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.
The Pebble smartwatch has just received a new software update that makes a number of improvements to notifications, tweaks the device’s user interface, and fixes numerous bugs. It also adds a new watch face called Simplicity.
Real Racing 3, the free-to-play racing game from EA and Firemonkeys, has a new update that is now live in both the App Store and Google Play for iOS and supported Android devices.
The update brings a new Middle Eastern track, the Dubai Autodrome, to twilight and daytime races with six new track layouts. Lexus is now represented in the game, allowing you to test your racing skills with the Lexus IS-F or the Lexus LFA.
Injustice: Gods Among Us, developed by NetherRealm and published by Warner Brothers, just updated on iOS today with new characters, including fan-favorite Lobo, the main man alien space-biker with an attitude and a huge cigar, along with Red Son characters Superman, Wonder Woman, and Solomon Grundy.
The fighting game is one of the few that gets it right on touch-based devices, bringing the console game (available on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360) in fairly close form to Apple’s mobile operating system.
Twitter released a new app for iPhone and Android today that is all geared toward helping users tweet faster and better.
The new app boasts that users will be able to tweet a picture in under six seconds, thanks to the improved user interface that eliminates steps to tweeting photos by adding a new photo icon on the Tweet box.
Twitter is also trying to assist users in preventing tweeting in error. A new accounts avatar is displayed above the Tweet box so users know which account they are logged into at all times
Here are the full release notes from Twitter:
The iPhone has quickly become the most popular camera in the world simply because it’s the camera that’s always on you. Even though the iPhone’s camera doesn’t have anywhere near the same features and tools as a DSLR, that doesn’t mean you can’t squeak out some extra performance out of your iPhone to get pictures that look like a pro shot them.
Long exposures are a basic staple of most DSLR photographers, but thanks to some awesome apps for iOS, iPhone users can join in the fun too without having to spend hundreds of dollars on gear. In this guide we’re going to teach you about all of the gear and apps you need to take long exposure photos with your iPhone.
If you’ve got a jailbroken iPhone, it can be a little bit confusing to manage the settings of your various tweaks. Sometimes they are in an app, sometimes they are in ‘Settings’ and even when they are where you expect them to be, they can often be buried.
PreferenceOrganizer is a new Cydia tweak that keeps your default iOS settings and jailbreak settings separate, like you’d expect them to be. Unfortunately, though, you might have to jump through a hoop or two to set it up.
1Password, the ultimate password manager for Mac and iOS from AgileBits, is now half price for a limited time on iOS. The discount comes just two weeks after the app was updated with a whole host of new features and improvements following user feedback.