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6,257 'Apps' stories April 2010 - August 2014
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Learn about the latest news for iOS, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV apps

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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The creator of Flappy Bird is launching a new game this week called Swing Copters

Avatar for Zac Hall Aug 18 2014 - 11:54 am PT
6 Comments

After months of countless Flappy Bird clones hitting the App Store, Flappy Bird creator Dong Nguyen is taking his best shot at hopefully cloning the success of his bizarrely popular iPhone game with a new title called Swing Copters.

According to Touch Arcade, which had an early peak at the game (Nguyen seems to be marketing this game despite pulling Flappy Bird for getting too popular), Swing Copters is just as challenging (therefore probably as addictive) as you pilot a helicopter upward through gates with menacing, swinging hammers that crash your flight on impact. The gaming site also has footage of early gameplay of the Flappy Bird successor as you can see below:

The official successor to Flappy Bird is said to be ready to soar on Thursday, August 21st, and be free with a single 99¢ in-app purchase to remove advertisements. Will Dong Nguyen’s next game be yet another hit or is the Flappy Bird concept too played out?

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Xbox One SmartGlass app adds ability to buy & install Xbox games remotely, more

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Aug 18 2014 - 11:38 am PT
2 Comments

Microsoft updated its Xbox One SmartGlass app for iPhone and iPad today with a few interesting new features including the ability to purchase and remotely begin installing games to your Xbox.

The app now lets users browse new and popular games, add-ons, and bundles as well, which will come in handy now that you can also purchase and begin automatically installing content on your Xbox right from your iPhone or iPad.

Also included in version 2.8 of the app is the ability to “rate your favorite game clips and activity feed entries” and “receive and view shared Activity Feed and Game Clips”.

The updated Xbox One SmartGlass app for iOS is available on the App Store now. A full list of what’s new in the update is below.

What’s New in Version 2.8

•Rate your favorite game clips and activity feed entries
•Purchase things on your phone or tablet and they will start installing on your Xbox
•Browse new and popular games, add-ons, and bundles
•Receive and view shared Activity Feed and Game Clips
•General stability and polish improvements
•Bug fixes

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App developers can now earn affiliate commissions via Store Kit in iOS 8

Avatar for Mark Gurman Aug 18 2014 - 9:17 am PT
2 Comments

Apple’s iTunes Affiliate program has notified users of the program that developers can now earn affiliate commission via the Store Kit feature in iOS 8. StoreKit Product Sheet, which has existed since 2012’s iOS 6, allows developers to put a page inside of their apps to download other items from the iTunes Store, App Store, and iBookstore. However, the feature was not compatible with affiliates until iOS 8. Here’s Apple’s email to affiliate users:

We are excited to announce that Store Kit Product Sheet is now affiliate commissionable on iOS 8.

Store Kit Product Sheet allows app developers to promote the purchase of music, apps, books and more directly from a sheet within your app and earn the standard affiliate commission on all sales within 24 hours.

We encourage you to use Store Kit Product Sheet to provide a superior user experience and keep users in your app longer. Learn how to integrate your affiliate token into the Store Kit Product Sheet in the Developer Documentation.

Apple briefly discussed this iOS 8 enhancement for developers during a WWDC 2014 session, but this email indicates Apple is pushing developers to utilize all of the resources available to increase their monthly revenues.


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9to5Toys Last Call: PowerAll power bank $80, B&W Z2 AirPlay speaker $200, iPad mini $199 at Target, more

Avatar for Aug 18 2014 - 9:05 am PT
0 Comments

Be sure to follow 9to5Toys to keep up with the best gear and deals on the web: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call updates:

 

PowerAll Portable Power Bank and Car Jump Starter $80 shipped (Reg. $120)

Bowers & Wilkins Z2 AirPlay speaker w/ Lightning dock $200 shipped (orig. $400)

Apple iPad mini for $199 (33% off) goes live at Target stores

Samsung 840 EVO 500GB Solid State Drive $210 shipped (orig. $350)

The Apple Store now sells an $89 refurbished iPod touch and it may actually be worth your time/money

Other new deals:

More tech deals still alive:

Home/fashion/magazines/media:

New products/ongoing promos:

Google/Microsoft/misc tech:

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Pokemon is coming to the iPad, just not in the way you were probably hoping

Avatar for Mike Beasley Aug 15 2014 - 6:55 pm PT
0 Comments

The world has long clamored for Pokemon on iOS, and now it looks like those users may finally get their wish. But don’t get your hopes up to play the upcoming Omega Ruby on your iPhone, or even the classics like Pokemon Red. The game headed for the iPad isn’t part of the popular adventure game series at all. It’s actually a digital version of the Pokemon trading card game.

YouTuber Josh Wittenkeller spied an early build of the app earlier today, snapped a photo and posted it to Twitter.

[tweet https://twitter.com/TheJWittz/statuses/500350510403432448 align=’center’]

The Pokemon Company has confirmed that the app is in development, but there’s currently no established timetable for when it will become available to the public. Mac and PC versions of the app have be available for some time.

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TweetDeck for Mac gets Regional/City Trends column, other improvements

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Aug 15 2014 - 9:38 am PT
0 Comments

TweetDeck for Mac was updated via the Mac App Store to version 3.8.4 and with it comes a new feature that will show regional and city trends. “You can now find locally trending topics for Regions and Cities, and add a column based on the trend.”

The update also includes a number of other improvements and fixes. You can now remove scheduled tweets from the Scheduled column by removing the time from a tweet and the other update also includes improvements for multiphoto tweets in large columns. In addition, the updated app fixes a few annoyances like the empty columns bug after a computer wakes from sleep as well as retweets with emoji not display properly.

The updated TweetDeck for Mac is available on the Mac App Store now.

What’s New in Version 3.8.4

– Fixes issue with empty columns after computer wakes from sleep.
– Regional + City level Trends. You can now find locally trending topics for Regions and Cities, and add a column based on the trend.
– Retweeting a Tweet with emoji no longer scrambles Tweet contents
– Removing time from a scheduled tweet now removes that Tweet from the Scheduled column.
– Multiphoto inprovements for large columns

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9to5Toys Last Call: iPad Air $100 off, WD 4TB Desktop Drive $130 or less, Anker 13000mAh charger $30, more

Avatar for Justin Kahn Aug 15 2014 - 9:03 am PT
0 Comments

Be sure to follow 9to5Toys to keep up with the best gear and deals on the web: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call Updates:

Apple deals:

The Apple Store now sells an $89 refurbished iPod touch and it may actually be worth your time/money

Storage deals:

Battery charger deals:

Media players:

Award-winning MacLovin’ Bundle $40 for djay, Boom, Cinemagraph Pro, Keyboard Maestro, NetSpot Pro, much more
Other new deals:

  • New! Review: Omaker MOMI Ultra Portable Metallic Wireless BT Speaker: $16 (Orig. $80)
  • New! Daily Deals: LifeProof Case iPhone 5/5s $49, BT Shower Speaker $17, more
  • New! Games/Apps: Dead Rising 3 $35, Star Walk $1, iOS freebies, more
  • New! Foscam 720p Wireless Pan/Tilt IP Camera w/ night vision $85 shipped (orig. $160)
  • New! Home Deals: Breville Hemisphere Control Blender (refurb) $105 ($200 new), more

More tech deals still alive:

Home/fashion/magazines/media:


New products/ongoing promos:

Google/Microsoft/misc tech:

Apple interviews Tom Hanks via Twitter about his new Hanx typewriter iPad app

Avatar for Zac Hall Aug 14 2014 - 11:15 am PT
14 Comments
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Tom Hanks has played many roles throughout his acting career in movies like Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan, The Green Mile, and even Pixar’s Toy Story trilogy, and today the actor is finally adding app developer to that list.

Hanx Writer, a flashy new app with a very classic concept revisited for the tablet age, is the result of close collaboration between Tom Hanks and the game/mobile app development studio Hitcents. The app brings the old school typewriter experience to the iPad with clicking and clacking and dings and includes various inks, ribbons, and keyboards. It’s also very functional in that you can share you documents in all their vintage glory over email, AirDrop, print, and more just like any modern iPad writer. Catch the interview after the break…
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9to5Toys Lunch Break: Retina iPad mini $320, Crucial 1TB SSD $377, Macworld magazine w/ digital sub $7.50, more

Avatar for Aug 14 2014 - 9:05 am PT
0 Comments

Be sure to follow 9to5Toys to keep up with the best gear and deals on the web: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:
Apple deals:

Solid-State Drives:

One year magazine subs w/ digital access from $5: Wired, GQ, ESPN, Macworld, more

RAVPower Element 10400mAh external power bank: $25 shipped (Reg. $36)

Media players:

Award-winning MacLovin’ Bundle $40 for djay, Boom, Cinemagraph Pro, Keyboard Maestro, NetSpot Pro, much more


Other new deals:

  • New! Games/Apps: PDF PROvider & Sough Ninja go FREE, more iOS freebies
  • New! Daily Deals: OtterBox Defender iPhone cases: $15, Jawbone Jambox: $90, more
  • New! ASUS M004U Chromebox 1.4GHz/2GB/16GB w/ $20 gift card: $169 or less ($220 value)

More tech deals still alive:

Home/fashion/magazines/media:


New products/ongoing promos:

Google/Microsoft/misc tech:

Report shows iBeacon battery drain is worse on iOS than Android

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Aug 14 2014 - 8:43 am PT
21 Comments
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Aislelabs, a Toronto-based company offering in-store analytics and solutions for building mobile shopping experiences, today released a report examining how Apple’s Bluetooth iBeacon technology impacts battery life on iOS devices vs Android. The study found that Apple’s iBeacon framework, first introduced with iOS 7 to let iOS developers take advantage of Bluetooth beacons for sending location-aware notifications, actually performs better with Android, at least when it comes to battery life:
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Sony’s discounted ‘Album of the day’ app goes international, up to 70 percent off popular artists

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Aug 14 2014 - 3:50 am PT
0 Comments

Sony’s Album of the Day app for iPhone and iPod Touch, which provides a daily discount of up to 70 percent on albums by popular artists, has gone international. Originally launched in Germany in March, it is now available in the U.S., Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

Every 24 hours, Album of the Day offers you one album from the artists you know and love at a special limited time promotional price. All deals live on your iPhone and are purchased safely through iTunes and saved to your iTunes library.

If you allow push notifications, you’ll receive a notification of each day’s deal, which is available for just 24 hours. You can download the free app from iTunes.

(via TNW)

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Dash releases its smart driving application for iPhone with support for third-party hardware

Avatar for Mike Beasley Aug 13 2014 - 5:47 pm PT
0 Comments

Dash, a popular smart driving tool that originally launched on Android in January, is now finally available for iPhone users. The free app pairs with a device that plug into your car and transmit data back to the app. From there you can see data about your car’s performance and alert you of any potential issues and an average cost for any repairs you might need.

Dash can also track your driving habits and suggest ways to improve your car’s gas mileage, increase performance, or generally increase the overall lifespan of your vehicle.


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Dropbox’s Mailbox for iOS updated with new languages, support for opening Passbook, printing, more

Avatar for Zac Hall Aug 13 2014 - 1:20 pm PT
3 Comments

The popular Dropbox-owned email client Mailbox received a notable update today bringing a list of new supported languages as well as additional features.

In addition to English, Mailbox is now translated into the following languages: Chinese (both Simplified and Traditional), Danish, Dutch, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Polish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Russian, Spanish (both European and Latin American), Swedish, and Thai.

The update also adds support for Apple’s Passbook platform. Previously, emails containing Passbook files would prompt an “Open in…” dialog with Mail and Dropbox supported, but the new version of Mailbox allows users to open Passbook files right in the Passbook app from the email as you would expect.

The update also includes a list of other changes including support for printing emails, viewing spam folder emails, spam filtering, adding stars to emails, using military time, and more.

Mailbox for iPhone and iPad is available for free on the App Store.

Beats Music “Listen Now” feature starts rolling out to Shazam iOS app

Avatar for Mark Gurman Aug 13 2014 - 10:42 am PT
2 Comments
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Users of the Shazam iOS application have begun noticing that Shazam is testing a new “Listen Now” feature with the Apple-owned Beats Music streaming service. Like it does with iTunes Radio, Spotify, and Rdio, this feature allows a user to tag a song with Shazam and then instantly play it in Beats Music. We tested the feature this morning and it works as advertised. You’ll need a Beats Music subscription or a 14-day free trial in order to make use of the feature. With Beats now under Apple’s wing and Shazam a key partner for Siri in iOS 8, it makes sense that the trio would integrate in a fashion such as the new Listen Now button in the Shazam app. You’ll need the latest Shazam update to make use of the feature.


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9to5Toys Last Call: RAVPower 10400mAh power bank $24, Logitech UE BOOM $150, iPad/Mac accessories up to 60% off, more

Avatar for Aug 13 2014 - 9:04 am PT
0 Comments

Be sure to follow 9to5Toys to keep up with the best gear and deals on the web: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call updates:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9Z3C81KlHE?rel=0]

Amazon Gold Box: up to 60% off iPad/Mac/PC accessories from Twelve South, Kensington, Logitech, more

Displays:

Media players:

Award-winning MacLovin’ Bundle $40 for djay, Boom, Cinemagraph Pro, Keyboard Maestro, NetSpot Pro, much more

Blu-ray Steelbooks up to 45% off, Neighbors/Knocked Up iTunes movie bundle $20, MP3 albums $2, more

Apple deals:

Other new deals:

  • New! Games/Apps: BioShock & Deus Ex for Mac, Blueprint 3D goes free, more iOS freebies
  • New! Samsung 840 EVO Series 250GB 2.5-Inch SATA III SSD $110 (Reg. up to $155+)
  • New! Sony HT-XT1 2.1 channel soundbar w/ built-in subwoofer $239 (Reg. $298), more
  • New! Daily Deals: Unlocked 64GB iPhone 5s: $629, battery case for iPhone 4/4s/5/5s: $10, more

More tech deals still alive:

Home/fashion/magazines:


New products/ongoing promos:

Google/Microsoft/misc tech:

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Uber adds destination entry for riders & turn-by-turn navigation for drivers to mobile apps

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Aug 13 2014 - 7:40 am PT
1 Comment

Uber announced today that it’s added new features that will make the experience even more seamless for both users and its drivers.

We envision a day when there is no coordination necessary to take an Uber ride. Simply push the button, and the rest is essentially on cruise control: the car quickly shows up at exactly the right place and whisks you away to your destination via the best possible route. The latest rider and driver app releases take us one step closer to that world with two new features:

A new destination entry feature lets users quickly enter destination details into the Uber app that are then automatically available to the driver when they arrive. “You can literally skip the step where you tell the driver where you’re going.”

Uber has also added turn-by-turn navigation to its driver app: With one tap, the driver can enable turn-by-turn navigation to the destination you’ve provided. There’s no need to juggle multiple apps or waste time typing in an address.

Uber says the features are live now, although doesn’t list the features in the latest update that hit the app yesterday.

Amazon takes on Square and PayPal Here with $10 iPhone/iPad cardreader & lower fees

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Aug 13 2014 - 4:08 am PT
11 Comments
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[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6YXllIqD_E]

Small businesses looking to take occasional card payments without paying monthly fees now have a third option as Amazon has launched Local Register to compete with Square and PayPal Here – as we predicted last month. The $10 card-reader is compatible with any iPhone from the iPhone 4 onward, as well as any iPad or iPad mini.

Amazon is undercutting both competitor services with a flat fee of 2.5 percent per transaction (vs 2.7 percent for PayPal Here and 2.75 percent for Square). Not enough? Amazon is sweetening the deal with a special introductory rate of 1.75 percent until the end of 2015, and will also credit the $10 cost of the cardreader in full against transaction fees … 
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Facebook 13.1 released for iOS, boasts crash rate reduction of over 50 percent

Avatar for Mike Beasley Aug 12 2014 - 10:21 pm PT
1 Comment

Facebook released version 13.1 of its iOS client today with a rather uninteresting change log noting that the app had received “bug fixes” and nothing more. However, over on Facebook’s engineering blog the company has outlined what exactly went into this fix, and it turns out the update contains a significant fix that will resolve over 50% of reported crashes.

According to the blog post, the issue arose from a file corruption error that appeared in iOS’s Core Data system:


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Future Xbox One update will let you stream live TV to your iPhone or iPad

Avatar for Mark Hearn Aug 12 2014 - 2:44 pm PT
12 Comments
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Microsoft announced today that a new system update for its Xbox One game console will soon let users stream live TV to their iPhone or iPad. Set to arrive in the next few months, the Xbox One’s SmartGlass companion app will be equipped with the option to watch television via a local network connection without interrupting a gameplay session.


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9to5Toys Last Call: Seagate 1TB wireless iOS storage $130, Olloclip for iPhone 5/5s $45, Retina iPad mini 32GB $400, more

Avatar for Aug 12 2014 - 9:05 am PT
1 Comment

Be sure to follow 9to5Toys to keep up with the best gear and deals on the web: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call updates:


[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCfhdmC7oMY?rel=0]

Olloclip 4-in-1 Lens System & Quick-Flip Case for iPhone 5/5s $45 shipped (orig. $100)

HDTVs: LG 50″ 1080p: $450 (Orig. $800), Seiki 65″ 4K: $999 (Reg. $2000), more

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AyXNeRbpRk?rel=0]

Automatic: Your Smart Driving Assistant for iOS $80 shipped (Reg. $100)

iPad deals:

MacBook Air deals:

Other new deals:

More tech deals still alive:

Home/fashion/sports:


New products/ongoing promos:

Android/Microsoft/misc tech:

Apple prominently advertising Beats Music to new iOS device users

Avatar for Benjamin Mayo Aug 12 2014 - 7:00 am PT
4 Comments
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Apple has prominently featured its own suite of free apps when iOS users first open the App Store, such as its iLife and iWork apps, for a while. Now that Beats Music and Beats Electronics are officially part of the family, the Beats Music app is now appearing on this ‘Apple Apps’ list as well. Beats Music is currently the last entry in the list, described as a way to ‘listen to music that’s always right for you’.

Tapping ‘Download All’ will install Beats Music alongside Apple’s other apps. Naturally, one way for Apple to significantly increase adoption of the service is to advertise it to every new iOS user.

The view will show up for new iOS devices or by performing a clean restore to a version of iOS 7, on both iPhone and iPad.


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Microsoft launches Bing-powered celebrity stalking app

Avatar for Mark Gurman Aug 11 2014 - 1:59 pm PT
2 Comments

Microsoft today is rounding out its portfolio of apps for iOS with a new program called Snipp3t. The awkwardly named free app is essentially Microsoft’s solution for stalking celebrities like Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, and Miley Cyrus. As Microsoft explains:

SNIPP3T (pronounced “snippet”) is an app that lets you stay up-to-date on the celebrities you care about most. Building on Bing’s massive knowledge repository containing information on billions of people, places and things, we were inspired to build a custom app specifically targeting one of the areas we know people search for most often – famous people. Whether we admit it or not, most of us love to follow what’s going on with our favorite celebrities. From social media, YouTube, entertainment news sites and celebrity bloggers, there’s certainly no shortage of sources out there. Unfortunately, today we have to jump from site to site or toggle through a galaxy of apps to get the full scoop. While we can find the big stories, it can be difficult to see how different snippets of news are related to one another.

Using the database at the core of the Bing search engine, the app can track approximately 10,000 various celebrities and provide news updates, photos, and videos. The app also lets you connect to other fans tracking the same celebrities.

As for me, I won’t be downloading this app, I’ll stick to catching TMZ on TV while channel surfing every now and then. But if keeping tabs on Bieber’s latest egg throwing incident or Kanye West’s latest fight at LAX is your thing, this app may suit your needs.


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