Apps

Snapchat brings Memories to iOS app with My Eyes Only mode and other perks

Snapchat today announced a major update to its free-of-charge mobile application on the App Store. The new version brings out a major new feature, Memories, a new way to save a personal collection of your favorite Snaps and Stories. Also, the app now lets you send Snaps and make new Stories from Memories, find other people's Moments with search and more. To open Memories, just swipe up from Snapchat's built-in camera.

iOS 10’s Health app will let US users sign up as organ, eye and tissue donors

Apple announced Tuesday that it will add an organ donor registration option to the stock Health app in iOS 10. People in the United States will be able to use a built-in option in the Health app when iOS 10 launches for public consumption this fall to register themselves as organ, eye and tissue donors.

CEO Tim Cook told the Associated Press that the feature should help ease a longstanding donor shortage, reminding the public that the problem hit home when Apple co-founder Steve Jobs endured an “excruciating” wait for a liver transplant in 2009.

tvOS 10 preview: all-new Remote app with Siri voice control, tilt gaming & more

A software replacement for the physical remote that came in the box with your fourth-generation Apple TV, Apple's entirely overhauled Remote application provides you with the full range of Siri Remote features complete with touch navigation, tilt-based control in games and voice input via Siri.

And in making tedious text entry on tvOS even easier than before, the new app lets you summon the keyboard right from the Lock screen of your iPhone by pressing a notification that automatically gets pushed every time you select a text field on the Apple TV.

Hyper, Falcon Notes, Meep, and other apps to check out this weekend

This upcoming Monday is the 4th of July, which for many folks means a 3-day weekend. So if you find yourself with extra time to spare over the next few days, be sure to check out the latest edition of our weekly Apps of the Week post. This week we have apps that show you popular videos from around the web, offer a pleasant note-taking experience and more.

Facebook shutting down Paper app

Facebook has announced that it is shutting down its newsreader app Paper. The app itself is no longer available for download in the US App Store, and the company says it will cease functioning for existing users at the end of next month.

Introduced in January 2014, Paper received praise for its beautiful design, swipe-based navigation, and exclusion of the typical Facebook noise like ads and game invites. However, it failed to gain much traction among the 1 billion+ users.

Apple’s free app of the week: Mimpi Dreams

Apple on Thursday updated its App of the Week promotion with the game Mimpi Dreams. This means that for the next 7 days, you’ll be able to download the critically-acclaimed puzzle-platformer for free on both iPhone and iPad—a solid savings of $2.

Mimpi is a lazy dog who likes to take naps and dream about being a super hero. Players are tasked with helping him save his friends by solving puzzles and manipulating environmental objects as they work their way through originally-illustrated levels.

Facebook tweaks News Feed to prioritize friends over news sites

Adam Mosseri, Facebook's Vice President of Product Management, announced yesterday an upcoming change to the News Feed ranking algorithm on the service.

Soon, your News Feed will prioritize content from friends over news stories from publishers to address missing important updates from friends because content from professional publishers would get preferential treatment.

Drawing app Procreate is free right now within the Apple Store app

Heads up folks, Apple is giving away free copies of the popular Procreate Pocket app. You can find promo codes for the app, which normally retails for $2.99, within the ‘Stores’ section of the Apple Store app on iOS.

For those who aren’t familiar with it, Procreate Pocket is the iPhone version of the award-winning painting app. It uses the same 64-bit Silica engine as its bigger brother, and it includes the same great set of features.

watchOS 3 preview: new watch faces on your wrist & Face Gallery on iPhone

After telling you about the improved performance and more intuitive navigation in the Apple Watch software, our watchOS 3 Preview series continues with an overview of three new watch faces that have been added to watchOS 3 and a brand new Face Gallery feature found in the companion Watch app on iOS 10.

watchOS 3 also lets you launch more apps from faces like Workout, Music and Messages.

And as a cherry on top, you can now use complications on faces that previously didn't support them, like Photo, Motion and Timelapse.

Evernote just raised its prices

I stopped using Evernote more than a year ago because Apple's much-improved Notes fulfills all of my note-taking needs. That said, I understand that some folks still prefer Evernote because it's cross-platform and has advanced features like geotagging and uploading lots of data.

In announcing the price hike on its paid subscription plans, Evernote said the move would permit its developers to add even more features for power users.

Furthermore, customers who are on Evernote's Basic plan will no longer be permitted to use the service on more than two devices at the same time.

Amazon debuts new Page Flip feature for Kindle apps and devices

Online retail giant Amazon on Tuesday announced a new Page Flip feature for its Kindle lineup of e-readers and mobile apps. Page Flip lets you flip back and forth between pages to reference different parts of the book while you read, without losing track of your current reading position. With Page Flip, you can turn one page at a time or zoom out to a bird’s eye view of your book to quickly choose the page you want.

iOS 10 preview: keep yourself well-rested with Bedtime and Wake alarm

In addition to a gorgeous new dark interface, the Clock app on iOS 10 packs i a little-known but useful new feature— Bedtime and Wake alarm. With it, you can set up a regular sleep schedule to receive reminders when it's time to hit the bed and wake up.

By making it easier than ever to create a regular sleep schedule and receive timely bedtime alerts, this feature could help the insomniac types get a good night's sleep. With that in mind, watch our video hands-on and read a detailed preview of the new Bedtime and Wake alarm feature in iOS 10's Clock app.