Mac App Store

An Associated Press review of the new Photos app for the Mac suggests that OS X 10.10.3 will be available for general download later today. The first pre-release seed of the latest version of Yosemite was made available to developers and testers back in February, with the first public beta following at the beginning of March.

Apple’s new Photos app for Mac computers, available Wednesday as a free software update, makes it easy to organize and edit your pictures.

AP’s Anick Jesdanun was impressed with Photos, Apple’s replacement for iPhoto and Aperture, saying that the auto-fix features were particularly impressive … 
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A couple of months after the 1Password iOS app was updated to support one-time passwords, the Mac app has been given the same feature, allowing the popular password manager to support two-factor authentication.

Version 5.3 of the pricey but powerful app also gains a number of other improvements, including improved credit card filling on a number of sites, among them Hilton, Cineplex, Drafthouse, Amazon, and PayPal. More custom fields have been added, and you can add your own fields in secure notes also … 
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Apple looks to be having a few lot of problems with its servers this morning. At the time of writing, iTunes Connect is refusing logins, the iBooks store is not responding and there are intermittent outages when viewing some individual items in both iOS and Mac App Stores … 
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Update: Ending in 24 hours

9to5Toys Specials has put together a really impressive bundle of 8 Mac apps including the latest versions of Screenflow and Things (which are $100 and $49 at the Mac App Store by themselves!).

Using the coupon code ULTRAMAC5 at checkout, 9to5 readers can get an extra $5 discount over at Specials.9to5Toys.com to buy the whole bundle for $39.99 – that’s 91% off from the $470 retail price. 

Every app’s latest version is included, none of which has ever been in a bundle before (except AfterShot Pro 2). In fact, 6 of the apps cost more by themselves than the whole bundle(!!)

Here’s what’s in the goodie bag:

1. ScreenFlow 5 ($99.99) – The best screen recording tool for Mac. Version 5 was released in October and has never been in a bundle before.
2. Things 2 ($49) – Award-winning task management app that’s never been in a bundle before.
3. Civilization: Beyond Earth ($49.99) – The latest in the epic Civilization series.
4. ExpanDrive 4 ($49.95) – Slick utility app.
5. ProSoft Data Rescue 4 ($99.99) – Market leader in data recovery. This is the new version 4.
6. AfterShot Pro 2 ($79.95) – A very solid photo editor, and the only app included that’s been in a bundle before.
7. Typed ($24.95) – A new text editor that has gotten a lot of hype and acclaim out the gate.
8. Snapselect ($24.99) – Handy new photo app from MacPhun.

In all, the value is almost $470, and with the coupon code “ULTRAMAC5” 9to5 readers can grab it for $39.99 (91% off). You have 24 hours left. 

Apple today released the first Public Beta of the upcoming OS X Yosemite 10.10.3. The new release includes the iCloud-based Photos application for the Mac, new Emojis across the system, and simpler login to Google accounts for profiles with two-factor authentication enabled. This beta is labeled as build 14D87, which is the same as the second 10.10.3 beta for developers, which was released a week ago. The Public Beta is available in the Mac App Store Software Update tab for registered beta users. Apple plans to release the first Public Beta of iOS 8.3 in mid-March, according to sources. Thanks, DJ!

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Let’s assume you unwrapped a brand new Mac this year (awesome!) or scored a ton of iTunes/iBooks/App Store credit (still awesome!) and you need ideas for awesome apps to buy and check out for your new MacBook or iMac. Tons of new apps have launched on the Mac this year and even more have added new features and remain essential. Below are some of my favorite Mac apps that I’ve used needed from time to time or even use daily and should give you a solid place to start whether your a brand new Mac user or Mac veteran looking to do more with your machine.
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Apple released a new iPad Air 2 campaign during Sunday football today showcasing various unique physical and software applications for the iPad Air 2.

Featuring the song “Who Needs You” by The Orwells [iTunes Store, YouTube], the ad is a departure from last year’s iPad Air which were focused on a single user.

iPad Air 2 isn’t just the thinnest and lightest iPad we’ve ever created. It’s the most powerful. From the studio to the classroom, the field to the garage, it’s helping people discover new and better ways to do the things they love. Imagine what you’ll do with it.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROZhrRm88ms]

Microsite embedded below:
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If you open the Mac App Store right now and do a search for “twitter,” you’ll find results just like the ones in the image above. You may recognize the official Twitter app along with some of the most popular and prolific third-party clients. Right below Twitter for Mac you’ll find Twitterrific.

Twitterrific has been around for quite a while now, and was the very first native Twitter application ever built for Mac. It was also the first app to use the word “tweet” to refer to the posts on the network, and introduced many modern staples like conversations and replies. To this day it remains a popular choice among users and has seen many major updates and redesigns. It’s currently on its fourth major version.

In December 2012, Twitterrific 5 was released for iOS devices. The Iconfactory, Twitterrific’s developers, promised that a Mac version of the updated app was in development and would include support for the new iCloud syncing feature and an all-new design. Three days shy of a year after releasing the iPhone update, however, users were given what is currently the app’s most recent update. It included only two bug fixes. The developers have noted that the 5.0 update for Mac is facing big delays.

So what’s going on here? Why has it taken two years for any more news of the update? When will the new version finally be available?

The unfortunate truth? Not even the developers know.

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Evernote this afternoon has released a major update to its OS X desktop app, making both major design enhancements for Yosemite and under-the-hood performance improvements. The update, which the company says is a total rewrite of the app, adds an entirely redesigned interface with a new, lighter color scheme, as well as new icons.

At Evernote, we believe that speed and stability are essential for productivity. That’s why we’ve completely rewritten Evernote for Mac. Everenote is significantly faster, more reliable and consumes less energy than ever before. We’ve also added a number of new features!

In addition to the design improvements, Evernote also touts a variety of new features.

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Apple today seeded the second beta of the upcoming OS X Yosemite 10.10.1 update to registered developers and participants in the AppleSeed program. The update is available for these users in the Software Update tab of the Mac App Store.

As with the first beta, Apple asks developers to focus their testing on WiFi-connectvitiy, Exchange accounts in the Mail app, and Notification Center. Apple has not indicated when OS X 10.10.1 will be released to the public, but the first point updates to OS X typically arrive within a month of the original version.

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Apple has now blocked the launching of Mac apps infected with WireLurker malware, after earlier revoking security certificates to prevent them being installed on new devices. WireLurker was capable of infecting non-jailbroken iOS devices when connected to a Mac running one of the compromised apps. Over 400 Mac apps in a third-party Chinese app store were affected.

In a written statement, an Apple spokesperson said:

We are aware of malicious software available from a download site aimed at users in China, and we’ve blocked the identified apps to prevent them from launching. As always, we recommend that users download and install software from trusted sources.

However, a security researcher says that it would be easy for other attackers to exploit the exact same weakness … 
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Mac App Store users browsing the software shop tonight are starting to notice a few aesthetic changes, as seen in the screenshots above and below. Like the recent iTunes Store facelift, the Mac App Store redesign features lighter fonts, a sparse white background, and thin gray separators.

The updated design is currently showing up every few minutes on the throughout the store, though it still shows the old design on many pages just as much as the new. The iTunes Store had a similar issue when it was updated last month, and once the rollout is complete the new design will be available to everyone. A few elements such as the “Update” button are also still using the old style.

More screenshots are below:

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Update: Microsoft has now announced the Microsoft Band, a $199 fitness band that does everything described below. It goes on sale Thursday.

Microsoft hasn’t officially announced its wearable device, but it seems the company has accidentally published its desktop syncing client to the Mac App Store early. Whoops. The device is called the Microsoft Band (possibly Lumia Band, according to some currently non-functional support URLs) and sports a 310 x 102 resolution display.

The Microsoft privacy policy for the app lists some of the Band’s features: “Microsoft Band sensors help you keep track of things like your heart rate, steps, calories burned, and sleep.” Links in the document claiming to lead to a page with additional data, such as a list of sensors, currently lead to a 404 page.

Other key feature include the ability to get phone notifications on the Band, create reminders using Cortana, and more:

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Apple today released the sixth public beta of the upcoming OS X Yosemite to AppleSeed testers. The build number is 14A388b, which coincides with last week’s OS X Yosemite Golden Master Candidate 3.0 release for registered developers. Apple plans to provide final details on OS X Yosemite at the October 16th event, then release it as soon as later that date.

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