Apps

Xbox founder says App Store on Apple TV would ‘kill’ gaming consoles

Cody Lee ∙ February 13, 2013

Earlier today, Jeffries analyst Peter Misek told investors that Apple will hold a TV-related media event in March. And he suspects that the focus of the event will be the unveiling of a software development kit that will allow developers to finally make third-party apps for the Apple TV.

Well if that's really the case, major gaming consoles better watch out. In a recent blogpost rant entitled 'Stupid, Stupid xBox!!' Xbox founder Nat Brown says that if Apple opens up an App Store on the Apple TV, the platform would "simply kill" the Playstation, Xbox and the WiiU...

Clear makes annoying Edge Swipes optional

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Clear, Realmac Software's innovative to-do app, was released a year ago and made a splash with its clean interface and heavy use of multitouch gestures. Today, the software was updated in response to feedback from users who objected to how the Edge Swipe feature was implemented.

Edge Swipes let you quickly switch between your lists by dragging your finger from screen edges. Unfortunately, this can quickly become a pain in the you-know-what.

The thing is, Clear's workflow focuses on ordinary swipes which tended to be interpreted as edge swipes if you made the swipe too close to the edge of the screen. Clear version 1.2.1 makes this problem a thing of the past by making Edge Swipe an optional feature, though you'll have to disable it inside Clear’s Settings...

HBO Go gains AirPlay streaming, Apple TV app due later this year

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 12, 2013

Good news, Apple TV users: later today, HBO will enable AirPlay streaming in its HBO Go iOS app. Speaking at The Wall Street Journal-sponsored D: Dive Into Media conference on Tuesday, HBO’s Eric Kessler said that “effective today, we will be enabling AirPlay” for HBO Go. Bloomberg last month reported that Apple and HBO are working on a content deal.

He also re-iterated that HBO Go will eventually land on the Apple TV later this yeare. Until the Apple TV app materializes, Time Warner Inc.'s HBO Go subscribers can use the existing iOS app to stream HBO shows from their iPhone or iPad to their Apple TV over AirPlay...

Facebook now sends 180 million clicks to Apple and Google app stores

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 12, 2013

The social network Facebook has become such a behemoth in that space that it's now sending an astounding 180 million clicks to Apple's App Store marketplace and Google's Play Store for Android software. That's one of the nuggets from a speech Dan Rose, Facebook VP of partnerships gave at The Wall Street Journal-sponsored D: Dive Into Media.

He also touched on Facebook's mobile strategy and the social network's future prospects as it competes for our time with other popular mobile services...

Winston for iPhone wants to be the Siri for news

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPH2PK5WZys

I know your news reader choices on iOS are rich. There's Flipboard, Instapaper, Readability, News360, News.me and a whole lot of other lesser known apps. Winston, a new software by a Colorado-based startup, is unlike your regular news client. Instead of overwhelming you with an endless stream of updates, Winston presents you with a personable British butler which compiles a daily brief from your selected news sources and social network feeds.

It detects what's important and then reads the summaries out aloud, so you can catch up on the latest while doing something else. It's a novel approach that saves time and as such is likely to strike a chord with busy mobile users. I'm already liking Winston a lot. More tidbits right past the fold...

Orchestra’s Mailbox hits the iPhone, download now to reserve your spot

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

Orchestra's anticipated email client aptly named Mailbox has finally hit the App Store, following months of private beta testing. In between Google's slow pace of adding necessary new features to its Gmail iOS client and Sparrow lingering with maintenance updates but no new stuff, Mailbox is Godsent. Not only is it arguably the best-looking iOS email client, Mailbox outsmarts Apple's stock Mail, Gmail and Sparrow with its chat-like approach to email, crisp UI and the cool 'snooze' function...

Cut the Rope ‘Lantern’ box arrives in time for Chinese New Year

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 17, 2018

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwziSZJ7gpk

Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year, is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. Ahead of the upcoming festivities which come with a seemingly endless stream of colorful lanterns being released in the sky, Cut the Rope maker Zeptolab and UK publisher Chillingo have issued a content update which brings a brand new Lantern box full of - you guessed right - floating paper lanterns. With the 25 new levels, Cut the Rope now has a total of 350 levels spread across fourteen different boxes. Not bad for a 99-cent game...

Skype for iPhone gains emergency call redirection, automatic call recovery

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Following a Skype for iPad update earlier this week that has enabled automatic dropped call recovery, in-app purchase of Skype credits and a minor UI tweak, the Microsoft-owned VoIP provider has pushed out an update to its iPhone and iPod touch client this morning. Borrowing from the latest iPad build, the iPhone version will now automatically reconnect any dropped call.

More importantly emergency calls now get routed through the native dialer, which is interesting knowing most other VoIP apps don't support this feature. A few more tidbits and the full changelog follow after the jump...

Twitter’s Vine app gets 17+ age rating

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Vine, Twitter's new app for sharing short 6-second clips, has had somewhat of a rocky start. Immediately following its launch two weeks ago, Twitter got inundated with complaints that the Editor’s Pick section was populating users' video feed with adult content. Twitter blamed the problem on "a human error" and promised to fix it in the next update. And just like clockwork, Vine version 1.0.5 landed today on the App Store, bringing with better sharing and the 17+ age rating (was 12+)...

ProCutX: control Final Cut Pro X with your iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 6, 2013

Here's something that I think our own Jeff Benjamin might love a lot. Pixel Film Studios has launched its first iOS app, ProCutX (developed by Lightwork Solutions), which allows video editors to control Final Cut Pro X on their Mac through an iPad. As you can see for yourself, the user interface replicates pro video editing consoles that people who are serious about film making use in conjunction with the Final Cut Pro X software...

You can now add money to your account directly in Skype for iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 4, 2013

Microsoft-owned Skype has some nice mobile clients on the iPhone and iPad (unlike its fugly Mac app). Though it's a tad heavy on CPU and battery, Skype on iOS offers excellent voice quality and image clarity in video chats. At least that's what my experience's been, your mileage may vary. Today, a new iPad build has surfaced on the App Store with some new nice capabilities worth a mention.

If you use Skype credits to text people and make inexpensive calls, no longer do you need to buy these on the Skype web site as the iPad build now supports adding money in-app, but only if you live in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Sweden or Estonia (more countries to follow soon).

Experiencing poor reception (it's Skype's way of letting us know we should buy some credits)? No problem, the new version now automatically reconnects a dropped call. More tidbits right after the break...

Tweetbot gains support for Chrome, Flickr, Vine and 1Password

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

Here's another nice Tweetbot update for your iPhone or iPad. A new version, Tweetbot 2.7, is now live on the App Store with some interesting new features. For starters, Tweetbot can now open links from tweets in Google's Chrome browser, provided it's installed on your iDevice. The app will also render Flickr images in-line, as well as 6-second clips tweeted out using Twitter's new Vine app. Lastly, links from tweets can also be sent to the 1Password app's built-in browser in order to access password-protected web sites without having to remember your credentials...