Apps

Create and Send Pre-Made Texts With ‘Canned’ for iPhone

Alex Heath ∙ Updated February 16, 2018

Let's be real, your time is precious. Sometimes you just don't have time to shoot off a quick text. You could be in a meeting, driving, at work, or just plain lazy. Wouldn't it be nice to have a list of pre-made, generic messages you could easily send in a text message?

Canned for iPhone, by Sky Balloon, is a lightweight, simple app that allows you to easily send off "canned" responses through text message. The app integrates with your Messages app by pasting your replies into the input field and allowing you to choose your recipient...

The Mac App Store Has Opened, Brings Popular iOS Games to the Mac

Alex Heath ∙ Updated October 10, 2018

The Mac App Store has opened. If you go to Software Update on your Mac, you can download the latest version of OS X. This update includes a shiny new app on your dock called the "App Store." Don't get confused, this isn't the iOS App Store on your iPhone; all of these apps are Mac-specific apps.

While the Mac App Store does bring many great new apps for the Mac, many iOS apps that we all know are also available through the Mac App Store. Specifically, there are many popular games from the iOS App Store now available on the Mac. The new Mac releases of these games are basically fullscreen versions with some added features and content.

And yes, you can now play Angry Birds in full, HD resolution on your 27-inch iMac...

The Basics of Moving and Deleting iPhone Apps

Jeff Benjamin ∙ January 7, 2011

Moving and deleting apps are probably two of the most fundamental functions that any iPhone user will use regularly; hence it fits perfectly in our iPhone Basics series of tutorials.

Step inside as we give you the low down concerning this primary function. We explain how to get into jiggle mode, how to delete apps, and why some apps can't be deleted.

Perfect for those of you who are new to the iPhone...

A Strange New iOS Alert References The Mac App Store

Alex Heath ∙ Updated March 18, 2019

Here's a new anomaly from Apple's App Store. This image is courtesy of Francis, an iPhoneItalia reader. Francis was casually looking through the reviews of an iPhone app called "iAddebito." He tried to post his own review, but was alerted with this warning message.

If your Italian is a little rusty, we understand. The message reads, “You must own this product to write a review. To write a review on this app, you must have bought it from the Mac App Store."

The Mac App Store is opening tomorrow, but it seems that Apple may have already been secretly testing it with certain iOS apps. Who knows, perhaps there will be iOS apps that can run cross-platform (iOS and OS X) when the Mac App Store opens...

Dring – Beautiful Ringtone Creation On The iPhone [Review and Giveaway]

Alex Heath ∙ Updated February 16, 2018

Apple has been allowing ringtone creators on the App Store for several months now, but there has yet to be an app that stands out from the rest. We've talked about creating ringtones for the iPhone before, but there has yet to be a really elegant and simple way to create ringtones straight on the iPhone.

Dring, by Wake Apps, is the newest addition to the ringtone creator catalog. Dring is "cream of the crop" caliber when it comes to quality of design. The app is truly gorgeous. Every pixel is fine-tuned and perfectly placed; everything feels smooth and responsive.

Besides good looks, Dring has all of the features that a good ringtone app should have. Creating ringtones is a beautiful breeze with Dring...

Apple Patent Indicates Plans For A Social Network iPhone App, With A Focus On Shopping

Alex Heath ∙ January 3, 2011

More and more shopping is happening online these days, but plenty of people still prefer brick and mortar stores to buy their jeggings in. On December 30th, 2010, Apple's latest patent was published. This patent hints at a native social networking app that Apple may implement in a future version of iOS. Such an app would merge social networking into a shopping experience.

This Ping-like, social-shopping network would allow users to have an enhanced shopping experience with participating merchants. Apple's patent is titled "Social Networking in Shopping Environments."

How Much Have You Spent On iPhone Apps?

Alex Heath ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

There are plenty of industry reports and infographics that give us an idea about the state of Apple's App Store. Apps are being sold at an average price of less than $2.50 each, and there is speculation that app sales could be a $34 billion dollar industry by 2014. In 2010, iOS users spent an average of only $4 each month on apps.

I have a feeling that the user statistic of $4 a month is a product of the way that averaging statistics bend numbers. There is still a huge divide between what most would call "power users," and the "average users" of technologies like the smartphone. (If you read iDB, most likely you're a power user.)

There are people that are really into buying and trying different apps, and those people purchase a lot of apps. Then there is the vast sea of average, mom-and-dad iOS users who may download a free app every now and then, but don't make money purchases in the App Store too often. The good news is, you can easily see how much you're spent in the App Store with a nifty utility for Mac OS X...

The 10 Best App Store Apps of 2010

Alex Heath ∙ Updated February 21, 2018

The App Store has never been a very quiet place. 2010 was no exception; thousands upon thousands of new apps were submitted to the App Store. Most of them aren't worth mentioning, but there have been some exceptional apps that have risen to the forefront of what the App Store has had to offer throughout the year 2010.

We've covered a lot of App Store apps this year on iDB, with the goal of keeping our readers in the know.

Now, we’d like to take some time to reflect on our favorite App Store apps of 2010. Being included on this list doesn’t necessarily mean the app was released in 2010, it just means that it was amongst our most utilized of this year. Drumroll, please…

There Were Huge Spikes in App Store Downloads Over the Holidays

Alex Heath ∙ Updated February 16, 2018

I'm sure it comes as no surprise that there were plenty of iOS devices under the tree this Christmas season. Most of you either gave, or saw a loved one receive a new iPod Touch, iPad or iPhone. Two very prominent applications in the App Store, Facebook and Tap Tap Revenge, have shared their download numbers from the holidays. The results are very impressive.

Both Facebook and Tap Tap Revenge 4 have sat comfortably near the top of the App Store charts for quite some time, and TTR4 has been the number one app for several days. Both of the apps had huge download spikes this past weekend, giving us a good idea of how many iOS devices were opened for Christmas...

Apple Sued Amidst Privacy Concerns Regarding App Tracking

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

A little over a week ago, we reported on a Wall Street Journal article that revealed an eye-opening investigation into how apps share your personal data; without your consent.

Needless to say it was bit shocking to us, our readers, and apparently a lot of other people concerned over their personal privacy, or lack thereof.

Now the fallout from the privacy scandal is beginning to rear its head, and it ain't pretty...

How to Give An iPhone App This Holiday Season

Alex Heath ∙ Updated February 6, 2016

It's that time of year. Christmas music, staff parties, plenty of egg nog, and gifts. As fellow iPhone users, what better gift is there to give each other than what we crave: more apps.

We could all probably name at least a few apps that we would like to have, but haven't bought yet. How nice would it be to wake up on Christmas day and have that new app you've been wanting?

Luckily, Apple allows you to "gift" an app to a friend. If you didn't know about gifting apps, I'm going to walk you through how to gift an app, along with some gift-giving tips...

Apple Is Denying In-App Donations To Developers

Alex Heath ∙ Updated October 10, 2018

Apple has never been known as an easy company to get along with. While it has always made some of the greatest products on the market, it is also notorious for being overly censored and stubborn with its decisions.

We recently reported that an unofficial WikiLeaks app had been pulled from the App Store. It was thought that Apple could have justified the pull based on their charitable donation policy. As it turns out, that policy has been plaguing app developers for some time, and they're starting to get frustrated.

The Huffington Post recently published an article on Apple's denial of in-app donations for charity. Many developers run non-profit, or support non-profit, organizations and would like to allow their app's users to make philanthropic donations in the same way that other in-app purchases function. For some reason, Apple has been denying these requests from developers, and it's making Apple look like the bad guy...