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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.

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9to5Toys Last Call: Seiki 50″ 4K UHDTV $590, Blek for iOS $1, Lumsing 11000mAh 5-port charger $20, more

Be sure to follow 9to5Toys to keep up with the best gear and deals on the web: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call updates:

Seiki SE50UY04 50%22 Class 4K Ultra HD 120Hz LED TV-sale-01

Displays: Seiki 50″ 4K UHDTV 120Hz LED w/ Free BT Soundbar $590 (Reg. $1200), Samsung 40″ Smart LED $460 (Reg. $700)

Blek-iOS-sale

Games/Apps: Blek for iOS $1 (Reg. $3) Wii U 32GB Deluxe w/ Nintendo Land (refurb) $200, iOS freebies, more

Lumsing-Power Bank-sale-02

Lumsing 11000mAh 5 x USB External Battery Pack/Charger: $20 shipped (orig. $89)

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Apple deals:

Other new deals:

More deals still alive:

New products/useful info:

Microsoft/Google/Android:

 

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Skype 5.0 for iPhone available now… for some lucky App Store users

We showed you an early behind-the-scenes look at Skype’s major update to its iPhone app including an interview earlier this week, and today Microsoft says that update will officially roll out to users. In fact, a few people are able to download/update it now, while others are still getting the “not available” as of this writing.

From Skype’s blog:

On June 9, we announced that an update to Skype for iPhone was on the way, and today it’s time to try it out for yourself: Skype 5.0 for iPhone has arrived! We were excited to use your feedback to remaster the app around you, to help you connect with your friends and family simply and quickly.

Earlier this week, Skype pulled its previous version from the App Store in anticipation of its major new release. Microsoft says Skype 5.0 for iPhone is rolling out today and the new version is already available for many users via the App Store now.

Update: Skype has offered the following statement below.

Today we announced Skype 5.0 for iPhone is available for download. We understand some users are having problems downloading the app while it populates in the Apple App Store. We’re sorry about the delay, but don’t worry – you’ll be able to try the new version very soon. In the meantime, you can learn about the great new features coming with Skype 5.0 for iPhone here.

Apple’s App Store editorial team now curating seven additional categories in Europe

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(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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Amazon Prime music streaming service lands on iOS, Cloud Player app now “Amazon Music”

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Following the launch of Amazon’s new streaming music service on the web last night, Amazon has now updated its iOS app with the feature, which also gets renamed from Amazon Cloud Player to the much more suitable Amazon Music. Also along for the ride is an updated icon and revamped design for the app. 
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Get your Role Play on with new Angry Birds ‘Epic’ from Rovio

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCs_1NCLo90]

Angry-birds-epicRovio today launched Angry Birds Epic for free in the iTunes App Store globally after a brief soft launch in New Zealand, Australia, and Canada.

Get ready for a bird-tastic FREE RPG adventure filled with “weapons” (whatever they could get ahold of), magic, bad guys and silly hats! Lead your feathery team into battle now – it’s going to be EPIC!

EPIC BATTLES! Turn-based battles between our heroic flock of warriors and those green snout-nosed scoundrels! It’s easy to play, but difficult to master!

EPIC WORLDS! Explore a fantasy Piggy Island with everything from tribal villages and frosty mountains to tropical beaches and mysterious caves!

EPIC CHARACTERS! Join Red, Chuck, Bomb and the other heroes as they face King Pig, Wiz Pig, Prince Porky and many more villains!

EPIC UPGRADES! Level up your characters, armor, weapons and potions to become a legendary hero ready to take on the mightiest pig warrior!

EPIC WEAPONS! Craft amazing battle-winning weapons like a wooden sword, frying pan or stick thingy with a sponge on top!

EPIC HUMOR! Plenty of offbeat humor and tons of quirky characters dressed in awesomely silly costumes – like a prickly cactus hat and a matching sword.

Phone Arena called it great for casual gamers but too simple and repetitive for hardcore gamers.

Overall, Angry Birds Epic is one of those must-try casual games. Chances are that hardcore gamers will find it too simple and shallow for their taste, but those who consider themselves casual gamers will surely love Rovio’s newest creation. The game is easy to learn, easy to play, and easy to put down when there’s more serious business to be done, which makes it a great choice for killing a few minutes while waiting for the bus. Although we wouldn’t mind spending an afternoon stashing loot, crafting weapons, and laying waste to those grunting green pigs. Best of all, we never had the feeling that we were being pushed towards buying extra in-game currency (which costs real money, by the way) so don’t be worried about IAPs spoiling your experience. The only thing you might be bothered by are the full-screen pop-up ads that appear from time to time.

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New app Audibly lets you share your music wirelessly to nearby iOS devices

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_rLITnBzvk]

A brand new app created by three 2013 WWDC student scholarship winners— Nick Frey, Chris Galzerano, and Veeral Patel—launched on the App Store earlier this month. The app is called Audibly, and it allows users to stream music from one device to any others nearby. The music plays in sync across all devices, allowing everyone to listen in on the same playlist.

The app is fairly straightfoward. You simply pick a playlist to share, pair with a few nearby iOS devices, and hit play. The connection is made over Wi-Fi when there’s a network available, or through a peer-to-peer Wi-Fi connection if the devices aren’t connected to the same Wi-Fi network.


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Flickr for iOS updated with new sharing options, support for tags, and better group support

Flickr updated its iOS app today to version 3.1.0. The update includes the ability to share albums on social networks like Twitter and Facebook, or through an email or SMS/iMessage. You can also add and edit tags and descriptions on your photos.

Finally, a few enhancements have been made to group support. Administrators can now invite photos to a group, and users can choose to get a notification when that happens. There are of course the usual “bug fixes” and “performance improvements” as well.


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Pocket Informant 4.0 released with iBeacon support, redesigned month view, and much more

The free Pocket Informer app for iPhone and iPad has been updated today with a host of new features, including improved location support, iBeacon compatibility, a revamped month view, and much more.

The new update allows users to accomplish new types location-based tasks, such as automatically activating specific calendar filters based on location. iBeacon support allows more precise location-based reminders and alerts. The app can also edit Apple’s native location-based Reminders.

Improvements to repeated calendar events have also been made, allowing users to create new types of recurring events, and a redesigned month view provides a more complete overview of the weeks ahead. A new travel mode allows users to enter future travel plans so that the app can automatically do time zone conversions based on where the user will be on the date of that event.

Pocket Informant is available for free on the App Store, but many features are locked behind in-app purchases ranging from $.99 to $14.99. The complete list of changes in this update can be found below.

What’s New in Version 4.0

Informant 4.0 is a MAJOR FREE UPGRADE. We’ve added exciting new features that you won’t find in ANY other calendaring app as well as ton of other additions and improvements across the board.

Here some highlights of what’s new:

◉ NEW! TravelAssist™ is completely unique approach to automating Time Zone handling while traveling. Simply tell Informant about your travel plans and after that, all new events scheduled between those dates will automatically default to the proper time zone. Likewise, while you are traveling, all new events scheduled outside your travel dates will default to your “home” time zone (instead of your “current” travel time zone).

◉ NEW! iBeacon Support. If you haven’t heard about iBeacons, check out Apple’s website to learn more. In short, iBeacons allow you to create location notifications at a much more precise location than GPS can give you. Here are a few things Informant can do with iBeacons:
◉ Informant can act as an iBeacon itself! This allows you to set Informant to remind you to do something next time you are near a specific friend, co-worker or family member.
◉ Pre-order hardware Informant iBeacons on our website today! You can place these small, convenient hardware beacons in your car, a room in your house, a conference room, your desk at work or anywhere else where you’d like to have Informant remind you to do something.

◉ LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
◉ Calendar Filters can now be automatically tied to a specific location (including a specific iBeacon)! Create a saved calendar filter for home and one for work. Then set Informant to automatically change between them based on you current location.
◉ Task locations notifications now have a radius that you can now conveniently adjust in the map view
◉ We now support editing Apple Location Reminders directly in Informant

◉ YOU’LL LOVE THE NEW MONTH VIEW
◉ Month View is now a vertically scrolling “Rolling Month View”
◉ Double-tap on a day to slide up a graphical day view
◉ Timed multi-day events now appear similar to “All Day” events in the Month View
◉ iPad now uses the “slide up” detail view instead of popovers when tapping on a day

◉ YOU’LL LOVE ALL THE OTHER VIEWS AS WELL
◉ We added support for iOS 7 Dynamic Text size and we added additional large text size options
◉ Details of events & tasks are now displayed in a convenient popover
◉ Informant now opens the contact card when you tap on a Birthday event
◉ Event conflict detection can be enabled/disabled per calendar

◉ GET HOLIDAY AND OTHER CALENDARS: We’ve partnered with SchedJoules to offer you a huge selection of calendars that you can purchase from their calendar store (integrated into Informant): everything from Name Days, Holidays, Phases of the Moon, Sports Calendars, and more.
◉ SEARCH MORE: Informant now searches the past 15 years and all future Apple Events in addition to all Pocket Informant native events.
◉ PRINT MORE: You can now print individual events, tasks, or any task list that is available in the Task View.
◉ SMART TITLE: Informant now offers to auto-complete Template names or Contacts as you type the title of a new event or task.
◉ NEW RECURRENCE OPTION: You can now create recurring events on the “5th of the month”. Finally.
◉ BACKUPS: Daily backups are now completely automatic!
◉ MUCH MUCH MORE: We have a more complete list of what’s new on our website.

By the way, did we mention this is a FREE upgrade to all of our amazing Informant Premium customers? If you haven’t purchased Informant Premium yet, it’s a great time to upgrade. And if you have – thank you so much for your support and don’t forget to tell your friends about your favorite calendaring app!!

As always, we recommend you back up your data before a major upgrade of any app (Informant will do this for you automatically). If you have any questions about what’s new, please contact our support team.

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Google Search iOS app adds World Cup Google Now cards ahead of event

Google-Now-World-CupGoogle 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.

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Cannes Lions Festival app will use iBeacons to let attendees network

Cannes-iOS-appLike it did for SXSW, Tribeca Film Festival, and the Olympic Games, event app platform Eventbase will be in charge of rolling out iBeacons at the upcoming Cannes Lions 2014 Festival that will provide attendees with unique features via the event’s official iOS app. This time around, rather than speeding up check-ins or interactive audience features, the company is allowing attendees to network with an “Around Me” feature in the event’s app that displays nearby attendees using iBeacons. The festival is the same one that Apple’s Jony Ive and Bono will appear at on June 21 for a rare interview about the (RED) charity organization.

The feature will integrate with LinkedIn profiles and allow attendees to send messages and connect instantly if they’ve opted in. The app will also be sending out other targeted notifications using iBeacons:

Eventbase co-founder Jeff Sinclair says the Cannes Lions app combines the power of iBeacon technology with tight LinkedIn integration to allow attendees to see who is around them, read their profile and immediately reach out to them through the app… “We’re excited to be pioneering the use of iBeacon technology for attendee-to-attendee networking,” says Sinclair. “The ability to find out more about the people around you and instantly connect has the potential to transform the event experience entirely.” Eventbase is partnering with mobile relationship management platform Urban Airship to deliver highly targeted and relevant messages via iBeacon-triggered push notifications to attendees during the event, including those visiting the festival’s Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) Tent — a showcase for mobile, creativity and marketing innovation.

Last week Apple introduced some new features that it hopes will improve the iBeacon experience including indoor mapping features coming for developers in iOS 8. The company explained the new indoor navigation and indoor positioning features will make for an even richer iBeacon experience by allowing, for example, event spaces to guide users to iBeacon-powered exhibits using the indoor location features.

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Google Wallet ‘Instant Buy’ checkout now available for iOS apps

Google-Wallet-Instant-Buy-APIGoogle today announced that it’s bringing the Google Wallet “Instant Buy” checkout feature it first launched on Android to iOS developers. The API allows developers to integrate a fast checkout experience using Google Wallet and with today’s announcement will work across the web, iOS and Android apps.

Merchants and developers selling physical goods and services can use Instant Buy to take advantage of the following:

  • Easy integration that works with existing payment processors
  • Secure payments with 24/7 fraud monitoring
  • No Google fees

Google noted that it’s already worked with some partners including B&H, Eat24, Fancy, Newegg, Sionic Mobile and Wish to integrate the feature in their iOS apps, but it’s opening up the API to all developers today.

The feature is launching first to iOS developers in the US and will require developers to integrate the Instant Buy API for iOS. Google has more info on the process here and a sign-up page for interested developers here.

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9to5Toys Last Call: iPad Air $400, 2-pack 128GB USB3 flash drives $80, Weight Gurus smart scale $24, more

Be sure to follow 9to5Toys to keep up with the best gear and deals on the web: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call updates:

  • Home Deals: Dyson vacuums (refurb) $199, up to 50% off Panasonic electric shavers, patio furniture, kitchen items, more

ipad-air-deal-9to5toys

iPad Air $400 shipped (Reg. $499), iPad mini at Target and Best Buy Stores $199 (Reg. $299)

More iPad deals:

PNY-128gb-flash-drive

PNY Turbo Plus USB 3.0 flash drives (2-pack) $80 shipped (Reg. $125)

weight-gurus-smartphone-connected-digital-bathroom-scale-with-large-backlit-lcd-and-weightless-technology

Weight Gurus Smartphone-Connected Digital Bathroom Scale $24 shipped (Reg. $40)

itunes-gift-card-deal

$80 iTunes gift card for $65: save nearly 20% on future app, music, movie purchases

Other new deals:

  • New! Games/Apps: Rocksmith 2014 w/cable $40, iOS freebies, more
  • New! Daily Deals: Panasonic Lumix 16.1MP Camera: $110, Universal Car Mount: $8, more
  • New! Macphun’s Creative Kit+: SnapHeal Pro, Intensify, Focus Pro, more $99 ($260 value)
  • New! Certified Refurbished Samsung Galaxy Gear Smart Watch $90 shipped (Reg. $300)

More deals still alive:

New products/useful info:

Microsoft/Google/Android:

Launch Center Pro 2.3 for iOS adds IFTTT, geolocation, and iBeacon support

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Contrast today is releasing a major update to Launch Center Pro for iPhone and iPad adding support for If This Then That and location-based actions. The update includes support for sharing GIF images from within the app using Giphy search integration (fun, right?) as well as support for scanning barcodes and QR codes from Launch Center Pro.

While there’s certainly a lot of potential with connecting web services to native apps using LCP and the IFTTT automation service, the location-based actions using geofencing and iBeacons unlock some really cool use cases for me personally…
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Apple launches new ‘Soccer Fever’ App Store section prior to FIFA World Cup

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soccer fever

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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9to5Toys Lunch Break: Spotify 3-for-1 promo, Nest Thermostat discounts, iTunes HD movie bundles $15, more

Be sure to follow 9to5Toys to keep up with the best gear and deals on the web: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call updates:

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Nest Thermostat (2nd gen): $183 w/ Amazon Visa, $229 w/o (Reg. $250)

itunes-movie-bundles-hd

Media: dozens of Blu-ray movies $5 each, iTunes HD movie bundles $15, more

kindle-paperwhite-deal-best-buy

Kindle Deals: Fire HDX 16GB WiFi $199 shipped (Reg. $229), Paperwhite $100, 20% off accessories, more

itunes-gift-card-deal

$80 iTunes gift card for $65: save nearly 20% on future app, music, movie purchases

iPad-flat

iPad Deals:

Dick's-sports-Fathers Day-outdoors-deals

Father’s Day roundup: free $10 Amazon credit, Samsung 60-inch HDTV $680, Philips Sonicare toothbrush $30more

Other new deals:

  • New! Games/Apps: PS4 Cam $50 (17% off), Sony Gold Headset $80 (Reg. $100), more
  • New! Daily Deals: Logitech Solar Keyboard and Mouse: $46, Samsung Smartwatch: $85/99, more
  • New! Headphones: Audio Technica over-ears (refurb) $35 shipped (Reg. $120), more

More deals still alive:

New products/useful info:

Microsoft/Google/Android:

Ringly introduces new iPhone-connected smart ring

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Ringly Pink-Sapphire

New startup Ringly seeks to help solve a problem that many busy women have: missing important phone calls, texts or notifications because they cannot hear their phone go off in their purse, or find the phone quickly enough to get to it. Personally, I’ve run into this problem several times.

Ringly’s solution looks like an ordinary fashionable ring, but is actually a high-tech smart ring that can notify users of incoming messages, notifications, phone calls, and more.


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Amazon integrates Audible audiobooks directly into Kindle mobile apps

Amazon announced today that it’s integrating the Audible audiobook service it purchased back in 2008 directly into the Kindle apps for both iOS and Android. After installing a free update landing today for the apps, users will be able to listen to Audible audio books without ever having to leave the app.

“We continue to hear from a growing number of Whispersync for Voice converts who tell us the innovation has profoundly changed the way they read—in fact, switching back and forth between reading and listening has become their preferred way of experiencing stories,” said Audible founder and CEO Donald Katz. “And the feature has gotten easier and easier to use, as this exciting integration into Kindle apps attests.”

The service is an extension of the Whispersync for Voice feature that Amazon recently launched. That feature allowed users to switch “seamlessly” between reading and listening but required users to have both the Kindle and Audible apps. With the updated Kindle apps, users will be able to get narrations for 45,000 Kindle books and growing as well as purchase Audible upgrades for previously purchased Amazon Kindle books ranging from $1 to $4. The audio and text versions of the book will stay in-sync, pages turn automatically, and narration includes a x2 speed mode and sleep timer option. The best part is that you won’t be pulled out of Kindle and into the Audible app now when switching between text and audio. 

The update includes other new features too, including: improvements to the X-Ray reference tool for textbooks and the ability to download an entire collection with a single tap. A full list of new features is below.

The updated Kindle app for iPhone and iPad is available on the App Store now.

What’s New in Version 4.3

Listen to Audible audiobooks! Customers owning both the Kindle and Audible versions of a title can now listen to the audiobook right in the Kindle app.

Now you can use the Kindle app to switch back and forth between reading a Kindle book comfortably at home and listening to the story while driving to work.

Additional Features Include:
•Access to more than 45,000 Kindle/Audible title pairs, including best sellers
• Find audiobooks compatible with items in your Kindle library – audiobooks are delivered by Audible, an Amazon company
• Whispersync for Voice automatically synchronizes reading progress between the Audible and Kindle versions of a book
• Read and listen to a Kindle book at the same time; pages turn automatically
• Narration speeds up to 2x and a sleep timer
• Download an entire collection – gives customers the ability to download an entire collection with the tap of a button, making it easier for readers to download in bulk and load their favorite books on a new iOS device
• Students can now find terms that are in X-Ray for Textbooks by using search – occurrences in X-Ray are shown right above occurrences in the book
• Finding where an X-Ray term occurs on a textbook page is now easier – tap a page thumbnail in the X-Ray feature and you will see the term highlighted in the page of the book
• Performance and stability improvements

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Apple cracking down on apps offering third-party music downloads, incentivized ad watching & social sharing?

Music-Download-apps-iOS-8Apple 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.

Facebook’s Snapchat competitor arrives on the App Store, then appropriately disappears

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Screenshots via Engadget

Screenshots via Engadget

As we noted a few weeks ago, Facebook is currently in the process of developing a new Snapchat-like chat service separate from its main Messenger/Facebook inbox offering, even though it just recently removed its Poke app from the App Store.

Today Facebook “accidentally” published an early version of the upcoming software, called Slingshot, to the iOS App Store in a few countries. The app allows users to share a photo (or video) with friends, but those friends are unable to view the photo until they respond with a photo of their own. A “react” button allows recipients to quickly snap their reaction to an incoming message and send it back as a response.


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9to5Toys Last Call: iPad Air 32GB $490, Toshiba 5TB desktop HDD $175, MLB.TV subscription $50, more

Be sure to follow 9to5Toys to keep up with the best gear and deals on the web: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call updates:

Amazon Gold Box: up to 60% off SanDisk memory products (iOS/Android flash drives, SSDs, SDXC cards, more)

seagate-expansion-stbv4000100-4tb-usb-30-7577-mpe5243751341_102013-o

Seagate Expansion 3TB desktop hard drive $80 shipped (Reg. $120+)

itunes-gift-card-deal

$80 iTunes gift card for $65: save nearly 20% on future app, music, movie purchases

iPad-flat

iPad Deals:

Dick's-sports-Fathers Day-outdoors-deals

Father’s Day roundup: free $10 Amazon credit, Samsung 60-inch HDTV $680, Philips Sonicare toothbrush $30more

Other new deals:

More deals still alive:

New products/useful info:

Microsoft/Google/Android:

More on why public transit directions got lost in iOS 8 Apple Maps

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Maps Transit

TechCrunch is out with a story today with details on why some of the mapping features originally scheduled for iOS 8 didn’t make the cut at Apple’s WWDC keynote last week. The report quotes a few sources close to the mapping teams that say most of the improvements originally planned for iOS 8 weren’t finished on time due to talent departures and internal politics:

Why didn’t they appear? One tipster says it was a personnel issue: “Many developers left the company, no map improvements planned for iOS 8 release were finished in time. Mostly it was failure of project managers and engineering project managers, tasks were very badly planned, developers had to switch multiple times from project to project.”… It’s a take that is both contested and corroborated by our other source. “I would say that planning, project management and internal politics issues were a much more significant contributor to the failure to complete projects than developers leaving the group,” the source said.

We reported leading up to WWDC that the transit directions in iOS 8 might be pushed back to instead focus on other priorities.

While the TechCrunch report doesn’t mention any names, we do know that the mapping team has lost a few key people recently. Back in March, reports popped up that Cathy Edwards, who happened to be in charge of Maps Quality after joining Apple through the company’s acquisition of Chomp, was leaving the company. The reason behind Cathy’s departure was unknown at the time, but we’ve learned from sources that disagreements with employees on the Maps team working under Edwards and an opposition to her management style lead to problems on the Maps team and ultimately her leaving in April. Apple also lost key Maps team member Jared Waldman from Placebase who worked as Head of Geo at Apple Maps until late last year. In addition, we’ve heard from former employees of the mapping team that recently left the company due to issues with Edwards and management of the Maps team. 
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9to5Toys Last Call: Father’s Day deals, Seiki 39” 4K UHDTV $390, Logitech UE BT speaker (refurb) $88, more

Be sure to follow 9to5Toys to keep up with the best gear and deals on the web: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Dick's-sports-Fathers Day-outdoors-deals

Father’s Day roundup: free $10 Amazon credit, Samsung 60-inch HDTV $680, Philips Sonicare toothbrush $30more

seiki-se39uy04-39e2809d-class-4k-ultra-hd-120hz-led-tv-sale-01

Seiki 39” Class 4K Ultra HD 120Hz LED TV $390 shipped (Reg. $700)

ue-boombox-portable-bluetooth-speaker-qv-galleries-1

Logitech UE Boombox Bluetooth speaker (refurb): $88 shipped (orig. $250 new)

itunes-gift-card-deal

iTunes gift cards: $100 for $85, buy one-get one 30% off, more

zagg-ipad-mini-keyboard-black

ZAGG iPad mini w/ backlit keys $30 (Reg. $100), ZAGG iPad 2/3/4 $50 (Reg. $100)

Other new deals:

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Osmo gaming system for iPad meets funding goal in 6.5 hours, two year incentives for backers

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We showed you the real world meets iPad app gaming system for kids called Osmo last month as it launched a crowdfunding campaign ahead of their product debut. Today the team is announcing the results of that campaign: Osmo reached its $50,000 goal in less than seven hours. In addition to reaching their goal, Osmo is opening a second batch of discounted pre-order sales for early backs at $49 (half off the launch price) and promising extra incentives for two years to early backers as well.

For the next two years, early backers will be able to download the future apps on Osmo platform for free. In addition to free games, backers will also be able to replace any lost or broken game pieces for up to two years after the purchase of Osmo.

Find out more about Osmo and pre-order here to lock in the 50% off price and added incentives.
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Official FIFA iPhone/iPad app updated ahead of 2014 World Cup Brazil

The Official FIFA iPhone and iPad apps, which also happen to act as the Official FIFA World Cup app, has been updated today with a number of new features ahead of 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil tournament kicking off on June 12.

The app gets a few pre-tournament features leading up to the first official World Cup match, but it will also be getting another update before then to introduce additional features. In today’s update, you’ll find a World Cup latest news section, the ability to discover info for all coaches and players across 32 teams, and a full schedule of all 64 games planned for the tournament. The update will also let you “Explore the host country Brazil and get familiar with the stadiums and cities where the action will happen.” 

In another upcoming update the app will introduce “minute-by-minute action, live from all 64 games” and other features for keeping up with the latest.

The updated Official FIFA World Cup app for iPhone and for iPad are available on the App Store now.

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