Social network platform Path, which was once reported to be in acquisition talks with Apple, has announced that it will be closing down next month.
Path pioneered a number of features later borrowed by Facebook, including one of the biggest shake-ups seen on the service …
Apple wants the third-party app marketplace for the upcoming Apple Watch to be a hit just like on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Apple has begun seeking an “Apple Watch Evangelist,” according to a posting on its official jobs website. This evangelist position is specifically designed to work with third-party application developers and promote development for the upcoming Apple Watch platform:
Apple tried to get social with the iTunes Ping network in 2010. Things didn’t work out so well. (Image via Wired)
Apple and social networking don’t have such a great history, but the Cupertino tech firm is ready to give it another go, if new rumors regarding a potential acquisition of the Path social app are true. According to PandoDaily, Apple is already in talks with the mobile social network and the merger is “essentially a done deal.”
Path, for the uninitiated, is a mobile-only social networking app launched in 2010 that features photo sharing, private messaging, and other features you’d expect from a basic social service. It isn’t as widely popular as something like Facebook or Twitter, but it’s estimated to have somewhere around 25 million users and could provide Apple with a decent platform to create its own network.
The private social network Path updated its iOS app today with a simpler chooser for posting content and a tabbed navigation bar for moving around the app. It’s biggest feature, though, follows a growing trend with mobile apps: Path Messaging has moved to a standalone app called Talk that’s rolling out today.
With its new Talk app, Path wants to replace SMS and Facebook as it focuses on privacy with a feature called Off the Record. While it’s not quite as ephemeral as instantly self-destructing messaging apps like Snapchat and Cyber Dust, Path promises its users that messages sent via Talk automatically erase from the social network’s servers after 24 hours from sending the message…
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Path, one of the last major social apps still holding out on an iOS 7 update, has finally been updated with a new design as well as a set of new preferences and features.
The app’s settings have been reorganized to simplify certain actions, as noted on the development blog:
In Settings, you will find that we’ve simplified the more detailed controls into Account, Notifications and Sharing sections. In Account, you’ll be able to update your profile photo, cover photo, email and other personal information. In Notifications, you’ll be able to manage notifications for your Inner Circle and your Friends. In Sharing you can manage all of the networks you can post to from Path.
The shop that houses in-app purchases for sticker packs and premium account upgrades has also gotten an overhaul and now presents everything in a simpler interface. A new “purchased” tab like the one found in the iOS version of iTunes and the App Store allows users to revisit their list of purchases.
Path 3.4 is available on the App Store for free.
Click for a larger view.
Apple announced on Tuesday that iOS 7 will be publicly available on September 18th. The revamped OS moves completely away from the realistic designs of the past six generations, dropping almost all “artificial shadows” (as Apple SVP Craig Federighi called them), gloss, and even button borders. Instead, the Jony Ive-inspired interface features an entirely rethought design language that focuses heavily on large icons, lightweight fonts, whitespace, transparency, and conservative use of color.
We previously took a look at what some of Apple’s own in-house apps could look like when redesigned for iOS 7. During Apple’s September 10th event, Federighi flashed up a slide displaying the upcoming iOS 7 updates for many third-party applications. None of the apps were labeled, but we’ve tracked down names for most of them.
The apps featured are:
As announced on the Facebook for Business news blog, the social network has added new features in an update to their mobile applications today.
Taking advantage of the OpenTable service, visiting a restaurant’s page now shows available times and reservations and everything can be completed right inside the Facebook app.
Using their mobile devices, will be able to book tables via Facebook Pages for restaurants. The update represents a new way for people to discover and book great dining experiences, all within the Facebook mobile app. There’s no need to visit a separate mobile site or open a separate app.The new feature will be available on the Facebook mobile Pages for more than 20,000 OpenTable restaurant customers across North America.
In addition, the update brings listings to the pages of primetime TV shows and movies:
Finding shows and movies on TV is getting easier as well. For people that use iOS, Facebook will display TV listing information on US primetime TV and movie Pages. Listings will be based on your current time zone and include the channel name, air time and a description of the show or movie playing, meaning that the listings that exist in cable box guides, magazines and newspapers are now conveniently located on the Facebook Pages of peoples’ favorite shows.
The update has also brought hashtag search to iOS.
What’s New in Version 6.4
• Search for hashtags or tap them in posts to see what other people are saying about a topic
• Make restaurant reservations directly on participating Pages in the US
• Faster loading and a cleaner design for timelines on iPad
• Fixed a bug that was causing some people to see red notification badges when there weren’t any new notifications
Smaller, private social network Path has announced the addition of 13 new API partners, including Pic Stitch, WordPress, Viddy, Over and several other notable apps. The company notes that the API will come to more applications over time, but they are starting out with partners of applications they love and find to be related to the philosophies of the app.
To start, we have hand-selected developers we admire for their innovation and quality, as well as a few that have been most requested by our users. From more workout moments, to photo moments, to thought moments, we have worked closely with these developers to ensure that sharing to Path is a seamless and beautiful experience.
Moving forward, we will continue to work with developers with whom we share values. In addition, we’ll continue to work closely with each developer to guarantee an integration that truly delights the user. Our current list of developers that will be able to share to Path are:
Photos & Video
- Over
- Viddy
- PicMix
- PicFrame
- Pic Stitch
- Pic Collage
- papelook
- Manga-Camera
- Otaku Camera
- Miil
Thoughts
- WordPress
- Holy Bible
Workouts
- Strava Cycling
- Nike+ Running
- Nike+ FuelBand
Some of these are available today, others in the coming weeks. We invite you to download them and start sharing to Path!
Path, the “personal social network”, has just released version 3.1 of their application. The company details out all of the new features on their company blog:
You told us you wanted more stickers in more places. So Path 3.1 is for you. Now, any sticker, whether you buy a new pack or use an old one, can be used to quickly respond to your friends’ moments, to add color and depth to your commentary. Now, stickers can be part of the full story. We are excited to bring you stickers in comments, a new way to express yourself.
We also used this release as an opportunity to update Path for iPad. Improved navigation in both landscape and profile views means you’ll never miss a moment or message. Landscape view now has a fully functioning composer button and feed, so you can share and view moments however you prefer. Plus, any conversations you’re having with friends are simply one tap away.
But we’re not done. Now it’s even easier to send a friend request to that friend you’re standing next to. We generate a QR code for you, your friend scans it, and voila, it’s official! And a refined friends list makes it faster to find and message your friends and family so you can quickly be in touch.
The application has been updated for both iOS and Android. Just a couple of months ago, users being complaining Path was sending spam messages to their friends, even though then company said it was a feature. Nevertheless, the app receives mostly 5-star ratings in the App Store.
Analog Camera for iPhone by <a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=jZ6GP8Fu9UU&subid=&offerid=146261.1&type=10&tmpid=3909&RD_PARM1=https%3A%2F%2Fitunes.apple.com%2Fnl%2Fartist%2Frealmac-software%2Fid310591643%3Fl%3Den" target="_blank">Realmac Software</a>
From the wonderful folks who brought you Clear for iPhone and Mac, Realmac Software announced today it will bring a few of its stunning filters from Analog for Mac to the iPhone with Analog Camera.
Analog Camera for iPhone resembles the simplistic, gesture based UI of Clear for iPhone, featuring soft square or rectangle buttons that pop up upon contact and prompt fun, clever sounds.
Check out my observations of the app and a teaser video below:
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Today a number of reports are flowing in claiming that social network app Path is sending spam messages to people listed in the user’s address book. The issue apparently isn’t new with some Android users on Reddit experiencing the spam a few months back, while a growing number of users on Twitter today have complained of their contacts receiving both spam text messages and calls. The messages, as pictured right, say the user has photos to share on Path and urges the recipient to downed the free Path app.
However, Path confirmed to The Verge that the issue is actually a feature of the app that sends messages to a user’s Facebook friends during sign-up:
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The Croods: Previously announced, Rovio has today released the first official gameplay video for its upcoming iOS movie tie-in for DreamWorks’ upcoming ‘The Croods’ animated feature film hitting theatres March 22. Check out the full gameplay video above.
Path version 3.0.1: Path is introducing some new features with an update to its iOS app today that brings a new Messaging features, handcrafted stickers, and a marketplace called “The Shop” where users can purchase “premium photo filters and handcrafted stickers.”
★ Messaging – The fast, fun, and private way to message your family and friends one-to-one or in small groups. Use your words, your voice, your location, media, stickers, and more!
★ Stickers – Say more in a single tap with handcrafted stickers from some of our favorite artists.
★ The Shop – The hand curated place to find premium photo filters and handcrafted stickers to make your Path experience more you.
✓ Performance improvements.
☂ Bug fixes.
Fantastical version 1.1: Fantastical, the calendar app we recently reviewed and loved, is updated today with a number of new features including multiple alerts, time zone support, and much, much more. The app is also on sale for a limited time for $3.99 USD.
– Multiple alerts when creating events
– Time zone support
– Duplicate or move events (tap and hold an event in the event list)
– Go to a specific date (tap and hold the red title bar)
– Event list is now scrollable when using the calendar
– Today’s timed events dim after the event has ended
– Copied text containing event info can automatically be made into an event
– Added setting to highlight weekends
– Added setting to show empty days on the DayTicker
– Added setting to display the number of today’s remaining events or date on the app icon badge
– State restoration (iOS 6 only)
– A staggering number of other improvements, parser enhancements, and bug fixes
Conan O’Brien Presents: Team Coco version 3.1: Conan’s iPhone app bringing content from his Team Coco site has been completely redesigned and now includes full episodes of Conan on demand as well as the two-screen syncing experience previously only available to iPad users.
Angry Birds version 3.1.0: On top of making the previously 99 cent original Angry Birds title Free today, the app (both iPad and iPhone versions) have been updated with brand new content. The updated app includes “15 fantastic new levels for the Bad Piggies episode!”
Asphalt 7: Heat version 1.0.8: New super cars and events get added to Gameloft’s popular Asphalt 7: Heat title:
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MapChoice | $0.99: A new app just released on the App Store provides you with access to both Apple’s new Maps and Google Maps in a single app. Your position will transfer from one map to the other, and it also includes StreetView and Foursquare integration.
MapChoice gives you a choice between old and new maps. You can also view Street View and search using FourSquare.
Instagram version 3.4.0 | FREE: Instagram gets updated today with support for 25 languages, a new “Mayfair” filter, Facebook iOS 6 integration, and more.
– Instagram is now available in 25 languages!
– New filter: Mayfair
– Share photos from any album
– Facebook iOS 6 integration
– Improved performance and bug fixes
The Wall Street Journal version 5.0 | FREE: The Wall Street Journal just updated its iOS app, moving content on iPhone and iPad to Apple’s Newsstand and providing users with automatically updated issues each morning. WSJ will now offer in-app subscriptions, billing users directly to their iTunes accounts monthly. The updated app also includes Alerts for breaking news.
Newsstand & Alerts
– WSJ is now in Newsstand! Get new issues automatically delivered to your device overnight. To use Newsstand, tap ‘Allow’ when prompted.
– Note: WSJ App icon will now appear in the Newsstand Folder.
– Breaking News Alerts from WSJ. To get alerts, tap ‘Allow’ when prompted.
In-App Subscriptions
– Purchase a monthly subscription to WSJ through your iTunes account. With a digital subscription you get access to iPad, iPhone, WSJ.com and more.
StubHub version 4.1.0 | FREE: The StubHub iOS app gets updated with more interactive seat maps, the ability to see your view before buying tickets, iPhone 5 support, and more:
• Interactive seat maps for certain football and basketball games: filter ticket listings by section
• View from section: see the view from your section before you buy (for many events)
• iPhone 5 support
• Improved sharing (Twitter, Facebook, and text messaging)
• Ability to add events to your calendar
• User interface enhancements
• You can now send maps and routes from mapquest.com to your phone and open them in the MapQuest App
Tentacles: Enter the Dolphin | $0.99: Microsoft’s previously Windows Phone-only title gets iPhone 5 support and new features:
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In a Financial Times story about Apple’s Senior Vice President of Industrial Design Jonathan Ive “emerging from [Steve] Jobs’ shadow,” we get a few interesting stories from ex-Apple employees regarding the design guru’s work ethic. While one anonymous ex-Apple employee told the publication Ive’s “main talent was his ability to manage his relationship with Jobs,” Path chief and former Apple employee Dave Morin remembers Ive as a perfectionist.
Morin described a story about Ive spending three months adjusting the MacBook design to ensure it could be easily operated with one finger:
As we reported earlier this month, Apple was set to appeal a $1.2 million fine imposed by Italian anti-trust authorities Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato. The authorities argued Apple is misleading consumers by selling its one-year AppleCare warranties without informing customers of a two-year warranty mandatory by European Union law. Apple officially lost the appeal in court this week, which forced the company to pay the €900,00 fine and alter its AppleCare policies to properly inform consumers going forward. Apple can still appeal the decision, but consumer groups from 10 other countries are also requesting Apple change its policies—indicating this could soon be EU-wide. (via Repubblica.it)
Following the Path incident, a letter sent from lawmakers to Apple in February requested information on how the company collects personal data. The two congressional representatives behind the letter, Henry A. Waxman and G. K. Butterfield, sent letters to 34 app developers requesting similar information. One of the letters was sent to Tim Cook and Apple about the “Find My Friends” app. The letters are requesting that developers answer questions about their privacy policies and how they handle user data. In response to Path, Apple already confirmed, “Any app wishing to access contact data will require explicit user approval in a future software release.”
Earlier this month, we reported that U.S. Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner ruled in favor of Apple’s request to view documents related to the development of Android and the Google/Motorola acquisition. Apple claimed, “The Android/Motorola acquisition discovery is highly relevant to Apple’s claims and defenses.” According to Bloomberg, Apple told the courts last week that Motorola has yet to fulfill the original request, but Judge Posner denied Apple’s request this week and said, “Motorola’s objections are persuasive.” Two patent infringement-related trials between Apple and Motorola are set for June, and Posner warns Apple will have to “narrow its request to a manageable and particularized set of documents” for any future production of data requests.
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Let’s take a quick break from the hordes of Mountain Lion OSX news to talk about privacy issues within apps…again. However, this time the spotlight is on children’s apps in both Apple’s App Store and Google’s Android Marketplace.
The Federal Trade Commission released a report today (PDF) based on a survey that found apps for children do not fully disclose the types of data collected nor do they adequately educate parents about data harvesting.
The consumer protection agency scrutinized privacy policies, recommended each developer give comprehensible disclosures on how data is accrued and shared, including whether children’s data is linked to social network apps, and it even mentioned conducting a six-month review on disclosures and using enforcement if needed. The report focused on the two main app stores themselves and requested more be done to tell children and their parents about privacy concerns…
The app development world went into a frenzy when social network app Path was caught uploading users’ address book information without asking for permission last week. We already gave our view on the matter, but Forbes reported on a study by University of California at Santa Barbara yesterday that found Cydia apps leaked private data less than apps available on the iTunes App Store.
The group built a tool called PiOS that analyzes iOS apps for private data leaks. It looked at 1,407 free apps: 825 apps from the App Store; and, 526 apps from Cydia’s repository the BigBoss.
The findings indicated 21 percent of the App Store apps tested uploaded a users’ iOS device’s UDID, 4 percent uploaded location information, and .5-percent uploaded users’ address book—like Path did. When it came to the 526 apps tested on the BigBoss repo, only 4 percent leaked users’ UDID, and only one app leaked location and address book data.
Many people are under the impression that third-party apps do the majority of the uploading, but that might not be the case. Perhaps Apple’s new restriction on uploading address book information without permission will help remedy the situation.
You can view the study’s full graph after the break:
Apple officially responded to the mounting privacy concerns related to how third-party iOS apps access address book data on users’ devices. Tom Neumayr, a spokesperson for the Cupertino, Calif.-headquartered gadget giant told AllThingsD’s John Paczkowski:
Apps that collect or transmit a user’s contact data without their prior permission are in violation of our guidelines. We’re working to make this even better for our customers, and as we have done with location services, any app wishing to access contact data will require explicit user approval in a future software release.
So, there you have it. A forthcoming iOS software update will make sure no app can get access to iPhone contacts without your explicit approval. We are inclined to think Apple should not limit user approvals to just location data and contacts. While we are at it: Why not implement toggles for accessing the camera roll, photo library, and even your music library for that matter? This stuff is just waiting to be uploaded by rogue apps. By the time Apple discovers those violations and pulls misbehaving software from the App Store, it will already be too late and the damage will have been done. Any thoughts?
The Path debacle just took another turn for the worse with House Energy & Commerce Committee Ranking Member Henry Waxman and Commerce Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee Chair G.K. Butterfield issuing a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook (via The Next Web). In it, the legislators seek to find out whether Apple is doing enough to protect personal data on users’ iPhones, including their contacts. Specifically, the letter asserts there have been claims that the practice of collecting address book data without users’ consent is “common and accepted among iOS app developers.”
As a consequence, the legislators argue, “This raises questions of whether Apple’s iOS app developer policies and practices adequately protect consumer privacy.” They want Apple to respond to questions by Feb. 29. Apple is asked to detail its App Store review practices in respect to protecting users’ information. Whichever way you look at it, it is hard to escape the notion that everything on your iPhone is waiting to be uploaded.
As you know, with the exception of location services, iOS does not prompt users when apps tap APIs to access personal data stored in an iPhone’s address book, camera roll, music library and other places. This also includes little things such as geolocation information embedded in image files taken on the device. This is bothering the legislators and now they want to know why Apple has not implemented a simple toggle that lets users control access to their data other than location.
You have built into your devices the ability to turn off in one place the transmission of location information entirely or on an app-by-app basis. Please explain why you have not done the same for address book information.
We included the letter in its entirety below the fold.
Blogger Arun Thampi discovered something that may or may not sit right about the free social media app Path while packet sniffing the app last night. Upon first installing the app and registering for an account, Path sends each one of your contacts in your address book to their server via a. plist. The .plist includes full names, phone numbers, and e-mails.
Path makes the call “https://api.path.com/3/contacts/add” when you first create an account, and it uploads all your contacts to its server. In most people’s mind, this obviously makes them feel a little uncomfortable. Thampi details the technical aspects of this, and how you can recreate it yourself, in his blog post.
Path’s Cofounder and CEO Dave Morin commented on the situation and said iPhone users will soon be able to opt-out of the setting in an update that will roll out to the App Store shortly. Nevertheless, does that really change anything? He did not really explain why Path is doing this, and your entire address book is still on their servers. You can read Morin’s comment after the break:
