Apps

Google’s Inbox app gains enhanced snoozing features for certain types of emails

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 17, 2015

Inbox, a gesture-driven email app for the iPhone and iPad by the Gmail team which was born out of Google's acquisition of Sparrow, was updated on the App Store today with enhanced snooze options for package tracking updates, restaurant and event reservations, calendar invites and a couple other types of emails.

The feature makes it easy to snooze an email message to the day before the event, knowing your email will come back at just the right time. These enhanced snoozing capability is in addition to custom snooze times which were introduced back in March.

Telltale announces penultimate Game of Thrones episode launching next Thursday

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 16, 2015

Telltale’s iOS game based on HBO’s award-winning Game of Thrones TV show has been available in an episodic format on the App Store for several months now. Today, they shared info pertaining to the penultimate episode titled “A Nest of Vipers,” scheduled for release on next Thursday, July 23.

I don't want to spoil any surprises so let me just briefly mention that actions you take of every Forrester in this episode are vital to the survival of the house. And of course, Tyrion and Cersei continue to manipulate one another.

Google Play Newsstand now supports magazines, adds improvements to Highlights and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 15, 2015

Google has updated it Newsstand iOS client (formerly Google Currents) in the App Store with much-needed support for digital magazines available on the Play Store.

The new version has arrived shortly after Apple released the iOS 8.4 software update for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad which, among other perks, brings out support for Made for iBooks content on the iPhone and iPod touch.

Google Play Newsstand 3.2 also includes improvements to the Highlights feature and the usual performance and bug fixes.

Pixelmator for iPhone and iPad discounted to just 99 cents

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 15, 2015

Pixelmator, a powerful image editing software for the Mac, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch has received a substantial price cut in the App Store in a limited-time promotion following yesterday's update which brought out the new Dynamic Touch feature, a much improved and 5x faster Repair tool and more.

Going from $4.99 to just 99 cents, Pixelmator for iPhone and iPad is now a steal.

Keep in mind that's 99 cents to download the universal Pixelmator app to all your iOS devices. I wholeheartedly recommend you pick up this awesome app right now, especially if you've been holding out for a sale. By the way, this is the first Pixelmator's iOS edition has received such a deep price cut following its October 2014 App Store debut.

Pixelmator for iOS updated with 5x faster Repair tool, new Dynamic Touch feature and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 14, 2015

Pixelmator for iOS, which almost two months ago became a universal app with native iPhone support, was refreshed in the App Store this morning with a few new features and dozens of improvements, performance improvements and stability fixes.

The Repair tool, which debuted on Pixelmator for Mac, is now up to five times faster on iPhone and iPad, and even more precise.

And the all-new Dynamic Touch tool intelligently changes the stroke size of all Retouch tools based on your finger input: use the tip of your finger and you'll create thin strokes; press harder, or use a larger surface area of your finger, and you'll produce thicker lines.

Moreover, Pixelmator's Photo Editing extension has been improved to make it easier to apply Pixelmator's effects within the context of iOS's stock Photos app.

TiVo updates iOS app with AirPlay streaming of recorded content to Apple TV

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 9, 2016

TiVo on Tuesday refreshed its iOS app in the App Store with the ability to stream content to the Apple TV via AirPlay. The development marks a major U-degree turn for TiVo, which for a long time has deliberately blocked AirPlay to prevent users from streaming video content to Apple's $69 box.

With support for the AirPlay mirroring feature now official, users of TiVo's iOS app can use AirPlay to stream content recorded on a TiVo box using the iPhone and iPad application to a user's Apple TV.

The refreshed app with the new AirPlay functionality is rolling out later today.

Google releases Ivy, an experimental big number calculator for iPhone and iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 10, 2015

Google on Friday released a brand new iOS application in the App Store. Called Ivy and available free of charge, the app is being described as an experimental big number calculator for the iPhone and iPad.

Dedicated calculator apps are a dime a dozen these days so what's so special about Ivy, you might ask?

According to Google, Ivy takes advantage of what's referred to as exact rational arithmetic, basically a precision math technique which lets the app handle arbitrary precision with ease.

SoundCloud update adds more functionality to playlists and new ‘related tracks’ feature

Cody Lee ∙ July 10, 2015

SoundCloud updated its iOS client this morning, bringing the app to version 3.10.1. The company says the update "significantly upgrades the listening experience," bringing about more functionality for playlists, the ability to shuffle your Likes, and a new 'related tracks' feature.

With the new playlist capabilities, you can now shuffle and edit your playlist within the mobile app. When SoundCloud redesigned its iPhone app last summer, it removed these and several other features, and it has since been re-adding them through a series of iterative updates.

Vine updated with new HD upload setting and improved discovery

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 14, 2018

Twitter updated its 6-second video sharing app Vine today, bringing the iOS client to version 3.4.2. The update brings about two major improvements: suggestions for popular Viners to follow, and a new quality setting that lets you post your Vines in HD.

The former should help Vine with its discovery problem, something its parent company Twitter particularly struggles with. It's nearly impossible to convince new users to stick around when it's difficult to quickly find interesting and entertaining content.

‘Card Wars – Adventure Time Card Game’ goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Cody Lee ∙ July 9, 2015

Apple has just named Cartoon Network's "Card Wars - Adventure Time Card Game" its App of the Week for this week. This means that from now through next Thursday, you’ll be able to download the card combat game for free—a solid savings of $4.

In Card Wars, players are tasked with commanding an army of awesome warriors to destroy their opponent's forces. You can collect new cards to level up your creatures, spells and towers, or choose to fuse them together to make them more powerful.

Readdle’s excellent Spark email client gains bulk actions, setting for remote images and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 9, 2015

Readdle's Spark, my new favorite go-to mobile email client, received a big update in the App Store today. Although you couldn't tell it from a minor version number change (1.0.1), the new version does make the app much better while fixing a plethora of user-reported issues.

For starters, you can now delete and archive emails in bulk, a tremendous productivity boost. Next, Spark now consumes less energy, which is always a good thing.

You can now empty your Trash with a single tap, as opposed to selecting multiple messages before hitting the Delete button, like before.

Security advocates will definitely appreciate a new setting to disable loading of remote images, which protects you from spammers while keeping data usage under control.

On the downside, today's update has removed a pair of useful features due to mixed reviews, though Readdle assures us it may bring them back “someday.”

Facebook rolls out richer News Feed controls with a new ‘See First’ option and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 9, 2016

Facebook on Thursday introduced and updated set of controls letting you finally tell the service precisely what you want to see in your News Feed, as opposed to relying to Facebook's mysterious algorithm which surfaces posts its servers think you want to see while demoting others it flagged as uninteresting.

The reworked controls now permit you to actively shape and improve your personalized News Feed experience.

You also get more control over what you see in your News Feed via a brand new 'See First' option designed to help you prioritize whose posts you don't want to miss to ensure you'll always find them at the top of your News Feed.