Apps

Pocket 4.1 is out with new features and UI enhancements

For those of you who aren't familiar with Pocket, it's essentially the reincarnation of Read It Later. The service allows you to bookmark and organize your favorite articles, videos and other web content for later viewing.

About a month ago, the Read It Later team released Pocket 4.0 for the iPhone and iPad — the first app released under the new brand. And while the client was great before, it just got a whole lot better...

Instapaper updated with features and gorgeous iBooks-style animations

I'm a big fan of Instapaper. I've come to rely on both the bookmarklet and the iOS app for my daily blogging and research, as well as general reading needs.

I've been also using Instapaper to catch up on my previously saved stories while on the go, using my iPhone or iPad.

Today, Marco Arment pushed another update that brought a couple new features in addition to a cosmetic change I've been clamoring for: iBooks-style animations.

I know that some other apps replicate the wonderful page curl seen in Apple's iBooks app, namely Google's Play Books. But whereas other programs fall short because of the sluggishness and jaginess exhibited when flipping through the pages, Instapaper 4.2 delivers.

I've been comparing page curls in iBooks and Instapaper for like an hour now and walked away convinced that Instapaper pretty much beats iBooks with its gorgeous, smooth and pixel-perfect page turns...

Facebook announces App Center, a cross-platform app store

Late yesterday afternoon, Facebook announced that it was going to be launching a cross-platform app store, coded entirely in HTML5, called App Center. Cross-platform meaning it will be available on both Android and iOS, as well as the web.

No, this doesn't mean that the social network is looking to take on Apple or Google. The App Center will contain both iOS and Android apps, along with Facebook's own titles, and will link directly to each platform's respective app stores...

Google releases redesigned Google+ app for iOS

Are you one of the few people left still using Google's social networking service? If so, you'll be happy to hear that the search giant has just released a major update to its Google+ app for iOS.

No, the update doesn't bring about any major new features. But it does include a revamped UI, which looks a lot cleaner than the previous version, and a few other nice improvements...

Next game by Tiny Wings creator due “in less than three weeks”

We instantly fell in love with Tiny Wings by Andreas Illiger, an addictive game featuring a cute bird flying through a series of random hills. The game still files as one of the best entertainment releases to hit the App Store since Angry Birds.

Apple loves it, too, and it even inspired a charming knock-off dubbed Whale Trail. Having earned a fortune from Tiny Wings, the developer shared a little secret on his upcoming project, scheduled to hit the App Store by June.

Gamers, rejoice: TouchArcade lands on App Store, we go hands-on

We here at iDB love TouchArchade, one of the first and arguably the most comprehensive websites out there for up-to-date news and reviews concerning gaming on the iOS platform. In case you haven't heard about it, TouchArcade is a project by our friends over at MacRumors, one of the longest-running Apple rumor publications on the web, run by Arnold Kim.

Born out of AppShopper, another pet project by MacRumors that provides most of the glue which enhances iTunes meta data by tracking app changes, the TouchArcade website has become the go-to source for my iOS gaming needs.

Having tried the app briefly, I'm happy to report that it's everything you've been hoping for - and then some...

Twitpic for iPhone released, pulls 4 years of your photo-sharing history

Not that long time ago, Twitpic used to be the go-to service to post images to Twitter. This changed last year when the popular microblogging and social media service chose Photobucket as its hosting partner.

In a long overdue move, Twitpic yesterday released an iOS app that lets you edit and share photos in a snap. Though Twitpic still commands a respectable and loyal user base, it really comes a year too late.

The app arrives at a time when Instagrams and Facebooks of this world pretty much rule the social photo sharing landscape and it'll be especially tough for them to compete with Facebook's staggering $1 billion Instagram acquisition...

Hm, Apple okays iPad music player with Windows Phone Metro-style interface

Apple tends to yank apps over duplicate functionality, use of private APIs and those that look and feel very much like stock iOS programs. So it goes without saying I was surprised to learn that the company approved Track 8, a $1.99 music player program by Ender Labs. That Apple greenlighted an app resembling a rival platform's UI rather than flaltly reject it is news in and of itself, you'll admit.

Maybe the company just doesn't care because Windows Phone is failing? Be that as it may, people will wonder if a Metro-style interface makes sense on iOS...

Apple confirms OpenStreetMap data in iPhoto as own maps rumor persists

Giving credit where credit is due, Apple now properly acknowledgeds use of crowd-sourced map tiles from OpenStreetMap for its $4.99 iPhoto photo management program for the iPhone and iPad.

The proper attribution has been discovered in yesterday’s iPhoto 1.0.1 maintenance update, tucked away in legal text found under the Apps section in device Settings.

With that off our backs, we wonder when will Apple make an iOS-wide switch from the Google Maps backend to its own mapping solution...

Narcissism just got its own app, and it’s called Ugly Meter

Define narcissism: excessive or erotic interest in oneself and one's physical appearance. If this sounds like you, or someone you know, you might be interested in this new iPhone app from Dapper Gentlemen.

Ugly Meter uses your handset's front-facing camera to scan (in other words, take a picture of) your face, and then rates your attractiveness on a scale of 1-10 based on a few different data points...

Facebook working on iPad version of Messenger app

The Facebook Messenger app debuted last fall and has remained one of the most popular iOS apps ever since. It seems a lot of members of the social networking service use the standalone messaging app over standard texting.

So far, the software has only been available [for iOS] on the iPhone. But it looks like that could be changing in the near future. According to 9to5Mac, Facebook is working on an iPad version of its popular Messenger app...

“Something even bigger” coming as Angry Birds Space clear 50M downloads

Angry Birds Space, the latest installment in the popular birds vs. pigs videogame series, has amassed more than 50 million downloads on all platforms in the 35 days since its March 22 launch, Rovio announced on Twitter this morning.

This makes Angry Birds Space "one of the fastest growing games ever" and by far the fastest-growing game on mobile, the company bragged.

Previously, the game zoomed past the ten million mark in less than three days. Rovio largely owes such a successful launch to Angry Birds's seemingly unstoppable popularity, still rising across the globe. Another crucial factor: Apple's iOS platform which now powers more than 365 million devices, as this is where the vast majority of paid downloads occur...