Apps

Chrome for iOS gains Today widget, 1Password and LastPass support, pull to reload and more

Google on Thursday issued an update to its Chrome browser for the iPhone and iPad. Available free of charge on the App Store, Chrome now lets you start using the app faster by providing a nifty little Today widget in the Notification Center with handy shortcuts to quickly access the voice search feature and tab creation functionality.

Moreover, the browser now plays nice with iOS 8's App Extensions, starting with support for 1Password and LastPass extensions so you can use your previously stored passwords on websites.

Search images faster without typing in Bing

Windows maker Microsoft today announced that Bing for iPhone and Android now makes it easy to find images faster than before, without typing or by typing less.

The new search experience is now live on iPhone and Android devices in mobile browsers and lets you search images with “no typing required to discover more”.

Astropad now works with FiftyThree’s Pencil stylus

Astropad, an awesome iPad application which turns your Apple tablet into a professional-grade graphics tablet for your Mac, now works with the Pencil stylus by FiftyThree.

A major update, Astropad 1.1 includes major accuracy and wavy line improvements for the Jot Touch Pixelpoint stylus, improved palm rejection for Adonit styluses, support for Adobe Ink (choose Adonit when pairing), new settings and built-in help.

Google launches new features in Docs, Sheets and Slides mobile productivity apps

Google's suite of free of charge productivity services and applications, collectively marketed under the Google Docs brand, has been refreshed Thursday with new features.

As announced Thursday on the official Google Apps Updates blog, new versions of document editor Docs, presentation software Slides and spreadsheet application Sheets are now available in the App Store.

Among other changes, these applications now include such enhancements as object reordering on a slide, table editing in spreadsheets, tracking changes and accepting suggestions in Docs, faster loading and scrolling of PowerPoint documents and more.

Tumblr 4.0 for iOS gains blog creation, adds Today widget for trending tags and more

Yahoo-owned Tumblr today released a major update to its free iPhone and iPad client in the App Store. Tumblr 4.0 for iOS sports a number of new features, enhancements and nice-to-haves that make blogging from the palm of your hand a frictionless and more enjoyable experience than before.

For starters, you can now create new blogs (previously available through the web interface only), as well as delete entire blogs from inside the app. Video embedding has been made as easy as pasting a URL from YouTube or Vimeo or another such site.

VOX Music Player brings high-definition lossless audio to iPhone and iPad

VOX Music Player for Mac by Coppertino Inc. has gone iPhone. Available at no cost in the App Store, the application lets you enjoy high-quality music encoded in the lossless FLAC format on your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad.

Of course, you can play the usual assortment of lossy audio files, too, including MP3, AAC and just about any type of audio file format you could think of. For example, the app is capable of rendering music formats like APE, WMA and CUE which are not supported by iTunes natively.

Your music can also be cached for playing offline.

You can now play Blizzard’s Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft on iPhone

Fans of Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft will be happy to hear that you can now play the game on your iPhone. Blizzard pushed out an update today for the popular card battler that, among other improvements, brings about support for Apple's handset.

Blizzard says the new iPhone version features an all-new intuitive interface, handcrafted specifically for smaller mobile devices. Those devices, however, are limited to the iPhone 4s, or later models, or the fifth-generation iPod touch (iPad 2 for tablets).

Activision bringing new Guitar Hero game to mobile this year

Gamers rejoice, Activision Blizzard Inc. has confirmed that it's reviving its Guitar Hero franchise this year, and it's bringing it to mobile. Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that, after a five-year hiatus, the California-based publisher has begun work on a new version of the popular video game for consoles, tablets and smartphones.

"Now fans can unleash their inner rock star anytime, anyplace using a phone or a game console,” Activision Chief Executive Officer Bobby Kotick said in a statement. The new product is said to cost $99, and will follow tradition in allowing players to jam on a toy guitar to music from artists such as the Black Keys and Fall Out Boy.

FiftyThree’s Paper gains cloud journals, centralized social interactions and more

FiftyThree's iPad drawing app, Paper, has been refreshed Tuesday with a pair of new features (among other enhancements) — Backup and Activity Center.

The former lets you back up private copies of your journals in the cloud so you don't lose your Paper data in case your iPad is stolen or damaged (and you didn't have enough space on iCloud for full device backup via iOS).

The Activity Center is a new place in Paper's Mix service that collates all your social activity in one place. For those wondering, Mix is an online repository of Paper content posted by creative users from around the world.

Here’s 1Password for Apple Watch

Developer AgileBits on Tuesday announced an update to its freemium password-management app for the iPhone and iPad, 1Password, which now includes Apple Watch compatibility.

So, what's managing passwords, secure notes and other confidential information is like on your wrist? According to developers, “it only takes a couple of taps” to retrieve your stored items such as a combination for your gym locker or garage door, look up your credit card number or even retrieve a one-time password on websites that use two-factor authentication for stronger security.

App Recap: notable discounts, updates and releases for April 13

The App Recap is iDB’s daily roundup of notable news from the wonderful world of iOS software. Below you’ll find a list of discounts, updates and new releases we think are worth checking out. Today's selections include some great updates for your favorite apps and a handful of app deals you don't want to miss.

Apple names popular puzzler ‘Twisty Hollow’ its free App of the Week

Apple has named Twisty Hollow its App of the Week for this week. This means that from now through next Thursday, you’ll be able to pick up the popular puzzler for both iPhone and iPad, for free—saving you a solid $3.

In the game, you must support the imputation citizens of Twisty Hollow by fulfilling their increasingly eccentric needs. You do this by combining items to make requested goods, so for example, Bessie + cow + bucket = milk.