Apps

Google Maps for iOS refreshed with cleaner look, now highlights local areas of interest

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 25, 2016

Google today updated its mobile mapping application for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch with some rather useful visual tweaks. Google Maps 4.21 for iOS now highlights local areas that might interest you, adding multiple destinations to a route is supported in the new version and the typography of street names, points of interest, transit stations and other places has been improved to make them easier to read on smaller screens, among other changes.

How to remove the third-party PP app store from your jailbroken iOS 9.3.3 device

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated March 29, 2019

When you jailbreak your iOS 9.3.3 device with the latest Pangu jailbreak tool, you may end up with a third-party application store that you don't really want on your device.

In this tutorial, we'll show you how to remove the unwanted third-party application store without getting rid of Cydia or the Pangu app that you need to boot semi-untethered.

Understanding the various items you’ll come across in Pokémon GO

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated March 29, 2019

As you play Pokémon GO, you're going to find yourself collecting a ton of items from PokéStops and from simply leveling up your character as you progress through the game.

In this piece, we'll talk about all the items you can obtain in Pokémon GO, and what they're used for.

Highly, Bangers, Tinycards, and other apps to check out this weekend

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 16, 2018

We're back with another edition of our Apps of the Week post. This is a weekly roundup of a handful of new and unique apps and games we think are worth checking out this weekend. Today's selections include new apps for highlighting and sharing interesting quotes from around the web, making music, and learning more about new topics, and of course we have two new games for you to try.

Pokémon GO set App Store record for most first week downloads

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 11, 2018

Pokémon GO set an App Store record for most downloads during its first week of availability, reports The Loop's Jim Dalrymple. This should come as no surprise to folks who have been following the craze surrounding the hit game, which has sat atop the App Store's Top Free and Top Grossing lists since it launched earlier this month.

iOS 9 adoption jumps to 86 percent mark ahead of iOS 10 release

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 22, 2016

Earlier in the week, Apple updated iOS adoption numbers via its App Store dashboard for developers. According to the refreshed stats, the various iOS 9 editions now power 86 percent of iPhones, iPads and iPod touches, a two-point gain versus the 84 percent adoption rate that iOS 9 hit on April 20.

Apple’s free app of the week: Super Arc Light

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 11, 2018

Apple on Thursday updated its App of the Week promotion with the game Super Arc Light. This means that for the next 7 days you’ll be able to pick up the popular arcade shooter for free on both iPhone and iPad—a solid savings of $2.

For those who haven't played Super Arc Light, it's a minimalistic radial shooter, in which you must defend your base to the death against waves of challenging enemies. The developer describes it as Super Hexagon meets Geometry Wars.

Periscope introduces Replay Highlights, Live Autoplay and Tweet Embeds

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 21, 2016

Periscope, Twitter's live-broadcasting app, was updated in the App Store with a few new features, among them Replay Highlights, Live Autoplay and Tweet Embeds. Highlights automatically generates a short trailer for every Periscope broadcast of your home feed, making it easier to catch up on broadcasts you missed from the last day.

Periscope is a free download from the App Store.

BBC’s iPlayer Radio hits US App Store as new BBC+ app goes live in UK

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 21, 2016

The British Broadcasting Corporation's (BBC) iPlayer Radio mobile app, which used to be limited to customers in the United Kingdom, has expanded stateside today, TechCrunch just announced. Now customers in the United States can download iPlayer Radio from the US App Store and tune in to BBC's high-quality radio stations and content.

Earlier in the week, BBC announced launch of a brand new personalized content portal with a new BBC+ app on the UK App Store.

Facebook Messenger hits a major milestone—one billion monthly users

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 21, 2016

Facebook yesterday announced that its Messenger service has hit a major milestone: the software is now being used by more than one billion people every month to message their friends and family. Messenger saw a major surge in popularity after it was decoupled from the main Facebook mobile client, and especially since becoming a software platform in its own right with chat bots, apps, money payments, expanded emojis and other features.

Facebook Messenger is a free download from the App Store.

Meet Swiftmoji, SwiftKey’s new emoji-predicting keyboard

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 16, 2018

A new emoji-predicting keyboard from Microsoft-owned SwiftKey, called Swiftmoji, launched on the App Store.

Available at no charge on the App Store, it boosts your emoji game by predicting a wall of suggested emojis based on crowdsourced data, the user's own preferences and the actual text written in any of the user's keyboards.

This ability to get perfect emoji predictions based on what you’ve just typed is similar to Apple's much-improved QuickType keyboard on iOS 10.

Popular writing app Scrivener is now available on iPhone and iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 21, 2018

If you write books, manuals or lengthy manuscripts for a living, chances are you rely on Scrivener for Mac for your work. If so, you'll be delighted to learn that the app's creator, British developer Literature & Latte Ltd., has released Scrivener for iOS following a long period of thorough beta testing. The iPhone, iPad and iPod touch app costs $19.99 and provides the full range of features writers need to create, edit and update their work on the go with full-screen mode on the iPad and other perks.