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Learn about the latest news for iOS, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV apps

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Apps for iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS power our modern world. 9to5Mac will update you on the latest news, review, and updates for all types of apps. “There’s an App for that”.

The term came became part of our vocabulary when Steve Jobs announced The App Store as part of the iPhone 2.0 software update in 2008.

Over the years, the term has become as common as kleenex for describing applications on all of our devices. Apple’s platforms have apps for just about anything from finance, banking, sports, social media, podcasting, music, and more. We have a guide for helping you discover the best ones as well. Apps are now on everything from our TV, to our smartphones, on our laptops, and all the way down to our wrists.

As new ones are released or existing ones have major updates, the team here at 9to5Mac will bring you the latest news and reviews. If you want to follow along with video footage, be sure to follow 9to5Mac on YouTube. Scroll down below our latest updates on all things relating to applications on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Watch.

From the makers of Clear, ‘Ember’ is a digital scrapbook that illuminates your inspiration [Review]

Avatar for Zac Hall Jul 23 2013 - 6:00 am PT
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"Ember is your digital scrapbook of things that inspire you"

“Ember is your digital scrapbook of things that inspire you”

Realmac Software has been busy at work this year, releasing Analog Camera for iPhone, updates to Clear and Analog for Mac, and now releasing the next generation of its digital scrapbook LittleSnapper, now known as Ember for Mac.

Ember simplifies the management of screenshots and web clips into collections and features annotation functionality. Ember can even plug in to popular sites that feature beautiful imagery like Dribbble and National Geographic. In addition, integrated services like Messages, Twitter, Flickr, and CloudApp allow for easy image sharing.


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Plex iOS app updated with more responsive browser & other performance improvements

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jul 22 2013 - 3:35 pm PT
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Plex-iOS-app-iconPlex, the popular media server app for Mac, iOS and Apple TV, received an update today to its iPhone and iPad app that brings a number of performance improvements that address issues users have been noticing since the last major update. Among the fixes is a much improved and more responsive browser, fixes for multi-part playback, and a “clear cached data” function that actually works as you’d expect. A few of the fixes should help to get rid of any crashes that you might have been experiencing recently:

We squashed a bug that reared its ugly head when attempting to display items without thumbnail images, which could cause the app to crash on launch or when signing in to myPlex.

A full list of what’s new in version 3.2.3 of the Plex app for iOS is below:

What’s New in Version 3.2.3

We’re back again with another round of bug fixes. Thanks so much to the forum members who helped us track down some of the more serious issues. We really appreciate your help! Without further ado, here’s what’s been fixed in this version:

• We squashed a bug that reared its ugly head when attempting to display items without thumbnail images, which could cause the app to crash on launch or when signing in to myPlex.
• A potential crash while removing or modifying sync items has been fixed.
• Reliability while browsing has been improved further, especially when scrolling rapidly in large library sections.
• The browser is more responsive while scrolling.
• Multi-part playback works properly again.
• Items beginning with special characters outside the device’s selected language are now included when browsing.
• The “Clear Cached Data” action works again.
• We’ve added protection against invalid cache data.
• A few minor cosmetic issues have been addressed.

As part of iPhone sales push, Apple Store app to be redesigned & gain free iTunes content

Avatar for Mark Gurman Jul 20 2013 - 7:11 am PT
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Next week, Apple will debut a new element of Tim Cook’s plan to sell more iPhones direct from Apple Retail. The company, on Tuesday, July 23rd, will release an AppleStoreAppupdated version of its Apple Store application for iPhone and iPod touch, according to a source with knowledge of the app. The new app has been redesigned to fit more in line with the user-interface of the App Store, iTunes Store, and iBookstore in iOS 6.

This slight interface change comes for a good reason: one of the main new features of the app is downloadable content. As you can see in the photo of the upcoming app update (to the right), the app will promote content from the three Apple content stores. This content normally costs money, but it will be available free for a limited time via this new app.

Apple, internally, positions this as a way to boost content sales as this new feature is designed to raise awareness about Apps, iTunes, and iBooks content.

Sources say that the new app update is also designed to go hand-in-hand with a new initiative in Apple Stores. When a new iOS Device is sold, Apple employees will be encouraged to install the new Apple Store app on the newly purchased device. According to comments from Tim Cook at last month’s secretive summit for Retail Leadership, only 20% of Apple customers are aware of the Apple Store app’s existence. This new plan will certainly increase that percentage.


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9to5Toys Last Call: $120 Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5 (PC/Mac), $72 External Blu-ray player/writer, apps/games, more

Avatar for Jul 19 2013 - 3:00 pm PT
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From 9to5Toys.com:

A large majority of the deals we cover each day come from a variety of ‘Daily Deal’ websites or are so popular that they don’t even last 24 hours. We know you can’t be at your computer every second, so we’re going to round up the best deals each day to make sure you have a fair shot at the deals you want. Be sure to follow 9to5Toys.com so you never miss a deal... Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+.

Also check out the latest 9to5Mac Happy Hour to hear the latest 9to5Toys segment. During the show, there’s a mention of $50 video conversion software currently available for free and the VPN service proXPN.com available at a 20% discount.

Today’s Featured deals:

971835Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5 Software for Mac and Windows (Boxed Version) $120 Shipped

samsung-bluray-mac-external-drive-dealSamsung 6X USB External Slim Blu-ray/CD/DVD reader/writer $72 Shipped (Reg. $98)

Other great deals we love:

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A new trend? ‘Posegram’ developer shows off iOS 7 UI elements in older iOS versions [Video]

Avatar for Scott Buscemi Jul 19 2013 - 8:32 am PT
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Even with the release of iOS 7 still in the far future, many users are wanting to use the new features and overall design. While many have resorted to installing the ‘developer only’ betas, others may find that an update to the “Posegram” app will keep them satisfied for the time being. The developers of the app, which is pretty much Instagram except with suggested poses that actually aren’t too bad, have integrated many of the design elements that make iOS 7 extremely unique and desirable.

As seen in the gallery below, they have created made the app’s menu bar transparent, the settings looks exactly like the Settings app in iOS 7, and pop-up options have the same look and feel as you would expect from the upcoming operating system.

In the video above, you’ll see a quick demo of how the app works and the way the design is integrated into the app. There are some noticeable flaws – including the way the transparent menu bar works – but overall, it’s an extremely notable effort and could signal a new trend in apps over the next couple of weeks or months.

Posegram is available free in the App Store.

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Evernote for iOS updated with shortcuts, Skitch integration, more

Avatar for Scott Buscemi Jul 18 2013 - 5:44 pm PT
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Evernote for iOS has been updated to Version 5.4 this evening, bringing Skitch integration and sync-able shortcuts to the universal app. The handy note-taking and document organization app is free in the App Store.

What’s new in Version 5.4:

– Add Shortcuts on your iOS device; sync to access them anywhere
– Mark up images, PDFs, and entire notes with Skitch integration
– See notes you recently viewed along the bottom of any note

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9to5Toys Last Call: $40 Waterproof Bluetooth shower speaker, $329 MacBook 2.13 GHz/4GB RAM/160GB HD (Refurb), software/games, more

Avatar for Jul 18 2013 - 3:00 pm PT
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From 9to5Toys.com:

A large majority of the deals we cover each day come from a variety of ‘Daily Deal’ websites or are so popular that they don’t even last 24 hours. We know you can’t be at your computer every second, so we’re going to round up the best deals each day to make sure you have a fair shot at the deals you want. Be sure to follow 9to5Toys.com so you never miss a deal... Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+

Today’s Featured deals:

hip-400bk-speaker-bluetooth-deal

SOLD OUT Hipe waterproof Bluetooth shower speaker $40 Shipped (Reg. $100)

apple-macbook-deal-dailysteals

SOLD OUT White 13.3” MacBook 2.13GHz/4GB RAM/160GB HD/Superdrive (refurb) $329 Shipped

apple-macbookair-2013-md760-dealBest Buy slashes new Mac prices w/extra savings for students; New Airs start at $849

Other great deals we love:

  • New! Game/App Deals: Prince of Persia Retro: FREE, Ocarina 2: FREE, PC digital downloads, more
  • New! RapidWeaver 5 Mega Bundle – Themes, Stacks, and Plug-ins $80 (Reg. $700)
  • New! Marvel Blu-ray Bundle (X-Men 1-3, X-Men First Class, Wolverine, Fantastic Four 1-2, Daredevil, Elektra) $60 Shipped
  • New! Etronic 12W Dual USB car charger: $4.50 shipped (Reg. $30)

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VLC returns to the App Store after two year hiatus

Avatar for Scott Buscemi Jul 18 2013 - 10:16 am PT
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After a nasty licensing issue that broke out in 2011, VLC was removed from the App Store. Today, the media player is destined to make a comeback, complete with new features like WiFi content uploading, which makes it even easier for you to get content from your desktop to the app on your iOS device.

In some sense, this app may be too little too late, as the trend toward video streaming has increased tremendously over the past few years. Going through all of the effort to transfer your videos from your computer to phone/tablet may not be worth it. However, users who are going to be without an internet connection for some time – or those with low data caps – will find the new VLC app quite useful.

From our own Benjamin Mayo:

Although I greatly appreciate the engineering effort necessary to make the decoding process multithreaded, a big boon for multicore iOS devices, the app’s UI still leaves much to be desired.

Expect the app to appear in the App Store shortly.

Update: It’s out now. 

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Uber Ice Cream delivering tomorrow, one day only

Avatar for Scott Buscemi Jul 18 2013 - 10:04 am PT
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As announced on the company blog, popular transportation app Uber will have ice cream trucks available from 11-5 in 33 cities tomorrow.

If you are lucky enough to live in one of the cities, you can pop open the app tomorrow and slide to the “Ice Cream” option. The ice cream isn’t cheap – around $4-5 per person and bundled together for five or six people – but the near-instant gratification and overall experience may make the high cost worth it.

Uber is available for free in the App Store.

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Ruby for Reddit: A simple client for iPhone [Review]

Avatar for Zach Kahn Jul 18 2013 - 1:00 am PT
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Today, HalfPeeled has released a third party client for Reddit, Ruby for Reddit, that makes the already unique experience of browsing the community-based entertainment website extremely simple. The company, which is headed up by WWDC Student Scholarship recipient Nate Chiger, is also responsible for the neat panoramic photo sharing app, PanoPerfect, as well as a few other interesting apps that are worth checking out. Before we jump into the app’s functionality, let’s take a moment to talk a bit about Reddit. If you’re already familiar with what Reddit is, feel free to skip this paragraph below and jump down to the review.

For those who are unfamiliar, Reddit is a social news website that empowers users to submit content in the form of a text or link post and vote on the best submitted content. Often referred to as “the front page of the Internet,” Reddit prompts users to actively engage in ‘up voting’ or ‘down voting’ submissions so that the greatest, most interesting content can rise to the top of the page. In doing so, the site encourages users to submit all sorts of posts — from world news to cat .gifs — so that the site and its community can vote and subsequently engage in conversation about almost anything there is to talk about. In doing so, Reddit has formed its own unique culture and community that have shed some light on incredible stories and have even given way to powerful, life-changing actions. Reddit has no barrier to entry (other than signing up for an account) and can make even the most slow days seem interesting. In short, if you haven’t yet perused the site or don’t already have an account, you should probably check it out and sign up for one free of charge. It’ll certainly make this review a whole lot more interesting.

Now that you’re all caught up on Reddit, let’s get back to the app. Ruby for Reddit features a extremely simple and familiar user interface that puts Reddit’s content at the center. You can switch between different subreddits (groups on Reddit based on categories) and pages by tapping on the top bar or by swiping out the navigation panel, much like the official Facebook app. You can also view images inline and pinch to see content in full screen. There are even some custom fonts for you to choose from and a dark mode that makes viewing posts easier at night.

HalfPeeled has also included a ‘Pro’ mode (unlocked via in-app purchase) that lets you submit quick posts to Reddit and hide the status bar from view. You can get by without purchasing the Pro mode, but it’s there for users who enjoy using the app and are looking for some extra customization.

All in all, Ruby for Reddit is an extremely straightforward alternative to the official Reddit app, which doesn’t offer many customization options or other additional functionality. HalfPeeled may have to add some features to better compete with other third party Reddit clients like Alien Blue, as well as tweak some of the design elements to prepare for iOS 7’s redesign, but for version one, Ruby for Reddit is great client that many users will enjoy. You can download Ruby for Reddit (iPhone only) free on the App Store here.

Chrome for iOS adds support for opening links in Google apps, voice & text-to-speech enhancements, fullscreen iPad, & data cost savings

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jul 17 2013 - 11:05 am PT
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Image (1) chrome-a_512.png for post 72530Google has just issued a big update to its Chrome app for iPhone and iPad that brings new “interoperability with other Google Apps” and a number of other notable features. That means that you’ll now be able to open all links for YouTube, Maps, Google+ and Drive in their native apps instead of in the browser. You’ll also now be able to access the apps with a single tap from within Chrome.

The update also brings enhancements to the newly introduced voice search capabilities, including: always visible controls from the toolbar and text-to-speech support for “all variations of English, Spanish, German, Italian, French, Japanese, and Korean.”

Other improvements in today’s update include fullscreen support on iPad, easier access to browser history, and, according to Google, data cost savings:

Reduce data usage and speed up page load times. View data savings in Bandwidth Management settings. This feature is being rolled out and will be available to all users over time.

Google explained the experimental data cost savings feature in a whitepaper when it was first introduced on Android. In the document, Google says its tests showed the feature can reduce data usage by up to 50%:
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Tumblr releases security update for iOS app to fix password compromising bug

Avatar for Chance Miller Jul 16 2013 - 8:34 pm PT
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Tumblr has just released an important security update for its universal iOS app. In a blog post, the company says that the update addresses an issues that allows passwords to be compromised in certain circumstances. Because of this, Tumblr is also urging anyone who used the vulnerable version of the app to change their password immediately.

We have just released a very important security update for our iPhone and iPad apps addressing an issue that allowed passwords to be compromised in certain circumstances¹. Please download the update now.

If you’ve been using these apps, you should also update your password on Tumblr and anywhere else you may have been using the same password. It’s also good practice to use different passwords across different services by using an app like 1Password or LastPass.

The details of the security flaw are scarce, but it’s never good when a user’s password is accessible by anyone else. You can find the update on the App Store now.

Revamped Google Maps for iOS launches: supports iPad, indoor maps, enhanced navigation

Avatar for Mark Gurman Jul 16 2013 - 6:37 pm PT
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In line with last week’s expectations of an updated Google Maps app, Google has begun rolling out version 2.0 of Google Maps for iOS today. Most notably, the new application includes support for the large touch screens found on the iPad and iPad mini.

Screen Shot 2013-07-16 at 6.33.36 PM

Additionally, like with the recent update to the Android version, enhanced navigation with incident reports and live traffic updates are included.

Also new is an Explore function to browse popular places such as restaurants, shopping, playing, and sleeping. This feature is integrated with Zagat ratings and deals via Google Offers.

The 2.0 update also includes indoor mapping functionality for malls, transit stations, and airports, according to Google. The new update has begun rolling out to some countries in Asia, but is not yet available in the United States. In fact, Google Maps is currently unavailable to download in the App Store for many countries until this update is released.

Some users have had success downloading the new version of Google Maps by deleting their current version and downloading it from iCloud. (Thanks @ITSFEST)

Update: Now available on the U.S store. 


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9to5Toys Last Call: $225 iPod touch 32GB 5th gen (refurb), $300 iPad mini 16GB WiFi, external storage deals, apps/games, more

Avatar for Jul 16 2013 - 3:00 pm PT
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From 9to5Toys.com:

A large majority of the deals we cover each day come from a variety of ‘Daily Deal’ websites or are so popular that they don’t even last 24 hours. We know you can’t be at your computer every second, so we’re going to round up the best deals each day to make sure you have a fair shot at the deals you want. Be sure to follow 9to5Toys.com so you never miss a deal... Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+

Today’s Featured deals:

ipadmini-apple-deals-ipod-touch

Apple Deals:

– iPod touch 5th gen. 32GB (refurb) $225

– iPad mini 16GB WiFi (new) $300 (Reg. $329)

– iPad 4th gen. w/ Retina display 16GB WiFi (white/black) $450 (Reg. $500)

– Apple 13″ MacBook Air 1.3 GHz i5 Haswell, 128GB SSD, AC WiFi $1,045 (Reg. $1,099) or 256GB $1,235 (Reg. $1,300)

driveb

Western Digital USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drives: 2TB My Passport $110, 1TB Elements SE $60


Other great deals we love:

  • New! 10-foot Lightning, MicroUSB or Apple 30-pin cable $5/ea shipped
  • New! Gamers’ Deals: $20 MLB 13 The Show, $25 Wii U Pro controller, $20 The Walking Dead, app deals, more
  • New! Plantronics M25 Bluetooth 3.0 Headset (Refurb) $10 shipped
  • New! 802.11ac Router Deals: $100 WD My Net Dual Band, $80 D-Link Wireless Dual Band, more
  • New! Google offering free Play songs by Nirvana, Band of Horses, The Shins, and more to celebrate 25 years of SubPop

Bonus!

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Gerber Bear Grylls Survival Series: Compact Scout, Drop Point Knife $8 Shipped (Reg. $23)

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WhatsApp Messenger for iPhone gets iCloud chat backups, support for sending multiple photos, & URL schemes

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jul 16 2013 - 12:44 pm PT
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Whatsapp-01WhatsApp for iPhone receives a nice update today that introduces the ability to send multiple photos at once, URL schema support for third-party apps, and iCloud support for backing up and restoring chat history.

Users can access the iCloud chat history by navigating to WhatsApp > Settings > Chat Settings > Chat Backup in version 2.10.1 of WhatsApp.

The app also continues to be free today ahead of the company’s expected roll out of a subscription model later this year.

What’s New in Version 2.10.1

2.10.1:
– multi-send UI: can send multiple photos at the same time
– URL schema support for 3rd party apps (see our blog for more info)
– iCloud chat history backup and restore:
WhatsApp > Settings > Chat Settings > Chat Backup

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Another Microsoft iOS app: Outlook for Office 365 subscribers

Avatar for Scott Buscemi Jul 16 2013 - 10:25 am PT
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This morning, Microsoft announced the launch of their new iOS application, “OWA” or Outlook Web App. Specifically for Office 365 subscribers, this native application brings notifications and other features that are not available through the web application:

Our goal is to help our customers remain productive anytime, anywhere.  This includes providing a great email experience on smartphones and tablets.  Windows Phone 8 comes with a top-notch native email client in Outlook Mobile, and we offer Exchange ActiveSync (EAS), which is the de-facto industry standard for accessing Exchange email on mobile devices.  In order to better support many of our customers who use their iPhones and iPads for work, we are introducing OWA for iPhone and OWA for iPad, which bring a native Outlook Web App experience to iOS devices!

OWA for iPhone and OWA for iPad are both free, but require a paid Office 365 subscription.

Last month, Microsoft Office 365 made its debut in the App Store, but the reviews have been less than stellar.

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Thanks to App Store’s fifth anniversary giveaway, Infinity Blade II downloaded 5.7 million times in the past week

Avatar for Scott Buscemi Jul 16 2013 - 10:01 am PT
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Last week, Apple celebrated the App Store’s fifth birthday by giving away five apps and five games, which included Tiny Wings, Where’s My Water?, and Infinity Blade II.

While infinity Blade II has returned to its regular $6.99 price, Chari Entertainment, the game’s developers, have told All Things D that the app was downloaded over 5.7 million times as a result of the promotion.

The action-RPG sword-fighting game added 5.7 million new players in seven days. Laura Mustard, publicist for the game’s developer, Chair Entertainment, said 1.7 million downloads occurred on Monday, the first day of the promotion.

The report goes on to note that the available in-app purchases could boost revenues for the company, which is probably getting bombarded with higher support queues and server loads.

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IMDb iOS app adds ability to purchase movie tickets, Amazon integration for DVDs & Blu-rays, & enhanced bios

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jul 15 2013 - 11:03 am PT
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IMDb-iOS-appIMBb has released a big update today to its iPhone and iPad app, adding the the ability to purchase movie tickets directly from within the app and much more. The feature is initially only available to users in the U.S. and can be accessed directly through a “Showtimes & Tickets” section on listings for movies currently in theatres.

Also included in today’s update is integration with the Amazon Mobile app for one tap purchasing of DVDs & Blu-rays from Amazon:

Want to buy a movie or TV show on DVD or Blu-ray? “Search via Amazon Mobile” to the rescue. Requires that you have the Amazon Mobile app, but we provide a handy link if you don’t have it yet.

IMBd has added even more celebrity bio pages in today’s update and iPhone users now have “one-tap access to the full cast/full filmography.” The updated app also includes a few other UI enhancements and bug fixes listed below:

What’s New in Version 3.3

iPad and iPhone
* “Tickets, please!” You can now conveniently purchase movie tickets via the IMDb App (currently US-only).
* More bios for celebrities you know and love as well as for up-and-comers.
* Want to buy a movie or TV show on DVD or Blu-ray? “Search via Amazon Mobile” to the rescue. Requires that you have the Amazon Mobile app, but we provide a handy link if you don’t have it yet.
* Also, did you know you can tap the “Coming Soon” bar above the title on upcoming movies to add the release date as an event to your calendar?
* Bug fixes. Nasty tricksy bugsies. We hates them!

iPhone
* We heard you. By popular demand, we’ve updated the movie and celebrity pages to include one-tap access to the full cast/full filmography (which, yes, scrolls vertically).
* You’ll see that cute little Watchlist flag almost everywhere now. Tap it to add movies and shows to your Watchlist (and tap-and-hold to add to your other lists as well).

This will be the last update that supports iOS 5. Future updates will require iOS 6 and above.

Amusing Angry Birds Star Wars 2 video shows off first gameplay & new ‘telepods’ controller, lands Sept. 19

Avatar for Jared Weintraub Jul 15 2013 - 6:19 am PT
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Rovio hinted at Angry Birds Star Wars 2 late last week, but today we get an official announcement as well as our first look at gameplay footage and the new Hasbro “Telepods” toys, which appear to let users transfer new characters into the game. The Telepod controller will be available where toys are sold, according to the video, and a broken link to Hasbro is provided.

The game goes live September 19th according to the Angry Birds site. 
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A look at GV Mobile + 3 for Google Voice [Review & Giveaway]

Avatar for Scott Buscemi Jul 14 2013 - 10:58 am PT
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Google Voice has had an interesting relationship with the iPhone. If you’re an avid user of the service, the tight integration found on Android devices is enviable. First downloadable in the App Store then taken down then available on Cydia in 2010, GV Mobile + has been the go-to app for many Google Voice users even with the launch of the official Google Voice iOS app.

Now, the app has matured into version three, a full-blown messaging and VoIP application contained within a sleek design.

New Design

GV Mobile + has always kept up-to-date with the latest design trends. In this third version, the app moves to a slick “flat” design. It’s not exactly in line with iOS 7 and makes use of the hamburger menu that has plagued many apps lately, but the design has a solid and complete feel to it.

Transitions between screens are also notable and appreciated. New pages fly up from the bottom or slide out from the top. When placing a call, the screen fades out and a new “in-call” screen fades in.

VoIP

While the option to make calls using your cellular minutes is still readily available, this is the first version that includes built-in VoIP. Even though I was extremely excited to use this feature since my data plan is still unlimited but I only have a few hundred minutes per month, I haven’t found this to be quite as reliable as I would hope. Even with a strong LTE connection, I usually receive complaints from the people I talk to and end up calling them back using my cell. In WiFi environments, it can be a viable choice and definitely saves you if you don’t have many minutes.

Ever since I placed my first FaceTime Audio call, every phone call sounds dull and mono, so any criticism of the sound quality from me is a bit skewed. VoIP in this application sounds like a regular phone call placed over the regular phone application.

In-App Notifications

Mirroring the same design as Facebook, this version also includes in-app notifications. This is definitely helpful if you’re having multiple SMS conversations.

The notifications are reliable and it’s definitely a great feature for power users of the app.

Roundup & Giveaway

A while back, GV Mobile + was updated with a nasty bug that made the app unusable. Although the developer, Sean Kovacs, pushed out an update very quickly, Apple was slow to push out the critical update. At that time, I tried using the free, official Google Voice app, but found it to be extremely lacking. To put it simply, it seems like Sean Kovacs cares more about Google Voice and the features in the iOS app more than the Google Voice employees do. Seeing that this is one of my most used applications on a day-to-day basis, I couldn’t live without it.

You can purchase GV Mobile + 3 in the App Store for just $2.99.

In addition, we’re giving away 5 promo codes for the app. Leave a comment below with your Twitter handle by the end of tomorrow  (7/15 at 11:59 PM PST) and we’ll announce the winners on July 16th. Good luck!

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9to5Toys Last Call: Apple 13″ MacBook Air Haswell 128GB SSD AC WiFi $1045, 2TB WD My Passport USB 3.0 Portable HD $110, app/game deals, more

Avatar for Jul 12 2013 - 3:02 pm PT
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From 9to5Toys.com:

A large majority of the deals we cover each day come from a variety of ‘Daily Deal’ websites or are so popular that they don’t even last 24 hours. We know you can’t be at your computer every second, so we’re going to round up the best deals each day to make sure you have a fair shot at the deals you want. Be sure to follow 9to5Toys.com so you never miss a deal... Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+

Today’s Featured deals:

apple-macbookair-2013-md760-deal

Apple 13″ MacBook Air 1.3 GHz i5 Haswell, 128GB SSD, AC WiFi, 12 hours battery $1,045 Shipped (Reg. $1,099)

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Western Digital 2TB My Passport USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive $110 Shipped

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The Summer 2013 Mac Bundle Ft. Parallels Desktop 8 For Mac for $50 (89% off)

Other great deals we love:


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eBay releases eBay Exact for iOS, an app to order 3D-printed products on-the-go

Avatar for Zach Kahn Jul 12 2013 - 9:07 am PT
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eBay has just released a new app for iOS that will allow customers to customize select products to be manufactured using 3D printing technology. As per its description, the app allows you to select a from a pre-determined list of available products, choose a design, and then further customize that specific item for yourself or someone else.

Customers can choose from a variety of materials including plastics, woods, and metals to create anything from personalized iPhone cases to figurines or even jewelry. The company notes that there is no limit to the amount of products you can customize and print.

eBay is relying on partnerships with established 3D printing companies to back its program including Makerbot, Sculpteo, and Hot Pop Factory. The app, eBay Exact, can be downloaded from the App Store today free of charge.


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Rovio teases July 15th announcement for brand new Angry Birds Star Wars game

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jul 12 2013 - 7:43 am PT
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Last November, Rovio introduced a new Angry Birds Star Wars game that brought iconic Star Wars locations and characters from the movies into the Angry Birds gameplay universe. Today the developer is teasing what looks to be an entirely new Star Wars themed Angry Birds game. While Rovio’s initial tweet only mentioned a “Big new game announcement” coming this Monday, it later confirmed on its blog that the announcement will be for “a brand new game” with “the biggest character line-up ever, awesome new powers, and maybe even a few surprises!”

On top of the teaser, Rovio is also making Angry Birds Star Wars available for free today for a limited time.

We don’t get any other details, but Rovio did include the image above hinting the game might be inspired by Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace:

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A look at ‘Cal’, Any.do’s calendar app for iPhone (mini-review)

Avatar for Scott Buscemi Jul 11 2013 - 9:51 pm PT
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anydocalAs part of their plan to create a suit of productivity apps, the makers of the popular productivity app Any.do have launched a new calendar app called “Cal“. Available in the App Store, it makes it really easy to quickly find locations and invite others to events in a clean interface.

http://vimeo.com/69827636

Integrating right into your phone’s calendars and Facebook friends list, you can start taking advantage of the features right away. The best use I’ve found for the app is scheduling quick hangouts with friends. When you add an event, you can use natural language to type in something like, “Lunch with Josh at Cafe Luce.” Once you type in your friend’s name, their picture appears. Once you type in the location, it pulls data from Facebook Places and it places in the address and other information. You are also presented with buttons to email or message all event attendees – great for last minute changes or asking for directions to the venue.

Beyond the event creation functionalities, it acts as a nice calendar application with a sleek design. In fact, it closely resembles the upcoming iOS 7 calendar application. My biggest issue with the 30-day view

https://twitter.com/mitchell209/status/355500428638699520

As a free application in the App Store, I’d recommend giving Cal a shot. Just like most productivity apps, it really depends on the way you perform tasks and how closely the app mirrors that. It’s a step above the native calendar application and the flat design is extremely welcoming. As Any.do continues to build their product line, this application can act as a good sign of things to come.

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