Apps

iMovie, GarageBand and iWork apps go free for all users

As first spotted by Juli Clover of MacRumors, Apple has made the GarageBand and iMovie apps as well as the iWork suite available free for all users. In the last few years, since 2013, only people who bought a new iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Mac device were allowed to download these apps at no additional charge. Starting today, new hardware purchase is no longer required to get these apps.

Snapchat’s augmented reality Lenses feature finally works with your iPhone’s rear camera

A Lens feature on Snapchat, originally introduced in September 2014, has just gotten a whole lot better because the latest update to the company's iOS app now lets you—at long last—use augmented-reality Lenses with your iPhone's rear camera. With Lenses, you can add real-time effects into your snaps, courtesy of the company's advanced face-detection technology. Before today, Lenses were only available via the front-facing camera.

You can now organize your saved Instagram posts into private collections

Instagram today unveiled a new way to organize your saved posts into private collections that only you can see, building upon the ability to save posts for later which launched on the Instagram app back in December 2016.

“Whether you want to plan your next day trip, revisit your favorite artists’ illustrations or always have some animal videos on hand, collections can help you keep track of the posts you want to remember,” said the company.

Captiona, Kite, Elk, and other apps to check out this weekend

Looking for new apps and games this weekend? iDB has you covered. In the latest edition of our Apps of the Week roundup, we have some great selections such as an app for creating unique Instagram captions, a newsletter manager, and a sharp currency converter. And as always, we have two great new games for you to check out.

How to show community posts on YouTube for iOS

Back in September 2016, Google's YouTube received its own social network of sorts with the launch of a new Community feature.

With YouTube Community, your favorite creators can better express themselves beyond video by engaging viewers using text posts, GIFs, images and more.

Those types of posts appear in a new Community section on creators' channels and directly in viewers' Subscriptions feed.

In this tutorial, we're going to teach you how to enable or disable posts from the YouTube community in your Subscriptions feed.

You can now watch YouTube videos while you do other things on Viber for iPhone

The mobile Viber app today received an interesting update that enables a special mode for enjoying YouTube clips without having to leave the app, which  resembles iOS 9' picture in picture feature on iPad. As part of Viber versions 6.8.2 for iOS, tapping a YouTube URL sent or received in a conversation now brings up a floating overlay that can be moved around so that you can enjoy the video in minimized view while you do other things within the app.

The best VPN deals right now

There are so many VPNs to choose from, and if you’re having trouble deciding what one to choose for your own internet privacy and security, then we’re here to help.

One of the biggest deciding factors in purchasing a long-term commitment to software is the cost, so in this roundup, we’ll discuss some of the best VPN deals you can get right now.

Lara Croft GO gains new levels and iMessage sticker pack via Mirror of Spirits update

Developer Square Enix this morning issued a new content update to its turn-based isometric puzzle mobile game, Lara Croft GO. Bumping version number to 2.1.7, the game now lets you take Lara through a whole new journey in an alternate reality. Specifically, the update brings out a whole new chapter named Mirror of Spirits with 25 new puzzles and three new mechanics. As a bonus, players get a brand new Lara-themed sticker pack for iMessage. The update is available at no additional charge to those who have purchased the game.

Snapchat’s new tools let brands see how well geofilter ads are performing among users

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Snapchat has rolled out new tools for marketers, called Snap to Store, allowing brands to see how well geofilter ads are performing among users. They've been testing it with a handful of brands since last year, including Paramount Pictures and 7-Eleven. The firm is now looking to expand Snap to Store to a wider range of brands from the retail, fast food, movie and automobile sectors.

Instagram launches new features for stickers as Stories daily active users surpass Snapchat

As part of Instagram version 10.16 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, several new features for stickers are now available to users within the photo-sharing app.

For example, you can now turn your selfie into a sticker and pin it to a specific spot in your video, access your recently-used stickers with a simple swipe, use geostickers in four new cities, enable a countdown timer when capturing a video and more.

According to the firm, Instagram's Stories has more daily active users than Snapchat as over 200 million people are now using Instagram Stories on a daily basis.

Pokémon GO gains Easter-themed Eggstravaganza event

Developer Niantic Labs announced Thursday that its popular augmented-reality game Pokémon GO is getting a new in-game event for Easter, aptly named Eggstravaganza. From 1pm PDT on Thursday, April 13, 2017 to 1pm PDT on Thursday, April 20, 2017 a greater variety of Pokémon can now be found in 2 km eggs. Players will also enjoy a few additional perks.

No new features are coming to the Workflow app following Apple’s acquisition

Apple in March 2017 purchased the powerful iOS automation app Workflow. Even though Workflow is now free and the company has refunded some of the users who have paid for the app, it seems that no new features will be coming to Workflow going forward. That's according to French blog iGeneration, which reported Thursday that the Workflow team's confirmed that the software will no longer be updated with new features.