Apps

Feeday offers a quick peek at Instagram from Notification Center

Lory Gil ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

One of my favorite social networking sites right now is Instagram. I love looking at pictures more than reading about how someone feels about the weather today. Pictures really can be worth a thousand words and can make you feel more connected to friends than a sentence.

Feeday is a third-party widget that puts the last couple of posts from your Instagram feed right in Notification Center so you can get a quick view of your feed without having to open the app. Check out our app review of Feeday below.

VLC media player lands on Apple TV

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 12, 2016

VLC for Apple TV was supposed to be released back in December, but it took longer than anticipated. As of Tuesday, the application is now available free in the App Store on the fourth-generation Apple TV.

According to Felix Kühne, lead iOS developer for VLC, the app is “a full port of VLC media player combined with platform-specific features” and it supports virtually all formats under the sun, just like its iOS counterpart.

Like Infuse and Plex, VLC permits you to stream audio and video item stored on network-attached drives to your Apple TV, without having to manually convert DIVX, AVI and other “foreign” files into iOS-friendly formats.

Spotify links up with Genius to annotate your music

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 16, 2018

Spotify today announced it is partnering with Genius (not to be confused with iTunes Genius), to annotate your music. Genius is the crowdsourced musical knowledge startup that annotates music lyrics and other online content and Spotify is betting that this new feature will help retain its competitive edge over other music-streaming services.

Available at launch via a limited number of tracks through special playlists—called Behind the Lyrics and curated by Spotify and Genius—this feature adds backstory and commentary which pops up as you play tracks on Spotify.

Infuse for Apple TV gains custom Favorites graphics, new zooming/sorting options and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 4, 2018

Infuse for Apple TV, a versatile media center app by aTV Flash Black developer FireCore, has received an update in the App Store today, bringing a bunch of welcome additions to the experience. No longer are those media folders you add to Infuse represented by generic icons: you can now add custom artwork to them, letting you pretty up Infuse's menu.

New zoom options have been added for removing encoded black bars, you can now sort your media by filename and rename or remove a Favorite by long-pressing its icon. Read on for the full list of changes in this edition of Infuse.

Live Periscope broadcasts are being integrated into Twitter’s mobile app

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 12, 2016

In a major move, micro-blogging startup Twitter today announced that live Periscope broadcasts are coming to Twitter for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, making it possible to watch broadcasts without leaving Twitter's mobile app.

Now when you tap a Periscope link in your timeline, no longer does it take you to the Periscope app. Instead, those links are getting replaced with the broadcast itself that automatically plays right within your tweet.

Spark for iPhone gains custom swipes in notifications, pinch-zooming and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 12, 2016

Readdle's Spark for iPhone is an awesome email client and I can't wait to use it on my iPad (coming soon) and the Mac (it's in the works). Today's update makes it even better.

In Spark 1.5 for iPhone and iPod touch, you can now customize which swipes are available in notification actions for new messages. You can also designate an email signature to be your default on a per-account basis, zoom in on HTML emails and more.

Steampunk-themed Grave Matters comes to Apple TV

Lory Gil ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Grave Matters is a Steampunk themed graveyard adventure where players dig up energy cells while trying to avoid being dragged to the underworld by a nasty machinelike Steamborg. We reviewed the game over a year ago when it first launched.

The game's developer, Ideonic, recently made a special edition that is exclusive to Apple TV 4. This big-screen version has updated graphics, a new control system, and a new soundtrack, while still maintaining the same, fun mechanics of the original.

The ATV 4 version has all the same, wonderfully steampunky graphics as the iOS version. The cut scenes, which were some of my favorite parts, are just a beautiful on the television screen, but in a bigger and better way.

Emoji Party is like Heads Up! with emojis… and on Apple TV

Lory Gil ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Whenever I'm in a crowded area, especially where there are long lines (think: Disneyland) I see dozens of people playing Heads Up! It is hugely popular and a fun way to pass the time when you are with a group of people.

Emoji Party is similar to Heads Up!, but instead of just words on the cards, the app also uses thousands of iconic emojis. If you are really good at making faces, you can help the guesser with recognizable emoji looks. The best part is that this game is compatible with tvOS, so you can get hours of charades fun right in your living room.

Goofy offers a native Facebook Messenger client for Mac

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Earlier this week, what appeared to be a leaked photo of Facebook's future Messenger client for OS X became all the buzz. Facebook may finally be in the works of developing a client for Apple's Mac platform that works just like the mobile app on iOS, allowing users to stay connected with their friends and family right from their desktop without having to have all the distractions of the full web site open in a web browser.

But that's not to say you have to wait until Facebook is good and ready to release such an app to start using such an app on your Mac.

1Password update brings full support for 3D Touch and other enhancements

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 11, 2016

AgileBits' popular password manager, 1Password, was updated this morning in the App Store with support for 3D Touch actions on the Home screen and Peek and Pop gestures within the app for iPhone 6s/Plus owners.

These shortcuts permit you to quickly bring up search, view your favorites or add a new item, right from the Home screen, and preview items within the app with 3D Touch.

In addition, the new version contains other refinements and new features such as the inclusion of Watchtower, a service that has been available in 1Password's Mac app for quite a while and alerts you when your accounts might have been compromised, as determined by monitoring the latest security vulnerabilities from around the web.

Native Facebook Messenger for Mac app revealed in leaked photo

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 29, 2016

Facebook may be bringing its popular messaging app to the desktop, according to a blurry photo obtained by TechCrunch which appears to show a native application being tested on a Mac notebook by an employee.

Facebook currently provides the Messenger app for a number of mobile platforms, in addition to a dedicated web interface at messenger.com and built-in messaging functionality available through its desktop UI at facebook.com.

TMNT, Brandr, Proud, and more apps to check out this weekend

Lory Gil ∙ Updated October 16, 2018

Earlier this week, gadget makers blew our minds with new products at the Consumer Electronics Show that will hopefully come out sometime in 2016. We also finally found out how much Oculus Rift costs and when we will get our hands on it.

It was a bigger week for hardware than it was for apps. Although, if you were lucky, you downloaded Vidyo before it was pulled from the App Store. As the weekend rolls by, if you are looking for apps and games that are still available, check out our list below.