Apps

Viber acquired by e-commerce giant Rakuten for $900 million

Cody Lee ∙ Updated December 24, 2017

This is kind of interesting. The Wall Street Journal is reporting this morning that the popular voice call app Viber has agreed to a deal to be acquired by Rakuten for $900 million. For those unfamiliar with the e-commerce giant, it's essentially Japan's version of Amazon.

Viber is available on all major mobile and desktop platforms, and is one of Skype's biggest competitors with over 300 million users worldwide. It was one of the first apps to allow 3G VoIP on the iPhone and it now supports land-line calls, messages and even push-to-talk...

Max Axe is App Store’s new Free App of the Week

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2019

It's Thursday and those of you who routinely follow Apple's ongoing Free App of the Week promo know what to expect. That's right, the App Store editors have cherry-picked a new iPhone and iPad application, a game this time around, and slashed it to zero bucks for a limited time.

Max Axe, a humorous arcade frenzy by ChangeYou.com (a publisher of free to play MMORPGs), is now available free of charge until next Thursday (it normally costs $1.99).

This also means that last week's free app, Toca Boca's kids driving game Toca Cars, is no longer available in this promotion...

BlackBerry rolls out BBM 2.0 with voice calling, Channels, location sharing and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 13, 2014

Following a minor refresh recently which brought out a handy new Find Friends feature, Canada's struggling smartphone maker BlackBerry is today rolling out a new BBM version 2.0. The release contains a few new features such as free voice calling, BBM Channels, Dropbox integration, location sharing and more.

The free update is rolling out today so keep an eye on the App Store and don't panic if it's not live yet as these things take time to propagate.

The full breakdown is right below the fold...

Pandora app updated with Sleep Timer for iPad, push notifications and more

Cody Lee ∙ February 13, 2014

Pandora Radio users will be happy to hear that the streaming music service has just posted an update for its iOS client, bringing the app to version 5.2. The update brings about several enhancements, including two new features for the iPhone and iPad.

On the iPad front, Pandora has made its Sleep Timer feature universal. So tablet users can now fall asleep to their favorite tunes without worrying about all-night data usage. And for all devices, it has added new a personalized push notification feature...

500px iOS app updated to finally allow you to upload photos

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

500px users will be happy to hear that the photo-sharing service has updated its iOS client today, bringing the app to version 2.5. The update only includes one feature, but it's a huge one: you can now use the mobile app to upload photos.

Up until now, you could only upload photos to 500px via the web—a major gripe with current users and big barrier-to-entry for potential users in an Instagram-era where most people take, edit and upload photos on their mobile devices...

VSCO Cam 3.0 lets you follow people, brings out a myriad of refinements

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 18, 2016

VSCO Cam should be on every iPhone photography fan's Home screen. The software offers a variety of advanced features making it easy to edit, crop and filter your snaps on the go.

Our own Lory Gil wrote in her review last summer that VSCO Cam for the iPhone and iPod touch is worth downloading, even more so considering that a set of filters included in the free download (with more available via in-app purchases) is enough to keep averages users occupied for some time.

VSCO Cam version 3.0, now available in the App Store, adds a bunch of new features aimed at improving your mobile photography experience. Plus, it wants to become your next Instagram by including the ability to follow individual profiles, a novel feature for a camera phone app and the number one request from users...

New mockups visualize Apple’s rumored iOS 8 ‘Healthbook’ app

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

A couple of mockup images surfaced on the web today, hoping to visualize what Apple's rumored health-tracking app could look like. A January report from 9to5Mac said that the app, codenamed 'Healthbook,' would gather health and fitness data from iWatch and launch alongside iOS 8.

In its current state, the Healthbook app is said to resemble the UI of Apple's Passbook application, with various cards offering health and fitness data points. This is what designer Carlos Quijano based his concept on, and according to those with knowledge of the app, it's vaguely accurate...

Yahoo Mail app updated with better support for Apple’s VoiceOver feature

Cody Lee ∙ February 11, 2014

Yahoo has posted a small but significant update for its iOS Mail client this afternoon, bringing the app to version 2.0.5. Aside from the usual bug fixes and performance improvements, the update brings about deeper VoiceOver support.

This is more of a PSA than an update alert—a lot of folks depend on Apple's VoiceOver feature in iOS to help them navigate about apps, input and read text, and perform other actions. And now they can utilize the feature in Yahoo Mail...

Rdio app updated with in-app playlist editing and reviews

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 14, 2018

Good news for Rdio users this afternoon. The music streaming service has posted an update for its iOS client, bringing the app to version 2.5.7 and adding a few new features including Playlist Editing and the ability to read and write reviews in-app.

Users can now edit their playlists from any mobile device by adding, removing and rearranging songs, and editing playlist artwork. They can also now write reviews for those playlists, and albums, and read reviews written by other other Rdio users...

Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders named IGN’s ‘Free Game of the Month’

Cody Lee ∙ February 10, 2014

Good news gamers, IGN has named the popular Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders its Free Game of the Month. This is one of the few times that the game, which normally retails for $4.99, has ever been made available at no cost.

For those unfamiliar with the title, this particular episode of Sky Gamblers was first released in late 2012 and bills itself as the 'ultimate World War II air combat' game with a variety of levels and plane models to choose from...

Five months later, Path gets its iOS 7 refresh. The question is, do you still care?

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

The once popular private social network, Path, has finally received today its way, way overdue iOS 7 refresh. I mean, the 2014 Valentine's Day is looming and Apple released iOS 7 back on September 18, 2013.

If you're still using Path - I don't as I'm pressed for time - you'll immediately notice a revamped appearance making the software adhere to the overall iOS 7 aesthetics.

Controls in Settings have been simplified, you can now use the iOS 7 swipe gesture to navigate the menus and browsing the Shop is now cleaner and more streamlined than it used to be.

The team says they've made the new version (3.4) simpler and easier to "do the things you do every day with Path". Jump past the fold to see some nice screenies and learn more about the app. Or, if you're impatient you can just go ahead and immediately grab Path 3.4 free in the App Store...

Shazam’s iPhone app gets an overhaul

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 9, 2016

With increased competition in the media-fingerprinting and recommendations space and an ever-growing number of new music services vying for our attention, incumbents like Shazam are finding it harder to stay relevant.

Shazam is of course wildly popular so it's not really going anywhere. On the other hand, with growth slowing - they have 150 million users - the company has now decided to redesign the iPhone app in order to increase engagement.

The app redesign signals bigger changes coming to the service later this month. Both Shazam and Shazam Encore have received this visual makeover, now live in the App Store...