Apps

Google+ holiday treats: better photo experience, conversation cards, more fluid UI

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 26, 2017

With over a hundred million active users, Google+ is, as Eric Schmidt put it, "a viable competitor to Facebook" and its nearly one billion users. This morning, the search firm is issuing new iOS and Android builds that enable a bunch of holiday treats. On the iOS side, you can now swipe through photo albums inline or tap once to see the photos full screen. New conversation cards are also available for highlighting specific content, from longer snippets to bigger photos to comments that slide in beneath each post...

Orchestra unveils Mailbox, a fresh take on iOS email

Cody Lee ∙ December 13, 2012

Since word got out that Google purchased Sparrow, folks have been clamoring for a new third-party email client for iOS. Sparrow is still available in the App Store, but the team has said that because of the acquisition, it will not be receiving anymore updates.

Enter Mailbox, a next-generation email client that looks like a cross between Sparrow and Clear. The app was unveiled by Orchestra, the company behind the cloud-based to-do app, today and it has a lot of people talking. Keep reading for a video preview...

Apple launches Best of iTunes 2012 charts

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Apple today posted a comprehensive list of the top iTunes sellers in 2012, ranging from e-books and podcasts to television shows and movies to apps and songs. The charts representing the best iTunes content in 2012 list the top sellers for every iTunes category. Paid and free apps are listed separately, and then again for the iPhone and iPad. Go past the fold to see if your favorite apps made it on the list...

Amazon’s Instant Video app updated with iPhone and iPod touch support

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 13, 2012

Amazon released its video player app as an iPad-only affair back in August and today the online retailer has updated the software with support for the iPhone and iPod touch. The new universal binary is still provided on a free of charge basis, though the videos, of course, must be purchased from Amazon. That the Instant Video software now works natively on all form-factor iOS devices is no doubt a good news for those of you who get your entertainment from Amazon. The program allows you to download videos for offline viewing and comes with an included selection of top Prime Instant Video titles included in the app...

Google Maps becomes the App Store’s top free iPhone app

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 20, 2017

Google released its native Maps iOS app last night and, perhaps predictably, already the much-expected software has surged to become the top free iPhone app on the App Store. This just goes to illustrate that competition is a good thing and how eager people have been to have that native mapping experience from Google on their iPhones.

The program features a sleek interface and features missing from Apple's in-house offering, namely the excellent Street View and public transit directions, in addition to a number of the usual features ranging from Zagat restaurant reviews and turn-by-turn navigation, local Google search and more...

1Password 4 lands in the App Store

Cody Lee ∙ December 13, 2012

As promised, AgileBits has released 1Password 4 for the iPhone and iPad today. The update to the popular password-keeper is actually an all-new app, with several improvements over its predecessor like a revamped UI, new features and more. Plus, AgileBits is offering a steep discount on the new software for a limited time. More details after the break...

Yahoo updates Flickr app with the obligatory Instagram-like filters

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 29, 2012

Following Instagram's update that added a new Willow filter and yesterday's big refresh of Twitter's iOS client that now lets you crop a photo and apply up to eight brand new filters before tweeting it out, Yahoo too has joined the fray by revamping its aging Flickr iOS client this morning. And guess what? The redesigned app also touts filters as Yahoo attempts to stay relevant in the social photography space. There are sixteen unique camera filters to choose from, twice as much as in Twitter's app (and also powered by Aviary). More features and screenies right after the break...

FTC investigating children’s apps over privacy concerns

Cody Lee ∙ Updated November 9, 2023

The US Federal Trade Commission released a report yesterday regarding mobile apps that are aimed at children. It has been investigating kids titles from both the App Store and the Google Play marketplace, and has found that there has been little done over the past few years to address privacy concerns. These apps are still collecting kids' data, and sharing it, without their parents' knowledge or consent...

Twitter app update with Instagram-like filters now available for download

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 11, 2012

As I reported yesterday, Twitter has updated its Android app with the promised Instagram-competing photo filters, a first for the micro-blogging service seeking to supplant Instagram as your favorite photo sharing service. That, my friends, is a pretty tall order given Instagram's popularity, the Facebook backing and a growing number of new features Instagram's gaining. Be that as it may, Twitter has waited until this morning to roll out filters to its iOS client.

You're gonna love the ability to snap a scene, edit the photo with the filters supplied by Aviary and tweet out your work without jumping back and forth between Twitter and your go-to iPhoneography app. You can grab the free download right now from the App Store. More on other features right after the break...

Shazam redesigns its fugly apps: larger artwork, Google+ sharing, offline tagging

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 11, 2012

Shazam, a music identification service popular with smartphone owners, today issued a nice update to both its free and paid iPhone apps. For starters, Shazam version 5.5 integrates better with iOS 6 by invoking the standard system sheet when sharing tags to Facebook (really, what took so long?). More importantly, you can now record audio snippets offline for later matching, something I've been yearning for since the dawn of time.

Google+ sharing is also supported, as is searching by name, title, tag date or location. Last, but certainly not the least, the app's fugly interface has been overhauled with larger artwork for music, TV ads, or shows, a prettier listening screen and generally nicer-looking interface that's easy on the eyes and more in line with Apple's iOS Human Interface Guidelines.

These features are in addition to September's update (when Shazam raised $32 million in funding), which has brought out the interesting ability to tag any television show on any channel in the United States...

Find My iPhone, now with driving directions to lost devices

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 11, 2012

A small but noteworthy update to Apple's Find My iPhone software has just surfaced on iTunes. The iPhone and iPad app which lets you locate stolen or misplaced devices on a world map has gained ability to provide driving directions to your lost gear. This capability requires the new Find My iPhone app version 2.0.1 or later and iOS 6 or later. Apple has also enabled another tweak where Play Sound, Lost Mode and Erase buttons appear separately from the main map view. Unfortunately, the repugnant stitched leather theme is still all over the app...

AgileBits teases 1Password 4 for iOS, coming December 13

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha_4nrGyGPk

In an epic Hollywood fashion, AgileBeats, the makers of the 1Password utility, today teased an upcoming major update to its iOS client. "1Password 4 for iOS is coming", the company proclaims but doesn't provide much in way of details. A blog post only says the app's "coming soon", but the trailer offers the more specific launch date: this coming Thursday, December 13.

1Password for the Mac ( a $50 value), iPhone (a $7 value) and iPhone/iPad (a $10 download) take the pain out of remembering passwords for various services by storing your existing passwords in a centralized, secure database. The software also lets you create strong passwords and effortlessly fill in forms by integrating with your web browser...