Apple

Apple Maps team working to improve community crowdsourcing

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

A new job listing hints the Apple Maps team is working on improving community crowdsourcing, as well as better Siri and Passbook integration. First spotted by 9to5Mac, the listing calls for a 'Maps Community Client Software Engineer' to join the Cupertino firm's growing Maps group.

According to the position's description, the engineer will focus on "high level UI development of the 'Report a Problem' feature." They'll also be working on the frameworks and plugins that enable Maps to "integrate deeply and seamlessly with other applications" such as Siri and Passbook.

App Recap: app-packed Thursday

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 14, 2018

Welcome to this action-packed edition of App Recap, iDownloadBlog's daily column which highlights some of the best new apps, games, updates, media and other digital goodies found on iTunes. Most developers release major new apps on Thursdays and today was no exception.

From noteworthy discounts and Facebook's Slingshot update to Square's food ordering app, a new and fully-themable iOS 8 keyboard, Tomb Raider II, the official Game of Thrones game and more, App Recap helps you make sense of it all via an easily digestible form so you don't need to waste your precious time finding that needle in the haystack in the App Store.

Facebook’s Slingshot goes 2.0, hopes you’ll use it

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 29, 2018

Remember Slingshot? Yeah, me neither. If it's been a while since you last fired up Facebook's app that many folks deem pointless, you may want to give it another try as the social networking giant on Thursday pushed a major 2.0 update, bringing out half a dozen new features.

The app's been rebuilt from the ground up to be “simpler, faster and more fun to share life as it happens”, bringing out private reactions, photo filters, drawings and emojis.

There are also instant notifications on a per-contact basis and you can now share fav shots out to other apps, among other new additions.

Apple rumored to be working on new 4-inch iPhone

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple is working on a new 4-inch iPhone model for next year, according to website G for Games. Citing sources in the Asian supply chain, the site says the Cupertino firm is aiming to release the smaller form factor device in the second half of 2015.

If true, the move would bring one-handed usability back to the iPhone line—a benefit that Apple frequently touted in previous years, but essentially abandoned in September when it introduced the new 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and 5.5-inch 6 Plus.

Apple names excellent God of Light puzzler its new Free App of the Week

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 4, 2014

God of Light, an addictive and unique physics puzzler by Playmous Games, has gone free until next Thursday week courtesy of Apple's ongoing Free App of the Week promotion, marking the first time the game's gone free since its February 2014 debut.

This attractive puzzler employs a simple concept where you use mirrors, prisms, splitters, collectors, black holes and filters to control rays of light energy that must be projected through the darkness in order to light up crystals.

I wholeheartedly recommend taking advantage of the discount because God of Light is packed with addictive levels and definitely worth its normal asking price of $1.99.

Apple Stores to host free ‘Hour of Code’ workshops next Thursday

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 4, 2014

In addition to hosting Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump at the SoHo New York Apple Store as part of its Apps for (RED) promotion to benefit the fight against AIDS in Africa, Apple will be hosting another event at its stores, one tailored for students who are interested in coding.

Supporting the Computer Science Education Week which runs December 8-14, Apple's free Hour of Code 2014 seminar will be taking place at its brick-and-mortar locations next Thursday, December 11.

Square’s new Caviar app lets you order food from top-rated eateries

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 4, 2014

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey's mobile payment startup, Square, earlier this year purchased Caviar, a food delivery service, for a reported $90 million. On Thursday, the company released the official Caviar iOS app in the App Store.

Featuring crisp dish photos, real-time tracking of your order from counter-to-door and more, Caviar makes it easy to order food from your favorite local restaurants right to your door, from the palm of your hand using your iPhone or iPad.

Themeboard review: iOS 8 keyboard with gorgeous themes, unique Emoji bar, auto-correct and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

There most certainly is no shortage of downloadable iOS 8 keyboards in the App Store, so much so that the proliferation of soft-keyboards makes it virtually impossible for us to cover each and every one that hits the Apple platform.

On the other hand, themable keyboards like CoolKey, a keyboard for the colorful, are few and far between.

Customization matters to an awful lot of people and there's admittedly a void here than needs filling. That's where Themeboard jumps in.

Created by Germany-based Taphive, the brains behind such apps as TodoMovies that we reviewed back in March, this app is an advanced iPhone and iPad keyboard with a built-in repository of wonderfully designed themes by some of the best designers around.

Theme board sports a unique Emoji/Kaomoji bar and has plenty of features that users have come to expect from Apple's default keyboard like auto-correction, Caps lock, slide-shift to capitalize, quick delete with three speeds, text predictions, custom shortcuts and more.

Read on for the full review of this feature-packed keyboard.

Winter is coming: Telltale’s Game of Thrones arrives in App Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 4, 2014

Telltale Games last month posted a teaser trailer and a few scant details about an upcoming game based on HBO’s hugely popular, award-winning fantasy drama television series, itself adapted from of “A Song of Ice and Fire”, George R. R. Martin’s series of epic fantasy novels.

I'm pleased to report that on Thursday, the Game of Thrones interactive action adventure game officially surfaced on the App Store and is now available in an episodic format akin to Telltale's The Walking Dead – A Telltale Games Series and The Wolf Among Us.

The narratively driven, six-episode game puts you in the shoes of different members of the Forrester household. The decisions you take have consequences and will change the story around you and determine your characters' fate.

Lara Croft is back: Tomb Raider II hits iOS

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 14, 2018

Good news, Lara Croft fans! Tomb Raider, the classic 1990s action-adventure game, is back: a successor to the original Tomb Raider game (which hit iOS last year) surfaced in the App Store on Thursday.

Costing $1.99 a pop, the iPhone and iPad game was created by Square Enix and features updated graphics, grand new locations, over 50 achievements and more.

Jump past the fold for the full reveal.

iPhone 6 Plus grabs 41 percent of US phablet sales

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 4, 2014

Kantar Worldpanel, a WPP-owned market researcher, yesterday revealed that the latest iPhones helped Apple gain share over Android around the world while the iPhone 5c outsold the iPhone 6 Plus in the U.S. during the last three months up to October 31.

Today, Kantar is back with some additional newsworthy data pertaining to “phablet” sales.

For those wondering, phablets are typically defined as smartphones with a screen size of 5.5 inches and larger. The 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus, Kantar said, captured as much as 41 percent of sales of phablets in the U.S. alone. As for the smaller 4.7-inch iPhone 6, it grabbed 33 percent market share to become the best-selling iOS device in the period.

New Spotify premium users: Your first three months will only be $0.99

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Spotify is getting in the holiday spirit, announcing Wednesday that users can grab its Premium offering at only $0.99 for the first three months. Not a shabby deal.