Apps

TextEdit app spotted on iPad’s Home screen in WWDC session video

TextEdit, one of the stock applications for the Mac, might be coming to the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, suggests an icon spotted on an iPad during one of the WWDC 2016 demos.

As first discovered by MacRumors, the “What's New in Metal, Part 1” WWDC session video shows (mark 17:58) a TextEdit icon on the iPad's multitasking app switcher screen and on the Home screen.

Modern Atlas, Lemon, VUE and other apps to check out this weekend

Whew! What a long week. Apple held its annual WWDC keynote on Monday, where it unveiled new versions of iOS, macOS, tvOS and watchOS, and we spent the rest of the week following up on those announcements. But now it's time for the weekend, and we plan on kicking back and relaxing with some of our favorite new apps and games, which we've listed for you below.

Apple’s free app of the week: TextGrabber

Apple on Thursday updated its App of the Week promotion with the productivity app TextGrabber. This means that for the next 7 days, you’ll be able to download the popular OCR translation app for free on both iPhone and iPad—a solid savings of $5.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with TextGrabber, it easily and quickly scans, translates and saves your chosen text or QR-codes from virtually any printed material. All you have to do is take a picture, and TG handles the rest.

The fine print of deleting stock apps on iOS 10

In an effort to address one of the longest standing customer pain points with iOS, Apple has officially confirmed that a bunch of first-party apps can be removed from iOS 10 devices. But as it turns out, deleting a stock app won't do what you'd expect.

Apple execs Phil Schiller and Craig Federighi shed more light on the topic on Daring Fireball editor John Gruber’s podcast, “The Talk Show”.

They've confirmed that deleting a stock iOS 10 app only removes its icon from the Home screen and deletes user data associated with the app, leaving actual app binaries intact on your device. Here's why this isn't such a big deal as it might sound and how removing specific first-party Apple apps might affect iOS 10's functionality.

Facebook launches new Home tab in Messenger

Facebook is trying to “reinvent the inbox” with Home, a new tab in the mobile Messenger app designed to make it easier to start conversations with the service's more than 900 million unique mostly users. David Marcus, Facebook's Messenger boss, said on Thursday that with the new Home tab his company is aiming to make Messenger simpler to use by presenting more relevant information.

iOS 10 preview: your new Lock screen with Raise to Wake, widgets, interactive notifications & more

Having taken a closer look at a much improved Messages app, which delivers more expressive and animated ways to message friends and family, our preview of big new features in iOS 10 continues with a detailed overview of an all-new Lock screen. Wait, the Lock screen in iOS 10 warrants an article?

As you know, the Lock screen has remained virtually unchanged since the iPhone's inception. With iOS 10, however, it's  undergone some major improvements in the form of a refined look and feel, including vastly redesigned widgets, and new features such as interactive notifications, Raise to Wake and expanded use of 3D Touch shortcuts.

We think that many folks are going to appreciate how iOS 10 makes their device's Lock and Home screens way more functional than before, so here's a detailed walkthrough of all the goodies included in iOS 10's freshened up Lock screen experience.

Netflix app now supports Picture in Picture on compatible iPads

Netflix on Tuesday pushed out an update for its iOS app, brining the client to version 8.7. It's a minor release, with just a few items mentioned in the change log, but there's one significant new feature that's going to really please iPad fans: Picture in Picture support.

That's right, folks with a compatible iPad can now watch Netflix in a floating, resizable window while continuing to perform tasks like checking email or browsing Safari. Netflix says you'll have to be on iOS 9.3.2 or later, and of course you'll need an iPad Air or later.

2016 Apple Design Award winners: Streaks, djay Pro, Lara Croft GO, and more

Following its WWDC keynote on Monday, Apple held a smaller event to announce the winners of its Apple Design Awards. This is an annual undertaking for the company, and the awards are highly coveted by developers.

Apple grants the awards to high quality apps and games, with unique and compelling designs that set them apart from other offerings. Winners get featured in the App Store, a trophy, and an assortment of Apple products.

Apple News gets simpler design, subscriptions and more in iOS 10

Among the new things Apple announced 10 today is a redesigned News application. This is a standalone news aggregation app, first introduced in iOS 9 last summer, and it's getting some significant improvements in the upcoming iOS 10 update.

These start with what Apple is calling an "all-new design." In the 'For You' tab, your stories are now broken up into clear sections like Top Stories, Trending—which shows you the top stories right now, and topics you follow, like cars or sports.

Swift Playgrounds: Apple’s new iPad app to teach you how to code

In wrapping up Apple's WWDC keynote this morning, Tim Cook announced a new iPad app called Swift Playgrounds for teaching people how to code. Cook specifically says "the best way to teach everyone to code," but it definitely looks like it was built with kids in mind.

The app looks a lot like other learn-to-code apps (Hopscotch!), but it's cool that Apple is using its scale to get such a tool into the hands of more people. The company says the app "combines the powerful Swift programming language and the powerful capabilities of iPad."

Microsoft Office apps updated with support for exporting files in OpenDocument format

Ahead of WWDC keynote at 10am this morning, Microsoft refreshed its trio of Office productivity applications for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad with a notable new export option. Word, Excel and PowerPoint apps can now export documents, spreadsheets and presentations in the cross-platform OpenDocument format, making the mobile apps even more suited for business use.

Bumpers, Winnie, BitCam and other apps to check out this weekend

It's going to be a long weekend for Apple fans, as we anxiously await the company's big WWDC keynote on Monday. But never fear, we've picked out some great apps and games to help you pass the time. These include a new audio recording and sharing app, an old school camera app,  and of course two great new games.