Apps

Facebook deep links will begin to soon surface in Google search results

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 16, 2015

As reported by The Wall Street Journal this morning, your Google search results will soon start to serve deep links based on content from Facebook's mobile app which, when clicked, will take you straight to the relevant part of the Facebook app.

A spokeswoman for Google parent Alphabet has confirmed the feature will begin to roll out soon.

Last month, the Internet giant announced integration between its search engine and iOS 9 apps via so-called App Indexing feature and today's announcement delivers on that promise.

Waze gains 3D Touch shortcuts on iPhone 6s

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 16, 2015

Google-owned social-mapping and traffic service Waze today pushed an update to its iPhone application in the App Store, adding handy shortcuts available upon pressing its Home screen icon on the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.

Waze's 3D Touch shortcuts provide access to popular features like address search, location sharing and turn-by-turn navigation based on your work and home address on file.

WhatsApp picks up 3D Touch Peek and Pop, redesigned settings and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 16, 2015

Facebook-owned WhatsApp today issued a new update to its iPhone application in the App Store which brings extended support for 3D Touch on the iPhone6s and iPhone 6s Plus with Peek and Pop gestures for previewing chats without actually opening them.

The app's also gained a redesigned settings interface, the ability to browse your starred messages in one place and optionally include rich previews when sharing links.

The Room Three review: same great puzzle solving, but with more room to move

Lory Gil ∙ Updated April 19, 2018

Fireproof Games has made a name for itself on iOS with one series of games. The Room won Apple's Game of the Year in 2012. The sequel, The Room Two, came out in late 2013 and transported players to a new location with plenty of new and intricate puzzles. It was also named as one of Apples Best Of games in 2013.

The Room Three is already proving to be of the same stellar quality as its predecessors. After two similar titles, will players get tired of the same thing again? We have a full game review of The Room Three for you today.

iMachine 2, Heavy Blade, Contemporary Magic, and more apps to check out this weekend

Lory Gil ∙ Updated April 19, 2018

Now that the iPad Pro is finally out, we know some of you have been dedicating a lot of time to pushing the tablet to its limits. It's too bad that we can't sideload f.lux on iOS anymore. But, don't worry. There is plenty of great content waiting for you, and with a benchmark that is as good as an Intel Core i5 processor, there won't be anything your iPad Pro can't handle.

If you're looking for some content to download onto your 13-inch tablet, we've got a list of some apps and games you may have missed earlier this week.

Review: Vevo’s revamped iOS app is a lot cleaner and more fun to use than Apple’s Music

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 14, 2018

In case you missed it, Vevo has completely redesigned its lagging iPhone and iPad application in the App Store. I watch music videos from Vevo artists on YouTube on my desktop. On mobile, not so much and I blame Vevo's hopelessly outdated design, inconsistencies and complicated features for that.

Bumped to version 5.0, the new Vevo experience starts with a black-and-white logo and a matching app icon.

The headline change here is an all-new interface—it gets out of your way, unlike Apple's own Music app, and sports a tremendously useful mini-player. It's almost too weird to say that Vevo's new iOS app is a lot easier and way more fun to use than Apple's stock Music app has ever been, but it's true.

App Store search results are now smarter and more relevant

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 19, 2018

Apple has been working hard in recent weeks to make App Store search results smarter and more relevant, reports TechCrunch. The outlet points to comments from high profile app developers, who began noticing changes to the search results earlier this month and a major algorithm update on November 12.

"I just searched Twitter on the App Store and Instagram is gone," Contrast's David Barnard pointed out on Twitter. "Tweetbot is #4, Twitterrific #5, and more relevant results overall." Tapbots developer Paul Haddad also spotted the change, noting that the change has had a significant impact on his app searches.

YouTube launches standalone YouTube Music app

Cody Lee ∙ November 12, 2015

YouTube on Thursday released a new mobile app called YouTube Music. The app lets you watch and listen to a nearly endless catalog of music, and you can use it for free, with ads of course. The ads go away and you get more features if you sign up for YouTube's recently-launched Red service for $10/month.

So what does it look like? Well searching any video, album or artist in YouTube Music starts a personalized radio station. From there you can check out recommended tracks, trending music, top 40 hits, and up-and-coming artists. There's also a lot of video content here, such as music videos, concert footage, etc.

Readdle launches PDF Expert for Mac

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 12, 2015

Ukrainian developer Readdle has released a Mac edition of its popular PDF management app for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, PDF Expert.

Available for $19.99 in the Mac App Store, this powerful app will empower your PDF workflow on the Mac and increase your productivity.

It includes such features as smooth scrolling and fast search, robust editing and annotation tools and more.

File exchange with other apps is much simplified through the Mac's multi-purpose Share sheet and the app supports Continuity and Handoff to allow seamless switching between PDF Expert on your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Mac, and much more.

Mac App Store authentication glitches forcing users to reinstall apps

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 12, 2015

As first spotted by Tweetbot developer Paul Haddad, some Mac owners are being forced to download and reinstall apps on their computer following what appears to be a security glitch in the Mac App Store.

The affected users are seeing a message saying that their app has been damaged and cannot be opened, with the prompt advising folks to download the app again from the Mac App Store.

Here's what you can do about it.

Foursquare revamps iPad interface, adds Peek and Pop gestures on iPhone 6s

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 11, 2015

Foursquare's main iOS app was refreshed earlier today with some new 3D Touch goodies and a redesigned interface on the iPad. Foursquare for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad was part of the initial wave of third-party applications that enabled support for handy Home screen shortcuts via 3D Touch on the new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.

Today's update added 3D Touch-based Peek and Pop gestures, meaning you can now preview content within the app and pop right into it, without lifting a finger off the screen.

Microsoft refreshes Office apps for iPad Pro, with an important caveat

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 11, 2015

Windows giant Microsoft today released compatibility updates for its mobile Office app in the App Store—Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote and OneDrive—aimed at lucky iPad Pro owners.

Featuring full support for iOS 9's new Slide Over and Split View multitasking modes, these apps now take full advantage of the iPad Pro's massive 2,732-by-2,048 pixel resolution 12.9-canvas that in landscape mode basically runs two full-sized apps concurrently.