Apps

Snapseed update brings out Shadows slider and HDR Scape filter

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 29, 2013

Snapseed, the popular mobile image editing application Google acquired in September 2012 (making it a free download) is quite a piece of work.

As our resident iPhoneographer Emil wrote recently, with just a few simple steps, Snapseed can turn your dull and boring iPhone shots into beautiful and lively Fall photographs that dazzle with just the right amount of color, saturation, emphasis and detail.

As part of its 'A Morning With Google+' event which revealed interesting developments on the Google+ iOS front, the Internet giant just started shipping a new version of Snapseed which comes with a cool new filter and the 'Shadows' image tuning option.

Important caveat: avoid this update if you're not running iOS 7...

Facebook previews new-look Messenger with phone number integration

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 23, 2017

We were told last month Facebook had been working on a new version of its iPhone client with Graph Search and testing a major rethinking to the standalone instant messaging software, Facebook Messenger (a free download from the App Store).

Today, the social networking behemoth announced a new Messenger experience is now available for limited testing on Android and coming soon to iOS. Representing a major refresh, Messenger has undergone a substantial facelift and now lets folks instant-message each other using only their phone numbers, putting Messenger on a collision course with WhatsApp...

Classic platformer remake Everyday Spelunker launches in App Store

Lory Gil ∙ Updated December 4, 2013

In 1983, a fun and deadly platform game made its way into the hearts of gamers. Spelunker was best known for its requirement of precision timing and multiple ways to die. If you could master Spelunker, you could master anything.

Everyday Spelunker, a revised version of the classic platformer has just been released in the App Store. It is a nearly identical recreation of the NES original, except that there are a few new features to help you reach your goal instead of dying over and over again…

Google+ iOS app to get full-res uploads, background sync

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 29, 2013

The Internet giant's 'A Morning with Google+' event is underway and the company's just made it official: the Google+ app for the iPhone and iPad will soon be updated with the ability to upload full resolution images to Google+ Photos, previously Picasa Web Albums and now part of Google's social thing.

Another new feature being mentioned is support for Background Refresh in iOS 7 which will allow the application to automatically synchronize your photos in the background, even when it's not running.

Currently, background photo sync only works if you have the app open...

Amazon releases Cloud Player app for Mac

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

After releasing its native Cloud Player app on the iPhone back in June 2012 and adding the iPad edition eight months later, the king of online retailing, Amazon, today announced that the software is finally available to Mac owners as a free download.

Amazon Cloud Player lets you access your Amazon cloud storage for music and manage your music library, whether it's saved locally or in the cloud.

You can use the app to play your Amazon and iTunes music all from one place, even when offline, and even buy new tracks from the integrated Amazon MP3 Store with a catalog of more than 25 million songs...

Chromic brings professional video filters to iOS for free

Lory Gil ∙ Updated December 29, 2016

Photo filters have been a big hit in the App Store, especially since Instagram turned iPhone photography into a phenomenon. However, video filters have not enjoyed quite as much success.

Chromic is a video editing app that adds high-quality filters to your clips so you can turn your memories into rich, expressive movies. Now, videos of your cat will look as good as those picture of food you always post on Instagram…

Rotato might be the simplest, most difficult game in the App Store

Lory Gil ∙ Updated December 4, 2013

A simple game does not have to mean a puzzle game. Think about how simple arcade games were in the early 1980s. In Pac-Man, all you did was move around, eating pellets and avoiding ghosts.

Rotato is a lot like Pac-Man. Players move around, collecting coins and avoiding stars. Only this game is simpler because you only move tapping the screen, but it is more difficult, because the playing field is much smaller…

NBA updates Game Time app for new season, gives it iOS 7 makeover

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 13, 2018

Get ready basketball fans, the 2013-2014 NBA season is finally upon us. The season officially kicks off tonight with 3 games, which include great match-ups between the Pacers and the Magic, Clippers and Lakers, and the Bulls and the Heat.

And in a proverbial buzzer-beater, the NBA has updated its iOS app for the new season, bringing it to version 5.1. The update brings about a number of improvements including an iOS 7-inspired UI makeover, new league content and more...

Microsoft’s Bing gets its iOS 7 revamp and flat icon

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 28, 2013

I'm not using Microsoft's Bing search engine much on the web, but really meant to fall in love with the iPhone and iPad app, and long before Google's Search iOS software became sleek. The problem is, Redmond was rolling out those updates way too slow for my taste.

I last checked Bing out some time last year and was disappointed that it still had certain non-Retina elements to it, such as the logo graphics. Today, Bing for the iPhone and iPad has gotten a fresh coat of paint, a nice new flattened logo and a completely revamped user interface re-created from scratch with iOS 7 in mind...

Future OS X, iLife and iWork updates will continue to be free

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 28, 2013

One of the easily overlooked aspects of last week's iPad keynote is how Apple revolutionized software pricing. "The days of spending hundreds of dollars to get most out of your computer are gone," charismatic software chief Craig Federighi enthusiastically remarked just before revealing that OS X Mavericks will be a free upgrade to everyone.

The move has ushered in “a new era of Mac,” he said. And of course on the iOS side, the iLife and iWork suite of apps for content creation and productivity has gone from paid to free for every new iOS device owner.

The best part: future updates to iWork/iLife apps and upcoming new versions of the Mac operating system are going to continue to be completely free. What sort of dark magic is that?

Shazam launches artist updates, friends’ tags and newsfeed-style interface

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

The music discovery and fingerprinting engine Shazam is among a bunch of apps that were updated with iOS 7-inspired interface shortly after Apple released the new iPhone, iPad and iPod software for public consumption on September 18.

It's been quite a wait since Shazam's last feature-packed update and today's release has seen to that.

Not only does Shazam now let you see what your friends are tagging in real-time and check out updates from the artists you follow, it also sports a brand new interface to interact with the Shazam community. More on that in just a second...