Apple updated its mobile shopping apps for both iPhone and iPad today, with each platform getting a different set of new features or fixes. On the iPhone, improvements were made to the way in-store notifications are handled. These notifications can be triggered by a variety of events, such as a Genius Bar appointment or a nearby iBeacon.
Verbs, the popular instant messaging app for iPhone and iPad, was updated today at long last with a revamped design for iOS 7 and a whole host of new features and fixes, including the removal of an in-app purchase to enable extra features.
One of the bigger notable features in version 3.0 is the ability to keep your conversations in sync across all of your devices via iCloud. This works a lot like iMessage’s syncing function, where every message you get will automatically show up on all devices whether Verbs is currently running on that specific device or not. Previously any devices that didn’t have the app running would miss any messages that were downloaded on other devices.
Other changes include the addition of Dropbox for file sharing (alongside the old CloudApp and Droplr options), Pocket and Safari Reading List options for saving links, tappable URLs in chat bubbles, per-contact muting, the ability to manage your contact lists, in-app notifications for messages that come in while you’re in the settings view or another thread, and notifications when certain contacts come online.
Speaking of notifications, the former “Verbs Pro” in-app purchase has been removed, and all of its features are now included standard in the app. These include push notifications and longer connection times after the app closes.
You can grab the completely overhauled Verbs 3.0 from the iOS App Store for $2.99 today. The complete change log is below:
What’s New in Version 3.0.0
• Designed for iOS 7
• Completely rewritten server side code
• Supports Jabber protocol
• Added OAuth support for GTalk
• Real time syncing of chat messages across devices
• New Conversations view
• Use Dropbox to share files in chat
• Sync Chat, File Sharing and Read Later accounts over iCloud
• Pocket (Read later) support
• Safari’s Reading Lists support
• Sent bubble color changes when messages are delivered
• Notify when a buddy comes online
• Ability to mute buddies
• New Notification sounds
• HTML hyperlinks are supported in messages
• Use shapes to indicate Buddy Status
• Ability to create Lists (Groups)
• In-app notifications
• Lotta bug fixes!IMPORTANT NOTES:
• Before upgrading, please back up your existing conversations using the “Email conversation” feature. Because of the new sync features, your existing (2.x) accounts and conversations would not be available after upgrade.
• We’re removing Facebook chat support for the time being
• Also, we’re deprecating Verbs Pro and the basic app itself will include all the pro features.
On top of the many uses for iBeacons we’ve seen in retail environments, event organizers are another group that have started taking advantage of Apple’s new Bluetooth tech recently. The MLB is deploying them in stadiums to send notifications to baseball fans, CES hosted an iBeacon scavenger hunt this year, and today we’ve found out the upcoming SXSW festival where Apple is hosting its latest iTunes Festival will also be using the technology.
Eventbase, the company that has been building the official SXSW festival app for a few years now reached out to let us know it will be deploying some iBeacons around the event this year to improve the experience. Specifically, it will be using the technology to “help attendees in Austin pick up their badge faster and get more involved in the sessions they attend.” One feature in the app will allow for real-time audience interaction during sessions:
Expand
Expanding
Close
The popular Real Racing 3 title from EA for iPhone and iPad received a big update today that on top of introducing tons of new content brings iOS 7 controller support. That means you’ll now be able to pick up and play the game with any of Apple’s new authorized Made-for-iPhone controllers. We’ve reviewed the majority of controllers to hit the market so far including products from Logitech, Moga, and SteelSeries.
Perhaps the most notable new feature is new customization options that allow users to “Change rims, tweak ride height, and apply a multitude of awesome vinyls using the powerful customization tools.”
In addition, the update introduces a photo mode to easily capture a snapshot of the action at any moment, the “All Star Vendetta Series”, and new Gold Achievements.
Version 2.1.0 of Real Racing 3 also brings new vehicles from Aston Martin including the DB9, Vanquish and V12 Vantage S.
The updated app is available on the App Store now for iPhone and iPad.
The NBA Game Time apps for iPhone and iPad were updated today with a new Class Games section that brings a collection of “carefully selected classic games and historical videos from past seasons.”
The new Classic Games section starts out with a selection of videos and more will be added in future updates during the 2014 season.
The new videos, like much of the app’s content, is available for free to Sprint users or those with a NBA Game Time Plus subscription or League Pass through their cable provider.
The update is available for the NBA Game Time 2013-2014 iPhone app as well as the NBA Game Time for iPad app.
Classic Games – Addition of carefully selected classic games and historical videos from past seasons. New videos will be added periodically throughout the season. These are available free for users who have purchased League Pass.
Additional bug fixes and enhancements.
Engadget reports that Google has been testing a new iOS and Android app at its Mountain View campus recently that would allow users to automatically join public WiFi hotspots without going through the usual log-in process. Google is apparently considering using the app in connection with its recently announced deal to provide WiFi to 7000 Starbucks locations in the US:
According to our sources, the search giant has built Android and iOS versions of an app that automatically authenticate and connect to its free hotspots inside Starbucks stores or wherever they are available. Google is currently trialling the Android app at its Mountain View HQ and has plans to offer an iOS app too.
Perhaps more interesting is Engadget’s claim that Google has “specific plans” to roll out more Google WiFi hotspots in the US and Canada as part of the ongoing “Google WiFi” effort it first launched in Mountain View back in 2006.
The report adds that the app could link to a user’s Google account and “install a dedicated security certificate on their device to automatically authenticate devices when a connection is available.” Engadget says an expanded partnership with Boingo is also a possibility:
Google may also expand its partnership with Boingo, extending logins to locations where it’s footing the bill for free wireless.
Google plans to have its WiFi rolled out at all 7000 Starbucks locations by the end of the year.
Mobile payment app Venmo received a big update today that introduces a new way to quickly send money to nearby friends. It works just as easily as Apple’s AirDrop sharing system. The app uses Bluetooth to detect nearby Venmo users and lists them above your recent payment recipients when sending money.
While some apps make the process of sending money relatively quick, Venmo has the added benefit of making it easy to pay people around you without needing to enter any contact details at all, even if you’ve never met them before. The only catch is that both parties need to be using Venmo for the feature to work.
Venmo is available for free on the iOS App Store.
Sonico Mobile, of iTranslate fame, released today version 2 of iTranslate Voice, bringing an entirely new design and a few new features as well. Let’s take a look at what’s new.
The first thing you’ll notice in iTranslate Voice 2 is the completely new design. Sonico Mobile has always done a great job making their apps fit very well with the design aesthetic of iOS, and today’s update is no departure. iTranslate Voice closely adopts the look of Apple’s Messages app, creating a natural, conversation-like feel. There’s also lots of great design details you’ll notice while using the app, like live voice recognition waveforms, and a clever pull-to-clear animation. Clearly, there was a lot of time put into this app.
Path, one of the last major social apps still holding out on an iOS 7 update, has finally been updated with a new design as well as a set of new preferences and features.
The app’s settings have been reorganized to simplify certain actions, as noted on the development blog:
In Settings, you will find that we’ve simplified the more detailed controls into Account, Notifications and Sharing sections. In Account, you’ll be able to update your profile photo, cover photo, email and other personal information. In Notifications, you’ll be able to manage notifications for your Inner Circle and your Friends. In Sharing you can manage all of the networks you can post to from Path.
The shop that houses in-app purchases for sticker packs and premium account upgrades has also gotten an overhaul and now presents everything in a simpler interface. A new “purchased” tab like the one found in the iOS version of iTunes and the App Store allows users to revisit their list of purchases.
Path 3.4 is available on the App Store for free.
Evernote announced today that it’s adding a Descriptive Search feature for english users of its Mac app. Evernote says the new feature allows users to search using “everyday language to find notes the way he/she remembers them.” That means you’ll be able to use a number of descriptive words that act as filters to search for notes. Among the descriptive words, or filters, that will be recognized by the new feature are dates, apps, places, documents, images, audio, devices, web sources, type of content, notebooks, and tags. Evernote gives the example of searching for vegetarian recipes using phrases such as “recipes tagged as vegetarian” or “vegetarian recipes.”
Descriptive Search makes suggestions based on actual contents of your Evernote account, such as notebooks, contents of your notes, tags, and devices. Other examples of searches and results include:
Search –> Result
‘Notebook project with pdfs’ –> all the notes in the project notebook with PDFs attached
‘Web clips created last month’ or ‘web clips last month’ –> every web page clipped this month
‘Notes from japan’ or ‘in japan’ –> all the notes created while in Japan
‘Notes from phone with audio’ or ‘phone with audio’ –> all the notes created on a phone that have an attached audio file or recording
No word on when the update will be available to mobile users but the new Descriptive Search feature will be available initially in English to all Evernote accounts through the Mac App. The update should be rolling out to the Evernote for Mac app shortly.
A full list of filters for the new descriptive search feature is below:
Google continues to push its Maps product on iOS in the latest update, version 2.6. The app now alerts the driver when faster routes become available when navigating. This reflects functionality found in dedicated sat navs. Rather than simply offering several routing options at the beginning of your journey, Google will keep aware of traffic and road conditions in case a faster route appears later.
Theoretically, this means you are always on the fastest route possible when navigating. As always, the app is free.
A Facebook for iOS update that was released earlier today includes the ability to hide certain people from your main news feed. To do so, just tap the downward arrow on any post and select the “I don’t like this post” option. From there you can select from a few different options for hiding the post or the user that posted it.
The iPhone version of the app also allows you to see all of your videos in a single album. This feature didn’t make it to the iPad version for some reason, but it might make the jump in a future update.
You can grab the updated app for free on the iOS App Store.
What’s New in Version 6.9
• Choose whose posts you see in News Feed
• See all the videos you’ve uploaded in one album (iPhone only)
Mactracker, the definitive app for tracking Apple product information, received a substantial update today, on the Mac’s 30th birthday. Both the OS X and iOS versions have, for the first time, added Apple’s non-Macintosh computers to the database, including the entire Apple II line, and many early Apple monitors and accessories.
If you watch a lot of TV, you may be familiar with a problem that plagues many TV lovers: you can never keep track of which shows come on which nights or which episodes you missed last week. Thankfully, there are a whole host of online services that can track this information for you.
I’ve tried a few different apps to keep track of my TV viewing habits, and today one of my favorite apps in this category, 60Hz, has been updated with a brand new design and a bunch of new features and tweaks.
Google has been working on a remote desktop management app for Android devices called “Chromoting” since last year, but today an entry in the Chromium issue tracker has revealed that an iOS version is also under developement. The issue, which was opened on Wednesday, indicates that the iOS version is still very much in the design stage, while its counterpart on Android is much further along in its development.
According to the post, the iOS version is is expected to be released much later than the Android client. The features of the app have mostly been kept under wraps, but it looks like a fairly straightforward piece of software that allows you to access and manipulate remote machines using Chrome as a condiut for the connection. The biggest advantage Chromoting would have over similiar solutions would be the low, low price of $0.00.
Last year, FX sister site FXX landed the exclusive cable and video-on-demand rights to The Simpsons, and it looks like fans of the show will finally see a payoff soon. While the nearly $1 billion deal includes cable distribution rights, the big news is that FX will be launching a dedicated app that allows subscribers to stream the entire series (all 24 seasons and counting) legally from mobile devices and the web …
Expand
Expanding
Close
Apple has just released an update for last year’s WWDC app to address an issue that has prevented developers from being able to watch session videos through the app for quite some time time. All of the videos are also available on the iOS developer portal, so the bug fix probably wasn’t very high on Apple’s priority list.
If you still want to use the WWDC app for some reason, it’s available for free on the App Store, but requires a paid developer login to view the videos.
[tweet https://twitter.com/PiersonBro/status/423640348804407297 align=’center’]
What’s New in Version 1.0.3
This release addresses an issue where developers were unable to log into the app to watch videos. Thank you for your bug reports and feedback.
The YouTube app for iOS has been updated with a new design for iOS 7, including the new keyboard and status bar, and a blurred sidebar design like that found in other apps.
The update also includes improved search results that include videos, playlists, and channels all on one screen. Finally, the new version introduces new settings for closed captioning and subtitles.
You can grab the free YouTube app on the iOS App Store.
Scanner Pro, the document-scanning app for iPhone and iPad created by Readdle, is available for free this week as part of Apple’s “App of the Week” promotion. The app uses an iOS device’s camera to scan documents, complete with real-time border detection for perfectly-sized scans, and stores them as PDFs in a variety of cloud services, including iCloud and Google Drive.
The app also supports outgoing faxes directly from the app, in case you need to fax a signed document back to someone. Outgoing fax credits are available as in-app purchases.
You can grab your free copy of Scanner Pro on the App Store for this week only. After that the price goes back to the regular $6.99.
NewsDay reports Republican Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano was sworn in for his second term today using an iPad and Bible app when officials were unable to locate a physical copy of the Bible:
Addressing a standing room audience at Bethpage High School, where he graduated in 1980, Mangano took the oath of office on an iPad featuring a text of the Bible when a printed copy could not be located.
Not surprisingly there is much debate heating up online over whether or not an iPad and Bible app should qualify as a replacement for the real thing. Video from the ceremony is available here.
The Fitbit iPhone app received a notable update today that brings basic tracking features directly to the iPhone 5s without the need of one of FitBit’s tracking watches. The new “MobileTracker” feature, which takes advantage of Apple’s new M7 motion co-processor, provides some of FitBit’s basic activity tracking features right on the device. The new feature, due to the new M7 motion co-processor, is currently only available on the iPhone 5s. The company is yet to make an official announcement, but with CES right around the corner we’d expect to hear more about the update soon.
As noted by the Fitbit employee in the tweet below, the update will allow iPhone 5s users to try basic features of the app before investing in the hardware.
The app also receives a number of other new features today including redesigned silent alarms, the ability to a set a custom water goal, and a revamped profile editor, tracker settings, and sign-up screen. A full list of what’s new in version 2.1 of the Fitbit app is below:
The Fitbit app now features MobileTrack which offers basic Fitbit activity tracking directly using your iPhone 5s.
Redesigned Silent Alarms settings. Set, switch, edit, and remove alarms faster than ever.
Set your own custom water goal.
Redesigned profile editor.
Redesigned tracker settings.
Redesigned sign-up and sign-in.
Tap on people in Friend Finder to see their profile.
Swipe on friends on your leaderboard to Cheer, Taunt, or Message.
Tap on tabs to auto-scroll to the top.
[tweet https://twitter.com/barrycburton/status/417710071804489728]
The latest version of Picasa includes an additional bit of software called Google+ Auto Backup, as reported by Google Operating System. The new software can be used to automatically backup photos and videos from user-selected directories to your Google+ account. Interestingly, the app has nothing to do with the Picasa service, even though it ships exclusively with the Picasa app.
The app can save unlimited 2048px photos to your account, or upload full-quality versions at the expense of Google Drive space. It can also intelligently copy media from storage cards and other devices that are attached to the system. Furthermore, the app can be configured to backup all media to a designated location on the local hard drive, putting all of your backed-up media in one convenient place.
You can get the Google+ Auto Backup app by downloading the latest version of Picasa.
If you were wondering why Nokia’s HERE maps app for iOS disappeared from the App Store earlier this month, today the company has issued an official statement on the situation. While citing issues with iOS 7 that “harm the user experience,” Nokia unfortunately does not go into detail about specific problems with the development of the app for Apple’s latest version of iOS. It does, however, point users to the official web app, which is essentially the same experience the company wrapped into the iOS app minus many of the bugs users reported with the release of an iOS 7 update. No word on if Nokia will bring back the native app at any point, but for now we get the following statement issued to the TheIndianExpress (via Engadget):
“We have made the decision to remove our HERE Maps app from the Apple App Store because recent changes to iOS 7 harm the user experience. iPhone users can continue to use the mobile web version of HERE Maps under m.here.com., offering them core location needs, such as search, routing, orientation, transit information and more, all completely free of charge.”
A few weeks ago, Facebook updated its Messenger app to match iOS 7’s visual design. Unfortunately, the update is a bit bland, with no real embellishments in terms of UI or animation. This week, a new Facebook chat client for iPhone was released that aims to address those complaints with a colorful interface and slick animations.
That app is Bubble Chat.
Bubble Chat is one of the most creative iOS 7 designs I’ve seen, leveraging the new OS’s physics to animate every transition and movement in the app. By default, most of the interface is blue, but a $.99 in-app purchase allows you to customize the background color for each contact individually or globally. You can also choose a photo from your device to use as the background.
The app has two main views for managing your conversations. The first is a list of your Facebook contacts. The other is a list of recent conversation threads. The contact list makes use of each friend’s photo not only as an avatar next to their name, but also as a background for each row in the list, providing a bit more texture than a standard blue background. The chat list provides a quick look at each thread’s most recent message.
Tapping a contact’s photo from the conversation list or with in a thread brings up a contact-specific settings sheet that allows you to customize the design of that conversation or mute all message notifications from that user. From with a conversation you can send photos and videos, plus custom drawings you can create with a variety of brushes and colors.
Speaking of contact photos, Bubble Chat has a clever trick that detects faces in photo and automatically centers them. No more oddly-cropped profile pictures where an off-center face gets cut off! In my testing, I found that the detection system worked every single time, showcasing my contacts automatically instead of whatever happened to be centered in the photo.
The app supports push notifications for new messages, though they seemed a bit unreliable in my testing. My first message came through the main Facebook app, but not Bubble Chat. After I opened Bubble Chat and viewed the new message, notifications started functioning normally for the most part. A few seemed to show up late or not at all.
Overall, Bubble Chat is a solid app that just needs a little work. Aside from the notification issue, I noticed a few graphical glitches, especially when quickly moving between conversation threads and the chat list. These always resolved themselves within a few seconds, though, so there’s no reason to worry about them right now. My single biggest issue with the app is that autocorrect does not seem to work when typing a message. The developers have informed me that several bug fixes and improvements are being made very soon.
If you’re looking to replace Facebook Messenger with something that has a little more personality, Bubble Chat is a great alternative. You can get it on the App Store for free. As mentioned before, theme customization options are available as a $.99 in-app purchase.