Apps

Microsoft just made OneDrive totally awesome

Wednesday, Microsoft rolled out an all-new version of its OneDrive sync client for the Mac while bringing out a plethora of really cool features on the web and releasing a revamped iOS app.

The iOS client now supports OneDrive for Business accounts so basically your work and life can now be on all your Apple devices in a single app.

Not only does the redesigned iPhone and iPad app look nicer, it also lets you search photos by tags and create gorgeous albums. It even recognizes text in photos and PDFs and integrates with the popular password-management software 1Password and LastPass.

What kind of apps do you want to see on iDB?

We review tons of apps here on iDB, covering the vast majority of categories available in the App Store. But are these apps interesting to you? For instance, I don't care much about gaming, and I'm much more interested in learning about new productivity apps. You, on the other hand, might have no interest in productivity apps but would like to see more News-related apps covered on iDB.

To make sure we publish reviews you actually care about, we thought that asking you directly what you want to see on iDB would be the best way to go at it, which is why we have created this simple poll.

LongScreen is a great app for combining screenshots

I don't think anyone takes more screenshots than an Apple blogger. They're particularly convenient when doing an app review where you want to illustrate the post with proper screenshots showing the app in action. Oftentimes, we like to put screenshots side by side to give an even better overview of the app, which isn't always a straightforward task.

Up until now, my workflow consisted of AirDropping screenshots to my iMac, and using a combination of Keyboard Maestro shortcuts and Pixelmator stitching. Painful! But thanks to a new app called LongScreen, this workflow is now considerably streamlined.

Facebook’s Paper app now supports sharing from iOS Favorites album and more

Facebook's Paper for iPhone app has been refreshed today with improved performance as well as faster way of sharing photos, in addition to fixing a few issues “you’ve let us know about.”

When sharing photos, your Camera Roll items are now organized by date. Even better, the app now supports the new Favorites album introduced in iOS 8 which collates the images you've favorited by tapping on the heart icon in the iOS Photos app.

Tumblr app adds new alert types, better 1Password integration, likes/follows on Lock screen, more

As growth of Yahoo-owned Tumblr continues unabated, new features are being added to the official iOS app on a regular basis.

After picking up support for two-factor authentication last October, the new Tumblr 3.8 for iOS now includes greatly improved integration with the popular 1Password password-management app, as well as with Authy, a handy iPhone software for generating two-factor codes.

TodayRemote is a widget with iTunes playback controls

With Apple’s Remote app, you can access your computer’s iTunes playback controls so you don’t have to get off the couch to switch songs. But, unlocking your iPhone, opening the app, and selecting your device is still just way too much work.

TodayRemote lets you control playback of iTunes right from the Lock screen of your iPhone. You’ll never have to work for your music again.

Photos for Mac goes from “early 2015” to “available at a later date”

Photos for Mac, a missing piece in the iCloud Photo Library puzzle, has just gotten delayed until later this year.

Last summer, Apple took us by surprise saying it would cease development of Aperture and transition users to Photos for Mac, a new app that was supposed to replace iPhoto on OS X Yosemite as well. But Yosemite came and went and native Photos Mac app was nowhere to be seen.

Apple then gave us a vague new shipping date: “early 2015.” However, the updated wording in this support docs now lists the app as being “available at a later date.”

Snapchat rolls out Discover feature that highlights curated stories and videos

Tuesday, Snapchat announced a new feature called Discover which highlights curated stories from Snapchat's different editorial teams.

Snapchat is moving to become a media platform so they've partnered with some of the major names in media like the ESPN, Vice and CNN to build a storytelling format which puts the narrative first.

“This is not social media” nor is it aboutwhat’s most new and trending, remarked the firm in a blog post. No, sir — Snapchat believes in curation and high-quality content so “We count on editors and artists, not clicks and shares, to determine what’s important.”

Google Play Newsstand gets Handoff & offline support and other goodies

Google's Play Newsstand iOS app (formerly Google Currents) was updated Tuesday with a few new features and several bug fixes.

The software now implements support for Handoff, a technology Apple built into iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite to make it easy to seamlessly transition between Macs and iPhones/iPads in apps.

With Handoff support in Google Play Newsstand, it's now easy to resume reading on your Mac running OS X Yosemite or an iPhone or iPad running iOS 8. Jump past the fold for other changes in Google Play Newsstand 3.1.

Colors puts 1,000 photo filters at your fingertips

The trends of digital photography, especially mobile photography, ebb and flow like the changing interests of a teenager. One day, toy camera filters are all the rage and the next day, the #nofilter hashtag can be seen on everyone’s social networking page.

Colors – 1000 Filters within Color Camera is a filter app with a huge variety of color options for you to choose from. It looks like crazy color filters are the new hotness for this season’s social photographs.

Twitter adds group direct messaging, 30-second video recording

Twitter has rolled out a big update to its iOS app, adding group direct messaging and the ability to shoot video directly within the app.

The new direct messaging tool changes up the feature that's been around since 2008. It's a move to make messaging a larger part of the platform. The group function lets you start conversations with any of your followers, and they don’t all need to follow one another in order to chat. You can create a group by simply tapping a few names.

Pandora’s iOS revamp launches with Thumb History, new mini player and more

The iPhone edition of Pandora Radio, a music streaming service with more than 75 million listeners each month, has just received a visual makeover. The company previewed it almost two months ago, though the iPad edition hasn't been refreshed today.

Version 5.7 of Pandora Radio sports a cleaned-up appearance with fancy new transitions and animations. In addition to the facelift, the iPhone app also includes enhanced station personalization capabilities, improved artist discovery, greater use of thumbing and much more.