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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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SwiftKey bringing its predictive gesture typing from Android to iOS w/ ‘Note’ app

SwitfKey, the popular Android app that replaces the stock on-screen keyboard with a gesture-based, predictive typing system, will soon arrive in an official iOS app from the same developers. While details are slim, the screenshot above from @evleaks comes with the caption “SwitfKey Note,” which we assume is a note taking app of sorts by looking at the image. Since Apple doesn’t allow users to change the system-wide on-screen keyboard to third-party alternatives like on Android, we assume that the gesture and predictive typing features will be accessible only within the new Note app. 
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Pixelmator 3.1 brings 16-bit image support for Mac Pro, integrated photo printing and more

Pixelmator have released the latest version of their app today, version 3.1. As usual, it is available exclusively in the Mac App Store for $29.99. Codenamed Marble, this update brings several enhancements to the image editor including specific Mac Pro optimizations such as 16-bit image support.

Primarily, Pixelmator 3.1 optimises for the new Mac Pro’s hardware. Apple has used Pixelmator before to tout the Mac Pro’s performance benefits, and the developers are clearly keen to push this further still.

The “exclusive” support for the new Mac Pro enables the simultaneous use of both GPU’s  for even faster composition and rendering. In fact, the app can compute the autosave data whilst the image is being rendered. This translates to significant speed improvements across the app.


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Apple releases iTunes 11.1.4 w/ Wish List in library, improved Arabic & Hebrew support, more

Apple just released a small update to iTunes on Mac OS X bringing the app up to version 11.1.4 and introducing a few minor features and tweaks. Apple notes that users will now be able to see the Wish List feature while viewing the iTunes library. The latest version of iTunes also introduces improved Arabic and Hebrew support, as well as other “additional stability improvements.”

“This version of iTunes adds the ability to see your Wish List while viewing your iTunes library, improves support for Arabic and Hebrew, and includes additional stability improvements.”

You can grab the update through the Mac App Store or Apple’s iTunes download page on its website.

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Twitterrific 5 updated with streaming support, list management, more

The Iconfactory released a significant update to Twitterrific 5 today bringing support for a highly requested feature: streaming.

Just like Twitter for Mac and Tweetbot for Mac and iOS, Twitterrific will now present new tweets to you as they’re loaded alleviating the need to pull-to-refresh when you’re caught up on your timeline. You will need to enable it in the settings for it to work, and it requires WiFi of course.

The update also features a number of other improvements including list management.
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SnapTax by TurboTax lets you e-file your taxes with your iPhone camera

Gearing up for tax season and looking for the easiest way to get it over with? TurboTax is making tax filing in 2014 as easy snapping a photo with your iPhone. Seriously.

Similar to many banking apps that allow you to take a photo of a physical check to make a deposit, SnapTax app by TurboTax allows you to focus your camera at your W-2 (1040EZ/A) to quickly input most of the important information required for filing your taxes.

After you capture the photo, the app uses optical character recognition to parse out the important information and asks you a few remaining questions and you’re on your way.

This year, TurboTax notes its app is the first of its kind to allow you to e-file your taxes on a mobile device in Spanish making it easier for everyone to take advantage of the app.


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9to5Toys Last Call: Pad & Quill iPhone 5/5s Little Pocket Book $60, 2-pack Sennheiser MX270 earbuds $15, more

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

Today’s can’t miss deals: 

Pad & Quill Little Pocket Book for iPhone 5/5S $60 shipped ($10 off)

2-Pack: Sennheiser MX270 Ergonomic Stereo Earphones $15 shipped (Reg. $40)

https://twitter.com/9to5toys/status/425682475931938817
Other great deals from today:

More great deals still alive:

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Snapchat comes to the Mac with unofficial “Snapped” beta client, but don’t expect a complete experience just yet

Since the app’s release, Snapchat has only been available for smartphones. An official desktop client has never been created, and due to the nature of the app, it doesn’t seem like one ever will. That’s not to say you’ll never be able to send snaps from your Mac, though

A new app called Snapped was released to the public as a private beta today. It’s a Snapchat client for the Mac, but as a third-party client, the app is subject to certain restrictions and limitations that the official mobile client doesn’t have to deal with.

So what’s in the beta? Keep reading for a full breakdown. Just keep in mind that since this is a beta, it could undergo substantial changes as the development progresses.


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Beats Music streaming service launches on iPhone for $9.99 a month

Beats Music is now available for iPhone on the App Store, after being originally announced back in October. The app is a very stylised adaption of a typical music streaming service app, with Beats heavily pushing the idea of customisation and curation to distance it from its many competitors.


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9to5Toys Last Call: LifeProof iPhone 5/5s cases, various iPad models discounted, Logitech gear up to 63% off, more

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

Today’s can’t miss deals: 

LifeProof Nuud Series Case for iPhone 5S: $64 shipped (Reg. $90), iPhone 5 Frē case: $40 shipped (Reg. $80)

Tablet Roundup: iPad Air 16GB $460, iPad mini 32GB $340, Kindle Fire HDX $199more

Amazon Gold Box: Up to 63% off Logitech computer accessories

Other great deals from today:

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VLC for iOS redesigned for iOS 7, now features Google Drive & Dropbox streaming, more

VLC released an update to its iOS app today introducing an iOS 7-friendly user interface as well as several handy features.

Users will welcome support for streaming media from both Dropbox and Google Drive; previously, VLC required content to be downloaded locally in its entirety before it could be viewed. This will greatly speed up media viewing. The update also features a list of other improvements including new gestures and more.

VLC for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

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Feedly for iOS updated w/ speed reading feature, redesigned iPad UI, night theme, more

Feedly has just updated its iOS app to version 18.0.5 with a handful of new features. For those unfamiliar, Feedly is a service that aggregates conent from a variety of sources, including news sites, YouTube, RSS feeds, and more. The biggest feature in this update according to the developers is a new speed reading functionality. The feature allows users to quickly move from one inlined article to the next by simply tapping on the edge of the interface.

Also new in this update is a redesigned iPad interface, focused on speed and stability, as well as a new night theme that essentially changes all the white interfaces to a darker color. The full change log is below:

Spotlight feature:

  • Speed reading

Other new features:

  • New iPad design
  • New night theme
  • Faster image processing
  • New mark all as read card with reading stats.
  • Crash fixes

The Feedly update is available now on the App Store.

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Review: Tick is a clever, colorful way to manage your to-do list on iOS 7


Tick is a simple, highly customizable to-do list app that effectively uses color and animation to deliver a fun and motivating experience.  Developed by Taphive, Tick was created for iOS 7 and recently updated to be more customizable, have better integration with the Reminders app, and include more animations.

I generally don’t like or use to-do apps because I consider them redundant when paired with apps like Reminders and Calendar. However, I find the fun and utterly simple design of this app makes me more motivated to use to-do lists to manage tasks.

Tick’s main interface features a set of colorful square panels. Each panel represents a list of to-dos. To create a new list, you just tap on the + button, type a name for the list, choose any one of the 64 available icons, assign a color, and tap Save. Then you click the + sign icon at the bottom of the screen to add to-dos to the list you just created.

Clever animations and transitions are present throughout the app, whether you’re checking off a completed item or moving back to the main screen. You’ll even see a special animation when you manage to complete all of the tasks on any given list.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBESskDWBTs&hd=1]

Clicking the share icon at the bottom of a list reveals options to print or share your tasks via text or iMessage, email or AirDrop. Sliding from left to right on the main screen reveals a summary with the total number of Lists and To-Dos, and allows you to access the app’s settings.

In settings, you can choose to display the name of each list or just the icon. The app also features a night mode that can be toggled manually or set to automatically switch on at a specific time. The overall appearance of the app is so bright that I actually prefer to leave it in night mode throughout the day.

Settings has numerous other features like the ability to choose from numerous fonts, whether to vibrate or not when you trigger certain functions, and a myriad of choices regarding the app’s home screen badge.

Even the About section of Settings has a number of handy features.

I especially like the fact that the app works with the Dynamic Text accessibility feature found in iOS 7.

Additionally, Tick completely integrates with your existing Reminders app. This allows you to use Siri to add entries to your Tick lists, and keeps your lists synced across all of your devices with iCloud.

I highly recommend Tick to anyone looking for a fresh approach to getting the necessary tasks in their life and work organized. Tick is available for $1.99 on the iOS App Store.

Lightroom for iPad briefly appears on Adobe’s website, coming soon with $99/year cloud subscription

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Adobe will soon make the iPad an even more viable solution for mobile content creation: the company will soon unleash a version of its popular Lightroom photo editing suite that is optimized for tablets. References to Lightroom for Mobile appeared on Adobe’s official website earlier this week, but they were immediately removed when we contacted Adobe for comment on the yet-to-be-announced product.

Adobe’s tagline for the product is “Take Lightroom anywhere,” but we were unable to locate screenshots of the application on Adobe’s website. The website also does not specifically note iPad support, but a chat representative from Adobe was able to pull up details about Lightroom for Mobile from Adobe’s systems and said that it is built for iPad.

The representative further indicated that the mobile version would largely lineup with the desktop version in terms of features…


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9to5Toys Last Call: Belkin Thunderbolt dock $200, Samsung EVO 500GB SSD $280, discounted 32″-70″ HDTVs, more

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

Today’s can’t miss deals: 

Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock: $200 shipped ($100 off)

Samsung 840 EVO Series 500GB 2.5″ SATA III Internal SSD $280 shipped (Reg. $480)

Discounted 1080p HDTVs: 70″ Vizio $1498, 32″ Sharp $220, 47″ LG $400, 32″ Sony $330 shipped

Other great deals from today:

More great deals still alive:

Starbucks quickly adds additional ‘safeguards’ to its app in response to public furore over application security

Starbucks has quickly pushed a bug fix update for its app to the store to help address the security flaws found in its iPhone application earlier this week. Researchers originally found that the app stored passwords in plain text. Earlier, Starbucks’ CIO promised in an open letter that an update would follow in response to these findings.


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Google developing “Chromoting” remote desktop management app for iOS

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.

DoubleTwist’s new Android app lets users steal songs from iTunes Radio

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DoubleTwist, the developers behind the doubleTwist Music Player app for Android, today introduced a new app that lets Android users steal “record” music from iTunes. The doubleTwist Music Player app is popular among Apple device users for its ability to AirPlay music from Android devices to Apple TV and AirPlay supported audio accessories. The new app called iTunes Radio Recorder will allow users to save songs from iTunes that are streaming through iTunes Radio or locked to the app through DRM. Here’s how it works:
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Imgur MemeGen app launches on iOS, lets you make your own memes

Photo sharing site Imgur has added its popular MemeGen tool to iOS via a new app on the App Store. The app actually launched late last year, but Imgur has only begun promoting it today. The application has three main tabs across the bottom: Browse, Create, and Recents. Browse allows fans of meme photos to browse new or popular images. Create allows you to harness the power of your iOS Device’s camera and photo library to create your own memes. The interface for doing so is simple. Recents allows you to keep all of your created memes at your fingertips. The app is free on the App Store.


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9to5Toys Last Call: Seiki 4K UHDTV from $404, Slingbox SOLO $40, Time Capsule 2TB/3TB $50 off, AP Extreme $165, more

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

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call updates:

 

Seiki 4K Ultra HD TVs: 39″ $404 (Reg. $699), 50″ $607 (Reg. $1,500)

Sling Media Slingbox SOLO Media Streamer Refurb $40 shipped

Apple Time Capsule AC wireless router/backup device (newest version): 2TB $250/3TB $350, AirPort Extreme $165

Other great deals from today:


More great deals still alive:

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Skype for iPhone adds two-way HD videocalls and lockscreen chat notifications

The latest version of Skype for iPhone adds support for two-way HD video calls (for iPhone 5 and later), and receipt of chat messages on the lockscreen even when the app is closed.

Microsoft also says that chat messages will sync more rapidly across devices.

The app was last updated with a flatter, cleaner look for iOS 7 in October last year, and is a free download from iTunes.

Google Now comes to the Mac in the latest Chrome Canary release

Screen Shot 2014-01-16 at 13.25.19

There have been indications for a long time that Google Now was eventually coming to the Chrome browser. Via the Google Operating System Blog, the service has finally surfaced in the most recent release of Chrome Canary (Google’s name for the app’s ‘alpha’ channel builds).

As expected, Google Now in Chrome closely mirrors Google Now on Android. The contextually-relevant cards (which show information such as weather, news or upcoming flights) appear in Chrome’s Notification Center on the desktop. The notification area can be accessed in the menubar, represented by a bell icon.


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Photoshop CC goes 3D, allowing direct 3D printing from within the app

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Printing from Photoshop CC is no longer limited to two dimensions, as Adobe has added support for 3D printing to the latest release for Creative Cloud subscribers.

While Photoshop wouldn’t be the obvious tool in which to create 3D objects from scratch, objects can be imported from a 3D scanner, from a modelling tool or from a downloaded file, refined in Photoshop using the new automated mesh repair and support structure generation tools. Once the model is ready to print, it can be sent direct to any of the most popular 3D printers, including the Makerbot Replicator … 
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Starbucks confirms that its iOS app stores passwords in plain text

Starbucks has confirmed a finding by security researcher Daniel Wood that both username and password in its iOS app are stored in plain text.

It’s not the big deal some are making it out to be – to make use of it, someone would need physical access to your unlocked iPhone, in which case you likely have bigger things to worry about than someone being able to order tall skinny lattes on your dime. Additionally, as Engadget observes, a far easier hack by someone with access to your phone would simply be to take a photo of the on-screen barcode used to authorise payments.

All the same, it is pretty poor design on the part of a payment app from a major company, and it’s surprising that Starbucks apparently has no plans to fix it with an updated app.