Byword, a wonderful Markdown editor for Mac and iOS, has today been updated to version 2.0. The release brings a number of new features to both platforms, with the most notable edition being the ability to publish directly to WordPress, Tumblr, Blogger, and more.
BlackBerry announced last month that it will finally be bringing BlackBerry Messenger to Android and iOS this summer, and the news was welcomed by both existing BlackBerry users and those who have since switched to competing platforms.
Now it seems hackers are taking advantage of the excitement surrounding the app and releasing fake BBM betas for Android and iOS that could be harmful to your device.
Battery life, it’s the bane of every iPhone user’s existence, right? It’s hard to tell, really, reading the internet, which specific steps to take to make sure your battery is working at its most efficient, giving you the longest life without compromising performance.
One of the most misunderstood areas of managing battery life may just be the brightness settings. Here’s what Apple has to say about it.
Google just released Chrome 27 for iOS. The big update for Google’s third-party browser for iOS should have faster page reloading speeds as well as improved voice search.
Google included voice search in its Google Now app for iOS, but the conversational search tools are now being packed directly into Chrome as well. The update also gives Chrome the ability to speak search results back to you so you pretty much never have to look at your screen again if you don’t want to.
Here are the full release notes:
WordPress just released a new update for its iOS app that is sure to make WordPress bloggers happy. The new app features a overhauled UI that makes it easier and faster to blog from your iPhone than before.
The new update ditches the single pane view for a multi-pane view that users can swipe between to access different areas of the app (kind of like the Facebook and Rdio apps). WordPress also added a shortcut to the sidebar to make posting faster, there are also new translations for Russian, Danish, and Korean, improved Tumblr importing, and bug fixes.
Here are the full release notes:
AgileBits, creators of the popular 1Password tool for Mac and iOS, have today announced that 1Password 4 for Mac has entered beta. The release comes six months after 1Password 4 came to iOS, and you can get your hands on the early release by joining the AgileBits Beta Family.
Google has just updated their official Drive app for iOS, making it easier to navigate between documents and collaborate with others upon them. Not only can you now comment upon Google Drive documents within the app, you can quickly swipe through images.
Google Play will overtake the App Store’s recently celebrated 50 billion downloads and become the most popular app platform in the world within months, according to a new report from Distimo. Driven by popular devices from Samsung, Google Play is currently seeing over 500 million more app downloads per month.
Apple has released a new WWDC 2013 companion app for iOS, which is designed to give developers the opportunity to follow the event each day. Designed for both attendees and those who cannot make it, the app offers a WWDC schedule, the latest news, daily session videos for registered developers, and more.
PopCap has today confirmed the release date for the much-anticipated Plants vs. Zombies 2: It’s About Time, which will be exclusive to iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. The company has also released an awesome new launch trailer that teases some of the new plants and new worlds.
Thanks to Apple’s strict software approval process, iOS devices are generally considered some of the most secure. But you might want to be careful about where you plug them in for charging. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a modified charger capable of installing malware onto any device running Apple’s latest iOS operating system.
Brett “I just built this” Terpstra has been at it again. Inspired by Evernote’s new reminders feature, launched last week, Brett decided to add something similar to his app NValt, itself a fork of the notable Notational Velocity. It’s called “nvremind,” and it’s pretty awesome.
Now, just by tagging a note with “@remind,” you’ll be sent a notification or an e-mail at the chosen time, and in Mountain Lion, clicking the notification will take you to the note in NValt.
It takes practice to learn how to efficiently type on the iOS keyboard. Because all the keys are virtual, you have to tab through multiple layouts to access all of the available characters. I remember how slow I was at alternating keyboards to type numbers and punctation when I got my first iPhone. Over time, muscle memory kicks in and it becomes second nature.
What if there was a more productive way to type on iOS? A new jailbreak tweak called AltKeyboard is a fantastic enhancement every iPhone typist needs.
Siri knows everything (kind of). She even knows when you’re trying to use the Konami Code to cheat your way towards world domination.
In a newly discovered Siri Easter egg, if you try to give Siri the Konami Code (up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, start), she’ll chide you for your cheating ways.
Here are two other responses you can get in the Easter egg:
Yes, you read that headline correctly. Someone developed an iOS theme that makes your iPhone look like it’s powered by the Apple online store. It’s called “Apple Web OS,” and although you probably wouldn’t want to use it every day, it’s actually rather impressive.
Android rules the worldwide smartphone market when it comes to market share, and its dominance in China could have a lot to do with that. At the end of the first quarter of 2013, Google’s platform claimed a whopping 51.4% share of all smartphones owned in China.
Apple Worldwide Developer Relations has slapped down TransMedia CEO Donald Leka for suggesting no one cares about iOS in a press release for a new iPhone app. “Consumers really don’t care that much what platform they are on,” Leka said — but it turns out Cupertino does not agree.
While speaking today at the All Things D conference, Nuance CEO Paul Ricci confirmed that Nuance does indeed help power the voice recognition service for Siri.
Since Siri’s launch in 2011, many people assumed that Apple had formed a partnership with Nuance, but neither company has officially confirmed the relationship.
During the his interview, Ricci was asked whether it’s his company’s fault if the iPhone doesn’t understand a user’s voice. Ricci confirmed that Nuance does power the voice part of Siri, but the company is not involved in speech-recognition efforts with Google.
Google just announced its new subscription music service – Google Play Music All Access – at Google I/O a few weeks ago. The Android app was ready to go as soon as the service was announced, but according to Google Chrome and Android Chief, Sundar Pichai, an iOS app will quickly follow.
At the D11 conference this morning, Pichai was asked about the company’s work on making their services available on other platforms, even though companies like Apple don’t write apps for Android. Pichai then announced that
Pichai had the following to say:
Sometimes when you can’t decide between two things the easiest thing to do is flip a coin. Don’t got a quarter? Well, Siri can now create some random numbers for you via the command “Roll the dice.”
The litter Easter egg might also come in handy if you’re Monopoly board is missing its shiny white dice. But then again, you’ll probably be playing a game on your iPhone by then.
Oh, and if you just want Siri to flip a coin instead, she can do that too:
Skype has today updated its iOS app to make it super easy to switch to a Bluetooth headset or speaker during a call. It also makes one-to-one chats appear in the correct order, makes some bug fixes and improvements, and more.
Following the launch of its new cheaper iPod touch this morning, Apple has confirmed that it has now sold more than 100 million units of the iPod touch since its introduction back in 2007. That makes it one of the Cupertino company’s most popular products to date.
Evernote, one of our favorite digital trunks for our virtual documents and notes have just announced that they are taking security on their service to the next level, rolling out two step authentication to all users, along with a couple other features to make sure that you’re the only person accessing your Evernote account.
Rockstar Games has today updated Grand Theft Auto 3 for iOS to finally introduce support for the iPhone 5’s larger display. The update also adds the ability to play custom playlists in-game, and sync your game saves between other iOS devices via iCloud.
Second Gear, the creator of popular Markdown editor Elements for iOS, is currently developing a new app, and it has a novel way of updating fans on its progress.
Rather than issuing a boring newsletter via email or announcing developments on a blog, the company is offering digital Passbook passes that provide automatic updates on its progress.