One of the problems of being a keen photographer is that it’s easy to slip into a mode where you treat every photograph as if it were a professional assignment. You can end up carrying around a lot of kit, and then spending a lot of time editing photos.

I now make a conscious effort to decide my objective in advance. Is it artistic – where the kit and the time will be justified by the result – or am I simply seeking to capture a memory of an event, aka a snapshot?

Even for proper photography, I rarely carry a DSLR these days: my trusty Sony a6300 copes with most things. But when I’m just after a snapshot, I try to keep things simple …

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The recurring subscription model is a business strategy that a growing list of app developers have decided to adopt, and the latest such move comes from the folks behind the stellar iOS and Mac writing app Ulysses. Users can now enjoy a 14-day Ulysses trial, and thereafter subscribe for $4.99 per month or $39.99 per year.

Subscriptions are beneficial to developers because it provides them with a recurring source of revenue as they work to continually update the app, provide fixes and support, and develop new features. Software products are never “done” and software engineers, designers, and support staff never stop working, so it makes sense from a sustainable business perspective.

That said, it’s also understandable that, despite the considerably lower cost of entry, there may be pushback among consumers who aren’t interested in yet another subscription fee to add to their ever-growing list of recurring payments.

So the folks at Ulysses are sweetening the deal for already-existing customers, providing a lifetime 50% discount off the $5 monthly, which means paying $30 a year for full access to Ulysses on Mac and iOS.
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Uber is rolling out an app update that introduces a new chat feature, allowing riders and drivers to send messages to each other from within the app. Previously, communicating with the driver required a phone call or text message …

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Anyone who has ever sent or received payments between countries will know that the process is either expensive, complex or both.

PayPal, for example, is a really simple way to send money to someone, and it takes care of the currency conversion – but at a really terrible rate. Direct bank-to-bank transfers typically offer somewhat better rates, but setting up an international payment can be complex, and the rate you get usually ranges from the poor to the borderline criminal.

Other apps allow peer-to-peer payments, but usually through integrations with existing payment services that offer the same poor rates. Circle Pay claims to be different, offering mid-market rates (the same ones you’ll see if you Google the exchange rate) and no fees at all …

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Live video broadcasting has become a standard feature in apps like Facebook and YouTube since being popularized by Meerkat then Periscope, and now Instagram is looking to take the feature to the next step. Instagram is starting to test two-person live broadcasting for select users with a new split-screen layout.

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Earlier this year, YouTube launched a new private video sharing functionality for the service on mobile. After first launching in Canada and then expanding to the rest of North America, the Shared tab is now rolling out globally.

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The Google Earth app is incredibly popular on iOS, with hundreds of thousands of reviews on the App Store, and the company has finally updated it to support 64-bit iPhone and iPad CPUs. This means the app can now run on iOS 11, which does not launch any 32-bit-only apps.

As well as much-needed architectural compatibility, the update brings a redesign and several new flagship features, including Flyover-esque 3D views of major cities and ‘Voyager’ guided tours.

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Niantic last week held the world’s first ever Pokémon GO Fest in Chicago, only to be plagued by network and server issues that essentially rendered the app useless. Despite promising last week that all future events would go on as planned, Niantic now says it will postpone select events in Europe…

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Apple’s Find My Friends app can be a really useful way to share your location with your partner, family and friends, but it relies on everyone having an iOS device. Google has just solved that problem by bringing its Trusted Contacts app to iPhone. The app first launched on Android last year.

In addition to working across platforms, it also offers an additional level of control …

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Version 60 of Google Chrome is rolling out now to macOS with the long awaited Touch Bar support. This release also adds support for a number of developer-focused features, including the Payment Request API and an updated Credential Management API.

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As past events throughout time have proven, the world can sometimes be a dark and dangerous place. Having access to the right information during a crisis can prove to be lifesaving depending on the situation at hand, and the release of SOS Alerts on the Google Search and Maps on iOS aims to make dealing with these future events easier and much more manageable.

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Secure messaging app Telegram has borrowed a feature from SnapChat in the form of photos & videos that disappear after a time-out.

You can now set a self-destruct timer for any photos and videos you share in private chats. If you set a timer, the countdown starts the moment your recipient opens the photo or video you sent. After the time runs out, the photo/video will disappear forever, just like in Secret Chats.

Telegram checks photos & videos to see whether they are publicly-available ones …

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Google Play Music for iOS now works with Apple’s CarPlay feature when used with compatible car systems. CarPlay support lets Google Play Music users safely control music playback from the built-in car display using a streamlined interface.

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Pokémon GO has been celebrating its first anniversary with in-app promotions and a special in-person event, and today Niantic confirmed that Legendary Pokémon will soon be unlocked in the game. The first Legendary Pokémon will be unlocked on Saturday at the first-ever Pokémon GO Fest in Chicago, then globally the next day.

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SwiftKey is today pushing a notable update to its iOS keyboard app. The update adds a handful of new improvements and features, including emoji enhancements, new themes, and more.

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