Apps

Pixelmator for iOS updated with 5x faster Repair tool, new Dynamic Touch feature and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 14, 2015

Pixelmator for iOS, which almost two months ago became a universal app with native iPhone support, was refreshed in the App Store this morning with a few new features and dozens of improvements, performance improvements and stability fixes.

The Repair tool, which debuted on Pixelmator for Mac, is now up to five times faster on iPhone and iPad, and even more precise.

And the all-new Dynamic Touch tool intelligently changes the stroke size of all Retouch tools based on your finger input: use the tip of your finger and you'll create thin strokes; press harder, or use a larger surface area of your finger, and you'll produce thicker lines.

Moreover, Pixelmator's Photo Editing extension has been improved to make it easier to apply Pixelmator's effects within the context of iOS's stock Photos app.

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TiVo updates iOS app with AirPlay streaming of recorded content to Apple TV

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 9, 2016

TiVo on Tuesday refreshed its iOS app in the App Store with the ability to stream content to the Apple TV via AirPlay. The development marks a major U-degree turn for TiVo, which for a long time has deliberately blocked AirPlay to prevent users from streaming video content to Apple's $69 box.

With support for the AirPlay mirroring feature now official, users of TiVo's iOS app can use AirPlay to stream content recorded on a TiVo box using the iPhone and iPad application to a user's Apple TV.

The refreshed app with the new AirPlay functionality is rolling out later today.

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Apple pushes iTunes 12.2.1 update fixing iTunes Match and Beats 1 issues

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 13, 2015

Apple on Monday issued a bug-fix update to iTunes for Mac and Windows. iTunes 12.2.1, available through the Software Update mechanism or standalone via iTunes.com/download, fixes a pair of issues with iTunes Match, Apple's $25 per year song identification service. In addition, it contains minor bug fixes and improvements for Beats 1, Apple's free of charge 24/7 global Internet radio broadcasting in more than a hundred countries.

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5 new features coming to Photos 1.1 for Mac

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 2, 2017

When OS X El Capitan releases for public consumption in the fall, it will deliver, among other features, an update to the built-in Photos for Mac application.

As a matter of fact, El Capitan marks the first major feature-packed update to Apple's photo-management solution since Photos for Mac debuted as part of April's OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 software update.

As mentioned in the official El Capitan release notes distilled into human-readable form by Jason Snell of Six Colors, Photos 1.1 brings out about half a dozen new features that didn't make it into the initial release, on top of a bunch of bug fixes, security improvements and optimized performance.

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Google releases Ivy, an experimental big number calculator for iPhone and iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 10, 2015

Google on Friday released a brand new iOS application in the App Store. Called Ivy and available free of charge, the app is being described as an experimental big number calculator for the iPhone and iPad.

Dedicated calculator apps are a dime a dozen these days so what's so special about Ivy, you might ask?

According to Google, Ivy takes advantage of what's referred to as exact rational arithmetic, basically a precision math technique which lets the app handle arbitrary precision with ease.

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SoundCloud update adds more functionality to playlists and new ‘related tracks’ feature

Cody Lee ∙ July 10, 2015

SoundCloud updated its iOS client this morning, bringing the app to version 3.10.1. The company says the update "significantly upgrades the listening experience," bringing about more functionality for playlists, the ability to shuffle your Likes, and a new 'related tracks' feature.

With the new playlist capabilities, you can now shuffle and edit your playlist within the mobile app. When SoundCloud redesigned its iPhone app last summer, it removed these and several other features, and it has since been re-adding them through a series of iterative updates.

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Vine updated with new HD upload setting and improved discovery

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 14, 2018

Twitter updated its 6-second video sharing app Vine today, bringing the iOS client to version 3.4.2. The update brings about two major improvements: suggestions for popular Viners to follow, and a new quality setting that lets you post your Vines in HD.

The former should help Vine with its discovery problem, something its parent company Twitter particularly struggles with. It's nearly impossible to convince new users to stick around when it's difficult to quickly find interesting and entertaining content.

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‘Card Wars – Adventure Time Card Game’ goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Cody Lee ∙ July 9, 2015

Apple has just named Cartoon Network's "Card Wars - Adventure Time Card Game" its App of the Week for this week. This means that from now through next Thursday, you’ll be able to download the card combat game for free—a solid savings of $4.

In Card Wars, players are tasked with commanding an army of awesome warriors to destroy their opponent's forces. You can collect new cards to level up your creatures, spells and towers, or choose to fuse them together to make them more powerful.

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Microsoft releases Office 2016 for Mac to Office 365 subscribers

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 7, 2018

Microsoft on Thursday announced the release of Office 2016 for Mac. This marks the first major Mac release of the popular software suite since Office 2011, and it's now available for download in 140 countries, for Office 365 subscribers.

"Unmistakably Office, designed for Mac," said Kirk Koenigsbauer, corporate VP of Office Client Applications and Services. It includes new versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote, as well as a number of improvements.

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Readdle’s excellent Spark email client gains bulk actions, setting for remote images and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 9, 2015

Readdle's Spark, my new favorite go-to mobile email client, received a big update in the App Store today. Although you couldn't tell it from a minor version number change (1.0.1), the new version does make the app much better while fixing a plethora of user-reported issues.

For starters, you can now delete and archive emails in bulk, a tremendous productivity boost. Next, Spark now consumes less energy, which is always a good thing.

You can now empty your Trash with a single tap, as opposed to selecting multiple messages before hitting the Delete button, like before.

Security advocates will definitely appreciate a new setting to disable loading of remote images, which protects you from spammers while keeping data usage under control.

On the downside, today's update has removed a pair of useful features due to mixed reviews, though Readdle assures us it may bring them back “someday.”

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Facebook rolls out richer News Feed controls with a new ‘See First’ option and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 9, 2016

Facebook on Thursday introduced and updated set of controls letting you finally tell the service precisely what you want to see in your News Feed, as opposed to relying to Facebook's mysterious algorithm which surfaces posts its servers think you want to see while demoting others it flagged as uninteresting.

The reworked controls now permit you to actively shape and improve your personalized News Feed experience.

You also get more control over what you see in your News Feed via a brand new 'See First' option designed to help you prioritize whose posts you don't want to miss to ensure you'll always find them at the top of your News Feed.

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