MacRumors iPhone and iPad Blog: Apps, News, and Rumors

Launch Center Pro today received its first major update. The app, which was released last summer, creates shortcuts to functions within apps. As an example, it can be used to create a shortcut to send a message to a specific person or search Yelp with a predetermined search term. Update 1.1 adds new in-app actions, allowing users to use preset text and group messaging, along with improved Text ...

An iOS developer has made an app to sync the Philips Hue iOS-controlled LED light bulbs with music. The $2.99 Ambify pulls tracks from the music library on an iPhone or iPad and plays them while simultaneously controlling the colors and brightness of the Philips Hue lights, creating a rave-like atmosphere with blinking multi-colored light bulbs synced to the music.Ambify - the Hue enabled...

Social networking apps have climbed nine places year-on-year in the App Annie rankings of monthly revenues (via The Next Web), moving from 12th place last January to third place in January 2013.As of January 2013, the Social Networking category ranked third in monthly revenues, behind only Games and Productivity in the iOS App Store. And that’s up 87% compared to January 2012 monthly revenues,...

Infographics released by in-flight Wi-Fi service Gogo (via CNET) reveal that iOS devices continue to dominate customer use with an 84% share, although Android use has grown significantly in the last two years. As further evidence of the post-PC trend, the majority of access - though only just - is on tablets, accounting for 35% of usage compared to 33% for laptops. When it comes to iOS...

GroupMe today updated their group chat app to version 4.1, adding a gallery view and a feature called Split, which allows users to split costs and collect money from their group. The company detailed potential uses for the feature on its blog:You can start a Split within any of your groups, just like you can attach a photo or a location. You bought concert tickets for everyone in the group?...

Apple today released minor updates for its suite of iWork apps for the iPhone and the iPad. The iOS versions of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote have all been updated with minor stability improvements and bug fixes. This update contains stability improvements and bug fixes.The last major update to the iOS apps came in early December, adding several significant improvements. Pages, Numbers, and Ke...

Google today released its location discovery app Field Trip for the iPhone. Previously an Android app released in the fall, Field Trip is designed to direct users to local points of interest. The app runs in the background and uses Bluetooth or a popup notification to alert users when there are "cool, hidden, and unique things" nearby. Field Trip offers information on landmarks and historical...

Robocat, the Danish software studio behind apps like Haze and Thermo, has launched a new Kickstarter project for a small thermometer that can be plugged into the headphone jack of a smartphone or tablet to measure indoor and outdoor temperatures.You can measure the temperature indoors as well as outdoors. Track the temperature and see how it rises after you turned on the radiator or check how the ...

Skype has updated its iPhone and iPad apps with a "new, beautiful calling experience" and a number of bug fixes and improvements. What's new✓ Beautiful new calling experience✓ Mark all your recent chats as read with just a few taps.✓ General fixes and improvements- One-to-one chats now appear in the correct order.Skype is available for iPhone or iPad on the App Store. [Direct Links: iPhone,...

The original iPhone and iPad versions of Rovio's hugely popular Angry Birds game are currently free for the first time on the App Store. TechCrunch says that the move is part of Apple's "App of the Week" promotion, although Apple has yet to update its App Store pages with new banners. Angry Birds launched on the iPhone in December 2009, with the "HD" version for the iPad following in April...

Marvel Comics has launched a new subscription-based comic service on iOS called Marvel Unlimited. The service delivers 13,000 back issues of a wide variety of Marvel comic books, with more to come over the next six months. Subscriptions are $10 per month, or a "limited time" 12-month subscription for $60. All of the comics in Marvel Unlimited are at least six months old, to avoid competing...

The Verge reports that the iPhone version of the popular Fantastical calendar app has been updated to version 1.1, adding a range of user-requested features. Flexibits has also put Fantastical on sale for $3.99, a savings of $1 over the usual price. Flexibits co-founder Michael Simmons says that all of the new features are ones that have been requested by users of the app.The last two...

Path, the "personal social network," announced on its blog today that its iOS app has been updated to version 3.0.1, adding private messaging, "stickers" and a curated store for photo filters called The Shop. Within the new private messaging, users can send each other "stickers," text, voice notes, locations and more. Path detailed the new feature on its blog: One-to-one and group messaging...

As noted by Reuters, Nokia this week filed a brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in support of Apple's bid to block the sale of certain Samsung products previously ruled to have infringed on Apple's patents. The brief, which is currently sealed but explained in a summary (via AppleInsider) by Nokia attorney Keith Broyles, argues that Judge Lucy Koh was wrong when she...

Twitter today updated its iOS app, adding search improvements that include additional topic and user suggestions when searching and Top Tweets from important events. The update also removes support for video services from Mobypicture, Vodpod, and Posterous, leaving Twitpic and yFrog as the last remaining video uploading services for the iOS app.This update includes enhancements to search and...

Roku yesterday announced their third-generation set-top box, and Apple TV competitor, Roku 3, with new features like a brand new interface and motion gestures for its remote. Like previous Roku boxes, the newest version also hosts entertainment apps like Hulu Plus, HBO GO, Amazon Instant Video, Netflix and more, in addition to music streaming apps like Spotify and Pandora. The big new...

Temple Run: Oz has hit the App Store, the second movie tie-in for Imangi after Temple Run: Brave last year. Both movies are Disney flicks, with the latest version set in the land of Oz. Oz the Great and Powerful takes place before the famous 'Wizard of Oz', setting up the backstory for how the Wizard made his way to the land.Gameplay is similar to other Temple Run titles -- the latest of which...

Apple today updated iBooks to version 3.1, bringing new support for paid books in Japan and enhanced support for Asian languages.What's New in Version 3.1 The iBookstore in Japan now has hundreds of thousands of books available for purchase, including fiction, manga, light novels and more. This version of iBooks also includes a number of improvements for reading Asian language books. iBoo...