Apps

Snapchat optimized for iPhone’s Low Power Mode

Earlier this week, Snapchat issued a small update to its free of charge iPhone application on the App Store. Bumping version number to 9.37, the app is now optimized for iOS's Low Power Mode which debuted in iOS 9 last year.

“When your device is in Low Power Mode, Snapchat will now automatically reduce its battery usage,” according to release notes accompanying a 96.1-megabyte download.

Instagram gains Events channel highlighting media posted during specific events

Instagram yesterday announced a new Events channel in the Explore section of its free of charge iPhone app. Currently limited to users within the United States and resembling Snapchat's Discover channel with Live Stories, it brings in one place all of the photos and videos posted on the service during specific events, such as concerts, sports games and more. Like the rest of Explore, the new Events channel is personalized for you and highlights events you might like.

Instagram update brings camera improvements to Stories feature

Instagram's new Stories feature caused quite a stir as some users took issue with the fact that the Facebook-owned photo sharing service basically ripped off Snapchat Stories. Be that as it may, Instagram's iPhone application, which is available at no charge on the App Store, has just received a nice update which packs in a few useful camera-related improvements to the Stories feature.

Google’s new video calling app Duo hits App Store

Duo, a video calling app announced at Google I/O 2016, released today in the App Store as a free download. A one-to-one video calling app “for everyone,” Duo allows iPhone users to call their Android-toting friends, and vice versa. After signing up with your mobile phone number, you can place video calls to contacts who also have Duo installed on their device. According to Google, Duo for Android and iOS began rolling out today and will be live worldwide in the next few days.

Microsoft’s mobile Office apps pick up support for drawing with a finger/stylus on iPhone

Microsoft today issued updates to its mobile Word, Excel and PowerPoint apps on the App Store, adding support for drawing with your finger on the iPhone. Back in January 2016, the Windows maker brought its inking tools to the iPad Pro with Apple Pencil support. With the latest update, iPhone owners can take advantage of the Draw tab to draw, highlight and annotate documents with their finger or a stylus.

The best tips for saving battery power while playing Pokémon GO

Without a doubt, many who are reading this post right now are huge Pokémon GO fans. The game took the mobile device market by storm and it became an instant hit, topping the application stores on two of the largest competitors on the market today: iOS and Android.

One of the things that can't be avoided while playing Pokémon GO is the battery drain you're going to suffer, and this is because it's a GPS-based game, but there are still some pointers you can follow to help reduce battery drain so you can play as long as possible.

Iconizer: the ultimate Home screen app icon effects tweak?

For some people, adding a touch of personality to their Home screen is one way that they set themselves apart from the stock iOS community. Of course, a touch isn't always enough. If you're looking for something a little more in-depth, then try a new jailbreak tweak dubbed Iconizer.

With Iconizer, you can not only tinker with Home screen app icon animations, but you can also add some catchy-looking effects to your app icons. All of the effects are 100% customizable, and we'll show you what this tweak is all about in this review.

Laugh.ly, Yearly, Habitify and other apps to check out this weekend

The Apps of the Week post is iDB's weekly roundup of apps and games we feel are worth checking out over the weekend. This week's edition features some great selections such as a new streaming service for stand-up comedy, a beautiful calendar app, a habit-tracking app with an interesting twist, and as usual, we've included two awesome new games for you to try.

Go Radar tracks Pokémon locations in real time

Pokémon GO is all the hype right now, and lots of people are enjoying playing it, but there is a substantially high number of people who are upset with the removal of the Footsteps feature in the game, and even more-so game developer Niantic's decision to start shutting down real-time Pokémon trackers.

If you're having trouble finding the Pokémon you want after the update that removed Footsteps, you might consider trying a crowdsourced Pokémon tracker app instead of one that relies on Niantic's servers to feed information.

How to change your player name in Pokémon GO

One of the new features that shipped with the Pokémon GO 1.3.0 update this week was the ability to change your player name in the game. This is the name that everybody sees when you compete in gyms, so if you accidentally chose a name you didn't want, now is your chance to switch it out.

In this tutorial, we'll show you the steps to take to change your name in Pokémon GO.

Apple’s free app of the week: Dr. Panda’s Ice Cream Truck

Apple on Thursday updated its App of the Week promotion with the game Dr. Panda's Ice Cream Truck. This means from now through next Thursday, you’ll be able to pick up the hit children's title for free—a solid savings of $2.

Dr. Panda's Ice Cream Truck was developed for ages 6-8, but anyone can have fun making ice cream. Choose from several flavors and toppings, pile your scoops as high as you can, and then serve your creation to hungry customers.

How to upload photos older than 24 hours to your Instagram Story

Marketing image with a tagline "Everyone has a story" in white font printed on top of a colorful Instagram gradient background

We've already learned how to upload pictures from your library to your Instagram Story, but as you may know, there is one big limitation when doing this: you can only upload photos or videos that have been shot in the last 24 hours. Anything older than 24 hours will not be eligible for upload to your Story.

Thankfully, there are several ways to get around this limitation, and we'll show you exactly how.