After a false start late last month, VLC for Mobile has now arrived on the new Apple TV. VideoLAN officially announced the new Apple TV version of the VLC media player app, which it calls “a full port of VLC media player combined with platform specific features.” VLC enables unsupported media formats to be played on Apple products including the new Apple TV for the first time.
AgileBits has updated its popular login manager app 1Password to include new features for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus as well as other security and function enhancements for all users. 1Password 6.2 for iOS adds 3D Touch quick actions from the Home screen icon plus Peek and Pop for previewing items within the app. Pressing the app icon firmly on the latest iPhone models lets you quickly search for items, jump to your favorited passwords, or create new entries. Once you open the app, 3D Touch lets you preview items and swipe up to access popular functions like copying usernames and passwords or opening the 1Browser within the app. There are also a few new security and convenience enhancements for all iPhone and iPad users…
Apple has announced that the App Store had its best ever holiday season in 2015, setting records for Christmas and New Year’s Day. January 1st 2016 saw $144 million of App Store spending, the best day in App Store history. It beat the previous record set just a week earlier on Christmas Day.
In total, in the two weeks up to January 3, customers spent over $1.1 billion on apps and in-app purchases …
Earlier this year, Twitter promised a brand new Mac app with a fresh new look and a whole lot more. Today that new version is out now with a huge list of new features including a dark mode and GIF support. Twitter 4 also features a new round icon (that’s how you’ll know it’s the new version).
The new version fits in much better with OS X Yosemite/El Capitan and includes a Notification Center widget in the Today view. It also includes many features that were previously only available on the mobile apps and third-party clients. Here’s everything that’s new:
OpenEmu, the free Mac OS X multi-platform retro video game emulator, has received a substantial upgrade that expands both the list of supported classic game systems, and automap support for popular game controllers. Released over Christmas, version 2.0.1 now allows Mac users to seamlessly play games from the following classic systems:
The new app also features a redesigned user interface, increased automap button support for controllers such as SteelSeries’ Stratus XL and Nimbus controllers, realtime gameplay rewinding, and more…
[Update: VLC incorrectly included Apple TV support in today’s release notes. That release is coming “very soon” but not available today. The iOS/watchOS updates are out today.]
[Update 1/12/2016: VLC for Apple TV is now available.]
The popular VLC app for playing a variety of media formats not supported by iTunes has now made its way to the new Apple TV. We heard in September that VLC for Apple TV was in the works, and last month the team started accepting beta testers. Today VLC for Mobile delivered a major update that includes the first Apple TV version as well as a handful of new features on iPhones and iPads.
Over the last few years, indie developers have banded together just before Christmas Day to discount top iOS and Mac apps for new customers. The sale is called App Santa and includes popular apps like Tweetbot for Mac, Pcalc, Screens, Deliveries, and over a dozen other highly recommended apps for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. App Santa doesn’t last long though so check out the full list below to save some money on quality apps.
When Apple introduced the new Live Photos feature on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus back in September, Phil Schiller said on stage that Facebook was committed to supporting the new photo format by the end of the year. Facebook has now shared that it will begin letting a small number of users share Live Photos on the social network from today with a general roll out planned next year.
Astropad, the iOS app that lets you turn your iPad into a professional tablet for Mac, is out today with new enhancements for iPad Pro and Apple Pencil users. The app already supported native resolution on the 12.9″ tablet as well as basic Apple Pencil support, and today’s free update focuses on specific improvements to Pro plus Pencil features to make the most of the new hardware and create a first class experience.
Adobe’s recently launched Photoshop Fix app has been updated this week to add further support for Apple Pencil on iPad Pro. The image editing app already worked with Apple’s new digital stylus on the larger tablet with initial support introduced in late October, and the latest update goes beyond basic support by recognizing both pressure changes and tilt shading when editing with Apple Pencil.
The enhanced support works well and really makes the precision editing with Apple Pencil on photos more natural when using the new iPad Pro. As you can see in the example with the sharpen adjustments highlighted in red, Pencil can now fill in large spaces quickly and apply more or less of an adjustment by adjusting force without tweaking hardness or softness settings.
Rockstar Games announced today that it’s bringing Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, the ninth game in the series originally in 2005, to iOS users.
You’ll find the full game packed into the iOS version for iPhone and iPad, which Rockstar notes in its press release was “originally designed with mobile gameplay in mind” for the PlayStation Portable (PSP). But you’ll also find some new features including some that take advantage of the iPhone and iPad’s touch display, iOS specific features like 3D Touch, and the larger iPad Pro:
Adobe is out today with its latest iOS-first app for mobile creatives. Adobe Post joins the free suite of other easy-to-use mobile apps for sharing that includes the Slate and Voice iPad apps. Where Voice lets you combine recorded storytelling with visuals and Slate lets anyone create magazine-quality stories from iPad, Adobe Post makes creating good-looking, sharable graphics from the iPhone as easy as picking the right image, font, and words.
Facebook today announced it’s rolling out a new feature for its Messenger chat app that will let users book a car through Uber. The feature, it said, expands on other “integrations” it’s added recently outside of the app’s core chat functionality, like the ability to send money or use the app for customer support.
Adobe today released a new version of Photoshop Lightroom for iOS with new features for the latest iPhones and iPads. iPhone 6s and 6s Plus users can now enjoy new 3D Touch Quick Actions from the Lightroom icon, and the latest version has been optimized for iPad Pro and enhanced to support iOS 9 multitasking features. The update also introduces a Notification Center widget plus new editing tools as well.
Google today has announced an update to its Google Play Books app on Android and iOS that brings with it a new feature called “Night Light.” The update will rollout soon to users via the App Store for free.
Skype for iPhone and iPad gets an update today to version 6.8 and with it comes new features for sharing content in the app. With the update, you’ll be able to quickly share links to websites and photos from your camera roll:
Skype 6.8 for iPhone and iPad makes sharing content with friends on Skype really easy. Simply tap on a share button to send links from apps and websites or photos from your camera roll directly to a Skype contact – just select the friend you want to share with and send! Perfect for sharing photos from your office party or present ideas with family members without the hassle of sending the content in an email.
The new app adds support for Skype in the system-wide iOS share sheet, meaning you’ll be able to easily share content from the web, in apps, and elsewhere directly to contacts in Skype. The company’s demo video below gives you the rundown on enabling the feature if you’re unfamiliar:
[youtube=https://youtu.be/6yVW1FHAN244]
The updated Skype app for iPhone and iPad is available on the App Store.
Sonos is beginning to roll out support for streaming Apple Music content to its wireless speakers starting today. The feature is available in beta and limited to select Sonos customers who signed up earlier this month when the update was first announced. Sonos will continue to add more people to the Apple Music beta ahead of a wider release to all Sonos customers early next year. I’ve had a chance to try out the Apple Music beta with Sonos, which works through the updated Sonos Controller app, and in some cases it looks better than Apple’s own app.
Microsoft today has released an update for its Outlook app on iOS that brings the app to version 2.0.8. The update makes Outlook join the growing list of apps that support the new 3D Touch feature of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.
Hulu gets a major update today with an all-new design for iPhone alongside a few new features in version 4.7.0.
The new iPhone design looks a lot like the design Hulu was already using on the iPad with navigation tucked under a menu button in the upper left section instead of tabs along the bottom. You’ll also find mostly grid layouts with larger images when the app is displaying lists of content.
Here’s a look at the old Hulu iPhone app (left) versus the new design in today’s update (right):
And in addition to the updated design, iPhone users will find Hulu’s Kid Lock functionality now available. The parental control feature can be enabled through settings to restrict content for children using the service.
The updated Hulu app for iPhone is available on the App Store now.
Google’s Maps app for iPhone and iPad got a small but useful update on the App Store today. The latest version of the Google Maps iOS app now includes a couple of handy features.
First up, and undoubtedly the most useful for drivers is the up-to-date gas prices in the US and Canada. The feature was included in the Android version of Google’s app a couple of months ago and lets users check nearby gas stations to see which has the most affordable prices. You can find prices simply be searching for ‘gas’ or ‘gas stations’ in the search field and Google Maps will automatically bring up the nearest options and list pricing for those locations.
Business hours have been included in the app for some time, but today’s update also lets you check when is best to avoid/visit particular businesses. Like its online search and maps tools, the updated iPhone app brings the ability check popular visiting hours for local stores and outlets. Now you can see what you always knew about any business or retail location: It starts getting busy after lunch.
Google Maps version 4.13.0 is available to download from the App Store for free and requires users to be running iOS 7.0 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.
As announced earlier in the year, the BBC has now launched an official iPlayer app for the Apple TV. The app uses native a tvOS interface, closely resembling the normal iTunes Store films and TV shows interface. The app is free but requires a TV licence and is therefore only available to UK Apple TV owners.
Apple has pushed an iTunes update to match Apple Music changes made earlier this week in iOS 9.2. The change includes a new way to view Classical music on the streaming service, allowing users to see works, composers, and performers.
The update also includes the standard generic bug fix notice. iTunes 12.3.2 is available now from the Updates tab of the Mac App Store.
A few weeks ago Google unveiled a new space saver feature for its Photos app on Android, and this week the best feature 16GB iPhones and iPads could wish for is now available on iOS. Google Photos has also added Shared Albums across iOS, Android, and the web, which makes sending pictures and videos you capture to friends and family super easy.
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Bloomberg has updated its Bloomberg Professional app for iOS with new iOS 9 optimizations including Split Screen mode and Picture-in-Picture support on the latest iPads. Bloomberg Professional is also optimized for the new 12.9″ iPad Pro display with native resolution to show more content on the screen, which the company says helps “deliver real-time data, comprehensive news, technical graphs, portfolio tracking and Instant Bloomberg (IB) to Bloomberg customers.”