Apple

Google-owned Snapseed brings back Grunge filter, adds a couple improvements

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 29, 2015

Following a major 2.0 refresh in April of this year, Google on Friday issued a minor update to Snapseed, its mobile photo editing app popular amongst iPhone photographers.

Available free of charge in the App Store, Snapseed 2.0.2 features half a dozen improvements, among them the popular Grunge filter which has made an unexpected comeback following its mysterious removal.

“After releasing Snapseed 2, we’ve heard a lot of excited voices, but also listened to your constructive feedback,” Sven Tiffe, Snapseed's technical program manager wrote in a blog post. “You told us and we heard you, Grunge is back!”

Apple publishes temporary fix for Messages issue, says software update coming soon

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated October 3, 2016

In a new support document published Thursday night, Apple acknowledges the Messages bug that was first uncovered two days ago, offering a simple workaround to temporarily circumvent the issue, while announcing a fix will be available via a software update soon.

Arcade puzzler ‘Hyper Square’ goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 1, 2018

Apple has just named “Hyper Square” its App of the Week for this week. This means that from now through next Thursday, you’ll be able to download the popular arcade puzzler for both iPhone and iPad for free—a solid savings of $1.99.

For those who haven't played Hyper Square before, it's premise is fairly simple: place all squares in their respective targets as fast as possible. As the difficulty increases, watch the amount of time you have get reduced to fractions of a second.

Apple acquires augmented reality firm Metaio

Cody Lee ∙ May 28, 2015

Apple has acquired augmented reality startup Metaio, according to a recently surfaced legal document. A spokesperson for Apple confirmed the purchase to TechCrunch, saying "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans."

The filing claims that shares of Metaio were transferred over to the Cupertino firm between May 21st and 22nd, so it seems the acquisition was completed fairly recently. The company, which was essentially an offshoot of an AR project at German automaker Volkswagen, was founded in 2003.

The fine print of Google Photos and why you shouldn’t ditch iCloud Photo Library just yet

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 28, 2015

I jumped with joy after reading Cody's coverage of Google Photos. I mean, who wouldn't want a sleek photo service across iOS, Android and the web that came with truly unlimited storage, right?

Here's an iCloud Photo Library user who's been paying Apple happily 99 cents month-to-month for the privilege of using a meager twenty gigabytes of iCloud storage.

But I have a confession to make: I need way more storage for all my photos and am reluctant to fork out five bucks a month in exchange for just 200 gigs of iCloud storage.

Having said that, before you ditch Apple's iCloud Photo Library solution for Google Photos, here are a few facts Google didn't emphasize enough that you should consider.

Google opens Inbox app to everyone: updated with Undo Send, Trip Bundles, new gesture options and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 28, 2015

Inbox, a gesture driven email application from the Gmail team built on Google-acquired Sparrow technology, got refreshed with new features this morning starting with Undo Send. Now, Undo Send has been available for quite some time through Gmail's web interface.

Now for the first time on your iPhone, Undo Send lets you take back an email right after sending in case you spotted a mistake, or have second thoughts. Also important, Inbox is now open to everyone so all Gmail fans can get in on the action right away.

Latest MacBook Pro supports 5K displays with up to 5,120-by-2,880 pixels at 60Hz

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 28, 2015

If you purchased Apple's new fifteen-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display and Force Touch trackpad, congratulate yourself as you're the proud owner of Apple's very first notebook capable of driving external displays in glorious 5K resolution.

The new 15-inch MacBook Pro also support single-stream 4K screens at a 4,096-by-2,160 display resolution at 60Hz, another first for Apple.

Both iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus rumored to support Force Touch after all

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 5, 2017

Pressure sensing will be supported across both display sizes of Apple's next-generation iPhones, G for Games reported Thursday citing supply chain sources who spoke with Taiwanese media.

The same outlet originally claimed that Apple’s pressure sensitive Force Touch technology would make an exclusive appearance on a larger-screened iPhone 6s Plus.

Though it was initially supposed to be an iPhone 6s Plus exclusive, both devices should make use of pressure sensing after all. A credible report earlier this week asserted that iOS 9, which will be previewed alongside OS X 10.11 at next month's WWDC, features built-in Force Touch support.

Todoist launches Apple Watch app with Inbox, Today view, Projects, Filters and Labels

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 28, 2015

Todoist, the advanced to-do list and task manager for iOS and OS X, is now available for the Apple Watch. The app delivers a number of powerful features for managing tasks to your wrist, including Inbox, Today view, Projects, Filters and Labels. A Glance view gives you a quick overview of your upcoming tasks.

You can also respond to rich notifications with natural language processing. The main app provides more details related to your tasks and projects, allowing you to review tasks and projects, create new ones using dictation and much more.

NYT: Apple Pay rewards program debuting soon, Google revamps Wallet and readies Android Pay

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 28, 2015

Apple is about to make its mobile payment system even more appealing to merchants and customers with a likely introduction of a rewards program for Apple Pay at WWDC next month, The New York Times said Thursday.

“Apple is preparing to announce details about enhancements to Apple Pay at its software conference next month,” reads the article. “Those include a rewards program for the mobile wallet service, said two people briefed on the product.”

Pixelmator for iPhone now available as a free update to existing iPad app

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 28, 2015

As promised, beginning today you can touch up photos, apply fancy effects to images and much more, using Pixelmator for iPhone. Available as a free update to Pixelmator for iPad, Pixelmator is now a universal app supporting any iPhone, iPod touch or iPad with iOS 8.3 or later.

A complete photo editing, painting and layer-based graphic design app for your iPhone, Pixelmator is every bit as powerful as its iPad edition.

Not only does the app include the powerful Repair tool from the iPad edition, but also has some new features such as the new Distort tools and a brand new Clone tool which all take advantage of Apple's Metal framework in iOS 8 for hardware-accelerated graphics.

Apple Store app now offering same-day delivery on select products via Postmates

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

It appears that Apple has formed a partnership with Postmates to offer same-day order delivery via its Apple Store app. As noted by MacRumors, the app has begun showing a same-day delivery option for folks in the San Francisco Bay Area, and several folks have already taken advantage of it.

For those who aren't familiar with Postmates, it's a logistics company that runs a network of contracted couriers who deliver goods locally. It's available in roughly 20 major cities around the United States, but it appears in-app ordering through Apple is currently limited to San Francisco, CA.