App Updates

Tweetbot for Mac brings support for Twitter’s new quoting format and longer direct messages

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 22, 2015

Tweetbot for Mac with support for Yosemite's design and a plethora of other improvements hit earlier in the month as a free upgrade for existing users. Monday, its developer Tapbots issued the first maintenance refresh bringing out support for a pair of Twitter's recently introduced handy new features.

Tweetbot 2.0.1 for Mac now lets you quote tweets using Twitter's new embedded quoting feature. In addition, they've laid the groundwork for longer direct messages, a feature Twitter announced almost two weeks ago but hasn't implemented yet.

Swarm by Foursquare brings back mayorships

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 22, 2015

Foursquare unveiled Swarm in March of last year to give the location check-in ability of the main iOS app a brand new place of its own. Not all of the features of Foursquare for iOS have made it into the dedicated app, namely mayorships.

Arguably the most popular feature—especially if you're into the check-in game—mayorships are now back in the latest Swarm 2.5 for iPhone update.

You can earn them by checking in more than anyone else, which will unlock a shiny new mayor crown.

Dark Sky gets huge 5.0 update with new layout, advanced notifications and more

Cody Lee ∙ June 17, 2015

Popular weather client Dark Sky received a significant update today, bringing the app to version 5.0.0. The release includes several improvements like a new layout, advanced notifications, and the ability to collect pressure sensor data from compatible devices.

As for the new layout, it now features a detailed hour-by-hour 24 hour timeline, and you can create custom alerts for that timeline for things like temperature, wind and more. There's also a new weather reporter, so users can provide feedback on their weather.

Twitter for iOS and twitter.com to start autoplaying videos today—here’s how to turn it off

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 16, 2015

You could say I'm not a big fan of intrusive autoplay videos in apps, not to mention those pesky autoplay video ads on some websites. With that in mind, I was taken aback when Twitter announced today adding this very feature to its iPhone and iPad application and the web interface.

Now when you stumble upon a tweet with an embedded Vine, animated GIF or a clip in Twitter's native format, it will begin to play back automatically.

It's all part of the grand plan to shove advertising down our throat though Twitter would have us believe it's trying to make our lives easier so we could “keep up with the action without missing a tweet and get a better sense of what’s been shared instantly.”

Because autoplay videos suck your cellular data, this feature is a major concern in this age of non-unlimited plans. True, Twitter promises to opt out of autoplay anyone who's on a high-rate data plan, but I'd rather trust my instincts and revert back to the old-school click-to-play experience.

Thankfully, there's an easy way to do just that.

Modern Combat 5 and Spider-Man Unlimited gain ton of new content, customization and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

In addition to teasing Siegefall, its gorgeous-looking online multiplayer strategy game hitting iOS soon, Gameloft has also updated its two popular iPhone and iPad games with tons of new features in latest content updates.

For starters, a whole range of new Spideys are now available in Spider-Man Unlimited for the iPhone and iPad, in addition to official support for 'Made for iPhone' controllers and a bunch of other improvements.

At the same time, the popular first-person shooter Modern Combat 5: Blackout has gained new weapons and customization options, including weapon trinkets, weapon camps and several new killsigns.

Twitterrific adds support for Quoted Tweets, emoji and quick replies on Apple Watch and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 11, 2015

Twitterrific 5 for iOS now supports Twitter's Quoted Tweets format which was announced two months ago. Additionally, The Iconfactory's freemium Twitter client for the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Apple Watch has picked up half a dozen improvements and feature additions in the latest update, including settings options to display the tab bar at the bottom of the screen instead top of screen.

You can now display a timeline of your own recent tweets, marvel at revamped in-app alerts and—crucially—reply with emoji and canned responses right from your wrist.

Vine updated with new search feature for finding and discovering videos

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 14, 2018

Twitter updated its 6-second video sharing app Vine today, bringing the iOS client to version 3.4. The change log only includes a single item, but it's a significant one for users who have ever had trouble tracking down a clip: proper search.

Since its inception, or close to it, users have been able to search Vine for users and hashtags, but this returned extremely limited results, and made it nearly impossible to discover or track down older, popular videos. But that changes today.

eBay for Apple Watch launches, iOS app gains iPhone 6 and 1Password support and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 9, 2015

If you're buying or selling on eBay, you can now receive gentle alerts on your wrist for your tracked items on the popular e-commerce service.

Thanks to eBay's freshly updated iPhone application that now includes a WatchKit component, one of the most popular online marketplaces in the world is now available on the leading smartwatch on the market.

As TechCrunch reported Tuesday, the required Apple Watch-focused update to eBay's iOS app is available in the App Store now.

SwiftKey Keyboard updated with new Emoji, stability improvements to reduce crashes

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

SwiftKey Keyboard, my favorite third-party keyboard for iOS 8, was updated today, bringing it to version 1.3.3. The new release includes skin tone options for Emoji, several new Emoji offerings in categories like Flags and Family, and various improvements.

While improvements are nice, they typically aren't anything to get excited about. SwiftKey, however, says that 1.3.3 features "a number of stability improvements to reduce crashes." Given how crash-prone third-party keyboards are in the first place, this is huge.

Minecraft: Pocket Edition introduces skinning feature, adds fishing, chicken jockeys and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 4, 2015

Originally announced back in March, a substantial update to Minecraft: Pocket Edition 0.11.1 has finally landed on the App Store today bringing loads of new features such as skins, chicken jockeys, fishing and much more.

Yes, you can now stuff wolves in boats and go fishing in Minecraft, isn't that wonderful? All joking aside, you can now customize the appearance of your Minecraft characters with skins.

Skins are sold through the In-App Purchase mechanism, and some don't cost a dime. In addition, players can easily upload custom skins to the game and even create their own ones using the Minecraft: Skin Studio app or any image editing software for that matter.

You can now chat while on a call, add contacts via QR codes and more in latest Viber update

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 4, 2015

Viber, the popular VoIP and messaging platform owned by Japan's Rakuten, hasn't updated its iPhone app in any meaningful way for a while now. And just when you thought they've neglected the iOS app for good, here comes a brand new release packing a few solid improvements.

I've always hated Viber wouldn't let me chat while on a VoIP or video call. This should be expected behavior as iPhones have always supported messaging during a cellular call.

In latest Viber 5.4 for iPhone update it's now possible to minimize a VoIP call and open any other screen within the app without interrupting your conversation.

Sunrise Calendar hits Apple Watch

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2018

Sunrise Calendar, a cross-platform calendar application that Microsoft bought four months ago, just announced immediate availability of its Apple Watch app. With Sunrise for Apple Watch, you can see all of your upcoming events, get custom notifications and check all the details for your next meeting at a glance.

In addition to supporting Microsoft Exchange and iCloud, Sunrise is the only iOS calendar alternative that does push for Google Calendar.

And yes, that feature is now available on your wrist, too!