https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZeDPfHiBC8
Social network app Snapchat is today rolling out a new feature called Our Story. It’s just like the My Story feature, where you can put a bunch of photos into a single album-like story, but multiple people can contribute to it. The feature works based on events and on your location. As Snapchat explains on its blog:
Update: Like clockwork, it’s out.
Facebook plans to launch its long-awaited Snapchat competitor called Slingshot tomorrow, according to a source. The application briefly became available in some international App Stores last week, and then it (appropriately) swiftly disappeared. The new standalone iPhone application allows users to send a photo or video with text or drawings to another person, but the recipient cannot view it unless they acknowledge that they want to view the message…
In addition to a few changes to its iPad app, Facebook today released the second major update to its app Paper bringing it closer to feature parity with the main Facebook iPhone app. While the list of changes included in Facebook Paper 1.2 is rather long, the changes largely focus on improving the photo experience. For example, Paper uses can now adjust both profile and cover photos from the app. The update also includes photo tag support and improvements as well as greater support for tilt to explore feature for viewing photos.
Paper 1.2 is out today! Lots of new features: https://t.co/JB6JaXVbsI
I built privacy editing and lots of under-the-hood improvements.
— Grant Paul (@chpwn) June 16, 2014
Facebook Paper 1.2 is available for iPhone and iPod touch today on the App Store. For more on what’s new, view the full change log below…
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Rovio has a lot in the works. The Finnish-game maker last week released Angry Birds Epic, an RPG-style game and a first for the series, and later this year Rovio will release Angry Birds Stella led by the lady bird in the saga.
On top of all that, Rovio is announcing something they’ve been working on with Hasbro: Angry Birds Transformers. The latest title in the series will be like Angry Birds Star Wars, another Hasbro partnership for Rovio, combining the iconic gameplay with characters that resemble those from the movies.
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WebMD today launched “Healthy Target”, a feature within its iOS app that lets users track health data from a variety of sources like activity trackers, glucose meters, and other iPhone-connected health and fitness accessories. The feature lets users set goals, track habits, get easy to understand summaries of biometric data, and also provides progress reports and inspiration along the way. WebMD says the feature “will provide valuable assistance to individuals looking to manage chronic conditions like Type 2 diabetes and obesity, as well as to a broader audience interested in achieving their fitness goals or more generally living a healthier lifestyle.” The feature acts a lot like Apple’s new Health app, which is about to launch alongside its new HealthKit platform for developers this fall with iOS 8.
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After an App Store guideline change earlier this month, it seems that Bitcoin wallet apps are once again welcome on the platform, as noticed by Coindesk. The updated rules said that Apple would allow virtual currency apps if they do not violate any federal laws. Apps like eGift and are now available for download in the App Store.
Albeit merely a wrapper around a web app, Coin Pocket does indeed enable the exchange of Bitcoin from within the app itself. This would have not passed Apple approval just a few weeks prior, as Apple’s previous stance did not allow any app that allowed transfers to take place.
When you purchase an item from the App Store or iTunes, it is possible to obtain a refund on items purchased within the past 90 days if you have a legitimate reason. For example, you might buy the live version of a song when you meant to get the studio version. It is certainly possible to download the wrong app inadvertently, especially on an iOS device.
In this article, I will outline the process of how report a problem (and request a refund) with items purchased in the App Store or iTunes.
Popular third-party Twitter client Tweetbot for iPhone was updated to version 3.4 with some nice new features and enhancements today. Most notably, the app can now post and view up to four photos per Tweet. This is in line with functionality that Twitter added to its official application a few months ago.
The update, as can be seen in the release notes above, also adds various other images enhancements, a new play icon for Instagram videos, and localization for Spanish. For what it’s worth, users are also reporting that this update fixes some problems for iOS 8 Tweetbot users. The update is free on the App Store, and the app costs $4.99 for new downloads. You can read our full review of Tweetbot 3.0 from launch here.
(Before and after screenshots via The Guardian)
Just over a week ago at WWDC, Apple announced several changes and improvements coming to the App Store this fall with the public release of iOS 8 including new ways to navigate through the App Store as well as explore new apps. As The Guardian points out (via MacStories), App Store customers across Europe will notice improvements in the following categories: health, lifestyle, music, photo and video, productivity, and sports. Prior to the editorial expansion, every App Store category aside from education, games, food, kids, and Newsstand were populated solely by use of an algorithm of new and popular apps…
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Google has been adding StreetView, Maps, and new search features specifically for the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup, and today it brings new Google Now cards to the Google Search app for iOS. The new cards for the Google Now feature in the app will present the latest on World Cup news including “scorers, match statistics, group standings and more.”
Also new for this year’s tournament, you don’t even have to search to get updates on your favorite teams—just open Google Now. You’ll be given an option to start seeing cards with stats about each match that you can tap for more detail… Make sure you are signed in to Google, and have your Google Now turned on in your settings. Swipe up to see your Google Now cards and follow your favorite team!
The updated Google Search app for iOS is available on the App Store now.
You may have noticed Skype for iPhone/iPod touch disappear from the App Store in select markets today. Skype tells us that the reason is preparations for the upcoming 5.0 update. Here’s the statement:
We have removed the Skype for iPhone app from the Apple iTunes store in some markets, as we begin rolling out the latest version. Skype 5.0 for iPhone will soon be available worldwide for download – in the meantime, you can learn about the great new features coming with the new version here.
The new version should officially launch in the coming days. You can find all the details about the completely revamped design and improving chatting in our preview from yesterday.
Apple has launched a new “Soccer Fever” section on the App Store, fittingly with June 12th marking the first day of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The page has four app sections, including one for “Soccer Apps” (such as the official FIFA app itself), one for featured soccer-related games, a variety of typical social apps labeled as “Share the Fever,” and a plethora of apps for exploring the country of Brazil.
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Apple has reportedly started cracking down on apps offering the ability to download music from third-party services like YouTube that normally don’t allow users to do so. In addition, a separate report claims that Apple has also started going after apps that incentivize users to either watch ads or share content through social media networks.
The first report comes from MacRumors, which notes the App Store has replaced results for the search query “music download” with an advertisement for iTunes Radio followed by other music services like Spotify (pictured right). At first glance it appears to be Apple simply cleaning up search on the store (I’d expect to get iTunes Radio, Spotify, etc for the search “music download”), but MacRumors also claims that “Apple has asked them to remove audio downloading functionalities from their app, perhaps to prevent potential piracy.” For now the apps still live on the App Store and the change doesn’t appear to have taken place in countries outside iTunes Radio availability. Results in the Canadian App Store continue to show apps for download music illegally from YouTube and other online services.
Another report has popped up claiming that Apple is also not too happy about apps that are encouraging users to watch ads or share to social networks in exchange for rewards. A report from TechCrunch detailed the change, which also appears to extend to apps promoting apps other than their own through the methods mentioned above.
It’s worth noting that Apple’s App Store guidelines have always had rules against promoting other apps and we’ve seen Apple reject apps in the past that include functionality that might compete with the App Store. There are a lot of grey areas in the App Store guidelines.
We’ll have to wait and see if this is part of a broader change to the App Store in iOS 8, which also introduced app bundles, Editor’s Choice picks, app video previews, and more, and if Apple is truly going to remove these third-party music downloading apps for good.
A few years ago, Skype was the rockstar of the messaging world, but now with smartphones and mobile messaging apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and iMessage, Skype’s iPhone feature-set and application have begun to stagnate. However, the Skype development team has not been standing still. The Microsoft-owned company is revealing today that it is nearing the launch of a completely revamped Skype application for the iPhone and iPod touch. I met with lead Skype designer Guilherme Schneider last week for an exclusive preview and an interview regarding the new software, and the application certainly seems impressive…
This weekend, Apple has notified App Store developers that the South African App Store will see app price changes due to the country’s new 14% Value Added Tax rate. Apple commonly makes these changes to align with tax changes in certain regions. It’s likely that these price changes will spread to other Apple web properties such as the iTunes Store and iBookstore. Expect to see these changes within the next 24 hours. A new pricing matrix can be accessed by developers in iTunes Connect.
We’ve learned Apple finally has a way for users of Made-For-iPhone/iPad game controllers to view a master list of supported games from the App Store, but it will first require the controller makers to issue firmware updates to their controllers.
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An update to the GoPro app that allows users to remotely control their GoPro cameras has been a long time coming. Just in time for iOS 8, today the app finally gets an overhaul for iOS 7 with a completely redesigned UI that ditches that super outdated design the app has been sporting for quite a while now.
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Update: Explanation of lock screen apps after the break…
Since Apple previewed iOS 8 yesterday during the keynote at WWDC, we’ve been continually trying out the new iPhone and iPad software to get familiar with the changes coming to users this fall. First up is a new way for apps to be promoted on the iPhone using subtle location-based prompts. Similar to how the lock screen features an icon and a swipe up gesture from the lower right corner of the display to quickly access the Camera app, several users are reporting a variety of apps are being featured on the lower left corner prompted by being near a relevant venue.
For instance, in the screen shot displayed above on the left, the user is visiting an Apple Store and an App Store icon appears in the lower left corner. Swiping up from the bottom acts as a shortcut to quickly access the Apple Store app within the App Store. Once installed, the Apple Store app icon then appears on the lock screen when visiting the retailer. While it’s not certain which specific perimeters must be met for this functionality to work, the commonality between other supported App Store apps including Starbucks and ShopSavvy is location.
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Okay, it may just be Flappy Bird, the addictive game that once took over the news cycle for days and still threatens to return again some day, but the thing here is it was written in Apple’s new programming language for developers called Swift. What’s so special about that? Swift was only announced yesterday, less than 24 hours ago, so what this simple Flappy Bird clone really means is Swift is off to a good start given its only a few hours old. You can view the code for the Swift version of Flappy Bird by Nate Murray on Github, and read more about Apple’s new programming language Swift on iBooks.
Now you’ve had a chance to catch up on our coverage of the main new features of iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite, and seen our hands-on videos (iOS 8 overview, OS X Yosemite overview, iOS 8 Spotlight and iOS 8 interactive notifications), we’d like to hear your first impressions of each.
Whether you’re blown away by all the new features, disappointed by things you wanted but didn’t get, or just a bit underwhelmed, here’s your chance to let us know.
We’ve summarized the features Apple has chosen to highlight, and there are separate polls for each platform …
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Apple has just announced at WWDC 2014 that as part of its iOS 8 extensions capability, users will be able to install systemwide keyboards, such as the popular Swype system. The keyboards will run in a secure sandbox and not have access to anything except text input, though they can ask for permission to use the network in order to provide more features.
These keyboards can be installed through third-party apps on the updated App Store.
Alongside a whole of other changes to the App Store, Apple is integrating TestFlight. This allows developers to do seamless beta-testing for free. There are also a whole host of ‘extensions’ apps can access, enabling integration into share sheets, Notification Center widgets and more.
Apple is heavily stressing that this is the biggest developer release since the App Store was announced.
Following our reports earlier this year that exclusively revealed details and screenshots of Apple’s Healthbook app, Apple today just officially announced the app confirming the details of our reports. Apple’s new platform, codenamed Healthbook, will be officially known as ‘HealthKit’ on the developer side of things, and will come with an accompanying app for iOS 8 called ‘Health’.
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Apple is giving out $25 App Store gift cards to WWDC 2014 attendees. The gift card is given to each attendee when picking up their badge. The $25 amount ties into the “25 years and coding” tagline printed beneath the WWDC logo. Check out Harrison Weinerman’s tweet below.