Skip to main content

Apps

Learn about the latest news for iOS, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV apps

5,935 'Apps' stories April 2010 - October 2013
See All Stories

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.

Site default logo image

Pricing in Japanese App Store to increase due to exchange rate fluctuations

Avatar for Mark Gurman Oct 16 2013 - 11:50 am PT
0 Comments

Screen Shot 2013-10-16 at 2.41.53 PM

 

Apple has informed App Store developers via email that it will be increasing the prices of App Store apps in the Japanese App Store on October 17th. It is already October 17th in Japan, so it’s likely that the new prices will propagate throughout the day. The increases are due to natural fluctuations in currency exchange rates across the world. Apple tells developers that the new Pricing Matrix will be available to view in iTunes Connect after the change occurs.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Review: Boxie for iPhone makes Dropbox management even easier

Avatar for Sarah Guarino Oct 16 2013 - 11:00 am PT
4 Comments
Site default logo image

Boxie1920x1200

Many of us keep files in the cloud using services like Dropbox. While Dropbox has a decent iPhone app, there are quite a few features that it lacks. Boxie is an intuitive and beautiful new Dropbox client that aims to alleviate some of those issues. From the ability to view any file’s previous revisions and restore deleted files to the simple drag-and-drop file manager, Boxie has a ton of advantages over the official Dropbox app.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Review: Weather Line is a simple way to track weather trends

Avatar for Sarah Guarino Oct 16 2013 - 8:00 am PT
4 Comments
Site default logo image

Screen1

A beautiful new weather app called Weather Line launched this morning in the App Store. Weather Line is designed for iOS 7, and it adopts the updated design language and icons introduced in iOS 7’s native Weather app. The app is also compatible with iOS 6 for those using older devices like the iPhone 3GS or fourth-generation iPod touch. It provides a much deeper level of detail than you’ll find in the default Weather app.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Square launches Square Cash, allowing money transfers between anyone through email

Avatar for Mike Beasley Oct 15 2013 - 6:26 pm PT
15 Comments
Site default logo image

Square has just launched a new service called Square Cash, which allows quick money transfers between any two parties using through an email. Contrary to what you might be expecting, you don’t need to sign up or get all of your friends onto Square Cash to share funds. Instead, you just need to link a debit card to your account.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Site default logo image

TweetDeck for Mac updated with username autocomplete, a new tweet composer, and more

Avatar for Mike Beasley Oct 15 2013 - 6:08 pm PT
0 Comments

screen800x500

 

Twitter updated its TweetDeck app for Mac today with a few new enhancements. The new version finally adds support for autocompletion of usernames when mentioning other users. Also new in the latest version is an in-line reply composer that allows you to create replies to tweets right in your timeline without having to open a new tweet panel.

Speaking of the tweet composer, it has been overhauled in this version. Instead of a popup window, the new composer has a column of its own with all of the usual options. The panel closes automatically as you send a tweet, but can be optionally set to stay open at all times, making composing a new tweet a much quicker process. In-line replies can also be “popped out” to the composer panel to apply additional options like scheduling. The new tweet panel also allows you to preview your tweet before you send it so that you know how it will look on the web and in Twitter’s official apps.

You can get TweetDeck for Mac for free from the Mac App Store.

Site default logo image

Apple asks developers to begin submitting apps for OS X Mavericks ahead of October 22 event

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Oct 15 2013 - 3:16 pm PT
2 Comments

Mavericks-icon-download_2x

Ahead of its October 22nd event where the company is expected to unveil new iPads alongside other product announcements, Apple today asked developers to begin submitting apps optimized for OS X Mavericks.

Apple seeded the final Golden Master release of OS X Mavericks to developers along with the Xcode 5.0.1 GM seed earlier this month and today urged developers to download the latest builds to test and submit OS X Mavericks apps to the Mac App Store. The move is likely in preparation of public release and pricing details expected to be announced during Apple’s event on the 22nd.

Submit your OS X Mavericks apps today.

Make sure your app takes advantage of the great new features in OS X Mavericks when the world’s most advanced desktop operating system becomes available to millions of customers later this fall. Download OS X Mavericks GM seed and Xcode 5.0.1 GM seed, now available on the Mac Dev Center. Build your apps with these latest seeds, then test and submit them to the Mac App Store.

Mavericks offers app developers a lot of new features to take advantage of from new energy saving features like App Nap, to Apple’s new Sprite Kit game engine, enhanced multiple display support, and auto-renewable subscriptions.

Apple first showed off and announced OS X Mavericks earlier this year during its WWDC developer conference, but next week’s event will likely be the perfect venue to announce official pricing and release date info for the public.

We previously reported that OS X Mavericks will be available in late October.

Site default logo image

9to5Toys Last Call: Free Sonos bridge w/ Play speaker, Angry Birds Go!, Lenmar iPhone 5 battery case $40, more

Avatar for Oct 15 2013 - 3:00 pm 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+.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

free-amazon-sonos-bridge-deal

Get a free Sonos wireless bridge ($49 value) w/ the purchase of any Sonos Play wireless streaming speaker

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xP12tpJrl8&w=640&h=480]

Game/App Deals: Andry Birds Go! gameplay trailer, Dictionary.com Premium: $2, iOS freebies, more

lenmar-meridian-2300mah-battery-case-iphone-5-5s-sale-01

Lenmar Meridian 2300mAh Apple certified battery case for iPhone 5/5s: $40 (Reg. $80)

Other great deals from today:

The best deals that are still alive:

Mac software bundles:

  • The SuperStacked Mac Bundle: Over $3,000 Worth Of Premium Developer & Designer Tools – $40 today, but price increases everyday it’s on sale.
  • Design Bundler #2 with Premium Photoshop Layer Styles and 4 other Mac apps – Name your own price (ends in 1 day)
  • The Mac Freebie Bundle 2.0: 10 Apps To Enhance Your Design, Photography & Productivity

New product announcements & reviews:

  • Synology introduces new, faster SOHO NAS w/ hot-swappable drives for $330
  • LaCie’s new Porsche designed USB 3.0 key drive available now
  • OtterBox begins shipping new Commuter Series Wallet case for iPhone 5/5s and Galaxy S4
Site default logo image

YouTube for iOS updated with ability to choose video quality on Wi-Fi, iOS 7 improvements

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Oct 15 2013 - 2:59 pm PT
5 Comments

screen568x568 (1)YouTube has updated its app for iPhone and iPad today to version 2.2.0 and with it comes a few performance enhancements and new features.

One highly requested feature that YouTube is making available in the latest version of the iOS app is the ability to select video quality, much like you can on the full desktop website, while over WiFi.

The updated app also includes improvements for iOS 7 compatibility and Accessibility.

What’s New in Version 2.2.0

* Choose your video quality while on Wi-Fi
* Accessibility improvements
* iOS 7 compatibility improvements

Site default logo image

Google Maps for iOS updated w/ quick access to navigation, new languages, & more

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Oct 15 2013 - 12:04 pm PT
1 Comment

Google-Maps-large-icon

Google updated its Google Maps app for iPhone and iPad today with a few new features as the app moves to version 2.3.4. Google says the updated app includes “Faster access to navigation,” which includes new overviews for traffic and routes.

The updated app also includes a new Tips and Tricks section available from the side menu and support for new languages, including: Arabic and Hebrew. Google also notes that the new supported languages will offer voice guidance “where available.”

A full list of what’s new below:

What’s New in Version 2.3.4

● Faster access to navigation, complete with route and traffic overview
● Tips and Tricks available in the side menu
�� Arabic and Hebrew now supported, including voice guidance in navigation, where available
● Bug fixes

Google’s Sparrow mail app updated for the first time in months with new icon, iOS 7 fixes

Avatar for Benjamin Mayo Oct 15 2013 - 8:11 am PT
5 Comments

mzl.iuodgwik

Despite being bought out by Google, the replacement mail app Sparrow has now been updated for iOS 7. Whilst the developers behind Sparrow never said that work on the app had ceased, this was the implied meaning of Sparrow’s thank you letter still visible on the Sparrow website. Until today, the app had not been updated since December 2012, nearly a year ago.

This update brings compatibility bug fixes for iOS 7 as well as a new flatter icon, shown above.  Even so, work on Sparrow is obviously not a priority for the team. Apart from a new icon, the point-fix update brings no new visual appearance to the app’s interface or any new features for users.

Site default logo image

Seene for iPhone makes creating interactive 3D photos fun and easy

Avatar for Mike Beasley Oct 14 2013 - 12:40 pm PT
0 Comments

A new app called Seene popped up on the App Store last night that lets you create interactive 3D photos. If you’ve used Vine before, you’re already familiar with most of Seene’s interface. The apps are laid out mostly the same, even down to the location of the sharing options during seene creation, but the process for taking photos is a little more complicated. The resulting effect is worth a little extra effort though.


Expand
Expanding
Close

iPhone app turns your iPhone 5c (and case) into ‘Connect Four’ board

Avatar for Mike Beasley Oct 13 2013 - 9:25 pm PT
6 Comments
Site default logo image

Ever since the iPhone 5c launched along with a specially-designed case, people have compared the case’s design to a the game Connect Four. Now a new app has arrived on the App Store that takes that observation and turns it into a real game. The app is called Flipcase, and the idea is pretty simple: you put your iPhone 5c case on backwards, so that the holes on the back are on top of the screen, and then take turns tapping the columns to try to connect four colored dots.

The app’s description says it’s compatible with other iPhone models, including the iPhone 5 and 5s, though it’s designed specifically with the 5c in mind. Flipcase is available for free on the App Store.

… And another cool use for the 5c case:


Expand
Expanding
Close

Site default logo image

9to5Toys Last Call: OtterBox iPhone 5 cases from $16, Samsung 250GB 840 EVO Series SSD $159, iGrill $40, more

Avatar for Oct 11 2013 - 2:16 pm 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+.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

iphone-5s-commuter-series-otterbox

Tough iPhone cases from Otterbox and Lifeproof:

samsung-840-evo-series-250gb-2-5-inch-sata-iii-internal-solid-state-drive1

Solid State Drives: Samsung 840 EVO-Series 250GB $159, Toshiba Q-Series 256GB $150 shipped

Other great deals from today:

The best deals that are still alive:

Mac software bundles:

New product announcements & reviews:

  • LaCie’s new Porsche designed USB 3.0 key drive available now
  • OtterBox begins shipping new Commuter Series Wallet case for iPhone 5/5s and Galaxy S4
Site default logo image

Yelp iOS app replaces Home tab w/ new toolbar for quick access to reviews, photos, and check-ins

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Oct 11 2013 - 1:50 pm PT
1 Comment

Yelp updated its iOS app today with a slightly tweaked UI that makes it easier for users to quickly post reviews, photos and check-in at locations. The app is getting rid of its old Home tab and now by default loads up the “Nearby” tab. In addition, the the tab in the middle along the bottom of the app now launches quick access to Check In, Review, and Photo buttons (as pictured above).

The updated app also includes “larger notification photos, better scrolling performance, updated icons and animations.”

What’s New in Version 7.2.0

New in v7.2
– We said goodbye to our homepage and hello to a beautiful new navigation that makes it even easier for you to discover great places nearby, add photos and reviews, and check in to your favorite businesses.
– We also added tons of polish to our app, including larger notification photos, better scrolling performance, updated icons and animations, and a whole lot more!

Site default logo image

9to5Toys Last Call: 50% off XCOM Enemy Unknown for iOS, SuperStacked Mac app bundle $35, iOttie mounts $15, more

Avatar for Oct 10 2013 - 3:00 pm 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+.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

xcom-enemy-unkown-ios-deal-9to5toys

50% off XCOM Enemy Unknown, 34% off 5-game PS3 bundle, iOS freebies, more

superstacked-mac-app-bundle-9to5toys

The SuperStacked Mac Bundle: Over $3,000 Worth Of Premium Developer & Designer Tools – $35 today, but price increases everyday it’s on sale. Don’t hesitate!

iOttie-tanga-deal-9to5toys-iphone

iOttie One-Touch Mobile Mounts starting at just $15 shipped

Other great deals from today:

The best deals that are still alive:

Mac software bundles:

New product announcements & reviews:

Launch Center Pro reinvented for iOS 7

Avatar for Zac Hall Oct 10 2013 - 7:46 am PT
0 Comments
Site default logo image
Launch Center Pro 2

Launch Center Pro 2 <3

David Barnard’s Contrast (previously App Cubby) shipped a massive update to the quick shortcut app Launch Center Pro for iPhone today.

Launch Center Pro 2 delivers an iOS 7-inspired user interface and a gorgeous new icon as well as several new features including Dropbox backing up and restoring, various themes, action sharing, and more.

People often ask why anyone would need a separate app to do what their home screen does, but as Contrast’s tag line explains, it allows you to “Launch actions, not just apps!” I’ll share a few of my favorite actions below.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Site default logo image

Review: Popular translator app iTranslate gets reimagined for iOS 7

Avatar for Sarah Guarino Oct 10 2013 - 4:21 am PT
9 Comments

Teaser

The popular language translation app iTranslate has been completely reimagined for iOS 7. Just like iOS 7, the app is heavily gesture-based. Because the new version features so many new gestures, a tutorial has been added that walks users through all of the new ways to interact with their translations.

At first glance, iTranslate does not feel as intuitive or as easy to use as the previous version. It takes a while to get acclimated to the changes, and to understand how to properly trigger the gestures, which can be a bit difficult at first. For example, when swiping, you have to swipe to the point where you will see the grey color transition to blue (for a shorter swipe), or purple (for a longer swipe) before the appropriate action will be triggered.

After going through the tutorial, the default languages are set to American English, and Spanish. Tapping on either English or Spanish pulls up the keyboard and you can type the text you want translated.

iTranslate supports text-to-speech, so that you can hear how the translation sounds. You can activate this feature using a swipe gesture. The user can choose from male and female versions of several dialects and adjust the speaking rate. Just tap on the countries’ flag to access the voice options and switch between languages.

iTranslate is available for free in the App Store for new and existing users. There is an in-app purchase for $4.99 that unlocks several premium features, which include removal of the ads at the bottom of the screen, voice recognition, and romanization (the option to convert other writing systems into Roman characters;  an example of this would be converting 你好 into Nǐ hǎo). Voice recognition is powered by Nuance and automatically recognizes forty different languages and dialects regardless of which languages the text input is set to.

iTranslate is a very powerful tool, and I would recommend it for those who are traveling overseas or simply as a supplemental tool for learning a new language.

Site default logo image

9to5Toys Last Call: PlayStation 3 GTA V bundle $230, Lacie Porsche USB drives, Anker power bank $20, BOGO Starbucks, more

Avatar for Oct 9 2013 - 3:00 pm PT
0 Comments

From 9to5Toys.com:

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

Today’s can’t miss deals:

gta-grand-theft-auto-v-deal-ps3-bundle

Game/App Deals: 500GB PlayStation 3 Grand Theft Auto V bundle $230 (Reg. $270), iOS freebies, more

lacie-porsche-usb-flash-drive-new

LaCie’s new Porsche designed USB 3.0 key drive available now

anker-power-bank-9to5toys-deal-amazon

Anker Astro Slim2 4500mAh portable battery charger $20 shipped (Reg. $28)

Other great deals from today:

The best deals that are still alive:

Mac software bundles:

New product announcements & reviews:

Site default logo image

Twitter teams up with Comcast/NBC for ‘See It’ feature to watch and record TV shows

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Oct 9 2013 - 8:25 am PT
0 Comments

Screen Shot 2013-10-09 at 11.23.16 AM

Twitter is teaming up with Comcast to integrate a new feature called “See It” that will allow Comcast Xfinity subscribers to watch shows and schedule DVR recordings directly from Twitter. The companies announced the partnership today and announced that the new “See It” feature will begin appearing for users on Twitter in next month.

Today, @Comcast and @NBCUniversal are announcing a partnership with Twitter that lets users tune in to a TV show directly from a Tweet. Comcast will give Xfinity TV customers the ability to do several things such as change the channel, set the DVR and play a show On Demand, directly from an expanded Tweet. Called See It, the feature will debut with NBCUniversal offerings including The Voice and Sunday Night Football.

While only Xfinity subscribers will be able to click the See It button embedded in tweets to schedule DVR recordings and view the content on their set-top box, other users can be directed to the NBC website or app. The “See It” technology, which was developed by Comcast, is first rolling out on Twitter with NBC programming, but Comcast is working with others to make See It an industry-standard technology:

See It is designed to integrate with other video distribution partners, television networks and websites. We look forward to working with Comcast to extend this offering to other partners who will connect more great content to Twitter. Ultimately, we want to make watching TV along with Twitter even more fun. We’re looking forward to sharing more details about this experience in the weeks to come. You can find more information about See It here.

Site default logo image

Google Cloud Platform simplifies server-side development for iOS w/ ‘Mobile Backend Starter’

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Oct 9 2013 - 6:56 am PT
0 Comments

png;base64c56f00bd665e6fa4

Google announced today on its Cloud Platform blog that it is rolling out its Google App Engine application called Mobile Backend Starter that first debuted for Android developers back in June. Google says the application helps to simplify the server-side development process for developers adding cloud services through Google Cloud Platform and it does so by providing Mobile Backend and Objective-C client libraries for everything from storing data in the cloud to sending device-to-device push notifications and authenticating Google accounts. In other words, it’s a ready-to-deploy, general purpose cloud backend along with Android and iOS clients with client-side framework classes. This allows devs to implement a number of cloud services into their apps without ever having to worry about coding those features themselves.

  • Optional server-side coding: Control your cloud service using Android and iOS client libraries.
  • Cloud Datastore: Store millions of objects in the cloud and manage them from your app.
  • Push Notifications: Send and broadcast objects as messages via Apple Push Notifications and Google Cloud Messaging.
  • Event Driven Programming: Create real-time interactive user experiences using Continuous Queries.
  • User authentication Authenticate users using Google Accounts.
  • Per-object access: Prevent users from accessing private data using our authentication model.
  • Built to scale: Mobile backend runs on App Engine infrastructure to scale to millions of users within hours (App Engine pricing applies).

Google is making the source code for the app available on Github for developers to freely play with, and that will include the source code for both the backend and iOS and Android clients.

Google walked through the process of getting Mobile Backend Starter setup on an iPhone or iPad:

Getting Started

You can try out the Mobile Backend Starter on an iPhone or iPad in just a few steps (further details here):

1. Provision your backend on App Engine

2. Download the iOS client zip file (or clone from GitHub repository)

3. Run the sample on a physical device (note: the sample does not run on the iOS simulator)

You can learn more about Mobile Backend Starter for iOS here.

Flickr iOS 7 auto-upload app with 1TB of storage blows Photo Stream out of the water

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Oct 9 2013 - 4:41 am PT
22 Comments
Site default logo image
Photo: engadget.com

Photo: engadget.com

Today’s update to the iOS Flickr app offers auto-uploading of full-res photos to your private Flickr gallery. Couple this to the 1TB of free storage available and you effectively have a Photo Stream style service that can store over half a million photos, rather than simply the last 1,000.

Flickr introduced the 1TB capacity back in May (with parent company Yahoo offering the same free storage to email users yesterday). If you sync iPhoto with Flickr, you effectively get all the benefits of Photo Stream but with 500 times the capacity. You do need to be careful with this, however: the sync is two-way, so if you delete photos from Flickr, they will also be deleted from iPhoto … 
Expand
Expanding
Close

Facebook prepares major updates to iPhone apps as top engineer returns to Apple

Avatar for Mark Gurman Oct 9 2013 - 4:07 am PT
8 Comments
Site default logo image
FacebookApp

Screenshots of upcoming Facebook Graph Search for iPhone update

Facebook is preparing a pair of major updates for its most popular iPhone applications, according to a source familiar with the apps. Facebook is testing an updated version of its main iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch client that integrates the social network’s powerful Graph Search tool. Graph Search is a feature that allows Facebook users to locate fellow users that have similar interests. For example, a Graph Search user can search for all friends who “Like” a certain Facebook page, musician, or movie. The upcoming app update incorporates Graph Search into the Facebook app’s main search bar.

In addition to the aforementioned update to the main Facebook for iOS application, Facebook is preparing a redesign of its Messenger app. Facebook is said to be internally testing two new versions of Messenger. The first version is said to look largely similar to the Messages application bundled into iOS. That version includes green interface elements. The second version in testing, which the source says is more likely to ship to end-users, is heavy on white space and very fitting for iOS 7’s design. It is not filled with blue interface elements like the new Facebook app. The new app has tabs for active/recent chats, contacts, and settings across the bottom…


Expand
Expanding
Close

Site default logo image

FireCore announces Infuse 2 with new design coming this fall, 1.5 update available today

Avatar for Michael Steeber Oct 8 2013 - 10:00 am PT
1 Comment
infuse-15-tvgroups@2x

Infuse 1.5

FireCore, the makers of the popular aTV Flash Apple TV software announced today that their media player application Infuse will be receiving a substantial update this fall as it hits version 2.0, with a completely new UI to match iOS 7’s design aesthetic, many new Pro features, and more.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Manage push notifications

notification icon
We would like to show you notifications for the latest news and updates.
notification icon
Please wait...processing
notification icon
We would like to show you notifications for the latest news and updates.
notification icon
Please wait...processing