Apps

Google+ gains pinned posts, new location reporting and history settings, more

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 7, 2014

It's been a while since the Internet giant Google updated the Google+ client for the iPhone and iPad, available free of charge in the App Store. Last we heard, Google+ was refreshed more than three months ago with such new features as full-resolution photo and video backup, inline translations and the ability to share your location, to mention but a few.

In today's Google+ update, the app has gained the ability to pin posts to the top of a community stream while allowing you to adjust your history settings and location reporting...

Yahoo Mail now lets you block images, web UI gains improved Folders, compose and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Yahoo keeps on meticulously improving both its Mail service on the web and companion mobile apps. Today, the firm has bumped Yahoo Mail for iPhone to version 2.0.6 which comes with your usual dose of bug fixes and performance improvements, in addition to one new feature: the ability to block images.

Now available in the App Store, a new setting lets you tell the app to skip loading images in HTML-styled email.

Security-minded users will love this feature given that spammers and attackers typically use embedded images to tell whether you have opened the message, sometimes even using images to leverage security exploits.

Yahoo's web interface has also received its fair share of enhancements, including improved handling of folders, new shortcuts, an improved multitasking chat and more...

iBetterCharge reminds you to charge your iPhone before it is too late

Lory Gil ∙ March 7, 2014

I constantly forget to charge my iPhone before leaving somewhere that I’ll need it for. I’ll drive to San Francisco for the day and run out of battery power before I leave to go back home and be left stranded with no Google Maps. I end up having to weave my way through the labyrinth that is downtown San Francisco. What I need is something to remind me to charge it up ahead of time and not when my iPhone is down to 20 percent.

iBetterCharge is a software download from Softorino that sends a signal to your Mac or PC when battery power on your iPhone gets low. The notification will remind you to charge up before it is too late…

Beats Music opens up its API to developers

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 24, 2018

Beats Music has entered the crowded music-streaming space less than two months ago and already the startup is making moves with the aim of becoming a music platform of sorts.

Akin to Rdio, Spotify and other subscription-based music services, Beats Music offers unlimited streaming for ten bucks a month through the web and via their awesome iPhone app.

CNET is now reporting that the company has now officially opened up its application programming interface (API) to all third-part developers as it seeks to foster the creation of mobile apps with Beats Music integration...

Xbox One SmartGlass app updated with new UI, dedicated game clip hub

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Good news Xbox One owners, Microsoft has posted an update to its iOS SmartGlass client for the console this morning, bringing the app to version 2.3. The update includes a number of improvements, as well as a dedicated hub for clips you make with Game DVR.

The dedicated hub for Game DVR clips is a nice addition, as it allows you to view all of your gameplay clips in one spot. Want to show a friend that sweet kill you had in Call of Duty last night, or show them that awesome volley you had in FIFA? It's all right there...

Amazon releases new app for Amazon sellers

Cody Lee ∙ March 7, 2014

Amazon quietly launched a new mobile application yesterday called Amazon Seller. As the name suggests, the app was designed to help individuals and businesses manage their product listings on Amazon's Marketplace and communicate with their customers.

The app offers a suite of mobile tools that will allow sellers to perform a wide range of functions on their mobile phones. These functions include the scanning of barcodes on items, price checking, viewing sales ranking and reviews and even the listing of products...

Jawbone’s new ‘UP Coffee’ app tracks how caffeine affects your sleep patterns

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 26, 2018

Popular accessory and wearables maker Jawbone has released an interesting new app for iPhone today. It's called 'UP Coffee,' and it's the first product from product from Jawbone Labs—an initiative that allows Jawbone employees get experimental with personal projects.

The purpose of UP Coffee is to help users understand how caffeine affects their sleep. Despite its name, users won't need an UP band to use the app, and they don't have to drink coffee. You can enter in virtually any caffeinated liquid you want, and watch the app do its thing...

The Way Home review – jump in time to get back home

Lory Gil ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Do you remember the early 1990s television show “Quantum Leap” starring future Star Trek captain Scott Bakula? In it, the show’s protagonist, Dr. Sam Beckett, is lost in time and must solve people’s problems (“put right what once went wrong”) in order to leap into a new era, trying to make it back to his own time.

The Way Home takes the theme from Quantum Leap and turns it into a fun arcade game. Live as Einstein, a fighter pilot, even a pregnant teen to find your way back home…

Developers say CarPlay is fairly easy to integrate into third-party apps

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

Since Apple introduced CarPlay earlier this week, it seems like it's all anyone can talk about. We know that the feature runs on BlackBerry's QNX platform, we know that it's going to launch first in Volvo, Ferrari and Mercedes Benz vehicles, and we know that aftermarket solutions will be available.

But what about third-party software support? According to a new report, driver safety is Apple's main concern right now, so it's taking a “slow and steady” approach with the CarPlay API. But the good news is, when it does grant devs access, the feature will be fairly easy to integrate into existing apps...

Sega’s Go Dance goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2018

It's Thursday and those who frequent iDownloadBlog know what that means as the App Store editors get to chose a new app to go free for the next seven days.

After slashing Tiny Firefighters to zero bucks last Thursday, that interactive app/book/game for kids has now gone back up to its regular asking price of $2.99. Not to worry - Apple's already named Sega's Go Dance the App Store's new App of the Week.

Launched last September and normally selling for $1.99, Go Dance was named one of the App Store's Best Of 2013 games and it's easy to see why: the game uses advanced motion-capture tech to turn your device's FaceTime camera into a motion sensor of sorts that picks up your movements while imitating avatars dance on screen.

Movements are recognized and scored in real-time and you really have to see it for yourself to fully appreciate the effect. What are you waiting for? Hit the App Store and grab your free copy of Go Dance now, go, go, go!

Apple said to be ‘scrambling’ to make changes to IAP policies required by March 31

Cody Lee ∙ March 6, 2014

In a settlement with the FTC earlier this year regarding a lawsuit over in-app purchases, Apple told the commission that it would issue refunds to those affected and modify its in-app billing system to make things more clear. The FTC agreed and gave the company until March 31, 2014 to make the changes.

In order to meet the government's orders, Apple must alter its billing practices to obtain a user's express consent before billing them for an in-app purchase, and provide them with an easy way to withdraw that consent. And according to a new report, Apple engineers are scrambling to meet the deadline...

Clear goes free one last time so you can migrate from Clear+ to Clear

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 24, 2018

In an attempt to fix the confusing mess surrounding seemingly same versions of its to-do app for the iPhone and iPad, Clear and Clear+, developer Realmac Software last month announced it would make the former app temporarily free so people who previously bought Clear+ could migrate to Clear without having to purchase that app, too.

Making true on its promise, Realmac on February 27 slashed Clear to $0. As the promotion ran for only 24 hours, not everyone was aware of the price cut. Those who missed their chance to save $4.99 by grabbing this nicely done gesture-driven app for zero bucks needn't despair - Realmac has again made Clear free for the next 24 hours.

What are you waiting for, get downloading...