Apps

Upcoming Instagram update will let you turn off comments on a per-post basis & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 8, 2017

In its never-ending fight to curb abuse on its service, Instagram today said an upcoming new tool will let you completely turn off comments on individual posts.

As reported by The New York Times this morning and confirmed by Instagram itself, in addition to being able to turn off comments on individual posts users will be also permitted to remove followers on private accounts and like other people's comments as well.

Back in September, Instagram launched keyword-based comment moderation as another measure to fight spammers and abusers who have been harassing honest users with unwanted comments and marketing messages.

MacPaw unveils Setapp, the Netflix of high-quality Mac apps

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 22, 2017

The way you get apps is about to change: Setapp from MacPaw is one of the best things to happen to third-party Mac development in years. Think of Setapp as the Netflix of quality software or an “unstore” alternative to Apple’s store. But unlike the Mac App Store which continues to disappoint with sandboxing requirements, lack of paid upgrades and other missing features, Setapp unlocks dozens of high-quality, cherry-picked Mac apps in exchange for a flat-fee monthly subscription of $9.99.

You won't find subpar software in Setapp and all of the apps are fully functional and available without trials or In-App Purchases, including ones like Screens, Ulysses, RapidWeaver 7, Reveal and Eltima Player.

After testing Setapp for approximately two weeks, I've come to the conclusion that it is the best source of premium Mac apps that you can get for a fraction of their combined price, all at once.

Amazon’s new grocery store uses artificial intelligence and sensors to eliminate checkout

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 5, 2016

Online retail giant Amazon is testing a new type of brick-and-mortar convenience store where you simply walk in, pick up your items and walk out, no clerk or a cash register required whatsoever because everything you've put in the shopping basket is automatically charged to your Prime account as soon as you leave the store. Located at 2131 7th Ave in Seattle, the futuristic grocery store, dubbed Amazon Go, has been four years in the making.

The system uses computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning to detect when goods are removed and returned to the shelves. Amazon's retail store of the future that eliminates checkout is launching in early-2017.

You can now start Chrome in Voice Search or Incognito mode from Spotlight Search

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 5, 2016

Google added Spotlight Search integration to Chrome for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch back in January 2016, allowing you to search for your Google bookmarks using iOS's Spotlight feature. Today, the Internet giant issued a small update to Chrome for iOS, bumping version number to 55.0.2883.79 and adding a pair of enhancements.

The first lets you start Chrome in Voice Search mode or open a new Incognito tab right from Spotligh.

As for the other change, Google has now removed the folder named All Bookmarks from your bookmarks view in Chrome “by popular request”.

Map your runs accurately without iPhone in Runkeeper’s latest Apple Watch update

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 5, 2016

If you own an Apple Watch Series 2, you can leave your iPhone at home the next time you go on a run with Runkeeper as the app's just been updated with full support for the built-in GPS on the Apple Watch Series 2. Runkeeper's refreshed experience also includes new active metrics with charts for target pace and heart rate.

Runkeeper is a free download from the App Store.

App Store highlights video apps with support for the upcoming Single Sign-On feature

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 5, 2016

Apple is likely to roll out an upcoming new Single Sign-On feature, which was announced back at WWDC 2016, alongside public releases of iOS 10.2 for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad and the tvOS 10.1 software update for the fourth-generation Apple TV.

Ahead of the feature's debut later this month, the App Store is now highlighting apps with Single-Sing On support via a special section. Single Sign-On remembers a user's cable credentials for use in compatible video apps.

iCloud Photos web app is gaining a sidebar and thumbnail scrubber

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 5, 2016

As first noted by Brazilian outlet MacMagazine.br, Apple is readying some notable updates for its Photos app on the web at iCloud.com/#photos. In addition to a slightly overhauled appearance, the web app is gaining a pair of new features found on the desktop Photos app for the Mac: a sidebar and a thumbnail scrubber. The web app is currently being beta-tested at beta.icloud.com.

The best apps for the Touch Bar on the new MacBook Pro

Andrew O'Hara ∙ Updated October 17, 2018

If you just picked up a new 2016 MacBook Pro, you may be wondering: aside from the stock apps, what are other great apps that take advantage of that shiny new Touch Bar? While apps are constantly being updated, we've gone ahead and picked out some of our favorites that are currently available.

Space, Capsule, Listables and other apps to check out this weekend

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 30, 2018

It's the weekend again, and you know what that means. It's time for another one of our Apps of the Week roundups. This week we've selected some great titles for you including a new interactive app for exploring space, an AI service for documenting your life experiences, and an app for creating and viewing shareable todo lists. And as usual, we've picked out two great new games for you to try.

Apple Store app gains iOS 10 rich notifications, purchasing from Apple Watch

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 2, 2016

Apple's official mobile shopping app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch was refreshed Friday with a pair of new features adding rich notification support on iOS 10 and buying accessories from Favorites with Apple Pay using one-tap authorization on your wrist via your Apple Watch.

Grab the Apple Store app at no charge from the App Store.

Apple is switching App Store pricing from USD to regional currencies in 9 countries

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 2, 2016

Apple's emailed its registered developers to inform them of some upcoming App Store pricing policy changes in Egypt, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Tanzania and Vietnam.

No longer will prices of paid downloads on these local App Stores be shown in US dollars. According to the communique, the App Store in these markets will now show prices of apps and In-App Purchases in their domestic currency.

Google updates Docs, Sheets and Slides with Trash view

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 1, 2016

Google has updated its productivity mobile apps on the App Store—Docs, Sheets and Slides—that act as alternatives to Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The new versions of these apps have added a brand new Trash view which lets you easily recover previously deleted documents, spreadsheets and presentations. In addition to Trash, the most recent updates to Docs, Sheets and Slides come with the usual bug fixes and performance improvements.