Apps

Tweetbot for Mac adds support for Twitter-hosted GIF and video image previews

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

To make the wait until a massive (and way overdue) Yosemite overhaul of Tweetbot, the most purchased Twitter alternative on the Apple platform, developer Tapbots on Thursday pushed a small yet important update to Tweetbot for Mac.

This new version at last added official support for Twitter-hosted animated GIFs and video image previews. In addition to these enhancements, this edition of Tweetbot saw improvements in storage and memory usage.

So now when someone attaches an animated GIF to their tweet or records a video in Twitter's native video format, you'll see the video thumbnail inline. Previously, it wouldn't show any thumbnail at all, leaving you with clickable URLs that opened in a browser.

Skype adding 12 new languages to iPhone app, Skype Qik gains 8 new video effects

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 30, 2018

Microsoft today announced a pair of updates to its Skype for iPhone and Skype Qik for iPhone apps. Skype 5.12 for the iPhone will introduce a dozen new localizations over the coming week while Skype's Qik app has added eight fancy video effects.

“Within the coming week” Skype users on the iPhone will be able to take advantage of additional country support with Croatian, Slovak, Catalan, Vietnamese, Thai, Hindi, Greek, Hungarian, Indonesian, Malay, Turkish and Estonian languages.

Twitterrific 5.1 gains drafts, better muffling & muting and much more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 9, 2018

Twitterrific, a slick Twitter client from The Iconfactory available for the iPhone, iPad and Mac, has been refreshed in the App Store on Thursday.

At last, the iPhone and iPad client lets you save unfinished messages so you can work on them later. A major update, Twitterrific 5.1 also includes the ability to view and manage your list of muffled usernames, URLs and hashtags.

You can now add keywords to the terms that can be filtered or turn any muffled term into a full mute: just swipe left on the item in the list and select the Mute option.

Microsoft releases Office Lens scanning app for iPhone on App Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 2, 2015

Microsoft on Thursday launched a brand new scanning application for the iPhone, called Office Lens. Available free of charge in the App Store after first launching on Windows Phone a year ago, Office Lens is a handy capture app that turns your smartphone into a pocket scanner.

The app lets you crop, straighten, enhance and makes pictures of whiteboards and documents readable.

Scans of your docs are automatically saved to OneNote and are editable on any device, though you can save them into OneDrive or your preferred cloud storage service.

Waze now tells you how long you’ll be stuck in a traffic jam

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 2, 2015

Waze, a crowdsourced GPS, maps and traffic service owned by Google, has refreshed its iPhone and iPad application with a few new features.

Now available at no cost in the App Store, the new Waze 3.9.4 is much faster than before. More importantly, it has added a cool new feature which tells you how long you'll be stuck in a traffic jam.

Other features like navigation, route select and re-routing have been sped up significantly, an important feat given that you'll be using the app while driving.

IGN names Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series its Free iOS Game of the Month

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 2, 2015

Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series debuted in the App Store in December 2014 and is now available free of charge as part of IGN's Free Game of the Month promotion. The game retails for $4.99 a pop in the App Store, but you can grab it free through IGN's promotional webpage here.

The official HBO licensed game bundles the first episode at no cost, with additional episodes available as a $4.99 In-App Purchase each. Episode 2 titled “The Lost Lords” was released in February and last month brought us Episode 3, headlined as “The Sword in the Darkness”.

Scanbot 3.7 arrives with Slack and Wunderlist integrations and new document naming feature

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 2, 2015

Scanbot for iOS, the sleek and powerful document scanner and QR reader, has received an update Thursday.

The new version expands on the list of third-party integrations with the addition of Wunderlist and Slack apps while introducing a brand new document naming feature across both iOS and Android editions.

Available on a freemium basis, Scanbot 3.7 also includes optimized performance, functionality improvements, enhanced manual sharing and more.

Twitter’s Periscope app receives its first update with live broadcast improvements

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 2, 2015

Twitter's live-streaming software, Periscope, was released in the App Store a week ago and today the app has received its first feature update. Periscope 1.0.1 fixes issues with chat not working sometimes and addresses performance concerns when watching broadcasts with many users.

Now people you follow who are live-broadcasting appear at the top of your feed, allowing you to jump into the action with just a tap. Video streaming and in-app maps showing broadcaster's location have been enhanced as well.

Apple launches new App Store section promoting World Autism Awareness Day

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 2, 2018

Apple on Thursday launched a new educational section in the App Store which highlights apps that have been specifically designed for autistic individuals in celebration of the eighth annual World Autism Awareness Day.

More than two dozen paid and free apps for kids and adults are being featured, including two highly specialized apps that cost more than a hundred bucks.

The Trace: Murder Mystery Game puts you in the detective’s seat

Lory Gil ∙ Updated February 19, 2018

If you’ve got some free time to spend with your face (and hands) absorbed in a good murder mystery, then The Trace: Murder Mystery Game will give you a healthy dose of too-many-hours-on-one-game. The point-and-click puzzle adventure will send you on the trail of a murder suspect that twists and turns with every new clue discovered.

Players take on the role of a detective investigating what appears to be a suicide. After discovering a few interesting clues, you embark on a quest to find a killer before he strikes again.

Giphy for Messenger brings the world’s largest GIF library to Facebook Messenger

Lory Gil ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

GIFs are those wonderful little presents that you find online everyday to make you smile. Whenever someone sends me a GIF, it always brightens my day, usually because it involves cats doing something nefarious (or falling off of something).

Giphy for Messenger is a third-party Facebook Messenger app that lets you post all kinds of GIFs to your friends. Express any type of emotion to your girlfriend, RickRoll your buddy, and send me pictures of cats being evil.

Facebook launches Riff app to make videos with friends

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Facebook has launched yet another standalone app, called Riff, that will give you and your friends the chance to go viral.

Riff, available to download on the iTunes App Store and what was born as a side project, is an app that allows you to create videos with friends. The goal is to see how far your video can spread, with your friends' help.