iPad

From the latest news to the most comprehensive tutorials, learn how to get the most out of your iPad with our step-by-step guides and expert tips.

Living Earth gains universe simulator, adds weather essentials to iOS 8’s Notification Center

Living Earth by Radiantlabs marries world clock functionality to a gorgeous weather app where you spin a virtual globe (similar to Google Earth) to get a visual overview of the current weather conditions for any part of our planet.

Bumped to version 3.5 on Tuesday, the app now features support for the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus screens and includes a Today widget giving you a quick overview of your current weather along with sunrise and sunset times, your world clock and more, right within the Notification Center in iOS 8.

In the app itself, the virtual globe now acts as a universe simulator of sorts, with the stars, constellations and the Milky Way backdrop created from a database of thousands of stars and celestial object and placed exactly “as if you were floating in space orbiting our planet.”

Living Earth sells for $1.99 for the iPhone and iPad.

SoundHound gets iPhone 6 support and fresh new look for faster music discovery

SoundHound's music-tagging iOS app has received a makeover Tuesday morning putting the software in line with the design aesthetic in iOS 7. New features are available for faster music discovery, with native display support for the new 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus display sizes and other goodies.

The refreshed interface features swiping based navigation that tucks the Search button and other options under a left-side column revealed by swiping left.

You can also swipe right like you would in other iOS 7 apps to go back to the previous page and you'll notice a new nicely animated listening screen as well.

SoundHound is free in the App Store.

Twitterrific 5 gains large image previews, another new font, Today view improvements and more

Twitterrific by Iconfactory, a great looking Twitter client for the Mac and iOS, got refreshed Tuesday with a plethora of improvements, enhancements and several new features. Bumped to version 5.8.2, the freemium app now lets you enable large image previews in your timeline.

You can adjust your settings between small and large image previews in the Theme panel. Tip: consider turn this option off when on cellular in order to optimize bandwidth use. The team has added another new font, Zosimo, to appease those that didn't like the built-in Helvetica, Avenir, Proxima Nova, Signika, Museo Slab and Calluna fonts.

Twitterrific is free in the App Store, with In-App Purchases for unlocking additional features.

Mailbox for iOS updated with new interactive notification options

The popular email client Mailbox has been updated this morning, bringing the app to version 2.3.3. As the build number suggests, it's a minor release, but it does include a slew of bug fixes and performance improvements and a pair of new interactive notification options.

Among the many new features added in iOS 8 is interactive push notifications. These allow developers to add simple actions to their app's notifications, which is what the Mailbox team has done in 2.3.3. You can now choose to archive or snooze emails with just a single tap.

iOS security flaw could lure unsuspecting users into installing dangerous malware

A new security exploit discovered in Apple's mobile operating system allows attackers to fool unsuspecting users into installing malicious iPhone and iPad apps disguised as new versions of popular apps and games such as Gmail, Angry Birds and more.

Instances of malicious apps with such deceiving names as “New Angry Bird”, “New Flappy Bird” and others were mentioned Monday in a report by mobile security research firm FireEye.

Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition finally hits iOS

Since announcing an enhanced edition of its classic role-playing game (RPG), Icewind Dale, on mobile and desktop in early September, Canada-based developers Beamdog and Overhaul Games spent much of the past weeks finishing up the game and trying to get it approved by Apple.

It's finally here now. Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition for the iPhone and iPad, a Dungeons & Dragons game set in Wizards of The Coast's legendary Forgotten Realms, delivers new magic armor, new weapons, unlock able spells and items, nearly three dozen new kits and character classes “allowing a new generation of players to experience this epic adventure”.

Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition is $9.99 in the App Store.

Notability updated with iOS 8 compatibility, iPhone 6 support, new light/dark themes and more

Notability by Ginger Labs, Apple's Free App of the Week in May 2014 and one of the most popular note-taking apps in the App Store, on Monday issued its long-expected iOS 8 compatibility release in the App Store.

Version 5.3 offers support for iOS 8 and the new 4.7 and 5.5-inch resolutions of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, respectively.

In addition to enhancing compatibility with the current version of Apple’s mobile operating system, this edition of Notability brings out a pair of new themes, revamped icons and menus in line with the overall iOS 8 look and feel and improvements regarding iCloud Drive support.

Notability for the iPhone and iPad is $2.99 in the App Store. The Mac edition will run you ten bucks.

Paper by FiftyThree updated with push notifications, Adobe integration and more

FiftyThree has updated its popular Paper app this weekend, bringing it to version 2.1. The update is significant in that it adds a handful of major features such as push notifications for Mix, and the ability to export drawings to Adobe's Creative Cloud.

Pulled out of beta last month, Mix is a collaboration platform that offers templates, outlines, tools and tutorials for users to openly share projects. When launched, the feature would send you alerts you via email, but now it sends them via notifications.

The EFF files petition with Copyright Office to keep jailbreaking legal

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (or EFF) is once again fighting to keep the practice of jailbreaking legal. The non-profit digital rights group announced this week that it has filed a petition with the Librarian of Congress and the Copyright Office to extend and expand the exemption that allows you to jailbreak your phone, without violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

Because the software on mobile phones and tablets is copyrighted, the act of jailbreaking (and rooting on Android devices) is technically forbidden by the DMCA. But Congress created a procedure to allow for exemptions on activities where users make fair use of copyrighted works, reviewed every three years. The last exemption for jailbreaking was awarded in 2012, so it's set to expire soon.

IGN names ‘Ridge Racer Slipstream’ its Free Game of the Month

Heads up gamers, IGN has named BANDAI NAMCO's 'Ridge Racer Slipstream' its Free Game of the Month for November. So for those who missed it when it was Apple's App of the Week earlier this year, you now have the chance to grab the popular game for free.

Normally priced at $2.99, Ridge Racer Slipstream recreates the ultimate arcade racing franchise on your iPhone and iPad with console-quality graphics and high octane gameplay. It includes 12 customizable cars, over 100 competitions and a lengthy career mode.

Fleksy Keyboard can now use iOS typing shortcuts

Despite not being an avid user of third-party keyboards in iOS 8, I'm always eager to try out any new soft-keyboard that hits the App Store.

Fleksy's recent update caught my attention by making me realize that I didn't know everything there is about the scope and limitations of third-party keyboards under iOS 8.

For example, did you know soft-keyboards are allowed to use your typing shortcuts defined in Settings > General > Keyboard > Shortcuts? Fleksy's latest update has implemented just that and it works like a charm.

Fleksy Keyboard costs $0.99 in the App Store.