Updates to Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for iPad bring greater support for trackpads and mice. The new versions, which began rolling on Monday, also includes updated start screen and a new ribbon of feature menus.
Artists rejoice: Adobe Illustrator for iPad launches in October
An iPad version of the Adobe Illustrator professional drawing tool is scheduled to launch next month. The desktop vector graphic design app has been “reimagined” for iPad, according to Adobe.
The application is available for pre-order starting on Wednesday.
Dropbox subscribers get new password manager, secure vault, more
Dropbox today rolled out a number of helpful new features for paying subscribers, including a password manager, a secure vault for sensitive files, and new computer backup tools. You can start using them now.
Plex offers free streaming live TV for iPhone, iPad or Apple TV
Plex began offering 80+ free channels of live TV on Thursday. The service is available on many types of Apple devices, and offers children’s programming, news, lifestyle shows and even sports.
There’s a catch, of course. There always is. In this case, it’s commercials. Plex Live TV is supported by advertising.
Gmail for iPad supports Split View multitasking at long last
Google finally lets Gmail users read their email while also displaying another app. Apple introduced Split View multitasking way back in 2015, but it’s just now coming to this popular email application.
iPad music app’s overnight success took 10 years of hard work
Londoner David William Hearn is not a trained programmer. He has no university education when it comes to making software. And yet his musical notation app for iPad, StaffPad, just won a coveted Apple Design Award this week.
The iPad app gives composers and conductors powerful tools for writing and tweaking musical scores, and for sharing their changes instantly with musicians on a stage or in a recording studio. StaffPad places the iPad and Apple Pencil squarely in the center of the collaborative creative process.
Here’s how Hearn and his team created their award-winning music-notation app.
Why Apple still refuses to give the iPad a calculator
Apple software chief Craig Federighi just answered a question that’s puzzled people for years: Why doesn’t the iPad come with a calculator app?
In a video posted Friday, he also explained why the iPad lacks a weather app.
See how much time you’ve wasted watching YouTube videos [Pro tip]
How much time have you wasted watching YouTube videos this week? It’s really easy to find out, thanks to a helpful tool built into the YouTube app on iOS. Here’s how to use it to uncover hard truths you probably aren’t ready for.
Stellar writing app Ulysses gets mouse support on iPad, big improvements
Ulysses, the outstanding writing app for Mac and iOS, just got its big version 19 update. It brings full mouse and trackpad support on iPad, as well as a number of neat improvements to things like keywords and Files integration.
It also boasts a new feature dubbed Material sheets, which allows you to mark sheets you’ve used for brainstorming and research, and have them excluded from counters, goals, and exports.
The best trackpad-supporting, Touch Bar-disabling and music-collaborating apps this week
This week we collaborate on songs in the “Google Docs for music,” edit video in Darkroom, block the Touch Bar from accidental taps, and gain other essential tools. These are the best apps and updates of the week.
Amazing Darkroom photo app now does video
Darkroom, one of the best photo library and editing apps on iOS, is now also one of the best video library and editing apps on iOS. In today’s update, Darkroom adds support for editing your videos. Not cutting and chopping them up, like iMove, but changing how they look, as if you were applying filters and edits to a still photograph. And the along thing is, it’s instant, just as fast as editing a still image.
Facebook Messenger Kids expands its reach, adds new features
Facebook Messenger Kids, the free chat app designed specifically for your little ones, on Wednesday expanded its reach to more than 70 new markets and added a number of helpful new features.
It’s now possible for parents to give kids control over their contacts (if they wish), and for kids to join approved groups. The changes come at a time when many children are out of school and unable to see friends.
Facebook beta reveals hidden dark mode for iPhone and iPad
A new beta version of the Facebook app for iOS contains hidden resources that suggest a dark mode is on its way to iPhone and iPad.
The feature is expected to work in tandem with the system-wide dark mode settings on iOS for automatic activation and deactivation, but users should be able to toggle it manually, too.
Adobe bundles Photoshop, Fresco for iPad into one affordable sub
Adobe on Tuesday delivered a new bundle for iPad users that provides access to its Photoshop and Fresco apps for just $9.99 a month. That’s half the price users would have paid for both apps before.
In addition, Photoshop on iPad now has the ability to automatically find and update missing fonts in your work, and there’s a brand-new coloring book to enjoy.
The best health-tracking, groovebox-integrating and home-automating apps this week
This week we switch on our lights with a tap of the iPhone, customize our Finder’s menus, track our health with HealthChampion and more.
Steam Link for iOS picks up mouse and keyboard support … kind of
Steam Link for iPhone and iPad just got a big update that adds mouse and keyboard support for the first time. Don’t get too excited just yet, however. While direct mouse input is available, it’s not ideal for many game genres just yet.
Pixelmator Photo for iPad picks up trackpad, Split View support
Pixelmator Photo, the desktop-class image editing app for iPad, now takes full advantage of Apple’s most recent iPadOS 13.4 update. Users can enjoy improved mouse and trackpad support, as well as Split View.
The version 1.2 release also brings color matching powered by machine learning, color intensity controls, and more.
BeepStreet Drambo changes the face of iOS music apps
Once in a while, an app comes along that changes the way you think of a computer platform. Like Photoshop on the Mac, Lotus 1-2-3 on the IBM PC, or GarageBand on the iPad. We just got another one of these apps Tuesday. It’s called Drambo, from veteran music-app developer BeepStreet, and it redefines music apps on iOS.
Yes, iOS. This amazing, modular, do-almost-anything app works on the iPhone as well as the iPad.
iWork and iMovie for iOS get trackpad support, iCloud file sharing
Apple late on Tuesday rolled out the latest updates to its iWork and iMovie apps for iPhone and iPad. All now offer full mouse and trackpad support, iCloud file sharing, and a number of other new features and improvements.
Microsoft Family Safety for iOS helps protect and monitor loved ones
Microsoft on Tuesday revealed its brand-new Family Safety app designed to make it easier to protect and monitor your loved ones.
Family Safety will be part of the upcoming Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) overhaul, and will include features like location sharing, driver safety stats, activity reporting, and more.
Zoom removes controversial code that shares data with Facebook
Video conferencing app Zoom has removed controversial code that shared user data to Facebook — even when those users didn’t have a Facebook account.
Zoom insists the data collected did not include personal information, but rather anonymous information about a user’s device. It has apologized for the “oversight” and made changes to the Facebook login process to prevent it.
The best time-lapse, learn-to-read, and chilled animation apps this week
This week we calm ourself with Looom’s animations, get glitchy with the GlitchCore music chopper, capture time-lapses with Moment, and more.
Duolingo ABC teaches kids to read anywhere, absolutely free
While millions of children around the world stuck inside as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Duolingo’s newest app couldn’t have come at a better time. It boasts more than 300 lessons — all completely free — that help teach kids aged three through six to read.
YouTube Music for iOS now shows song lyrics for supported tracks
YouTube Music’s latest update for iOS gives you the ability to view song lyrics for the first time.
The feature helps YouTube Music better compete with the likes of Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Spotify — which have offered song lyrics for some time. But YouTube doesn’t do real-time tracking yet.
The best communication, props-giving and video-downloading apps this week
This week we stay in touch with Slack, show appreciation with Props Love, download YouTube with ViDL, and more.