It's time for another episode of our popular Apps of the Week post, where we round up our favorite apps and games for you to check out. This week's list includes a camera app with cool glitch effects, an expense tracker that understands simple text input, and a travel app for getting the most out of your vacations.
The versatile media player Infuse by aTV Flash Black developer Firecore was updated this week with several new features and enhancements, including the ability to play DVD videos saved as VIDEO_TS, .dvdmedia or ISO/IMG archives.
Other new features in Infuse 5.2 for iOS and tvOSÂ include Library and folder search, the ability to stream media from NFS-formatted network shares, sort your media by release date and more.
Google on Friday released Chrome 56 for Mac, Windows and Linux following a period of beta testing which began about a month and a half ago. In addition to various security enhancements, Chrome 56 offers nearly up to one-third faster webpage reloading times with 60 percent less validation requests. Google's desktop browser will now warn you when a website requests confidential information over an insecure connection. It also blocks Flash content, supports Web Bluetooth API and more. Chrome 56 for iOS should follow soon.
Apple today put HBO GO on the list of video apps supported in its new TV app via the Single-sign on feature that recently launched in iOS 10 and tvOS 10.
This lets HBO GO users sign in with their cable or satellite credentials on their iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Apple TV to enjoy instant access to HBO shows, not only in Apple's own TV app but in other supported video apps that their pay TV subscription includes.
Twitter on Thursday announced that it has begun rolling out an enhanced Explore tab for its mobile users. The updated feature combines trending topics, Moments, search and live video into a single spot to make it easier for users to see what's happening on the social network.
Tucked away amid a flurry of new reports covering upcoming new features in Apple's operating system updates, like Theater Mode on Apple Watch and Siri in watch apps, Night Shift on Mac and Find My AirPods on iPhone, Apple yesterday quietly announced that developers will soon be allowed to change their app’s Home screen icon programmatically, whenever they like.
In other words, an update is no longer required to push out the new icon artwork.
The seemingly unimportant change opens up a world of new possibilities for interactions with your favorite apps that simply were not possible before.
In addition to updating the Popular Times feature in Google Maps for iPhone and iPad with real-time data, the search giant also issued another noteworthy update, this one concerning its dedicated Translate app on App Store. Bumped to version 5.5, the free download can now translate photos of signs, menus and similar items from Japanese to English, and vice versa. That's because its augmented reality feature, called Word Lens, has been updated to recognize Japanese content on photos and video.
Popular Times is one of the most useful features of Google Maps on the web. Android users have had the privilege of enjoying this feature in the mobile app for quite a few months, and now iPhone and iPad users can see how busy their favorite place is, in real-time, in Google Maps 4.27 for iOS. Aside from this feature, the free download includes the ability to quickly access addresses in the clipboard while searching and bug fixes.
Following its November 2016 debut in The Netherlands and subsequent U.S. launch the following month, Apple's dedicated Support app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch has now expanded to more countries.
As first noted by MacRumors, the free of charge software is now available for download in 22 countries and features support for thirteen languages.
Facebook didn't stop at ripping off Snapchat's Stories feature with auto-vanishing slideshows on Instagram. According to a Wednesday report from Business Insider, the social network is currently testing a similar feature in its mainline mobile app.
A company spokesperson told the publication that Facebook Stories will soon start appearing at the top of the mobile Facebook app, allowing you to tap each circle to see a friend's story.
In addition to highlighting a new Theater Mode in watchOS 3.2, Apple yesterday announced that the upcoming software update will also enable support for Siri in third-party Apple Watch apps. As you probably know by now, the SiriKit framework made its debut in iOS 10.
It's an officially sanctioned way for developers to enrich their apps for messaging, payments, ride-booking, workouts, calling and searching photos with Siri interactions.
With SiriKit support in watchOS 3.2, developers can add spoken commands to Apple Watch apps to let users ask the personal assistant on their wrist to do things like book a ride, send a message, make a payment or accomplish other supported tasks.
Following yesterday's release of iOS 10.3 and macOS Sierra 10.12.4 betas, Apple announced new features allowing iPhone, iPad and Mac developers to respond publicly to reviews on App Store and Mac App Store while letting customers provide ratings and reviews without leaving their app.
Speaking to The Loop's Jim Dalrymple and Daring Fireball's John Gruber, the Cupertino company provided some noteworthy highlights outlining the upcoming App Store review policy changes.