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6,368 'Apps' stories April 2010 - February 2016
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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.

Pebble update adds support for Health-based watchfaces, custom message reply, more

Avatar for Chance Miller Feb 3 2016 - 11:43 am PT
5 Comments
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Apple Watch competitor Pebble has today announced a hefty update to its smartwatch experience. The update, which bumps the company’s Pebble Time smartphone app for iPhone to version 3.6 and the watch firmware to version 3.9, includes a variety of enhancements to Health, Messages, and more.


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9to5Toys Last Call: Seagate 4TB Portable HDD $120, 2-pack MFi Lightning Cables $8, JayBird Bluetooth Earbuds $58, more

Avatar for Trevor Daugherty Feb 3 2016 - 9:30 am PT
0 Comments

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

TODAY’S CAN’T MISS DEALS:

Last Call Updates:

Review: $13 GRDE Explorer Rugged 10,000mAh Solar dual USB Battery w/ 2 USB lamps: worth every penny

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Seagate 4TB Portable, Bus-powered USB 3 Hard Drive w/ 200GB Cloud: $120 shipped

RAVPower 2-pack of 3-ft. MFi Apple-Certified Lightning Cables for $8 Prime shipped (Reg. $15), more

Anker’s reinforced PowerLine MFi Lightning cables are extra tough & on sale: 6-ft $10 Prime shipped (Reg. $12), more

Bluetooth Headphones: JayBird BlueBuds X $58 (Orig. $170), MEE Audio Air-Fi $35 (Reg. $50), more

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Here are the best HDTV and Soundbar deals for Super Bowl 50

Here are some delicious snacks and fun kitchen gear to get you prepped for Super Bowl 50

App Store Free App of the Week: Piloteer goes free for the very first time ($2 value)

Award-winning iOS platformer Thomas Was Alone is now available for just $1 (Reg. $5)

Highly-rated puzzler Osmos now 80% off on iPhone & iPad: $1 ea. (Reg. up to $5)

Best USB/Jump Start batteries for your car from Bestek, Aukey, more

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

NomadPlus turns your iPhone wall charger into a power bank: $15 Prime shipped (Orig. $40)

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MORE DEALS STILL ALIVE:

iPhone 6/s/Plus & Android Cases from $1: Wallet Style in multiple colors $3 Prime shipped, more

Motorola SURFboard DOCSIS 3.0 High-Speed Cable Modem $45 shipped (Reg. $70)

Apple TV 32GB w/ Siri Remote and HDMI Cable $126 shipped (Reg. $149+), 64GB $176 shipped – also now available in refurbished condition via Apple

Game pre-orders for Amazon Prime members –Zelda, Far Cry Primal, FFXV: $48 ea (Reg. $60)

NEW PRODUCTS & MORE:

This guy has a built-in Google Now display in his mirror and it’s perfect

LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens is coming this summer

Review: Omegon Universe2go, the iPhone enclosure that provides an augmented reality tour of the night sky

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Feb 3 2016 - 6:15 am PT
1 Comment
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An amateur astronomer friend has a motorized telescope that allows you to tap in the name of the object you want to see – a constellation, a planet, a deep-sky object – and it automatically locates them in the sky. Universe2go offers an equally hi-tech but more casual approach to stargazing suitable for beginners – including kids.

Universe2go is an augmented reality system that uses your iPhone to do the clever stuff. In essence, it’s a more sophisticated version of Google Cardboard. You open the companion app on your iPhone, snap your phone into the plastic enclosure and then look through the goggles at the night sky. An angled mirror overlays your actual view of the sky with labels from the app.

Pause with the green pointer over a planet or constellation, and the app provides visual data and an audio commentary. Alternatively, choose an object in advance and the app uses the display to direct you to the correct part of the sky before using the augmented reality system to highlight it …


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Nintendo: Our second iPhone game will feature a ‘very familiar’ character

Avatar for Cam Bunton Feb 3 2016 - 4:13 am PT
15 Comments

When Nintendo first announced that it would finally be launching an iPhone game, it’s safe to say, many of we children of the 90’s got a little excited. Sadly, excitement turned to bemusement once the company revealed it would be launching a weird game called Miitomo, which wasn’t exactly a game, but rather a social network.

Following its disappointing Q4 results, Nintendo has confirmed that its second title would include a “very familiar character”, and won’t be another social network attempt. It did, however, stop short of confirming exactly which character we’re going to see.


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Soundcloud launches free ‘track stations’ on iOS following iTunes Radio shutdown

Avatar for Greg Barbosa Feb 2 2016 - 6:48 am PT
0 Comments

Shortly after Apple’s decision to let free ad-supported iTunes Radio stations go away, Soundcloud today has introduced a new similar feature called Stations for free on its own music streaming platform. Users can launch a new track station based off of the current song they’re listening to and easily discover an endless stream of new music.


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9to5Toys Last Call: Mohu HDTV antenna $24, NAS systems from $159, Jaybird Bluetooth headphones $30, more

Avatar for Justin Kahn Feb 1 2016 - 9:33 am PT
0 Comments

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

TODAY’S CAN’T MISS DEALS:

Last Call Updates:

Here are the best HDTV and Soundbar deals for Super Bowl 50

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Time to chuck your cable bill, Mohu Leaf Paper-Thin Indoor HDTV Antenna is $24 today

Amazon Gold Box–Everything for your home computer network: SSDs from $40, NAS from $159, Wifi Range Extenders from $33

JayBird Freedom Sweatproof Bluetooth Earbuds: $30, 66 Audio BTS+ Bluetooth Sports Headphones: $37 shipped

App Store Free App of the Week: Piloteer goes free for the very first time ($2 value)

Award-winning iOS platformer Thomas Was Alone is now available for just $1 (Reg. $5)

Highly-rated puzzler Osmos now 80% off on iPhone & iPad: $1 ea. (Reg. up to $5)

Best USB/Jump Start batteries for your car from Bestek, Aukey, more

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

Streaming Media Players: Chromecast (2nd gen) w/ free $10 Gift Card $35, Fire TV Stick w/ Voice Remote $40 (Reg. $50)

Prep for Valentine’s Day w/ these gift card deals: Applebee’s $50 for $40, Regal Movies $25 for $20, more

[tweet https://twitter.com/9to5toys/status/694211128591777792 align=’center’]

MORE DEALS STILL ALIVE:

Amazon’s best-selling iPhone Virtual Reality kit $20 Prime shipped (Reg. $40)

Apple TV 32GB w/ Siri Remote and HDMI Cable $126 shipped (Reg. $149+), 64GB $176 shipped – also now available in refurbished condition via Apple

Game pre-orders for Amazon Prime members –Zelda, Far Cry Primal, FFXV: $48 ea (Reg. $60)

NEW PRODUCTS & MORE:

Build your own 1:5000-scale New York City with this incredible Kickstarter project

The CrossOver from NextDesk turns nearly any setup into a motorized standing desk

Popular Airmail desktop email app lands on the iPhone w/ iCloud sync, snooze, more

Avatar for Zac Hall Feb 1 2016 - 6:38 am PT
25 Comments
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Airmail, the popular third-party email client for the Mac, has landed today on the iPhone for the first time. The brand new Airmail for iPhone app works with various email services including Gmail, iCloud, Outlook, and Exchange, and even features iCloud sync to keep the mobile and desktop preferences on the same page. Airmail also includes modern features for the latest iPhones, third-party app integration, and email management features missing after Dropbox retired Mailbox.


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Downcast for iPhone adds CarPlay integration for enhanced podcast playback

Avatar for Zac Hall Jan 29 2016 - 3:15 pm PT
1 Comment
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There’s a new podcast app option for CarPlay fans out today: Downcast. The popular iOS and Mac podcast player updated today to add CarPlay integration, enhanced VoiceOver features, scrubber improvements, and lots of battery life and bug fix improvements.

Downcast wrote a bit on the app blog to talk about what to expect from the CarPlay integration:


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How-To: Automate weight logging w/ the Health app using Siri, Workflow, or a smart scale

Avatar for Greg Barbosa Jan 29 2016 - 9:57 am PT
12 Comments
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When news came out that Apple was working on a dedicated Health dashboard app, which would offer a way to take healthcare monitoring mobile, I was extremely excited. I had been recently diagnosed with traumatic arthritis in my knees and I needed a better all-in-one system to track my steps, weight, and BMI. None of the other apps on the market at the time seemed to do any one of those three especially well. Apple’s Health app has since become my go-to app for everything I wanted to log and more. It’s not perfect, but it’s a built-in dashboard with tie-ins to plenty of iOS apps.

Within a few weeks of using Health, I soon realized I wanted a better way to automate inputting data into the system. I eventually came to a methodology that worked great for me and decided it was time to share three of the different ways you can automate quickly logging your weight into the Health app.


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9to5Toys Last Call: LG 55-inch 1080p Smart HDTV $490, best-selling iPhone VR Kit $20, Samsung 1TB SSD $289, more

Avatar for Trevor Daugherty Jan 29 2016 - 9:30 am PT
0 Comments

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

TODAY’S CAN’T MISS DEALS:

Last Call Updates:

Anker’s reinforced PowerLine MFi Lightning cables are extra tough & on sale: 6-ft $10 Prime shipped (Reg. $12), more

[tweet https://twitter.com/9to5toys/status/693187306375811072 align=’center’]

Daily Deals: LG 55-inch 120Hz 1080p Smart HDTV $490, Car FM Transmitter w/ Bluetooth $11, more

1080p 60Hz LED HDTVs — LG 49-inch: $300 (Reg. $400), RCA 46-inch: $250 (Reg. $300)

Amazon’s best-selling iPhone Virtual Reality kit $20 Prime shipped (Reg. $40)

Samsung 850 EVO 2.5-inch Internal Solid-State Drives: 1TB $289 (Reg. $325+), 2TB $586 (Reg. $618+)

App Store Free App of the Week: Piloteer goes free for the very first time ($2 value)

Award-winning iOS platformer Thomas Was Alone is now available for just $1 (Reg. $5)

Apple’s Get Productive iOS App Sale 50% or more off: Things, Clear, Duet Displays, Deliveries, much more

Highly-rated puzzler Osmos now 80% off on iPhone & iPad: $1 ea. (Reg. up to $5)

Apple 11-inch MacBook Air 1.6GHz/4GB/128GB (newest version): $730 shipped (Reg. $899)

Apple iPad Pro 12.9-inch tablet 128GB Wi-Fi in all colors: $870 shipped (Reg. $949), more

MORE NEW GEAR FROM TODAY:

Mohu over-the-air HDTV antennas (open-box): Leaf 50 Ultimate $30 shipped (Reg. $40), more

MORE DEALS STILL ALIVE:

iPhone 6/s/Plus Car Mounts w/ Prime shipping: iOttie One Touch 3 $17 (Reg. $25), Magnetic Air Vent $6 (Reg. $8)

Apple TV 32GB w/ Siri Remote and HDMI Cable $126 shipped (Reg. $149+), 64GB $176 shipped – also now available in refurbished condition via Apple

Game pre-orders for Amazon Prime members –Zelda, Far Cry Primal, FFXV: $48 ea (Reg. $60)

Pay What You Want: The 2016 Mac Bundle ~12

Work Faster & Smarter on Your Mac with 12 Apps to Clear Your Hard Drive, Enhance Audio, Track Device Activity & More

NEW PRODUCTS & MORE:

Fluance mixes mid-century design with Bluetooth technology in its new Hi-Fi system

Aereo’s founder is returning with a new ISP that beams gigabit speeds into your home

Tesla is moving away from an SDK and instead planning to allow app mirroring from iPhones to center consoles

Avatar for Fred Lambert Jan 28 2016 - 12:14 pm PT
16 Comments

Since Tesla launched the Model S in 2012, the automaker has been talking about releasing a software development kit (SDK) to create a full third-party app ecosystem for its 17-inch touchscreen, which acts as a center console for the Model S and X, but despite several inquiries from eager app developers, there has been little communication about the project until now.
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New ‘Pay with Venmo’ platform rivals Apple Pay as an in-app payment solution

Avatar for Greg Barbosa Jan 28 2016 - 10:59 am PT
4 Comments
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Venmo today introduced a new in-app payment option called ‘Pay with Venmo’ for both users and businesses alike. The feature allows vendors to directly integrate Venmo’s payment platform into their checkout process. And user’s can now simply select the Venmo option when checking out in supported apps, and no longer need to type in any credit card information.


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Facebook opening Periscope-like video broadcasting to all US iPhone users

Avatar for Zac Hall Jan 28 2016 - 10:33 am PT
5 Comments
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Facebook shared today that it is turning on live video broadcasting from its app for all iPhone users in the United States. This feature was previously limited to public figures and verified accounts then expanded to a limited number of test iPhone users last month. Facebook’s effort in this space is similar to Meerkat and Twitter’s Periscope service, which popularized live video streaming from mobile devices last year.


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Share your personal Snapchat URL with new feature from latest update

Avatar for Greg Barbosa Jan 28 2016 - 8:34 am PT
3 Comments

There’s a new little feature tucked away in the latest Snapchat update that allows users to share their own Snapchat URL with others. The new URL is much more user-friendly as it is something you could easily copy and paste directly into messages and profile bios all around the web. Previously, Snapchat heavily relied on username search and QR code-based cards for this purpose.


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Apple announces lower App Store price tiers for developers in New Zealand & Canada

Avatar for Chance Miller Jan 27 2016 - 3:38 pm PT
1 Comment

Apple today announced on its Developer Portal that its making two new lower price tiers available for developers in Canada and New Zealand. Developers in those countries can now offer paid apps and in-app purchases at $0.99 CAD and $0.99 NZD. These new options will allow for developers to offer more affordable apps and in-app purchases to users in these countries.


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Microsoft announces new partnerships and cloud storage options for Office on iOS & web

Avatar for Greg Barbosa Jan 27 2016 - 12:13 pm PT
2 Comments
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Early last year, Microsoft unveiled the Cloud Storage Partner Program enabling various cloud storage providers to integerate their tools into Office Online and Office for iOS. Microsoft’s latest announcement takes that a step further for partners in the CSPP by giving them access to real-time collaboration, and Office for iOS integration for all partners.


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Deliveries app ships a massive update w/ 3D Touch, iPad Pro support, El Capitan enhancements, more

Avatar for Greg Barbosa Jan 27 2016 - 9:08 am PT
20 Comments
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Delveries by Junecloud has received major updates today for both their iOS and Mac applications. For the unitiated, Deliveries is an all-in-one package tracker for both iOS and Mac. Allowing the user to track multiple packages from various couriers, the app is perfect for anyone who doesn’t want to have to jump between different delivery company sites.


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Chrome for iOS updated to be ‘dramatically faster’ with 70% fewer crashes

Avatar for Zac Hall Jan 27 2016 - 8:20 am PT
4 Comments

Google’s Chrome browser for iPhones and iPads is getting a whole lot faster and more stable today with its latest update. That’s because Chrome is now using Apple’s WKWebView rendering engine on iOS. Google says this update will reduce Chrome’s crash rate by 70% so the browsing experience will see fewer interruptions for various reasons.


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Microsoft launches News Pro, a hyper-relevant news delivery service for iOS and web

Avatar for Greg Barbosa Jan 26 2016 - 1:02 pm PT
3 Comments
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Microsoft today released News Pro, a news delivery service with “hyper-relevant news for your work.”  The application utilizes either your Facebook or LinkedIn account for log in and then aggregates news topics and articles around your work-based interests. The idea is similar to Apple’s own News app, and Flipboard, but with a focus on articles and topics related to your day-to-day career. The project seems to be coming out from the Microsoft Garage team, whom have been specializing in experimental projects.


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Report: Apple developing support for paid, subscription content in its News app

Avatar for Zac Hall Jan 26 2016 - 11:03 am PT
9 Comments
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Apple reportedly has plans to work with publishers to support viewing subscription content in its Apple News app, according to Reuters which cites two anonymous sources. Currently, the Apple News app does not support authenticating subscriber log-ins. That means content can’t be behind a pay wall and can only be monetized by web advertising when readers follow through to the publisher’s website or by using iAds. Apple’s iAd network is noticeably going through a shuffle at the moment with the company recently announcing the end of its App Network where developers advertise their apps.


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