Apps

Scanbot overhauls iPad UI, adds iCloud Photo Library support, per-scan settings and more

Scanbot, a freemium document scanner and QR reader for the iPhone and iPad, was bumped to version 3.8 this morning. The refreshed app adds several new features while overhauling the user interface on iPads, which now supports any orientation as well as collapsible document list.

All users now get to enjoy direct uploading to Evernote with PDF, Images or Text option available through a reworked sharing interface, the ability to delete documents after upload and apply quick per-scan settings with a touch of their finger.

PCalc for Apple Watch released with Glance, Send to iPhone, tip calc, RPN support and more

Thanks to independent iOS and Mac developer James Thomson, you can now wear PCalc on your $400+ Apple Watch. The award-winning $9.99 calculator app for the iPhone and iPad was updated today with WatchKit support.

The app is very nicely done and feels native. It puts the full calculator with RPN Support on your wrist, along with a Glance to see the result of your most recent calculations from your watch face, a tip calculator and other goodies.

Audible audiobooks service gains support for Apple’s CarPlay in latest update

Audible, an audiobooks service owned by Amazon, pushed a major update to its iPhone and iPad application this morning which added CarPlay functionality along with a couple nice-to-have improvements in the app's iOS edition.

After downloading today's update, the Audible app will automatically appear on the dashboard of CarPlay-enabled vehicles and those supporting CarPlay via aftermarket solutions from Pioneer, Alpine and other companies.

Hit puzzler ‘Quetzalcoatl’ goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Apple has just named “ Quetzalcoatl” its App of the Week for this week. This means that from now through next Thursday, you’ll be able to pickup the popular puzzler for both the iPhone and iPad for free—a solid savings of $1.99.

Quetzalcoatl features 180 carefully designed puzzles, which will provide you with dozens of hours of addictive gameplay. You beat the puzzles by maneuvering game pieces to match like-colored tiles, before the walls close in on you.

Sunrise Calendar update introduces Meet, the fastest way to schedule one-to-one meetings

Sunrise, a powerful cross-platform calendar application, on Thursday launched Meet, a companion iOS 8 keyboard specifically designed to make scheduling one-to-one meetings ridiculously easy.

Available as a free update to the Sunrise app in the App Store, Meet lets you schedule one-to-ones with another party like a pro, without having to leave the context of the app you're currently in or switch to Sunrise for that matter.

Facebook launches quick-loading, interactive ‘Instant Articles’ as an iPhone-exclusive feature

Facebook today announced a new ‘Instant Articles’ feature which is rolling out to its iPhone application later today. As the name implies, this iPhone-exclusive capability lets cherry-picked publishers craft versions of news stories for mobile screens that load in a fraction of a second.

The new, mobile-optimized reading experience includes interactive features from Facebook's Paper app, with support for rich media such as photos and video and other embeddable content types like multitouch maps and more.

BitTorrent launches Bleep, secure peer-to-peer messaging app for iPhone and Mac

With ephemeral messaging growing in popularity, and given ongoing fear of government-sponsored snooping, small wonder that BitTorrent has now entered the market for secure chat apps — and in a pretty big way, too.

Bleep, their new Mac and iOS secure messaging and VoIP software, strives to ensure the privacy of your conversations by never saving them on your device or the servers. In a nutshell, Bleep uses encryption and peer-to-peer networking to establish a private, secure connection between devices.

With Bleep, you can whisper with friends on your Mac or iPhone and the messages will disappear after they are read.

Lock or unlock your Mac right from your wrist with MacID for Apple Watch

MacID, a cool app by developer Kane Cheshire that lets you lock and unlock your Mac using Touch ID on your iPhone, or your passcode, is now available on the Apple Watch.

If you want to unlock your Mac right from your wrist, and own an Apple Watch, you should grab the new MacID 1.2 for iPhone, a $3.99 download from the App Store. You can even use the Apple Watch app to see what's playing on iTunes or Spotify, and start screensavers on your Mac.

NYT Now for iPhone goes completely free, adds 1Password support and more

The New York Times newspaper this morning issued a sweet update to its dedicated news summarizing application, Now for iPhone. By far the biggest change in this would-be Flipboard killer involves breaking away from a $15+ per month subscription model in favor of making the app along with its content completely free.

Whether or not the move will help attract more readers remains to be seen. NYT arguably leads the charge in terms of quality newspaper content so going free is a much appreciated change in my book.