Apple completely redesigns the App Store, introduces entirely new sections and promotes in-app purchases
Yesterday at WWDC 2017 Apple not only announced details of iOS 11, the company also unveiled a completely redesigned App Store. Central to the entire iOS experience, the change is due to arrive later in the year, and when we say it's a complete redesign, we mean it's a complete redesign.
It goes without saying that Apple refers to the redesign as "beautiful," and the extreme makeover is something that has been a long time coming. But while the look of the store is markedly different to its current incarnation, it is still somewhat familiar. It borrows style ideas from iOS 10's Music and News apps.
WWDC 2017: iOS 11 -- here's everything that's new
At WWDC 2017, Apple has lifted the wraps of the next version of its mobile operating system. iOS 11 introduces a lot of new features, including improvements to Siri, Apple Photos, Apple Maps, and Apple Pay, a redesigned Control Center, a new Augmented Reality feature, and more.
With Siri, Apple is introducing improved voices that sound more natural, and the digital assistant will be able to perform language translations. English, Chinese, French, German, Italian, and Spanish will all be supported. Siri will also be able to make suggestions of things that might be of interest to you -- such a news article -- via a new on-device "Intelligence" feature.
Is Apple about to release a file manager for iOS at WWDC?
It's Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) this week, and while we are very unlikely to hear anything about the iPhone 8, there's sure to be plenty of news to come. However, ahead of the start of the conference, it seems that Apple has accidentally let slip its iOS file manager.
A new, largely blank entry in the App Store was spotted by a developer. It shows a new app called, imaginatively enough, Files. The icon is Apple-y in style, would be appropriate for a file manager app, and the listing indicates that iOS 11 and up is needed.
Minecraft 'Discovery' update hits Windows 10/Pocket editions, has llamas
Minecraft developer Mojang has just announced the release of the latest update to its block-stacking, world-building smash hit video game. The "Discovery" update brings the Pocket Edition and Windows 10 editions of the game from version 1.0.9 to 1.1.0.
First announced in March, the update includes a new world, called Woodland Mansions, to explore. It also adds a smattering of new achievements, and ultra exciting glazed terracotta blocks (to say nothing of the concrete and concrete powder). And that's just the beginning.
Microsoft Planner now available for Android
Nearly two weeks after introducing the iPhone app, Microsoft officially announces the availability of Planner on Android. The tool was released a year ago to help teams using Office 365 better manage and collaborate on projects.
Microsoft says that Planner is available to Office 365 subscribers on the Business Essentials, Business Premium, Enterprise E1 to E5 and Education plans.
Wacom unveils two new Bamboo styluses -- 'Ink' for Windows 10 and 'Sketch' for iOS
Drawing and writing on a computer are both important features for creative types, but not everyone has the need. If you do have the need for a quality stylus, however, both Windows 10 and iOS are optimized for such things. The Surface line of personal computers and the iPad Pro, for instance, have official stylus accessories.
If you find yourself needing a third-party stylus for your Windows 10 or iOS device, Wacom has two new products that may interest you. The first such device is called Bamboo Ink, and it is named quite appropriately, as it is designed for Windows 10's Ink feature. For iOS -- including iPhone -- the company unveils the Bamboo Sketch. Both writing devices can be used with different types of replaceable tips for a more custom experience.
Twitter now handles DMs from strangers differently
Taking a leaf out of Facebook's, er, book, Twitter has introduced a new filtering system for Direct Messages. Now if you receive a DM from someone you don’t follow, it will be channeled to a new Requests folder rather than appearing in your Inbox.
The new system gives you a chance to review messages from unknown senders before you decide whether to continue the conversation. It's a simple system that's very similar to Facebook Message Requests, and it's in the process of rolling out at the moment.
Opera abandons iOS [Update]
I have been enjoying the Opera desktop web browser lately. In fact, the experience has been so good, that I have been using it on Windows 10, Linux, and macOS. The browser has many great features, plenty of extensions, and it is darn fast too.
As an iPhone and iPad user, I thought maybe it was time to use Opera on mobile. After all, why not use the same app across all my devices? Unfortunately, after searching for Opera in the Apple App Store, I noticed something odd -- none of the company's iOS browsers (Opera Mini and Opera Coast) have been updated in 2017. Since we are almost halfway through the year, I decided to ask Opera what was up. Shockingly, the company told me that it no longer has a team working on iOS.
Live Chat With Friends brings private chats to Facebook Live
Facebook understands the importance of video on its platform, particularly live video. Facebook Live has proved to be an incredibly popular component of the social network and now the company is introducing new ways to connect with friends through the service.
Known as Live Chat With Friends, the new feature makes it possible to chat privately with friends during live broadcasts. The company is also rolling out another new feature called Live With. This "lets you invite a friend into your live video so you can hang out together, even if you’re not in the same place."
Facebook is finally doing something to make Messenger less of an unusable mess
The Facebook Messenger app for iOS and Android is an utter mess of ideas at the moment. The confused interface is all over the place and decidedly user unfriendly. All that is set to change, though, thanks to an update that rolls out this week.
The update brings a slightly updated look which makes navigation a little easier. Tabs help to keep things better organized so you can jump to where you want to be more easily. The changes do not go as far as letting you kill the endlessly irritating Messenger Day/Stories feature, but it does go some way to improving things.
Microsoft Planner now available for iPhone
Office 365 officially received a project management tool, called Planner, in June 2016, but it is not until today that Microsoft introduces an accompanying mobile app. And the platform of choice for the first Microsoft Planner app is iOS.
When Microsoft publicly launched Planner, the software giant said that there will be apps available for Windows and Android devices too, but there is no announcement regarding the support for the other two platforms. Hopefully, that will happen at some point in the near future.
Google bringing Gmail 'Smart Reply' to iPhone and Android -- company will read your emails
Today is the start of Google I/O 2017 -- be sure to watch the keynote here. There will be plenty of interesting announcements from the company. While much of it will be developer focused, there is sure to be news that will tickle the fancy of consumers too.
Gmail is one of Google's most popular services, and today, the company announces that it is bringing a cool feature to it -- Smart Reply. What is it? Well, the search giant's computers will read your emails, and then offer suggested replies. The service will even use machine learning to improve by reading your replies too. Understandably, some people will have privacy concerns.
Dude, where's my car? Oh, there it is -- thanks, Google Maps!
Forgetting where you parked your vehicle can happen to anybody at any age. It happens to me quite often, as I am known to be daydreaming as I walk from my car to a store, such as the mall. On more than one occasion, I've walked around a parking lot, hitting the "panic" button on my keys so that I can hear the horn honk. Heck, there is an entire episode of Seinfeld that deals with the topic.
Thankfully, Google is giving us some relief. The search giant's Maps app has a new feature that will record where you parked your vehicle. It is not an Android-only affair either, as it also works on iOS.
Privacy: How to stop Google Maps' Your Timeline tracking where you go
We live in a dichotomous age in which we are more concerned about privacy than ever, while simultaneously handing over more and more personal information to the likes of Facebook and Google. With its Your Timeline feature, Google Maps provides us with a great way to keep track of the places we've visited, but it also means sharing a lot of very revealing data with Google.
You may well like the idea of being able to check to see which coffee shop you visited a year ago, or check how far you walked last Wednesday, but you may also like the idea of maintaining some grasp of your privacy. Here's how to disable Your Timeline in Google Maps and how to delete any records that have been saved already.
Microsoft To-Do preview for iOS, Android, Windows and web signals the death of Wunderlist
Any organized soul worth their salt has a good to-do service (or two) to support them. This is something that has been strangely lacking from Microsoft, but this is all set to change with Microsoft To-Do.
This reminder app has been in the works for a little while under the codename of Project Cheshire, but Microsoft has just launched a preview version of it. The online service works in conjunction with apps for iOS, Android and Windows, and you can try it out for yourself right now.
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