Articles about Mobile App

Navigating through any airport is stressful. Once you’ve queued for check-in, passed through security and trawled duty free, most people would locate the lounge for a couple of drinks. Problem is, it’s very easy to get lost in the moment and realize you’ve got to find your gate. That gate could be far further than you imagined and may even require a shuttle train to get you there in time. And that’s if you can find it at all!

The answer to this conundrum and much more is in the latest update of the TripIt app, released today. The paid-for premium TripIt Pro, now lets travelers see how far they have to walk between two specific points in an airport and also gives step-by-step walking directions for the shortest route between the two points in the airport you’ve specified.

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Disney -- who just announced plans to launch its own streaming service and drop Netflix -- is collecting personal information about children and non-consensually sharing it with advertisers, alleges a lawsuit against the company.

The lawsuit, says that Disney and three other companies it worked with (Upsight, Unity, and Kochava) created apps that spy on users -- primarily children -- gathering information which is then shared with advertisers. If this is found to be the case, it is in violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, and Disney could be hit with hefty fines.

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The demand for business apps is escalating. Apps help management teams and employees run their operations more effectively, and better engage existing customers and help attract new ones. But developing quality and high functionality apps is often considered challenging, resource intensive and expensive. Additional challenges include getting apps to work across multiple device types and different operating systems and overcoming back-end integration issues.

Such challenges are slowing the rate of app development. Gartner recently reported that more than a quarter of enterprises globally have not built, customized or virtualized any mobile apps in the last 12 months. Here are some of the top challenges involved in business app development.

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There are many metrics by which to measure how good an app is, and Google is starting to use a few more when it ranks Android apps and games in the Play Store. The latest app-ranking algorithm now takes into account app stability, performance and battery usage.

As well as improving the relevance of listings for people downloading apps, Google is also using this change to push developers to improve their apps.

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Google has relaxed its rules surrounding real-money gambling apps in Google Play -- in some countries, at least. There has been a ban on apps and games that allow users to gamble with real money since 2013, but that has now changed.

While there was previously a ban in place due to the difficulty in policing ages and complying with different gambling laws around the world, real-money gambling apps are now permitted in the UK, France and Ireland.

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It has been a number of months since Google Earth received a makeover on Android and the web, and now the update is making its way to iOS. The latest version of the 3D world-exploration tool has been overhauled, bringing a number of new features to iPhone and iPad users.

These features include 360-degree videos, guided tours, and the interactive Voyager option for traveling virtually to major cities of the world.

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A recent investigation by The Independent uncovered a financial scam that was placing thousands of people at risk. An increasing number of binary trading options have proved to be fraudulent, and in the UK they fall outside the control of financial regulators.

Binary option scams have been described as "possibly the biggest financial scam in the world," and Apple and Google have cleared hundreds of trading apps from the App Store and Google Play after a review by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC).

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Microsoft Garage is the place where many cool little projects take off. Word Flow, the iOS version of the keyboard that ships with Windows on smartphones, is among the more popular experiments, receiving positive reviews since its launch, more than a year ago.

But, like with other Microsoft Garage endeavors, that is not always enough to keep it alive. The software giant has pulled Word Flow from the App Store, telling users to give its other, better-known keyboard a try.

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When Apple added support for third-party keyboards on iOS, many users were excited. To be honest, I was not, however. While I appreciate having the choice, I much prefer privacy. You see, when you add a third-party keyboard, the developer can potentially intercept your keystrokes. If you are OK with that, more power to you. Me? I'll stick to the stock variant, thank you very much.

But OK, let's say you don't like Apple's keyboard and trust Google with your entries. If that is the case, the search giant's Gboard is a very impressive offering. It is more than just a keyboard, as it adds the ability to easily insert things like gifs, plus do Google searches. It even offers swipe-style typing, meaning you can glide from letter to letter rather than peck. Today, Gboard gets even better thanks to new Maps and YouTube functionality. Google has also added support for drawing, plus three additional languages -- Arabic, Farsi, and Hebrew.

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These days, it’s Google and Chrome that dominates the web browser market, with even Microsoft slipping behind and everyone else playing the role of also-rans. Mozilla has suffered more than most -- since dipping below Chrome into third place in 2011, it’s never looked like recovering that market share, but the non-profit is attempting to find itself a niche by playing the outsider card.

If there’s one platform where Mozilla has particularly struggled to gain a foothold, it’s iOS. Can the latest release -- Firefox for iOS 8.0.1 -- change that?

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Google's announcement last week that it was rolling out an updated algorithm-powered feed to its mobile apps led to (nonsense) speculation that the company's search page was also getting a redesign. After pooh-poohing this suggestion, Google has also revealed that its new mobile feed rollout has hit a snag.

Users who updated to the new feed experienced problems with it being blank. Tight integration with the Android home screen is causing issues, and now the rollout is being scaled back.

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Just like Facebook did with Facebook Lite and Facebook Messenger Lite, Microsoft is launching a cut-down, data-sipping version of LinkedIn for mobile users. LinkedIn Lite launches in India initially, and is designed for countries with limited mobile internet access.

This is an app designed for emerging markets, and as such it is Android-only; there are no plans for an iOS version. While LinkedIn Lite is starting out its life in India, it will eventually spread to a further 60+ countries.

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Yesterday, Grant Park in Chicago was packed with thousands of Pokémon fans. People of all ages attended the Pokémon GO Fest in the hope of catching ultra-rare Pokémon at the special event, but things did not go well.

A series of technical glitches meant that game-creator Niantic was forced to cancel the event. The large number of attendees led to network issues which could not be resolved, causing anger and annoyance among fans. As part of its compensation offer, the company is giving festival-goers $100 of Pokémon GO's in-game currency, Pokecoins.

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Apple has a selective approach towards cryptocurrency, which is why iOS users only have access to a handful of coins in the App Store. You can find players like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Ripple, but most others are pushed aside.

There is no official position, but it is believed that Apple only accepts cryptocurrencies that are reputable. And Dash just rejoined that list. The sixth-largest cryptocurrency is back in the App Store, after being banned last year.

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Over the years Amazon has spread its wings in various directions, and the latest venture sees the online shopping giant dipping its toe into the waters of social networking. While not strictly a social network, Amazon Spark has many of the hallmarks of one.

Borrowing heavily from Instagram and Pinterest -- among others -- Amazon Spark is available for Prime subscribers using iOS. There is, of course, a strong emphasis on shopping, and members are able to post photos of items for sale, and can click through to buy, post comment, and leave "smiles" -- Spark's take on likes.

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