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6,282 'Apps' stories April 2010 - May 2015
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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.

Review: Adobe’s Lightroom CC + 6 let photographers transition from Aperture, gain new editing tools

Avatar for Jeremy Horwitz May 9 2015 - 7:00 am PT
39 Comments

Until this year, Mac owners had three major options for organizing large digital photo collections: Apple’s mainstream iPhoto, Apple’s “pro” app Aperture, and Adobe’s similarly professional-grade Lightroom. When Apple discontinued iPhoto and Aperture in favor of an even more basic app called Photos, many people —amateur photographers and professionals alike — had to decide whether to downgrade to Photos or switch to Lightroom. Apple understood that it was ceding at least the professional market to Lightroom, and even helped Adobe to develop Aperture and iPhoto to Lightroom importers. With the writing on the wall, some people switched to Lightroom 5 well before Photos officially debuted last month.

I didn’t; since Lightroom 5 was almost three years old, I wanted to see what Adobe would deliver in its much-anticipated sequel. On April 21, Adobe released Lightroom 6 and Lightroom CC (2015) as standalone and cloud-linked versions of the same app. Both promise major speed improvements over Lightroom 5, new tools and brushes, a new facial recognition feature, automatic HDR and panoramic photo creation, and new slideshow options. As part of Adobe’s “Creative Cloud,” Lightroom CC comes bundled with Adobe’s latest version of Photoshop, plus cloud photo synchronization services, for $9.99 per month. Alternately, Lightroom 6 can be purchased by itself for $149 as a standalone download, minus Photoshop and cloud functionality.

Below, I’m going to focus on the key questions Aperture users have been asking: what it’s like to transition from Aperture to Lightroom — including new details added after initial publication of this article — plus which version of Lightroom to buy, and whether transitioning is a good (and safe) idea. The answers may surprise you…


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Sega to remove games that no longer meet its standards from the App Store

Avatar for Chance Miller May 8 2015 - 3:48 pm PT
17 Comments

Sega announced in a post on its blog this evening that it is going to remove a number of games from its catalog on the App Store. Sega says that a several of its games on the App Store no longer meet its “high-quality” standards. Sega will also remove the unsupported games from the Google Play Store, the Samsung App Store and the Amazon App Store.


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9to5Toys Last Call: uNu iPhone 6 battery case $40, Bluetooth speakers $10, Mini Power Bank $9, more

Avatar for May 8 2015 - 9:06 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:

uNu DX iPhone 6 MFi 3,000mAh Battery Case (multiple colors) $40 shipped (Reg. $70)

Daily Deals: your choice $10 Bluetooth speakers, Dell UltraSharp 24″ LED Monitor $240, Nikon D3200 $299, more

iClever 4-Port USB Car Charger + 6ft MFi Lightning cable $17, RAVPower mini power bank $9 Prime shipped

Apple-Certified MFi 6-ft braided Lightning cable: $9 shipped, 3-ft: $7 shipped

iTunes Free App of the Week: Toca Nature ($3 value)

iOS App Store – Great Games 50%+ off: Infinity Blade III, Monument Valley, more

Review: iOttie’s Active Edge bike mount safely puts your iPhone front and center, exclusive 30% promo code

More new gear from today:

New Trent Airbender Bluetooth iPad 2/3/4 Keyboard Case w/ 360-degree rotation $26 Prime shipped (Reg. $37)

More deals still alive:

Logitech K480 Multi-device Bluetooth Keyboard (refurb) $26 shipped (Reg. $37)

Pixelmator image editor and effects app for iOS now 50% off: $5 (Reg. $10)

GTA San Andreas for iOS now available at its lowest price ever: $3 (Reg. $7)

New products & more:

PhoneDrone’s unique design leverages the power of your iPhone in the sky

Hub+ USB-C accessory adds connectivity options to a MacBook & charges your iPhone

There’s good news & bad news for Nintendo fans: iOS rollout will be slow, but expect great games

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy May 8 2015 - 6:10 am PT
19 Comments
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We learned back in March that Nintendo would finally be creating games for the iPhone and iPad, featuring Mario and other popular characters – though not in their original games, as we’d predicted. Today brings a mix of bad and good news …

The bad news is that Nintendo announced in its financial results presentation that it is planning to release just five games by March 2017.

Regarding the number of the titles, you may want to know that we will release approximately five titles by the end of the next fiscal year, which is the end of March 2017.

The company says that while it recognizes this will be seen as a small number, there are good reasons behind the decision … 
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ResearchKit Asthma app developer praises framework in first official blog post

Avatar for Chance Miller May 7 2015 - 4:30 pm PT
1 Comment
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Apple’s ResearchKit platform debuted earlier this year alongside iOS 8.2 and has been gaining traction ever since then. Today, LifeMap Solutions, a company taking advantage of ResearchKit, posted the first official entry on Apple’s official ResearchKit blog. In the post, the company discussed its launch of Asthma Health, which was one of the inaugural apps built on ResearchKit.


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How-To: Safely shrink your Mac’s giant photo library, deleting duplicate images to save space

Avatar for Jeremy Horwitz May 7 2015 - 11:27 am PT
39 Comments

I’ve focused a lot over the last few months on helping readers to speed up and optimize Apple’s Macs — everything from adding RAM to recovering hard drive space and upgrading old hard drives to faster SSDs. Today’s How-To is focused on something very specific but with a lot of optimization potential: trimming down your Mac’s photo library.

Particularly after installing OS X 10.10.3 with Apple’s new Photos app, you might be surprised to learn that you’ve lost a lot of hard drive space, and that there are suddenly tons of duplicate photos on your Mac. After installing OS X 10.10.3, the new Photos app converted my 90GB Aperture library into a 126GB Photos library, and left both on my hard drive. That’s an incredible amount of wasted space attributable to duplicates, so it’s no surprise that a $1 utility called Duplicate Photos Fixer Pro has recently become the #1 paid Mac App Store app, while a superior alternative called PhotoSweeper ($10) is in the top 50. I’ve used both apps, as well as many others, and can help you choose the one that’s best for your needs…


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9to5Toys Last Call: Belkin/Kensington iPad Keyboard cases $30, Photoshop+Premiere Elements 13 $68, more

Avatar for May 7 2015 - 9:00 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:

Amazon Gold Box Tech Accessories: Belkin/Kensington iPad Keyboard cases $30, Pencil/Adobe Stylus $40, Bags, more

Adobe Premiere+Photoshop Elements 13: $68 download or CD, Adobe CC Photography+$40 Credit: $10/month

Apple iPhone 6 Factory Unlocked 64GB in all colors for $710 shipped (Reg. $749)

The ultimate lifeline: this $60 power bank can jump start your car and charge your iPhone

Hub+ USB-C accessory adds connectivity options to a MacBook & charges your iPhone

Pixelmator image editor and effects app for iOS now 50% off: $5 (Reg. $10)

GTA San Andreas for iOS now available at its lowest price ever: $3 (Reg. $7)

Review: iOttie’s Active Edge bike mount safely puts your iPhone front and center, exclusive 30% promo code

More new gear from today:

Spigen iPhone 6/Plus cases in multiple styles/colors 60% off, deals start at $5 Prime shipped

Samsung 850 EVO 500GB 2.5-inch Internal Solid State Drive $170 shipped (Reg. $200+)

More deals still alive:

Grab any Apple iPad w/ LTE for $100+ off at T-Mobile during its Mother’s Day Sale

 Twelve South rare sitewide discount: HiRise Deluxe iPhone/iPad stand $53, BookBook iPad case $70, more

New products & more:

Classic adventure game Myst reportedly making a return with a new original Hulu TV series

Yahoo & Localytics extend their analytics platforms to support Apple Watch apps

Avatar for Zac Hall May 7 2015 - 7:21 am PT
0 Comments
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With more than 3,000 apps for the Apple Watch already on the App Store for Apple’s new device, two major analytics platforms today announced support for Apple Watch apps through their respective SDKs.

Yahoo shared that its Mobile Developer Suite has added support for Apple Watch app analytics for developers at no cost through Flurry Analytics, the platform it acquired almost a year ago. By implementing Yahoo’s analytics system, developers of Apple Watch apps gain access to several metrics…
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Latest Flickr iOS app mimics Camera Roll view as it offers to auto-upload all your iPhone photos

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy May 7 2015 - 5:12 am PT
18 Comments
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Flickr has made a significant update to its iOS app, revamping the look to mimic that of your iPhone’s Camera Roll and bringing the auto-upload feature added back in 2013 front-and-center. When you first run the app, it immediately asks if you want to automatically upload every photo you take. If you say yes, photos are set to private, so you won’t be sharing them with the world.

With Flickr offering 1TB of free storage, and a typical iPhone photo coming in at around 2.5Mb, that gives you capacity in the order of half a million photos … 
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Apple releases Safari 8.0.6, 7.1.6, and 6.2.6 with security upgrades

Avatar for Mike Beasley May 6 2015 - 2:10 pm PT
2 Comments

Apple has just released an updated version of the Safari browser for users on OS X Yosemite, Mavericks, and Mountain Lion. The update doesn’t add any new features, but does fix several important security flaws in the WebKit engine that powers the app.

Users on any of the three most recent versions of OS X can download the update for free through the Updates tab of the Mac App Store. The details of the security changes are listed below.

Safari 8.0.6, Safari 7.1.6, and Safari 6.2.6

  • WebKit

    Available for: OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5, OS X Mavericks v10.9.5, and OS X Yosemite v10.10.3

    Impact: Visiting a maliciously crafted website may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution

    Description: Multiple memory corruption issues existed in WebKit. These issues were addressed through improved memory handling.

    CVE-ID

    CVE-2015-1152 : Apple

    CVE-2015-1153 : Apple

    CVE-2015-1154 : Apple

  • WebKit History

    Available for: OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5, OS X Mavericks v10.9.5, and OS X Yosemite v10.10.3

    Impact: Visiting a maliciously crafted website may compromise user information on the filesystem

    Description: A state management issue existed in Safari that allowed unprivileged origins to access contents on the filesystem. This issue was addressed through improved state management.

    CVE-ID

    CVE-2015-1155 : Joe Vennix of Rapid7 Inc. working with HP’s Zero Day Initiative

  • WebKit Page Loading

    Available for: OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5, OS X Mavericks v10.9.5, and OS X Yosemite v10.10.3

    Impact: Visiting a malicious website by clicking a link may lead to user interface spoofing

    Description: An issue existed in the handling of the rel attribute in anchor elements. Target objects could get unauthorized access to link objects. This issue was addressed through improved link type adherence.

    CVE-ID

    CVE-2015-1156 : Zachary Durber of Moodle

Apple debuts ‘Change Everything’ iPad ad campaign and website to highlight apps, accessories, education

Avatar for Mike Beasley May 6 2015 - 12:46 pm PT
1 Comment
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Update: Apple has uploaded its new “Change Everything” ad to YouTube, as well. It’s embedded below.

Apple has debuted its newest iPad marketing campaign, “Change Everything,” with a 1:30 commercial and a new website highlighting the apps that change the way people go about their daily lives. The ad starts off with a list of things that have changed since the release of the first iPad, such as small businesses and education.

From there the commercial demonstrates a variety of applications and accessories that have augmented the way people connect, learn, and conduct business, and enjoy their lives…


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9to5Toys Last Call: Mpow Bluetooth 4.0 Earbuds $22, Anker Jump Starter + Power Bank $60, JBL Bluetooth Speaker $30, more

Avatar for Justin Kahn May 6 2015 - 9:05 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:

 

Update (5/6 7:00pm): The Mpow Bluetooth Earbuds have sold out.

Pixelmator image editor and effects app for iOS now 50% off: $5 (Reg. $10)

Games/Apps: Monument Valley $1, COD Strike Team $2, Infinity Blade III $3, more

GTA San Andreas for iOS now available at its lowest price ever: $3 (Reg. $7)

Grab any Apple iPad w/ LTE for $100+ off at T-Mobile during its Mother’s Day Sale

Twelve South rare sitewide discount: HiRise Deluxe iPhone/iPad stand $53, BookBook iPad case $70, more

Everything is awesome with this Apple Watch stand made of LEGO

OtterBox announces new Symmetry Series folio style cases for iPad Air 2 and iPad mini

Review: iOttie’s Active Edge bike mount safely puts your iPhone front and center, exclusive 30% promo code

More new gear from today:

SanDisk Extreme SDXC/microSDHC cards up to 75% off, starting at $17 for 16GB

  • New! Amazon: 70% off jewelry + free next day shipping for Mother’s Day slackers
  • New! Daily Deals: uNu iPhone 6 Battery Case $43, RAVPower power bank $16, more
  • New! Headphones: Sennheiser HD 202 II over-ears $15, Piston 3 in-ears $16, more

More deals still alive:

Lexar 128GB Micro-SD Card (95MB/s) for 4K video recording, more for $86 shipped

iOttie Easy View iPhone 6 Car Mount + RapidVolt Dual USB Car Charger $13 shipped ($24 value)

New products & more:

The GoSun Grill uses solar power to cook your food even at night

Tony Hawk rides again in new Pro Skater 5 for Xbox One and PS4

Disney infinity 3.0 has been revealed w/ new Star Wars & Avengers Play Sets

Pixelmator, the popular image editor for Mac & iPad, is coming soon to the iPhone

Avatar for Benjamin Mayo May 6 2015 - 6:34 am PT
4 Comments

Pixelmator is bringing its photo and image editor to the iPhone soon, as announced in a blog post today. Pixelmator was exclusive to the Mac until late last year when the developers ported the application to the iPad. It is now nearing completion on the iPhone version.

The especially good news for current Pixelmator users is that the iPhone version will not be released as a separate app. An update to the iPad app will make the software universal, so you can buy the app now and get the iPhone update for free when it is released. Even better, Pixelmator for iPad is currently on sale to celebrate the announcement…


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Home Depot confirms plans to accept Apple Pay soon after disabling it

Avatar for Jordan Kahn May 5 2015 - 2:14 pm PT
16 Comments
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Home Depot will soon officially gain support for Apple Pay after users this week noticed it had started quietly blocking the platform, the company tells Bloomberg.

Users have had success using Apple Pay at Home Depot stores since the service launched in October last year— Home Depot uses MasterCard Paypass terminals that technically support the NFC-based payments platform— but now the company appears to have stopped accepting it as it issues a statement touting rival PayPal. The company since confirmed, however, that it does plan to officially support Apple Pay following upgrades to its in-store hardware in the near future.

From Bloomberg:
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9to5Toys Last Call: iOttie iPhone 6 Car Mount + Dual USB Car Charger $13, Lexar 128GB microSD $86, more

Avatar for May 5 2015 - 9:11 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:

iOttie Easy View iPhone 6 Car Mount + RapidVolt Dual USB Car Charger $13 shipped ($24 value)

Lexar 128GB Micro-SD Card (95MB/s) for 4K video recording, more for $86 shipped

Samsung’s new SD cards bring faster speeds, larger storage for 4K video and photography

OtterBox announces new Symmetry Series folio style cases for iPad Air 2 and iPad mini

Review: iOttie’s Active Edge bike mount safely puts your iPhone front and center, exclusive 30% promo code

More new gear from today:

Stream Amazon Prime Instant Video movies and TV shows at 30,000-ft in the air w/ no extra fees

More deals still alive:

Revogi Smart Color Bluetooth LED Bulb $35 Shipped (Orig. $50, CA Tax Only)

New products & more:

GE’s new lightbulbs have HomeKit compatibility and will help you sleep better

nexpaq’s iPhone 6 case enables killer features to be added and removed on-the-fly

Dropbox for iOS adds file commenting & 1Password login, creating Office docs coming soon

Avatar for Zac Hall May 5 2015 - 8:57 am PT
2 Comments
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Dropbox is rolling out a new version of its iPhone and iPad app today with a new features including commenting and mentions, a new ‘Recent’ files tab, and 1Password integration. Dropbox for iOS will also gain the ability to create Microsoft Office files including Word, PowerPoint, and Excel documents directly from the app soon.
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Apple TV users get Bell’s CraveTV & Rogers’ Shomi services in Canada, Arte in France/Germany, more

Avatar for Jordan Kahn May 5 2015 - 8:17 am PT
3 Comments

While users in the US are today getting access to CBS Sports and USA Now on the Apple TV, Canadian users are being greeted today with two new channels from the big Canadian cable companies. Bell’s CraveTV and Rogers’ Shomi, two competitive on-demand TV services akin to Hulu in the US, are now accessible on Apple’s set-top box.
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Belkin’s WeMo app adds IFTTT & support for more bulbs including Cree

Avatar for Jordan Kahn May 5 2015 - 7:18 am PT
2 Comments
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Belkin today updated its WeMo app — the companion software to the company’s platform for controlling connected lighting products, appliances, and more — to offer support for IFTTT and additional light bulbs.
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May the 4th be with you: Apple offers collection of iOS & Mac app discounts for Star Wars Day

Avatar for Jordan Kahn May 4 2015 - 10:17 am PT
1 Comment
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To celebrate Star Wars Day— yes, that’s why everyone keeps saying “May the 4th be with you” today— Apple is offering a number of discounts on apps and in-app purchase content from Disney, Konami, and others.

Below we’ve put together links for all of the Star Wars App Store content on sale today, including both Apple’s iOS collection and other iPhone, iPad, and Mac titles discounted for the occasion:
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Droplr launches new Mac and iOS apps, introduces support for limited free accounts

Avatar for Mike Beasley May 4 2015 - 9:35 am PT
3 Comments
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File sharing service Droplr announced today that it is launching new versions of both of its apps alongside a freemium account option. Users will now be able to sign up and use Droplr to share large files for free, but will only be able to store their files for one week. After that, the links will expire. Users subscribed the Droplr Pro service will be able to keep their files forever, and will get access to other settings to customize the file sharing process.

Along with the new account types comes a family of redesigned applications to support them. The iOS app, seen above, has been reworked with support for the latest iOS features, such as sharing extensions. When you upload a file through the iOS app, it will immediately be pushed to the Mac app, or vice versa.


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9to5Toys Last Call: Star Wars May 4th Deals, 6′ MFi Lightning cables $7, iPad mini 2 WiFi+Cell 64GB $330, more

Avatar for May 4 2015 - 9:02 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:

Star Wars Day deals & freebies: Darth Vader and Son Kindle book $2, LEGO kits from $8, much more

Daily Deals: Samsung Xpress Mono Laser Printer $50, Acer 27″ G-SYNC Gaming Monitor $400, Kindles, more

Your choice $330 shipped each: Apple iPad mini 2 WiFi+ Cellular 64GB in Space Gray or iPad Air 16GB WiFi

Review: iOttie’s Active Edge bike mount safely puts your iPhone front and center, exclusive 30% promo code

More new gear from today:

Price Drop: Omaker M4 Splashproof/droppable Bluetooth 4.0 Speaker with NFC: $20 Prime shipped (Orig. $70)

Canon Refurbished Digital Cameras: SL1 (body only) $300 (Orig. $550), Rebel T5 w/ lens kit $300 (Orig. $440), more

More deals still alive:

Apple 11-inch MacBook Air 1.6GHz/4GB/128GB (newest): $750 shipped (Reg. $899)

iPhone 6 MFi battery cases: UNU DX 3,000mAh $50 (Orig. $70), Anker Premium 3,100mAh $30 (Orig. $70), more

New products & more:

nexpaq’s iPhone 6 case enables killer features to be added and removed on-the-fly