software

74 'software' stories November 2012 - June 2014

New app Audibly lets you share your music wirelessly to nearby iOS devices

Mike Beasley Jun 11 2014 - 8:05 pm PT

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_rLITnBzvk]

A brand new app created by three 2013 WWDC student scholarship winners— Nick Frey, Chris Galzerano, and Veeral Patel—launched on the App Store earlier this month. The app is called Audibly, and it allows users to stream music from one device to any others nearby. The music plays in sync across all devices, allowing everyone to listen in on the same playlist.

The app is fairly straightfoward. You simply pick a playlist to share, pair with a few nearby iOS devices, and hit play. The connection is made over Wi-Fi when there’s a network available, or through a peer-to-peer Wi-Fi connection if the devices aren’t connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

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Flickr for iOS updated with new sharing options, support for tags, and better group support

Mike Beasley Jun 11 2014 - 5:54 pm PT

1 Comment

Flickr updated its iOS app today to version 3.1.0. The update includes the ability to share albums on social networks like Twitter and Facebook, or through an email or SMS/iMessage. You can also add and edit tags and descriptions on your photos.

Finally, a few enhancements have been made to group support. Administrators can now invite photos to a group, and users can choose to get a notification when that happens. There are of course the usual “bug fixes” and “performance improvements” as well.

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Pocket Informant 4.0 released with iBeacon support, redesigned month view, and much more

Mike Beasley Jun 11 2014 - 3:03 pm PT

7 Comments

The free Pocket Informer app for iPhone and iPad has been updated today with a host of new features, including improved location support, iBeacon compatibility, a revamped month view, and much more.

The new update allows users to accomplish new types location-based tasks, such as automatically activating specific calendar filters based on location. iBeacon support allows more precise location-based reminders and alerts. The app can also edit Apple’s native location-based Reminders.

Improvements to repeated calendar events have also been made, allowing users to create new types of recurring events, and a redesigned month view provides a more complete overview of the weeks ahead. A new travel mode allows users to enter future travel plans so that the app can automatically do time zone conversions based on where the user will be on the date of that event.

Pocket Informant is available for free on the App Store, but many features are locked behind in-app purchases ranging from $.99 to $14.99. The complete list of changes in this update can be found below.

What’s New in Version 4.0

Informant 4.0 is a MAJOR FREE UPGRADE. We’ve added exciting new features that you won’t find in ANY other calendaring app as well as ton of other additions and improvements across the board.

Here some highlights of what’s new:

◉ NEW! TravelAssist™ is completely unique approach to automating Time Zone handling while traveling. Simply tell Informant about your travel plans and after that, all new events scheduled between those dates will automatically default to the proper time zone. Likewise, while you are traveling, all new events scheduled outside your travel dates will default to your “home” time zone (instead of your “current” travel time zone).

◉ NEW! iBeacon Support. If you haven’t heard about iBeacons, check out Apple’s website to learn more. In short, iBeacons allow you to create location notifications at a much more precise location than GPS can give you. Here are a few things Informant can do with iBeacons:
◉ Informant can act as an iBeacon itself! This allows you to set Informant to remind you to do something next time you are near a specific friend, co-worker or family member.
◉ Pre-order hardware Informant iBeacons on our website today! You can place these small, convenient hardware beacons in your car, a room in your house, a conference room, your desk at work or anywhere else where you’d like to have Informant remind you to do something.

◉ LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
◉ Calendar Filters can now be automatically tied to a specific location (including a specific iBeacon)! Create a saved calendar filter for home and one for work. Then set Informant to automatically change between them based on you current location.
◉ Task locations notifications now have a radius that you can now conveniently adjust in the map view
◉ We now support editing Apple Location Reminders directly in Informant

◉ YOU’LL LOVE THE NEW MONTH VIEW
◉ Month View is now a vertically scrolling “Rolling Month View”
◉ Double-tap on a day to slide up a graphical day view
◉ Timed multi-day events now appear similar to “All Day” events in the Month View
◉ iPad now uses the “slide up” detail view instead of popovers when tapping on a day

◉ YOU’LL LOVE ALL THE OTHER VIEWS AS WELL
◉ We added support for iOS 7 Dynamic Text size and we added additional large text size options
◉ Details of events & tasks are now displayed in a convenient popover
◉ Informant now opens the contact card when you tap on a Birthday event
◉ Event conflict detection can be enabled/disabled per calendar

◉ GET HOLIDAY AND OTHER CALENDARS: We’ve partnered with SchedJoules to offer you a huge selection of calendars that you can purchase from their calendar store (integrated into Informant): everything from Name Days, Holidays, Phases of the Moon, Sports Calendars, and more.
◉ SEARCH MORE: Informant now searches the past 15 years and all future Apple Events in addition to all Pocket Informant native events.
◉ PRINT MORE: You can now print individual events, tasks, or any task list that is available in the Task View.
◉ SMART TITLE: Informant now offers to auto-complete Template names or Contacts as you type the title of a new event or task.
◉ NEW RECURRENCE OPTION: You can now create recurring events on the “5th of the month”. Finally.
◉ BACKUPS: Daily backups are now completely automatic!
◉ MUCH MUCH MORE: We have a more complete list of what’s new on our website.

By the way, did we mention this is a FREE upgrade to all of our amazing Informant Premium customers? If you haven’t purchased Informant Premium yet, it’s a great time to upgrade. And if you have – thank you so much for your support and don’t forget to tell your friends about your favorite calendaring app!!

As always, we recommend you back up your data before a major upgrade of any app (Informant will do this for you automatically). If you have any questions about what’s new, please contact our support team.

Gallery: First look at iOS 8 with Health app, Notification Center widgets, and more

Mike Beasley Jun 2 2014 - 1:41 pm PT

22 Comments

Earlier today Apple announced the next version of its iOS software, iOS 8, during the WWDC keynote today. Below you’ll find a gallery of all the new bells and whistles in the latest operating system. If you’ve got some screenshots you’d like to send us, you can send them to tips@9to5mac.com.

The new software includes features like iOS-to-Mac continuity, quick-reply for first- and third-party apps, a new predictive text keyboard, changes to the Mail app, HealthKit framework and Health app, Family Sharing features, new Photos cloud storage, an updated iCloud pricing scheme, new commands for Siri, App Store changes including beta distribution, a Touch ID API, third-party keyboards, new iCloud management and development features, a home automation framework, and even support for a brand new programming language.

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Readdle’s PDF Expert goes universal, adds even more power in version 5.1

Mike Beasley May 29 2014 - 7:00 am PT

5 Comments

PDF Expert, the powerful PDF viewing and editing application from Readdle, got a big update today that features few new features and tweaks to make it even more useful along with a big speed boost.

The big news, though, is that PDF Expert is a universal app for the first time. Where previous versions were device-specific for the iPhone and iPad, PDF Expert 5.1 brings both interfaces together in one app. To accommodate the change, the old iPhone version has been retired. Version 5.1, which was formerly iPad-only, will now work on the iPhone as well, with all features supported across both devices.

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Google-owned VirusTotal releases Mac-compatible version of malware detection app

Mike Beasley May 26 2014 - 4:25 pm PT

7 Comments

Google-owned VirusTotal today released a version of the VirusTotal uploader application (via The Next Web) compatible with Mac OS X. Previously the software was only available for Windows-based machines.

VirusTotal Uploader works in conjunction with the VirusTotal web service to check files and links for malware. Google hopes that the release of the software for the Mac will help users more easily detect attacks on Apple’s platform. From the VirusTotal blog:

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CARROT Fit updated with new workout module involving dragons and Justin Bieber

Mike Beasley May 14 2014 - 3:46 pm PT

3 Comments

Meatbags rejoice! Or, perhaps more accurately, cower in fear. CARROT, the “fun”-loving AI construct who just wants to hurt you in ways you can’t even imagine, has returned with a brand new CARROT Fit update.

In this update, you’ll find a new 7-minute workout module that’s just a little different from the rest. That’s because this one involves punching Justin Bieber in the face and performing a dragon mating dance, among other, equally-ridiculous activities.

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Coda 2.5 won’t be coming to the Mac App Store, but there’s no need to panic

Mike Beasley May 14 2014 - 2:39 pm PT

22 Comments

Mac and iOS development team Panic announced today in a company blog post that the next major version of its Coda web development tool would not be coming to the Mac App Store. The reason? App Store apps need to be sandboxed (a security feature in OS X that doesn’t let apps modify data outside of their designated “sandboxes”), and Coda 2.5 simply doesn’t work as a sandboxed app.

According to Panic, Apple worked with the developers as much as possible to provide temporary exemptions and workarounds that could help alleviate some of the issues encoutered, but ultimately the decision was made to only release the update through the Panic website.

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Columbia University students create software allowing native iOS apps to run on Android devices

Mike Beasley May 13 2014 - 8:20 pm PT

27 Comments

Photo: Reuters

For some time now, iOS users have cited the quality and quantity of third-party software available for the platform as an important factor in their choice of mobile devices. Over the years Android has amassed its own collection of apps and users have continued butting heads over which system had the better selection.

Now, six Columbia University students have bridged the gap between the two platforms with something called Cider (via The Next Web). Not to be confused with the other Cider software (for OS X), the Android version of Cider essentially fools iOS applications into believing they’re running on an actual iPhone or iPad.

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Logic Pro X updated with improvements for 12-core Mac Pros, bug fixes, and more

Mike Beasley May 13 2014 - 12:36 pm PT

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Logic Pro X has been updated today with a number of bug fixes and improvements. First on the list of changes is better support for 12-core Mac Pros, which can now utilize up to 24 threads at once. Fixes to step sequencer issues when using Low Latency Mode and alignment guides have been implemented, and several XML import and export bugs have been taken care of.

A few extra enhancements also appear in this update: You can now copy automation data and paste it to any location using the Marquee tool; MIDI devices with volume and pan controls can now be set to control the software instrument rather than the channel strip the instrument is recorded on; and volume, pan, and effect send values can now be inserted into the automation track at the current playhead position.

There are also upgrades to the app’s accessiblity features. You can grab the update for free if you already own Logic Pro X. The app is $199.99 for new users on the App Store.

What’s New in Version 10.0.7

• Now supports 24 processing threads on 12-core Mac Pro models
• The current volume, pan, and send values for all selected tracks can now be inserted at the playhead position
• Enabling Low Latency Mode no longer creates sync issues for Drummer, Ultrabeat, Native Instruments Machine and other plug-ins with integrated step sequencers
• Automation can now be copied and pasted to any location using the Marquee tool
• Adds an option for MIDI volume and pan data to control the instrument plug-in instead of the channel strip
• Resolves several snap and alignment guide issues
• Various fixes that improve XML import and export with Final Cut Pro X
• Contains multiple enhancements to Accessibility

Facebook Poke and Camera pulled from the App Store

Mike Beasley May 9 2014 - 2:49 pm PT

1 Comment

Even though Facebook seemingly wants to break as many of its functions out into separate apps as possible—see Messenger and Pages Manager, for example—it appears that not every function is worthy its own App Store listing. Earlier today the social network pulled two of its iOS apps from sale: Poke (a Snapchat-like photo messenger) and Camera (which is exactly what it sounds like).

Both apps launched in 2012 and didn’t see many big improvements after that. Camera got a few small updates, though they didn’t seem to be much of a priority for the company. At one point a bug left the app’s internal employee settings exposed to all users for several months before being fixed.

Poke, on the other hand, was virtually ignored by Facebook from the day it went live until it was removed from the store. Most of the Camera app’s features were eventually rolled back into the main Facebook app, but Poke was not so fortunate.

Facebook hasn’t provided any reason for pulling either app, but it’s safe to assume that neither was being used that much anymore. The company now seems more focused on its messaging platform, with the recent acquisition of WhatsApp for $19 billion and the announcement that soon messaging would be removed from the main Facebook client in favor of the free Messenger app.

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4Snaps word game for iOS updated to version 2.0 with a new look and gameplay tweaks

Mike Beasley Apr 29 2014 - 8:00 am PT

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[vimeo 92684154 w=700 h=394]

4Snaps, the creative new word game we first wrote about when it debuted last year, has gotten a big overhaul today with the launch of its 2.0 update. The new version brings a new design with a gesture-focused interface that bounces around playfully using the new UI physics found in iOS 7.

Other interface tweaks include the ability to rearrange your snaps before sending them, delete finished games from the main screen, and preview exactly what your opponent will see when you hit the ‘send’ button.

The update also adds some new tweaks to the gameplay. If you’re having trouble figuring a word out, you can now share snaps to Instagram and ask your followers on that network for help.

The in-game economy has also gotten a boost. In the old version of the game, you could spend in-game coins to switch out your set of playable words for a new one. Now you can also spend those coins on hints, such as removing any incorrect letters from the board. And where coins were previously earned only by completing rounds, you can also now earn them by watching in-game video ads.

Overall, this is a really solid update to what was already a fun game. 4Snaps 2.0 is a free download on the App Store for all players.

Weather Channel launches redesigned iPhone app with ‘social weather’ and flight info

Mike Beasley Apr 23 2014 - 9:50 pm PT

6 Comments

The Weather Channel app for iPhone has been updated with a brand new iOS 7-inspired design and features. The new design gives each bit of information a more prominent location on the screen, though it does so at the expense of an all-in-one overview. Where previously all relevant weather information was contained on the main screen, the updated app places various types of information on separate pages that can be swiped through.

The addition of a new airport mode that provides users with information about weather-related flight delays and cancellations could serve as a useful tool for travelers. A new severe weather mode causes the entire app’s interface to change if severe weather is reported in your area, putting critical information front-and-center. Finally, a social component has been added that allows users to submit weather reports and photos of their own.

You can grab the redesigned Weather Channel app on the iPhone App Store free of charge.

1Password for iOS updated with all-new design, support for multiple vaults, and more

Mike Beasley Apr 22 2014 - 6:00 am PT

11 Comments

1Password 4 launched last year to much fanfare as a major redesign of the most powerful password management software available. Today the app has been updated to version 4.5, which brings the biggest update to the app’s design since the 4.0 release.

With this update, the entire app has once again been redesigned completely, this time for compliance with iOS 7’s new look. You’ll still find the layout familiar, though some tweaks have been made to a few areas.

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Beats Music updated with subscriptions via in-app purchase, Facebook friend search, and a lot more

Mike Beasley Apr 18 2014 - 5:48 pm PT

2 Comments

Beats Music for iOS was updated today to version 1.0.7, but don’t let the minor version number bump fool you: this update has a lot of new stuff, including an entirely new subscription model, packed in.

The biggest news in this update is the option to purchase a subscription directly from the iTunes Store through an in-app purchase. Previously users had to add the Beats Music service to their carrier phone bill in order to enjoy the full feature set, such as on-demand streaming music and downloads.

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FuelBand and other hardware discontinued, development team fired as Nike seeks to exit wearable tech market

Mike Beasley Apr 18 2014 - 5:22 pm PT

20 Comments

Nike has decided to get out of the wearable technology market entirely, according to a brand-new report from CNET. The company is said to have come to the conclusion that fitness software has a more stable future at the company, leading to the discontinuation of the FuelBand and other wearable fitness products and the firing of most of the 70 employees currently working in that division.

The move is interesting timing. Just a week ago, Nike launched Nike+Fuel Lab in San Francisco, a “new program to develop partnerships and products with NikeFuel” hundreds of miles south of its current location at its Oregon HQ.

This announcement comes only weeks before Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, where the company is expected to show off its upcoming Healthbook application as part of the next generation of iPhone software in anticipation of iWatch hardware coming later this year. Nike’s new strategy will put it more in line to compete with Healthbook as an application rather than the actual iWatch device.

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Facebook for iPhone updated to version 9.0, allows replying to comments on certain pages and more

Mike Beasley Apr 17 2014 - 9:38 pm PT

12 Comments

Facebook has pushed out version 9.0 of its iPhone application today, adding new features to the commenting system among a few smaller changes. The biggest change in this minor update allows users to reply to comments on pages that have enabled that specific feature.

Aside from that, administrators will now be able to review and approve posts by group members, and everyone will see posts related to the site’s trending topics highlighted in the iPad version’s News Feed. This update follows the news from earlier today that the company is launching a “friends near me” feature within the app, similar to Apple’s “Find My Friends” service.

Facebook 9.0 is available on the iOS App Store. The full change log is below:

What’s New in Version 9.0

• Reply directly to comments on stories by Pages that have this feature turned on
• Group admins can easily review and approve pending posts by group members
• See posts about trending topics highlighted in News Feed on iPad

Apple releases iMovie for Mac 10.0.3 with new sorting options, improved titles, and more

Mike Beasley Apr 10 2014 - 2:51 pm PT

2 Comments

Apple has just published its third update to the revamped Mac version of iMovie launched last year. The update, version 10.0.3, makes changes to the default font in the new titles first added to last year’s release. It also includes the ability to sort events by date to quickly find clips by when they were recorded.

Other improvements include the ability to rotate and crop clips within events rather than projects, an easier method of accessing transition duration settings, faster access to clip speed controls, improvements to how speed changes are handled, and various bugs that could cause the app to crash or not do what was expected.

You can grab the update for free in the Updates tab of the Mac App Store if you already own iMovie 10. Users on previous versions of iMovie can buy the current version for $14.99. The full change log is below:

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Doo moves beyond document syncing, releases Scanbot for iPhone

Mike Beasley Apr 3 2014 - 8:00 am PT

14 Comments

Earlier this year, the developers of the document-syncing application Doo announced that the company was shutting down its backend and removing its app from sale. The company wasn’t going anywhere, however, and had plans for a brand new product that would be revealed soon.

Today, the company has taken the wraps off of its newest app, Scanbot, which allows users to scan documents into their iPhone and store them as PDFs or JPGs on a variety of cloud services. We had a chance to talk to Frank Thelen, CEO of Doo, about why the original service was shuttered, how the company decided on a new direction, and and what lies ahead for Scanbot.
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WhatsApp announces 64 billion messages sent through its texting app — in just one day

Mike Beasley Apr 2 2014 - 12:14 am PT

4 Comments

Whatsapp, the popular messaging client for iOS and Android, announced today on Twitter that it had reached a new record for messages sent in a single day. With 20 billion outgoing messages and 44 incoming messages handled in a single 24-hour period, the grand total came out to 64 billion.

[tweet https://twitter.com/WhatsApp/status/451198381856014337 align=’center’]

Here’s a little perspective on that number: Instagram recently announced that its users had posted 20 billion photos to the service. You’ll notice that’s not a statistic for one day. It’s the total number of photos shared in the history of the network.

That means that in one day, Whatsapp handled over three times as many requests as Instagram has since it launched three years ago. Not too shabby.

Apple releases Safari 7.0.3 with push notification changes, security improvements, and more

Mike Beasley Apr 1 2014 - 2:59 pm PT

2 Comments

After updating iWork for iCloud and its Mac and iOS counterparts, Apple has pushed out a new Safari update as well. The new version is 7.0.3 and contains mostly bug and security fixes. Apple has been beta testing this update with developers for the past few weeks. The two biggest parts of this update are changes to push notifications and the way URLs are handled.

For users who don’t want to be asked about push notifications from any site, there’s now a checkbox in the notification preferences that disables them entirely. Unchecking the box for “Allow websites to ask for permission to send push notifications” (seen above) will block all notification prompts in the future.

The second big change enables Safari to recognize new generic top-level domains (the .com bit at the end of the URL). The organization responsible for managing these has recently created several new ones for generic terms (like “.pizza”). Safari will now recognize these and go to the correct URL rather than trying to search for the term.
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Apple updates iWork for Mac and iOS with read-only sharing modes and much more

Mike Beasley Apr 1 2014 - 2:15 pm PT

7 Comments

Following today’s iWork for iCloud update, Apple has pushed out new versions of the iOS and OS X version of the productivity suite, providing feature parity with the online version. Pages (iOS / Mac), Keynote (iOS / Mac), and Numbers (iOS / Mac) each received a new read-only sharing mode to work with the iCloud version of that feature.

Each app also got a long list of changes and enhancements, which are listed below. You can get all of the updates for free if you already own the latest version of iWork. Apple recently started including a copy of the iWork and iLife suites along with new iOS devices and Macs, but users with older devices will need to purchase the current version separately if they haven’t already.
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Apple updates Trailers app with push notifications, better Rotten Tomatoes integration, and more

Mike Beasley Mar 25 2014 - 2:40 pm PT

3 Comments

Apple has updated its iTunes Movie Trailers app with several new features and upgrades. The biggest new feature is the ability to get push notifications when movies marked as favorites hit theaters or iTunes. The in-app movie reviews have also been tweaked. Where previously you could only see a movies overall Rotten Tomatoes rating, you can now read full reviews right from within the app.

A few smaller features are also included in the update. You can now share links to movie trailers via AirDrop to other iOS devices, and a few bugs have been squashed. You can grab the app for free on the iTunes App Store. The full change log is below:

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Verbs IM client for iOS updated with overhauled design, iCloud message sync, and a lot more

Mike Beasley Mar 11 2014 - 2:34 pm PT

1 Comment

Verbs, the popular instant messaging app for iPhone and iPad, was updated today at long last with a revamped design for iOS 7 and a whole host of new features and fixes, including the removal of an in-app purchase to enable extra features.

One of the bigger notable features in version 3.0 is the ability to keep your conversations in sync across all of your devices via iCloud. This works a lot like iMessage’s syncing function, where every message you get will automatically show up on all devices whether Verbs is currently running on that specific device or not. Previously any devices that didn’t have the app running would miss any messages that were downloaded on other devices.

Other changes include the addition of Dropbox for file sharing (alongside the old CloudApp and Droplr options), Pocket and Safari Reading List options for saving links, tappable URLs in chat bubbles, per-contact muting, the ability to manage your contact lists, in-app notifications for messages that come in while you’re in the settings view or another thread, and notifications when certain contacts come online.

Speaking of notifications, the former “Verbs Pro” in-app purchase has been removed, and all of its features are now included standard in the app. These include push notifications and longer connection times after the app closes.

You can grab the completely overhauled Verbs 3.0 from the iOS App Store for $2.99 today. The complete change log is below:

What’s New in Version 3.0.0

• Designed for iOS 7
• Completely rewritten server side code
• Supports Jabber protocol
• Added OAuth support for GTalk
• Real time syncing of chat messages across devices
• New Conversations view
• Use Dropbox to share files in chat
• Sync Chat, File Sharing and Read Later accounts over iCloud
• Pocket (Read later) support
• Safari’s Reading Lists support
• Sent bubble color changes when messages are delivered
• Notify when a buddy comes online
• Ability to mute buddies
• New Notification sounds
• HTML hyperlinks are supported in messages
• Use shapes to indicate Buddy Status
• Ability to create Lists (Groups)
• In-app notifications
• Lotta bug fixes!

IMPORTANT NOTES:
• Before upgrading, please back up your existing conversations using the “Email conversation” feature. Because of the new sync features, your existing (2.x) accounts and conversations would not be available after upgrade.
• We’re removing Facebook chat support for the time being
• Also, we’re deprecating Verbs Pro and the basic app itself will include all the pro features.