Apps

As has been reported quite widely over the past few hours, Apple has updated its list of the top-selling iPhone and iPad apps of all time as it creeps towards…

With free turn-by-turn directions coming in iOS 6, companies that provide GPS apps for IOS will be hard-pressed to convince consumers that they should shell out money for their apps. Telenav is hoping to make the argument with an update to Scout, its turn-by-turn navigation and local search app. The new version offers offline maps and navigation, broken down in three large downloadable map packs for the US. The offline feature actually isn't a first, even for Telenav, but previously it was only...

iPhones. iPads. Android. We've updated all of our essential apps lists to include a few forgotten favorites, some long awaited arrivals and, as always, even more amazing apps. Check them out! If you want to jump to see the best apps in a specific platform, click here: The end of the month is here, and that means it's time to do a little housekeeping on our list of the absolute best iPhone apps. Who will be inducted? Sparrow: Finally, e-mail that doesn't suck. The biggest beneficiaries of Sparrow will be...

The Daily App Deals post is a round-up of the best app discounts of the day, as well as some notable mentions for ones that are on sale. Ghostwriter Notes (iTunes) Previously $3.99, now Free. Ghostwriter Notes for iPad makes it easier than ever for you to take notes on your iPad. Sports smooth and legible digital ink, Ghostwriter Notes allows you to important and annotate your PDF documents, print your pages over the air, name each of your notepads and pages, and even share your notes with your friends...

You give a friend a thoughtful gift certificate for their birthday, but how do you know it's not going to sit in a drawer forever and just end up expiring? It's not for lack of gratitude, but because those plastic cards are easy to forget about. Gyft is an app that gifting a whole lot simpler....

Need an immersion blender for a recipe? Or maybe you need a drill to hang a few things around the house? Don't worry about buying those things when there's an app that makes it fairly easy to find them for free....

Lovely, the apartment search service that was initially built as a better and easier way of finding available apartment rentals originally listed in the large-but-feature-light Craigslist.org, has now racked up 4 million apartment listings on its site (1 million in the last 30 days) as it tackles the $10 billion residential rental market as an aggregator of other rental listings services — once…

Microsoft on Wednesday launched a new mobile app powered by Windows Azure called HelpBridge that lets you both ask for help after a natural disaster, as well as offer to give it. In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the launch is an excellent initiative to rally everyone around one cause: supporting each other during a time of need....

When I purchased my first iPhone in late 2009, I had high hopes that it would somehow transform me into a more productive person -- the kind who procrastinates less, multitasks more and accomplishes tasks while on the go. It didn't exactly turn out that way. Email apps only let me accumulate more unread mail in my inbox, to-do list apps simply encouraged me to build longer to-do lists and even the best calendar apps were generally too clunky for me to enjoy using on a daily basis.

Alert.Us, a recently launched mobile family safety application, has some interesting ideas about the direction that these sorts of GPS tracking apps should go. In fact, says CEO Antoine Martin, the company’s goal is to have kids actually accept and recommend the app. That’s a bit different from the other parental control or safety apps on the market today which generally launch with the needs of…

Many of today’s tech companies and startups are still building their apps for iOS first, despite Android’s growing marketshare. The problem stems from a lack of in-house talent, fewer Android-owning beta testers, technical hurdles, fragmentation issues, potential for revenue and more. And yet, there’s this general perception that when it comes to the size and scope of the two competing app stores…

Free People, Urban Outfitters' bohemian fashion label, released its first mobile app in Apple's App Store two weeks ago. The app, which is largely designed to facilitate purchasing, was downloaded 24,000 times in its first week, logging 100,000 user sessions and accounting for between 7% and 10% of Free People's online sales that week.

For the first time, IKEA now allows you to virtually place furniture in your home via the company's mobile app. The augmented reality feature doesn't work on every item, but for those that have the function enabled, a quick tap on the screen will send that KLAPPSTA armchair into your living room. For best results, you'll want to use the app in conjunction with the paper catalog; apart from it being easier to browse for "3D enabled" furniture (you can scan items straight from the pages), you can also...

From Evernote to Shazam, it’s a big day for app updates. iOS 7 is now available for download, and many of the App Store’s biggest players updated their apps accordingly. See also: iOS 7: Here's What's New iOS 7 represents a complete re-imagination of Apple’s mobile operating system. The OS, which is available for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, brings a new look and brighter colors to the devices. Check out the gallery above for a look at some of the apps that received major updates for iOS 7.

It's one thing to sketch out an idea for an app, but turning it into a working digital design is another story. AppSeed makes that entire process much more seamless. Take a photo of your drawing -- making sure to capture the image within the app's specific markers -- and let computer vision do the rest. The app turns your sketched-out features into user interface (UI) elements such as a map or street view and even input text.

Apple today released an iPad version of its Apple Store app, just in time for the holiday shopping season. The new app is separate from the iPhone version in order to take advantage of the tablet form factor....

A pen and checkbook used to be the only way to donate money to good causes. The Internet, however, has rejuvenated our concept of “giving to charity,” bringing about an unprecedented age of both citizen and viral philanthropy, and calling upon online communities to help those in need. This concept relies on social sharing to spread the word, and is only strengthened by the growing accessibility of mobile phones.

Earlier this week, Amazon brought its "Flow" image recognition technology to the retailer's main iOS app. The feature, which has long been available as a standalone utility, lets iPhone users add products to their Amazon shopping list simply by capturing them with the device's built-in camera. Flow appears beneath the regular search bar, just below the "Scan It" option that lets you look up products by barcode. Once you enable it, the iPhone's camera immediately turns on and Flow quickly gets to work....

Online marketplace eBay rolled out a series of changes to its mobile experience across both the mobile web and its native applications today, including its apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, and Windows 8. The new apps are now sporting a redesigned look-and-feel, which includes larger images and personalized feeds, while also delivering new features, like the iPad’s in-store pickup option…

Luxury consignment marketplace, The RealReal, is expanding its mobile footprint today with the launch of a new app called RealBook, which lets both potential buyers and sellers better understand the value of luxury items, including fashion and apparel, fine jewelry and watches. RealBook now joins the company’s previously launched smartphone apps, The RealReal’s mobile shop…

UK music ticketing startup Dice, launching today in London on iOS and Android, is looking to tear up the traditional ticket buying process by ripping out booking fees and sending the middleman up in virtual smoke. The KLF would surely be proud.

Amazon today has rolled out a new mobile application for iOS and Android users called Surprise! that allows you to send e-cards to friends and family to celebrate various occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, and, of course, the forthcoming December holidays including Christmas, Chanukah, and Kwanzaa, where gift-giving may come into play. With the new app, users can personalize cards…

We get by with a little help from our apps.

The familiar sight of a wall of analog clocks — the international businessman's favorite emblem of global dynamism — has been subverted into a charming piece of installation art by Stockholm design duo Humans Since 1982. Their concept A Million Times combines a multiplicity of analog clocks into a synchronized kinetic performance, with the clock hands whirling into pulsating shapes and patterns, and then subtly, surprisingly coalescing to form a digital representation of the current time. It's a...

You may think there isn't enough time in the day to get everything done, but quickly taking care of these things could change your mind.