Apps

Facebook rolls out Instant Articles to all iOS users

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 20, 2015

After rolling out Instant Articles to a tiny subset of its 1.3 billion active user base back in May of this year, the social networking leader Facebook today said these quick-loading articles are available to all users of its mobile application for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.

Thousands of Instant Articles, each denoted with a lightning bolt in the top right corner of the News Feed story, will be available at launch and more will be added on a regular basis. Facebook claims Instant Articles load up to ten times faster than a standard mobile web article.

Waze 4.0 is out with fresh look, revamped map, reduced battery consumption and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 19, 2015

Waze, the popular social-mapping location data startup, today pushed a major update to its GPS, maps and social traffic application in the App Store.

Featuring a refreshed design and cleaner maps with emphasis on safer driving, the new Waze 4.0 for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad also brings reduced battery consumption allowing the app to run longer in the background, and much more.

Some App Store apps found to gather personal information, Apple acts swiftly

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 10, 2017

As many as 256 iPhone, iPod touch and iPad applications in the App Store, a majority of them from Chinese developers, have been found to violate Apple's privacy policy by gathering personal information such as email addresses, installed apps and even serial numbers, an analysis by security analytics startup SourceDNA has found out.

In addition, the offending apps, which obviously went under the radar of Apple's App Store editorial team, have been found to collect other personally identifying information that can be used to track users.

Sky Gamblers Air Supremacy goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Cody Lee ∙ October 15, 2015

Heads up gamers. Apple has just named Atypical Games' "Sky Gamblers Air Supremacy" its App of the Week for this week. This means that from now through next Thursday, you'll be able to grab the game for both your iPhone and iPad, for free—saving you a buck.

For those unfamiliar with the Sky Gamblers franchise, they're airborne fighters hailed for their incredible graphics and console-quality gameplay. Supremacy in particular has an in-depth campaign mode and various multiplier modes to choose from like capture-the-flag.

Apple updates iWork for iOS with support for 3D Touch, multitasking and more

Cody Lee ∙ October 15, 2015

Apple on Thursday pushed out updates for its iWork for iOS apps, bringing Pages, Numbers and Keynote to version 2.6. The updates are nearly identical for each app, bringing about support for many new iOS 9 and iPhone 6s features including multitasking and 3D Touch.

According to the change logs, users can now edit their various iWork documents in-app while using new iOS 9 features like Slide Over and Picture in Picture on iPad (depending on model). The apps also support Bluetooth keyboard shortcuts, text selection and much more.

Facebook acknowledges battery drainage problem with iOS app, says fix is underway

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 4, 2018

It is no secret that Facebook's mobile app has always been a battery hog, even with Background App Refresh turned off. Instead of fixing the issue, Facebook appears to employ tricks to keep the app active in the background, further accentuating the battery drainage problem.

According to TechCrunch, Mark Zuckerberg & Co. are aware of the problem and its programmers are working around the clock to put out a fix “soon”.

Yahoo Mail 4.0 is out: revamped UI, smarter search, multiple mailboxes, rich compose & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 4, 2017

Yahoo today launched a thoroughly redesigned Mail app for the iPhone and iPad which brings out a number of interesting feature additions and enhancements.

The new, much-improved Yahoo Mail 4.0 features password-free sign-in, way smarter search, contacts management, rich compose, the ability to use multiple mailboxes from services such as Outlook.com, Hotmail and AOL Mail, to name just a few.

Google Translate gains Split View multitasking

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 14, 2015

Google's native translator app in the App Store has received a productivity-focused update earlier this morning. The free of charge software was bumped to version 4.2 and the big news in this edition is support for iOS 9's side-by-side Split View multitasking mode on supported devices like the iPad Air 2, iPad mini 4 and the upcoming iPad Pro.

In addition to Split View multitasking, Google Translate 4.2 for iOS has picked up camera translation from German and English to Arabic, joining other language packs.

iPhone and iPad photo editor Enlight is free today

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 14, 2015

If you've been on the lookout for a beautifully designed, powerful image editing app for your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad, grab a copy of Lightricks' Enlight for iOS. The Photoshop-like app has gone free for the first time since its March 2015 debut on the App Store, regularly selling for $3.99 a pop. You'll need to act now as the price drop is valid today only.

Badland, one of the best mobile games, has been updated with 3D Touch support

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 14, 2015

Badland by indie developer Frogmind, is one of the best survival games on any platform. In Badland, the player flies around a little black creature named Clony through the surreal, beautifully rendered woods.

Starting today, you can use 3D Touch gestures on your iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus to quickly access the built-in editor or continue playing the single player campaign right from the Home screen. In addition, 3D Touch allows a brand new kind of puzzles and gameplay with all-new force objets.

Tweetbot gains 3D Touch Home screen shortcuts, Peek and Pop support in the timeline

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

Following its launch of the major Tweetbot 4 update, now a universal app for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, developer Tapbots today issued a timely update focused on 3D Touch.

If you own an iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus, you can now press Tweetbot's icon on the Home screen firmly to access the following handy shortcuts: Show Activity, Tweet Last Photo and Tweet.

If you have unread notifications sitting in Tweetbot, this menu will provide additional options to reply to a mention or reply via a Direct Message. In addition, Tweetbot now supports Peek and Pop gestures in the timeline.

WhatsApp gains 3D Touch ‘Peek’ and ‘Pop’ gestures on iPhone 6s

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 9, 2016

Facebook-owned WhatsApp messaging platform has received an update today, bringing support for 3D Touch gestures on new iPhones to the popular software.

The new WhatsApp 2.2.18 allows you to press in-app content harder to Peek and Pop pictures, videos, links, contacts cards and locations in chats. Home screen shortcuts via 3D Touch are not available yet in this release.

In addition, the app's interface is now mirrored and optimized for right-to-left languages on iPhones running iOS 9.0 or later.