Apple on Tuesday pushed out an update to its Apple Store app, bringing the mobile client for its online store to version 3.4. The update adds support for making purchases using gift cards.
In the change log, Apple says "you can now make purchases with an Apple Store Gift Card. Use the built-in Camera to scan new Gift Cards, or import existing Gift Cards from the Passbook app.
HBO pushed out an update for its NOW mobile app this morning, brining the iOS client to version 1.2. According to the change log, the release includes performance improvements, and support for push notifications and Chromecast devices.
That latter item is by far the most significant, given that HBO's streaming service has been exclusive to Apple TV since it launched in April. Now, those with Google's $30 HDMI dongle can enjoy HBO NOW content on their big screen TVs.
We are finally going to see the long-rumored update to Apple's set-top box this fall, reports BuzzFeed's John Paczkowski. The well-connected journalist says sources have informed him that the company plans to introduce a new Apple TV in September.
Pacszkowski says to expect a slimmer chassis and new internals, anchored around Apple's A8 processor. He also says the remote has been "drastically improved" with a built-in touchpad for input, and there will be a native App Store and developer kit.
Google's YouTube updated its iOS client today, bringing the app to version 10.28. The update brings about two major enhancements: support for fullscreen playback of vertical videos and push notifications.
The former is fairly significant. Users can now view vertically-filmed videos in fullscreen when in portrait mode—a big improvement over previous versions, which would shrink content between two black bars.
After seeding OS X El Capitan beta 3 to developers Wednesday, and less than 24 hours after it's made the third beta available for testing to the members of the Apple Beta Software Program, the Cupertino firm has now released a small update to El Capitan beta 3 which fixes specific crashes related to 32-bit applications.
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.
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.
Microsoft on Thursday announced the release of Office 2016 for Mac. This marks the first major Mac release of the popular software suite since Office 2011, and it's now available for download in 140 countries, for Office 365 subscribers.
"Unmistakably Office, designed for Mac," said Kirk Koenigsbauer, corporate VP of Office Client Applications and Services. It includes new versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote, as well as a number of improvements.
Apple is on a roll with software updates today. In addition to releasing iOS 8.4 and Mac OS X 10.10.4, it's also pushed out new versions of GarageBand and now iBooks Author. The software that allows you to publish iBooks moved up to version 2.3 today.
The update won't move the needle for folks who don't use the app, but it brings about some big changes for those who do. Perhaps the biggest new feature is that you can now create iBooks for both iPhone and iPad—instead of being limited to just the tablet.
Pinterest has begun rolling out Buyable Pins to iPhone and iPad users, reports TechCrunch. The feature, which was unveiled earlier this month, allows retail partners to add a buy button to pins that let users purchase products directly on Pinterest.
The button shows up on Rich Pins, which have much more information than typical Pins. Transactions are handled by Stripe, and Pinterest says it's working with companies like Apple to ensure it doesn't ever have to touch credit card information.
In addition to the new iOS 8.4 software update with a redesigned Music app, Beats 1 radio and Apple Music for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, Apple also released the free OS X Yosemite 10.10.4 software update for Macs.
In addition to various other big fixes, enhancements and nice-to-haves, this release of OS X Yosemite gets rid of the dreaded “discoveryd” network process which was responsible for a range of network issues, marking the return of the old but way more reliable “mDNSResponder” process.
The popular audio identification service Shazam updated its iOS client today with support for Apple Music. The release brings the app to version 8.7, and arrives just ahead of the launch of the new music service next week.
With Apple Music support, users will be able to identify songs using the Shazam app, and then tap a button to launch the service so they can listen to the track in its entirety. And remember it's free for the first 3 months.