Apps

Viber for Mac gets typing indicator, group messaging, stickers and emoticons

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 9, 2013

The popular Skype alternative and WhatsApp rival Viber today updated its Mac app with half a dozen new features. You'll recall that Viber released the inaugural Mac build back in May to allow for cross-platform messaging. I've been actively using it ever since on my MacBook Air and today's update adds a few features I've been missing a lot.

Now, when you're chatting with someone, you can tell whether a person is typing a message thanks to the new typing indicator. And for a feature-parity with Viber for iOS, the Mac edition now expands on the initial release with full support for group messaging capabilities, as well as popular stickers and emoticons. I've included a few remaining nice-to-haves after the break...

YouTube Capture gains support for accounts with multiple channels

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 13, 2018

The Internet giant Google today released a maintenance update to its YouTube Capture app used to record clips on your iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices and upload them in the YouTube-friendly format to the video sharing service. The biggest improvement in YouTube Capture version 1.5 is support for YouTube accounts with multiple channels.

This is no doubt going to appeal to prolific YouTube creators such as our own Jeff Benjamin whose how-to, hands-on and walkthrough videos regularly score high view counts (and some people even fall in love with the sound of Jeff's wonderful radio voice).

This edition of YouTube Capture additionally features general improvements and fixes and better uploading on iOS 5 devices...

Freemium Candy Crush game smashes revenue records at $633K per day

Ed Sutherland ∙ July 8, 2013

Candy Crush Saga could become the legal Crack of the app world. Initially belittled for its close resemblance to Bejeweled, Electronics Arts' addictive freemium game, Candy Crush is now the poster child for the freemium model, raking in a record $633,000 per day, according to one estimate. The key is simple: get players addicted to the game, then charge for larger and larger fixes. Theoretically, the company behind Candy Crush could pull in $230 million in annualized revenue from this single app, even turning the game loose on Wall Street...

Instagram update adds front-cam stabilization, landscape support

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 8, 2013

Like it or not, video on Instagram video is here to stay. And with five million videos uploaded to Instagram in the first 24 hours and given the Instagram brand strength, small wonder that Vine shares on Twitter have plummeted since Instagram video debut.

Not resting on its laurels, just this past weekend Instagram received a small update adding support for the Cinema video stabilization feature for your iPhone's front camera, previously available on the rear camera only. Not only that, you can now shot video holding the Instagram camera in landscape orientation...

Kim Dotcom’s Mega iOS app in the works

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 18, 2016

If anything, the controversial Megaupload file-sharing service got the Internet mogul Kim Dotcom filthy rich. The German-Finnish entrepreneur is currently residing in New Zealand, where he manages a new cloud-based storage service startup called Mega that promises to protect your privacy from the government's prying eyes.

To help with that, the company acquired an Android app that's now being maintained by Mega contractors. Editions for Apple's iOS and Microsoft's Windows Phone being worked on, which is good news if you were looking to bolster up security of your personal cloud files in light of the ongoing scandal involving NSA spying and the PRISM intelligence program...

Vine adds protected posts, revamped camera, channels, revining and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 9, 2018

If you care about sending quick clips up to six seconds long via Twitter-owned Vine for iPhone, you should pause for a second and take a look at today's Vine update which brings a few major enhancements. Most notably, Vine 1.3 enhances your privacy by introducing protected posts.

Protecting a post will make it unavailable to the web at large so only the people you approve to follow you can see them (you can also protect your entire account.

This release also brings out a redesigned camera, new channels and trending posts, the ability to re-share someone's vine (finally!) and other perks. Go past the fold for the full breakdown...

Review: iTranslate Voice, the best and funniest voice-to-voice iPhone translator

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 19, 2018

German developer Sonico Mobile's iTranslate Voice (not to be confused with dozens of App Store apps that have 'itranslate' in their name) has been on the App Store since May 2012, scoring rave reviews and winning the attention of App Store editors who featured the software on multiple occasions.

A little over a year since its debut they totally revamped the app, adding new languages and language facts and an incredible device-to-device AirTranslate feature.

Unlike many other apps that claim to feature quick voice-to-voice translations, iVoice Translate works as advertised and gets the job done, letting you instantly "speak" another language, voice-to-voice...

USA Network iOS app released, lets you watch TV shows the day after they air

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 3, 2013

Following a long period of initial hesitance, major US television networks and content providers have finally relented and are now falling over each other to release software that lets Apple device owners stream television shows, with or without cable subscription. The latest entrant: NBC Universal-owned USA Network, commonly referred to as USA.

Their new USA Anywhere Plus app gives you access to TV shows the day after they air on television, including back episodes for some shows...

iPhone leads customer satisfaction in Samsung’s home turf of South Korea

Ed Sutherland ∙ July 2, 2013

There's nothing like winning over your competitor's hometown audience. Apple, accustomed to topping nearly every customer satisfaction survey, must take particular pleasure in being named best by smartphone owners in South Korea, home of rival Samsung.

The survey found even a year after purchase, iPhone owners were more satisfied overall, as well as happy with the repair experience. Customer satisfaction is an often-cited metric by Apple CEO Tim Cook, a quality in which some see him well-suited...

Track your favorite TV shows with the elegant TeeVee 2 app

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 2, 2013

As I tend to repeatedly mention here, I'm a big fan of movies and television shows (wanted to be an actor when I was a kid). Now, most of my premium entertainment is consumed digitally these days so I'm big on apps that help me manage and discover great TV shows and movies.

For the latter, I use Limelight which lets me organize and manage my movie library in style.

I'm also a heavy user of ToDo Movies to track upcoming releases and its eye-popping Motion Posters feature has to be experienced to be fully appreciated. You could imagine my excitement discovering TeeVee 2, an elegant and sophisticated iPhone application by Tomas Perzl which helps me keep track of next episodes of my favorite TV shows, when they are airing, the days remaining, the episode title/synopsis and lots more...

Reeder update enables Feedly and Feed Wrangler on iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 21, 2018

Silvio Rizzi's RSS client for the Apple platform, Reeder, has built quite a loyal following. It's one of the first full-featured RSS readers on the iPhone which won me over with its elegant and sophisticated user interface, clever use of gestures and the ability to efficiently manage hundreds of feeds without crawling to a halt.

Silvio has been diligently updating the software with new features and today he pushed a new version which enables two popular Google Reader replacement services just as Google's web-based RSS client went offline yesterday...