Apps

App bundles are now live on the App Store, here are a few worth checking out

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 17, 2019

Alongside iOS 8, the App Store received a number of improvements, including video previews and support for app bundles. And with yesterday's release, several app bundles popped up in Apple's digital storefront, so we've decided to roundup a few worth checking out.

To give you an idea of how this works, among our list is the Runtastic Cardio Pack, which includes 5 iPhone apps made by runtastic that are meant to track various fitness activities. Individually, these apps would cost you $16, but the bundle is just $8—a 50% savings.

SwiftKey’s new iOS 8 keyboard surpasses 1 million downloads in first day

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

SwiftKey has announced today that its new iOS 8 keyboard has already surpassed the 1 million downloads mark. The news comes just 24 hours after Apple released the software update, which activated support for third party iOS keyboards.

At the time of this writing, SwiftKey is the #1 app in the Top Free chart of the US App Store. Other third-party keyboard apps like Swype and Fleksy are also sitting at the top of their respective charts, as users rush to try out the new feature.

Flipboard receives iOS 8 Share menu extension, support for iPhone 6 screens

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 18, 2014

Like many other popular apps, Flipboard, the beloved social news magazine for the iPhone and iPad, has received a nice update today bringing out support for iOS 8's Share sheet extension which allows you to more conveniently collect what you love into Flipboard magazines across Apple's ecosystem.

Now available free of charge in the App Store, the new Flipboard 2.3.8 also includes support for the bigger screens on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

Kindle update brings iOS 8 Today widget, translation cards, copy & paste and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Thursday morning, the online retail giant Amazon has released the new Kindle 4.5 for the iPhone and iPad in the App Store, bringing out a Today widget and compatibility fixes for Apple's latest iOS 8 software update, in addition to the ability to copy passages of text from e-books, look up translations and more.

The 40.4-megabyte download is universal so any iPhone, iPod touch or iPad is supported natively as long as it's compatible with iOS 7.0 or later.

Epic releases Metal-powered ‘Zen Garden’ demo free on App Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Demoed at WWDC back in June to show off the power of Apple's new low-level graphics framework, Metal, Epic Games' Zen Garden is now available to download on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices running iOS 8 and powered by the Apple-deigned A7 or A8 processor.

Built on the recently-unveiled Unreal Engine 4, the first game engine with built-in support for the Metal API, Zen Garden classes as a technological showcase.

The latest iPhone 6, for example, renders the demo in a whopping 1,440-by-1,080 resolution at a smooth thirty frames per second.

Apple updates Pages and iMovie for iOS 8 [updated]

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

Following its release of iOS 8 this morning, Apple has begun updating its mobile apps to support the firmware. It looks like Numbers and iMovie were first on the list, with both apps showing up in the App Store's Updates tab today touting iOS 8 compatibility.

The change log for Numbers is fairly brief, mentioning only support for iOS 8, iCloud Drive compatibility, and stability improvements and bug fixes. iMovie's update, however, is a bit more extensive, bringing about new features like slow motion and video filters.

Update: it looks like Apple has also pushed out iOS 8 updates for Pages and Keynote as well.

Update 2: iMovie was experiencing issue so Apple apparently pulled it from the App Store. It should be fixed and come back quickly.

Update 3: as expected, Apple resolved the issue quickly and iMovie is once again available in the App Store.

1Password 5 launches with Touch ID support, App Extensions, goes freemium

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 17, 2014

AgileBits, the maker of the popular password-keeping utility, 1Password, has issued a major new version of the app following Apple's release of the iOS 8 software update earlier this morning.

1Password 5 for iOS 8 now takes full advantage of Touch ID fingerprint scanning to unlock your vault and comes with a brand new iOS 8 App Extension in Safari and other apps that also uses Touch ID.

The Safari extension is available right in the Share sheet and permits you to fill Logins directly into web pages. Taking advantage of AgileBits' own proprietary extensions for integrating third-party apps with 1Password, supported apps can now log you in with just a tap. And as you update passwords in these apps, 1Password updates the corresponding item in its database.

As for the price, the new 1Password 5 is a free update to existing users and a freemium download for everyone else, with a one-time In-App Purchase to unlock features like folders, tags, custom fields, Multiple Vaults, as well as the full range of items including Bank Accounts, Email Accounts, Memberships, Passports, Reward Programs, Wireless Routers, Software Licenses and many more.

Some extensions not working yet in iOS 8-optimized apps

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

After announcing last week that iOS 8 will be released to the public on September 17th (that's tomorrow), Apple invited developers to begin submitting their apps and app-updates for the new firmware. In fact, it's already approved a number of iOS 8-optimized apps into the App Store.

But there's a problem that you've probably noticed if you're running a beta version of iOS 8 right now: extensions for many iOS 8 apps aren't working properly. According to MacRumors, the issue seems to be related to code-signing on Apple's end, and it's currently working on a fix.

Yahoo adds native iPad UI to News Digest, weekly Katie Couric show and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

After launching its excellent news summarization app, News Digest, in the App Store back in January 2014, the Internet pioneer Yahoo on Friday refreshed the application with a native user interface on iPads and three new iPad-specific features.

First up, there's a brand new weekly video show available by Katie Couric. You'll recall that Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer recently hired the former “The Today Show” host as a global news anchor for Yahoo News.

Couric's show is premiering every Sunday to walk you through a significant story from the week before and give you “key context to get you in the know”. More on an extra news category and new alert timings right after the break.

EA confirms SimCity BuildIt coming to iOS

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 11, 2014

Electronic Arts, the world's top games publisher, announced yesterday that it's readying SimCity BuildIt, the latest installment in the popular city-building franchise, for Apple's iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Once again, the game will task you with building a city of your dreams, with the choices you make evolving your city in a variety of ways.

“Meet your citizens’ needs to keep them happy, or make questionable choices and feel your citizens’ wrath,” the company wrote. Pricing and availability information will be publicized in due time.

You can now make voice calls from Hangouts app

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 10, 2014

As suspected, the Internet giant Google on Wednesday has finally gotten around refreshing its free of charge Hangouts mobile application for the iPhone and iPad with the ability to make phone calls to anyone on your Hangouts contact list, using the new voice-calling feature.

As part of its staggered shuttering of the Voice app, “starting today you can make voice calls from Hangouts on Android, iOS and the web,” wrote the search giant in a post over at the Official Google Blog.

Calling landline and mobile phone numbers in the United States and Canada is free, with the international calling rates starting at a ridiculously low one cent per minute.

Spotify gains support for Ford SYNC AppLink

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 10, 2014

Spotify, the popular Swedish music-streaming startup, on Wednesday refreshed its free iPhone and iPad application with improved music discovery and support for the Ford SYNC AppLink platform.

When browsing albums in Spotify for the iPhone and iPod touch, you can now easily check out more releases from the artist in one tap.

More importantly, owners of Ford vehicles outfitted with the car maker's proprietary SYNC AppLink platform can now use Spotify in their car.