Apps

Still renting discs? Blockbuster has an app for that.

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

Remember Blockbuster? The once popular video and game rental chain got pushed to the brink of relevancy as the likes of Netflix, Hulu, iTunes and Amazon took over.

But if you're stuck in the old age and still rent movies on discs, Blockbuster's re-written iOS app could come in handy for managing your physical rentals on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices.

Some of the welcome features include the ability to scan your membership card for in-store checkout and check movie availability on a per-store basis. And for those of us that have long moved on, Blockbuster earlier this month released a brand new On Demand iOS streaming app...

AirPlay streaming, HDMI out and web UI coming to Infuse media player

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

I was quite excited about Infuse, a versatile and nice-looking iOS media player by FireCore, the team behind the aTV Flash Black. The one and only major gripe I had with the software is its absence of AirPlay streaming, which is quite a limiting factor if you want to watch your media on the big screen TV through your Apple TV. While AirPlay support is definitely coming in a future update, the team yesterday issued a small update fixing minor inconsistencies and tweaking a few features...

Another tethering app sneaks into the App Store

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

Here's a nice little surprise to cap off your Memorial Day weekend. A new app has been discovered in the App Store that has a hidden tethering feature that will allow you to share your iPhone's internet connection with your computer.

The fact that an app like this has made its way into Apple's heavily guarded App Store isn't the least bit surprising, as it's happened several times now. And it also won't be surprising when Apple pulls it in the next few days, or sooner...

Here comes the Google Glass photographer

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

Although I haven’t yet convinced iDB’s own Sebastien Page to buy me a Google Glass, I’m a big fan of the Internet giant’s augmented-reality eyewear. But just like the majority of respondents in our non-scientific poll, I too would rather wear Apple’s rumored iWatch over Google’s wearable gizmo.

The biggest problem with Glass, as I see it, is social rather than technical. With that in mind, here's something you could be seeing real soon: the Google Glass photographer.

Go past the fold for a funny clip...

Initiate Activator functions using icon taps with App Activate

Cody Lee ∙ May 26, 2013

On its own, Activator is probably one of the most useful jailbreak tweaks available. It allows you to map practically any button or touch gesture to an iOS action. But what makes it really cool is that devs can create their own tweaks to extend its capabilities.

And that's the case with this next package, by developer rjharris. It's call App Activate, and it enables you to initiate any of Activator's actions by double tapping an app icon . So for instance, you could set it so that double tapping the Music icon starts playing music...

Mobile game downloads mostly made from word-of-mouth

Ed Sutherland ∙ May 24, 2013

Did you hear about this new iOS game? You've got to try it. Ca-ching. That, in a nutshell, is how most mobile games are downloaded. The majority of mobile users download games based on word-of-mouth from friends or family, a new survey indicates. What's more, most folks download at most five titles per month, spending about three hours playing over the course of a week, according to Applifier...

Clinging for relevancy, Rhapsody revamps iOS app with tons of goodies

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 23, 2013

Remember Rhapsody, the jukebox app and music subscription service that once pitted itself as a chief rival to Apple's iTunes, only to fail miserably? It's been lingering out there ever since, watching its user base erode to not only iTunes, but to streaming music services Pandora and Rdio, which both received nice little updates yesterday. But don't write Rhapsody off yet. Today, they've revamped their iOS app which they likened to "the Ferrari of iPhone apps"...

More Evernote awesomeness: native reminders launch in iOS/Mac client

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 13, 2018

What started out as a simple note-taking solution is quickly becoming the Internet's favorite information management platform.

We're talking about Evernote, of course, the Jack of all trades, at least when it comes to note-taking, and I'm using the term loosely here. But if there's one feature that's been notably absent from Evernote it's the concept of time - but no more.

Thanks to a major update issued earlier today, Evernote users on iOS and OS X can now take advantage of reminders, right in their notes. With this helpful new feature, Evernote just leveled up in a major way.

Reminders sync across devices seamlessly, facilitate to-do lists, deliver in-app and email alarms, can be notebook-specific and allow for a range of interesting capabilities not possible before. Let's get down to the nitty-gritty, shall we?

Smule’s latest hit: social guitar-playing game for iPhone and iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 13, 2019

Smule is among early iOS developers that have been continuously raising the bar on what's possible on Apple's iPhone. They make a bunch of social music-making applications and their latest offering is a free iPhone game called Guitar!.

Like many other Smule apps, Guitar! challenges you to play a virtual guitar on your iPhone or iPod touch and earn points based on your performance.

You can then compare your standings to your friends in global leaderboards. And as you progress, the app unlocks a range of Electric and Rock guitars that let you try out new guitar sounds. And no, you don't have to be a musician as the whole point of the game is social music making. A promo video and other highlights are right after the break...

After being dumped from App Store, AppGratis launches Android version

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

After great wailing and gnashing of teeth about its banishment from Apple's App Store earlier this year, AppGratis is back - for Android users. The app recommendation engine was yanked after Apple outlawed iOS apps which promoted other apps.

Now in the Google's Play store Android repository, developers claim AppGratis "is designed from the ground up" for the iOS rival. Yet, the service appears much like the AppGratis ejected from the app's first choice, the App Store...

Shazam for iPad gains exclusive background television-tagging features

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

The iPad edition of the media fingerprinting and discovery app Shazam has been updated today with a couple noteworthy enhancements.

First and foremost, the app can now auto-tag the music, television shows and ads playing around you (most likely on your telly), even when the app is in the background (you'll see the red bar when auto-tagging is running).

This interesting television-tagging capability lets you surf the web, check your email and chat with your friends, for example, while Shazam dutifully identifies what's playing on the radio or your telly. You can then revisit those tags later to pick the media you're interested in.

And, a redesigned homescreen makes it easier to see what your Facebook friends have been watching and listening to, explore popular tags by continents, countries, regions, cities and towns and browse the most tagged TV shows in the past few hours...

Mailbox for iPad is finally here, get downloading

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 13, 2018

Mailbox, the popular Gmail-based email application for the iPhone and iPod touch that Dropbox snapped up back in March, has been updated with native iPad support. Yes, you can now triage your email on the bigger screen. Taking best ideas from the iPhone build and borrowing cues from Apple's stock Mail app on iPad, Mailbox on your Apple tablet increases your productivity by dividing the interface in landscape mode into two columns: the lefthand one which lists your email messages, with message content rendered on the right side. We've gut the full breakdown and a promo video right below the fold...