Apps

Pixelmator for iPad is here

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 23, 2014

Announced at Apple's iPad media event earlier this month, Pixelmator for iPad launched on Thursday at a special introductory price of $4.99. Originally a Mac app, this incredible Photoshop replacement, built exclusively for the Apple tablet, has all of the hallmarks of its Mac counterpart.

The app's been especially optimized to take advantage of the power provided by the Apple-designed A8X processor ticking inside the new iPad Air 2, though it runs plenty smoothly on A7 devices like the iPad mini 2 and the original iPad Air.

The range of features and capabilities that have been ported over from the Mac edition is astounding and I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that this is one hell of an image editing application that fans of mobile photography and productivity have been craving for since the iPad's inception.

Instacast 5 is out with new design, iPhone 6 and 6 Plus support, and more

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 24, 2018

Vemedio has released version 5 of its popular Instacast podcast client this morning, and it is absolutely packed with new features and improvements. Perhaps the most obvious change is the new design, which gives the app a much more modern look.

And as you'd hope, the new UI looks great on the new iPhones, as it includes full support for their larger displays. The app also includes support for iOS 8 extensions, which allows you to share episode show notes, links and more via the iOS share sheet.

Google launches a different take on email: introducing Inbox by Gmail

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 22, 2014

Writing on the Official Gmail Blog Wednesday, Google announced immediate availability of a new email app for iOS and Android, Inbox. Available free of charge in the App Store on an invite-only basis, Inbox represents “a completely different type of inbox”. The app strives to surface the most relevant stuff that often gets buried and forgotten due to an avalanche of unwanted emails we get bombarded with.

Built by the Gmail team and “years in the making”, Inbox has been conceived to fit your life by keeping your emails organized to “help you get back to what matters”. That sounds much like Mailbox.

Jump past the fold for the full reveal.

Google’s Hangouts app is now iPhone 6-ready

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 22, 2014

Continuing its string of app updates adding native support for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus screen sizes, Google on Wednesday issued a small update to its Hangouts messaging software for the iPhone and iPad, which now looks as you'd expect on the 4.7 and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 screens.

In addition to UI support for the new Apple smartphones, Hangouts 2.3 contains no other additions or improvements. The app is available free of charge in the App Store and requires iOS 6.0 or later.

Fantastical gains fantastic iOS 8 Today widget, Interactive Notifications, Share extension and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2018

Flexibits on Tuesday issued a major update to its calendar, reminder and to-do replacement app, Fantastical for the iPhone and iPad. Now an iOS 8-only download, the new Fantastical 2.2 is fully optimized for some of iOS 8's headline new features.

It has an informative Today widget for your upcoming tasks, ability to create events in any application that supports iOS's multi-purpose Share menu, notifications that can be interacted with on the Lock screen, within the Notification Center and from the banner alert, and more.

This update is free to existing users. And to celebrate this major new release, good folks over at Flexibits have slashed Fantastical for iOS: the iPhone edition is now $3, down from its regular price of five bucks, while the iPad edition will run you $7 for a limited time, down from its regular asking price of ten bucks a pop.

Skullduggery! digs into physics-based gaming in a special way

Lory Gil ∙ October 22, 2014

Physics-based games have really turned into something special. It was only a few years ago when games like Angry Birds were little more than the same game with a new skin. However, developers have found new ways to make the slingshot mechanics work in fun new ways and the category has taken on a life of its own.

Skullduggery! is a new game that features the familiar drag-to-launch mechanics that are so well known in physics-based games. But this title mixes in a bit of platform action to turn it into more than just a game of toss the birdy.

Another official Pokemon game has landed in the App Store

Cody Lee ∙ October 21, 2014

The Pokemon Company today released its second official game for iOS called Camp Pokemon. Aimed at kids between 6 and 8 years of age, the title takes place on an immersive island filled with various mini games that teach players what it takes to become a Pokemon trainer.

Completing each of these activities will net players a pin, which they can view later in their Pin Book, allowing them to track their progress. They can also collect stickers, which can then be used to decorate photos taken with either iPhone or iPad cameras from within the game.

IMDb app adds box office info, movie tech specs and a couple other features

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 21, 2014

Amazon-owned IMDb, the world’s largest collection of movie, TV and celebrity information, has a nicely done iPhone and iPad application available for free in the App Store that has just gotten a whole lot better in the latest version 4.5 release.

For starters, the software at last provides a bunch of useful technical specifications for movies such as the original aspect ratio, color, audio, runtime and what not.

Next, movie pages now include box office information giving you yet another indication of the movie's popularity — that's in addition to the previous data like review scores. Note that U.S. box office result data was previously available only via the app's Popular Charts feature.

If you want to write a plot for an obscure movie that lacks descriptions, or maybe add interesting trivia to a television show, you can now do so directly in the mobile app, without visiting IMDb's interface on the web.

You can now stream every episode of The Simpsons to iPhone and iPad

Cody Lee ∙ October 21, 2014

In line with expectations, FX has activated the Simpsons World portal in its FX Now application this afternoon. Authenticated users get access to a deep catalog of content, including, for the first time ever, on-demand access to all 552 episodes of The Simpsons television show.

Simpsons World will be available on various platforms, such as the FXNOW app for iPhone, iPad, Android, Xbox, Apple TV, and of course SimpsonsWorld.com. At the time of this writing, the portal was not showing up on Apple TV, but it did appear within the iOS FX Now app.

Apple updates iTunes Connect app with iPhone 6, Touch ID support

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 27, 2019

Apple has this afternoon pushed out an update for its iTunes Connect app for iOS. The app offers registered iTunes developers a handful of management tools, including the ability to access sales data for their apps and e-books, for their iPhones and iPads.

Today's update brings the app to version 3.0.1, and while Apple suggests that it's a minor one, it adds support for some significant new features. The app now utilizes iOS 8 sign-in with Touch ID, and it supports the larger displays of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

Google adds ‘Incoming’ view and more to Docs, Sheets and Slides for iPhone and iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 21, 2014

Google is on a roll today.

Minutes after issuing an updated Play Music client for iOS with a revamped Listen Now interface, mood or activity based radio station search and other goodies, the search monster announced Tuesday that updates to its Docs, Sheets and Slides trio of mobile productivity applications are now available in the App Store, featuring an all-new “Incoming” view to see all of the files that have been shared with you and a few other enhancements.

For example, the Docs editor now plays nice with external keyboards.

“We also know that it’s important to you to be able to make documents look as polished as possible, wherever you’re editing, so in Docs you can now apply headings and use shortcuts when you’re typing with Bluetooth keyboards,” the team noted.

Google Play Music updated with revamped Listen Now, mood or activity based search and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 21, 2014

After refreshing Google Plays Newsstand for iOS yesterday with native display support for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, the Internet giant Google on Tuesday pushed an update to another app, its Play Music client for the iPhone and iPad.

Taking a page from Betas Music's book, the new version of Google Play Music, available free in the App Store, enables mood or activity based search for radio stations. Jogging? Good, use the 'Running' tag to find music that matches your activity. Holding a party? The related 'Partying' should come in handy.

And because this is Google, they even let you search for 'Feeling Happy' radio stations. Other new features and enhancements are briefly mentioned right after the break.