live with folders, background audio, landscape lock on iPhone and more

Infuse 3, an elegant and versatile player for virtually any video file format you can think of created by jailbreak developer FireCore, has picked up a slew of new features and improvements in Monday's version 3.4 update.

Infuse 3.4 makes it easy to organize your videos using folders, delete ones you no longer need from the ticket view, continue playing audio in the background after leaving the app to quickly check your email, and more.

Skype for iPhone updated with location sharing

Skype for iPhone has picked up the ability to share a location with others in its latest update in the App Store.

The Microsoft-owned VoIP program was bumped to version 5.14 Monday to make it trivial to share your current geographical location, or your favorite place, with friends and family using the paperclip icon in the chat window. Moreover, this edition of Skype introduces unspecified improvements.

The new version of Skype arrived hot on the heels of a recent update which brought out handy web link previews in the chat window and replying with dictation on Apple Watch.

SoundCloud for iOS gains shuffling, related tracks, sharing improvements and more

SoundCloud, a Swedish online audio distribution platform based in Berlin, today issued a refresh to its gorgeous iPhone and iPad application, in time for the summer.

SoundCloud 3.10.0 for iOS now lets you play related tracks, shuffle liked tracks and audio files in your playlists, add or remove tracks directly from your playlists, plus share directly from the search screen and your list of liked tracks.

Tweetbot’s iOS app gains alerts for Quoted Tweets, support for longer Direct Messages and more

About ten days since Tweetbot for OS X brought these new features to the Mac, now Tweetbot for iPhone and iPod touch has picked up support for notifications related to Twitter’s new embedded quoting feature while laying groundwork for longer Direct Messages, a feature Twitter announced almost a month weeks ago but has yet to enable on its end.

Also, Tweetbot 3.6.2 for Mac now produces crisper video thanks to improved video upload quality.

Readdle launches Scanner Pro 6 with automatic scanning, Scan Radar feature and more

Ukrainian developer Readdle has a number of fine productivity apps in the App Store, among them a scanning app called Scanner Pro.

Today, Readdle released Scanner Pro 6, the next major version which adds interesting new features like automatic scanning, the ability to find documents for scanning in Photos, cool Automatic Scanning mode and more.

This update is free to existing users and they're celebrating the launch by discounting Scanner Pro for new users to just $2.99, more than half off its regular asking price.

Snapchat rolls out one-tap viewing of Snaps and Stories, Add Nearby feature and more

Snapchat no longer requires you to tap and hold to view a Snap or Story, the company announced in a blog post Wednesday. According to developers, a new version of Snapchat, which is rolling out now on the App Store, lets you view Snaps and Stories with a single tap.

The new tap-and-view experience means your thumb will be no longer tiring while sorting through a bunch of Snaps or watching a several-hundred-second Story.

GarageBand for Mac gains Force Touch and Apple Music Connect support, new content and more

Tuesday, Apple issued a substantial update to GarageBand for Mac, its own application that allows users to create music or podcasts. In GarageBand 10.1, users can take advantage of built-in Apple Music Connect support to share directly from GarageBand to Apple Music's Connect feature, basically a repository for artists to share content with music lovers like lyrics, behind-the-scenes videos, photos, concert recordings, studio sessions and more.

In addition, the application now takes advantage of a third dimension provided by pressure-sensing trackpads on the new twelve-inch MacBook and fifteen-inch MacBook Pro while providing several other enhancements.

Pinterest begins rolling out Buyable Pins on iOS

Pinterest has begun rolling out Buyable Pins to iPhone and iPad users, reports TechCrunch. The feature, which was unveiled earlier this month, allows retail partners to add a buy button to pins that let users purchase products directly on Pinterest.

The button shows up on Rich Pins, which have much more information than typical Pins. Transactions are handled by Stripe, and Pinterest says it's working with companies like Apple to ensure it doesn't ever have to touch credit card information.

SoundHound for iOS now plays nice with Apple Music and Beats 1

SoundHound, an audio recognition service, today announced a refresh for its iPhone and iPad application with Apple Music integration, a new Beats 1 Radio row within song pages and other enhancements.

With Apple Music and Beats 1 integration, users can stream music discovered through SoundHound on Apple Music and enjoy the ability to listen to the streaming radio broadcast provided by Beats 1.

These new features will go live in over a hundred Apple Music countries via a free update to Soundhound's iOS app, which will be rolling out later today.