Flipboard updates iOS app, revamps Cover Stories to surface cool content

Flipboard, the wildly successful magazine-format news aggregator, has updated its iPhone and iPad application with a pair of tweaks while announcing a redesign of Cover Stories aimed at making your story highlights resemble newspaper front pages. In addition to some bug fixes and performance improvements, Flipboard 2.2.3 now makes it possible to add bookmarks to your Safari Reading List.

Another minor change: you can now copy an article’s URL in your device’s browser, then open Flipboard for the option to add it to your magazines. You’ll be more interested in the redesign of Cover Stories which Flipboard hopes will surface more relevant content from your subscriptions…

The new-look Cover Stories taps smart algorithms which surface content based on how frequently you visit the section. Now key highlights from your subscriptions are presented in a condensed newspaper-like format.

The stories are organized by source, social network and topic, with story groups neatly indicated at the top of each page. If you want to dive deep into the story, just tap the More link at the bottom of the page.

See some flips by a friend you don’t like? Worry not, you can easily mute anyone.

The algorithms adapt to your reading habits so your Cover Stories get more relevant the more you use the section.

Here’s a quick video walkthrough.

Flipboard says the new design is available on iOS/Android smartphones/tablets, with BlackBerry and Windows Phone versions being under consideration. This is a staggered roll-out so not everyone will get the new Cover Stories right away.

Flipboard 2.2.3 can be downloaded free in the App Store.

Infuse gains more video formats for free users, variable speed scrubbing and more

FireCore‘s versatile iPhone and iPad media player, Infuse, recently received a massive version 2.0 update sporting iOS 7-friendly interface while going free for everyone, with a couple advanced features locked behind a Pro in-app purchase. In today’s free update, Infuse 2.1 unlocks more video formats for free users while adding variable speed scrubbing option, support for an additional subtitle format, better translations and the usual assortment of bug fixes and performance improvements…

Free users can now play a wider variety of video formats and take advantage of subtitles in .smi format. The HTML-formated SAMI subtitle file type was developed in 1998 as a Microsoft accessibility initiative and is used nowadays to provide closed caption support for multimedia formats.

Content artwork as well as Czech, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian and Spanish translations have been improved in this Infuse release. Another handy new feature is the variable speed scrubbing option which works just like the iOS system media player.

This lets you fast-forward or rewind your movie with precise control, simply by holding the playback position dot and dragging your finger down for finer control (or up to increase the scrubbing speed).

Like before, advanced features like network streaming, AirPlay, Dolby Digital mobile surround sound, support for even more file types and other perks are available as a one-time in-app purchase.

As far as the sound goes, Infuse supports AAC, AC3, FLAC, MP3 and OGG audio tracks and sports licensed Dolby Digital Plus mobile surround sound support. Though DTS isn’t supported, that feature is being prioritized so it’s a matter of when, not if.

The application will happily crunch 3GP, AVI, ASF, DVR-MS, FLV, M4V, MKV, MOV, MP4, OGM, OGV, WebM, WMV and WTV video formats and render DVB, DVDsub, PGS, SSA/ASS, SRT, SUB, Timed Text, VobSub, XSUB and MSI subtitle formats, with perhaps the most robust implementation of AirPlay subtitle streaming I’ve seen yet.

The app takes media files via the iTunes File Sharing method or directly, from FTP, WebDAB or network-attached storage. More on streaming from other devices, including Time Capsule, can be found here.

Other features in the works for Infuse 2.2: metadata for shared files, lots of networking improvements, sound boosting, support for Synology NAS along with folder creation and the ability to copy files directly from a NAS (or SMB) to the app and more.

Infuse 2 is available free in the App Store.

Yelp updated with local movie listings, in-app ticket purchasing, and more

Yelp has posted a nice little update for its iOS client today. The update, which brings the app to version 7.4, sports a number of new features including movie listings and in-app movie ticket purchasing courtesy of Fandango.

Also new in the app is in-line review business photos. Yelp now shows business photos taken by Yelp users next to their review, so you can get a better idea of how popular a club is, or how delicious a particular entree was…

Here’s the full 7.4 change log:

- We’re now showing business photos from Yelpers next to their reviews. No more needing to imagine just how decadent the dessert was or how hoppin’ the club was, just take a look!
- We’re also now showing current movie listings and showtimes at your local theater. Thanks to our friends at Fandango, you can purchase your ticket right from the page. So stop stalling and go see the new Hobbit movie, we know you want to.
- Happy holidays from the Yelp Mobile team!

Yelp has been making some major moves with its service, and subsequently its mobile app, over the past several months. In November, it added a new SeatMe feature for making reservations at popular food and drink locations.

If you’d like to check out the new Yelp app, you can find the latest version in the App Storefor free.

Instapaper goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Apple has named the popular read-it-later app Instapaper its App of the Week for this week. This means that through next Thursday, you’ll be able to pick up the application for both your iPhone and iPad, for free—a savings of $4.

For those unfamiliar with the app, Instapaper bills itself as the simplest way to save and store articles for reading. You can save content on virtually any device, like a bookmark, and return to it later for reading at your convenience…

Here are some of Instapaper’s more notable features:

Instapaper Core Features:
- Save most web pages as text only, stripping away the full-sized layout to optimize for the iPhone and iPad screens.
- Store up to 500 articles on your iPhone or iPad, and store unlimited articles on the Instapaper website.
- Read offline, even on airplanes, subways, on elevators, or on Wi-Fi-only devices away from Internet connections.
- Send to Instapaper from 150 other iPhone and iPad apps.
Additional Features:
- Adjustable fonts, text sizes, line spacing, and margins
- Dark mode and brightness control for night reading
- Automatic Dark and Sepia Mode switching for sunset times in your location
- Sort your list of unread items by popularity, date, article length, and shuffle
- Filter your list of unread items by reading time

And here are a few more screenshots for good measure:

I personally use Pocket myself, but the tower of accolades for Instapaper is tall. It’s been featured in both Apple’s iPhone and iPad App Hall of Fames, as well as several publications, and it has won a number of Editor’s Choice Awards.

I’d recommend grabbing it even if you don’t plan on using it right away. Instapaper isavailable in the App Store for both the iPhone and iPad, for a limited time, for free.

You can now control iTunes Radio via Remote app

After refreshing its free Remote app for the iPhone and iPad with some radical redesign to match the overall iOS 7 aesthetics, Apple has just put out a minor update adding a nicely done ability to control iTunes Radio from your iOS device.

But rather than stream iTunes Radio songs directly (and what would the point be in doing so knowing iTunes Radio is available within the stock iOS 7 Music app), the application simply controls the feature running in iTunes for Mac or Windows.

Previously, you could only control playback of music and other media kept locally in your iTunes library. If anything, this update will go down in history as a handy little enhancement that makes it ridiculously easy to control your iTunes Radio stations, skip songs and more, right across the room…

As long as your Mac or Windows PC running iTunes is on the same Wi-Fi network as your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad device running the new Remote 4.1, you’ll be able to access the new iTunes Radio tab at the bottom (see the images top of post).

The Now Playing screen for iTunes Radio in Remote 4.1 for iPhone and iPad.

Hitting the More… button lets you star a song like you would on a computer (or in the stock iOS 7 Music app), create a new station from the currently playing song, choose to never play this song again, play more songs like this or start the iTunes visualizer.

One caveat: you can’t use Remote to control iTunes Radio on your Apple TV.

In other Apple app updates today, iTunes Movie Trailers has been refreshed with performance improvements and bug fixes. And in a similar vein, the iTunes U app has resolved an issue where the playback speed button would not work as expected.

The 10 best health and fitness apps of 2013

I’m not one of those calorie counting fitness fanatics. I just really hate buying clothes and don’t want to have to purchase larger sized pants. In order to stay the same size and squeeze into my two-year-old jeans, I try to keep my eating habits and exercise routine as regular as possible.

However, from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day, I go off the wagon in a big way. Whether I’m guzzling eggnog by the gallon or munching on Christmas cookies, there is nothing stopping me from over-indulging for the holiday season.

If you are like me, you are probably going to need to invest in some quality fitness apps to shed the extra pounds in the New Year. The writers of iDownloadBlog have created a list of the 10 best health and fitness apps of 2013. Check them out and let us know which is your favorite for our Best Apps of 2013 list…

Pedometer++

You’d be surprised how many steps per day you walk when you aren’t even trying to exercise. To keep track of your daily movement, get yourself a pedometer. Even better, download this app if you have an iPhone 5s and let it track your movement for you. You can adjust the gender and height and select a daily step goal. If you haven’t reached your goal by the end of the day, go for a special walk to catch up. You can even turn on the step counter badge and see how many steps you’ve taken without even opening the app. This app is available for free (requires iPhone 5s).

Nike+ Move

This was one of the most hyped apps to make use of Apple’s new M7 coprocessor. Nike makes it possible for you to capture your every move and keep you active. Not only can you track your steps, but with Nike+ Move, you can also measure a wide variety of activities. See when you are most active and increase movement during the slower times. Get a breakdown of running, walking, and sitting. See your movement on a map to track your most active moments. Enter your age, gender, and height to plan your exercise routine. This app is available for free (requires iPhone 5s).

Moves

I know we are going to get a bit of guff from some of you for including this app because it technically didn’t come out in 2013. However, it was so well liked amongst the writers since its 2013 complete redesign that we decided to include it anyway. What makes Moves special is that, when everyone else is making apps exclusively for the iPhone 5s, this one still makes it possible for old dogs to keep track of their movements. Using GPS and your device’s accelerometer, your running, jogging, and cycling exercises are at your fingertips. If you do have an iPhone 5s, you can also track all of your daily movement. This app is on sale for $0.99 (regularly $2.99).

Argus

Nike might have been one of the first to use the M7 coprocessor, but Argus is THE first appto use the motion detection technology on the iPhone 5s. This app features a multitude of ways to track your daily activity. You can keep track of your movement, sleep, food intake, water consumption, and more. Set a goal for maintaining each of your activities and enter pertinent data each day. See all of your health and fitness activity in one convenient honeycomb patterned display. This app includes a step tracker, calorie counter, GPS reader, food diary (including pictures), and more. As you track your activities, see your daily, weekly, and monthly trends on a graph. This app is available for $1.99.

UniqueTrainer

This specialized training app makes it possible for you to track each of your workout sessions. With an interactive real-time tracker, you’ll be able to tailor your sessions to your daily routine. The sessions evolve as you do. So, if 200 sit-ups start to get to be too easy, you can increase your workout plan accordingly. The app features motion capture 3-D animations that lead you through every exercise. You can even rotate the view to see your workout from every angle. Everyone progresses at a different rate and with UniqueTrainer, you can keep your workout compatible with your progress. This app is available for $1.99.

7-Minute Workout (High Intensity Training)

This app is based on the “Scientific 7-Minute Workout” but has been tweaked just a little. Instead of forcing everyone to fit into one workout, this app has been fine-tuned to make it possible for users of all fitness levels to take advantage of the high-impact workout safely and effectively. There are 200 unique exercises, each with its own video, coaching points, and an interactive voice coach. If you are on the road, you can still workout with more than 100 bodyweight related exercises. Personalize your workout by mixing and matching daily seven-minute routines. This app is available for $1.99.

Performance Stretching

Stretching is a very important part of staying fit and protecting your body from strained muscles. Even if you don’t exercise at all, stretching should be part of your morning routine. This app features more than 150 different dynamic stretches, which are full movement stretching routines that help increase blood flow, reduce tightness, and help you improve your athletic performance. If you are running, cycling, rowing, or following a high-impact workout regimen, Performance Stretching will help you get the most out of your muscles.This app is available for $2.99.

Relaxia

Nothing is more important to your health and fitness than getting a good night’s sleep. If you ask around, you’ll discover that the average person does not get enough daily rest. Even if you can’t sleep for six hours per night, you can keep your mind rested with daily meditation sessions. You don’t have to get on the floor in the lotus position in your office in order to relax your mind. Take 15 minutes per day to turn off your stress and go to a comfortable place in your mind with the natural sounds of Relaxia. Choose from rain and thunder, beach sounds, underwater ocean life, fire, and forests. Set a timer and either let the sounds of nature lull you to sleep or calm your mind for the day ahead. This app is available for $1.99.

Fit Star: Tony Gonzalez

Having a professional football player as your personal trainer may have been something you only dreamed about in the past, but not anymore. Even if you’ve never held a football, you can get a workout that is right for you. Start by participating in the beginning training sessions and rate each exercise based on how difficult it was for you to complete. Then, based on your activity, a workout routine will be offered to you. You can purchase workout packages based on how committed you are to spending time with the program. If you only want a five minute warm up routine each day, spend a few dollars on the “Daily Dose” program. If you are ready to turn mass into muscle for the long haul, purchase the “Get Committed” program for $29.99. This app is available for the iPad for free.

 Runtastic Six Pack Abs

One section of the body that most people complain about not being happy with on their own body is the stomach. No matter how much we workout or how far we run, it seems like our bellies still jiggle like a bowl full of jelly. Runtastic offers the perfect workout for tummy tuckers of all levels. Whether you want abs of steal, or just to stop hanging out over your pants, you’ll find the right exercise routine to make your mid section look the way you’ve always wanted it to. There are more than 50 instructional videos with dozens of pre-defined workouts. You can customize your workout to target areas you want to work on the most.This app is available for $1.99.

Google Maps now lets you see flight, hotel and restaurant reservations from Gmail

It’s been some time since we’ve seen a meaningful update to Google Maps for iPhone and iPad, especially givenGoogle Maps is probably the Internet giant’s most popular product, afterSearch.

As if reading our mind, just an hour ago the firm has quietly pushed a minor update into the App Store. The new Google Maps version 2.5 comes with a few bug fixes and brings with it a cool new feature which lets you see your reservations from Gmail on the map.

Say you made a flight, hotel or restaurant reservation. Upon receiving the confirmation email in Gmail, Google can now take this information (they are already doing this for Google Now cards, by the way), extract the address and show you precise locations for these items within the Google Maps iOS app.

It’s a minor, albeit welcome, enhancement that will up competition a notch for Apple’s own iOS Maps app. I love how little things like this make Google Maps more integrated with other Google apps. We’ve seen Google do this frequently and my guess is they’ll continue to leverage their premium iOS apps to build a platform on top of iOS, so to speak…

iTunes release notes list no changes aside from this new feature and bug fixes.

By the way, you haven’t forgotten about the caching trick, have you?

To make the currently viewed map and the surrounding areas available offline, tap the search box and type in ‘ok maps’ and hit Search. There should appear a large Google Maps icon that’s progressively filling as the area gets processed for offline caching.

The universal Google Maps app is free in the App Store.

The download comes in at a rather paltry eleven megabytes. The app is universal so all your form-factor iDevices are supported natively, as long as they run iOS 6 or later.

Twitter 6.0 is out with new design, DM photo-sharing and more

Twitter has updated its official iOS client today, bringing the app to version 6.0. The update is a fairly significant one, bringing about a new look and feel for the app, as well as photo-sharing for direct messages, improved search and more.

The new look pushes the UI of the Twitter app further into iOS 7 territory. There’s more white spacing—the menu bar at the bottom is now all white— and texts and graphics seem flatter. And Twitter has added various other enhancements…

Here’s the 6.0 change log:

New design.
- Refreshed look and feel. Home, Activity and Discover now available by swiping in Timelines. Easier access to DMs.
Share photos in Direct Messages.
- Send and receive photos via DMs.
Notifications from your network.
- Choose to view replies, retweets, and favorites from only the people that you follow.
Search got even easier.
- Access tweets from people you follow and near you, directly from search results.
Safari Reading List support
- Save web articles to read later with Safari Reading List

I actual really like the design tweaks Twitter has made today, and I especially like that they’ve simplified the menu bar. Where as before it read Home-Connect-Discover-Me, now it reads Timelines-Notifications-Messages-Me. Much more clear.

Amazon’s Cloud Drive Photos app updated with iPad support, video playback and more

Folks who use Amazon’s Cloud Drive service will be happy to hear that it has posted a significant update for its iOS Photos client this afternoon. The update, which brings the app to version 2.0, adds native iPad support, video playback and other improvements.

Here’s the 2.0 change log:

• Native support for iPad and iPad mini
• Protect your personal videos in your Cloud Drive
• Upload or download video up to 2GB or 20 minutes in length
• Playback saved video streamed instantly to any device
• Crash and bug fixes

Amazon introduced the Cloud Drive Photos app in May of this year, as a way of making it easier for iOS users to upload their photos and videos to their Cloud Drive accounts. It also allows them to view these files, as there’s no official Cloud Drive iOS client yet.

Of course you’ll need a Cloud Drive account to take advantage of this app, and if you don’t already have one, Amazon is giving away 5GB of storage for free. For those that do have one, you’ll want to grab this update, which you can find in the App Store for free.

The 10 best weather apps of 2013

As 2013 inches closer to its last days, we take time to reflect on everything that we have experienced over the past year. With 365 days of apps and games to sift through, it is hard to figure out which ones are the best. Don’t worry, you are off the hook. We took care of it for you.

Take a look at our list of weather apps that the writers of iDownloadBlog consider the best of this year’s releases. Don’t forget to vote for your favorite one for the Best Apps of 2013 list…

Yahoo Weather

When Yahoo launched its weather app ahead of the iOS 7 release, the iOS world went wild for it. The beautiful design mixes stunning photography with minimalistic graphics and made this app more popular than Apple’s animated native weather app. You can bookmark cities to keep track of weather around the world, see an hourly prediction of the day’s temperature, and check out a 10-day forecast for future planning. This app is available for free.

Perfect Weather

The app’s description says it all. Some weather apps are designed to look pretty, but don’t offer a lot of functionality. Some are overloaded with information and don’t make it easy to look at. This app combines a little of both categories to offer a comprehensive weather tracker, while maintaining the attractive simplicity we’ve come to love. View radar maps, check detailed current conditions, and access the temperature chart for hourly forecasts.This app is available for $2.99.

Weather Line

Not everyone needs pretty pictures and simulated rain clouds in order to read the weather forecast. Sometimes, graphs and charts are better understood than illustrations of kids in hoodies and scarves. Weather Line takes the weather imagery out of the equation and replaces it with line graphs to give you a better understanding of the day’s changes. See temperature, condition, and precipitation on a single graph with a forecast from 36 hours up to 12 months. Check monthly rainfall averages for a particular region. Get severe weather warning reports from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This app is available for $2.99.

Today Weather

Sure, you can just look outside to get an idea of whether it is cold, hot, snowing, or windy. However, most people leave the house for hours at a time, which means they may be walking out during heavy rain, but will be sweating by the time they go to lunch because of the sudden change in temperature (it happens in California all of the time). This app gives you a simple, but useful outlook on today’s weather forecast. Check for hyperlocal precipitation information, get hourly details on weather conditions, and prepare for your day with the “Today” section. This app is available for $1.99.

Shade

Going back to what I mentioned above under Weather Line, some people prefer visually attractive weather apps with good illustrations and a minimalistic design. Shade fits right into that category with a clear overview of the day’s forecast, displayed with simple graphics and varying colors to represent the temperature. If it is hot, the screen will turn shades of red, orange and yellow. If it is cold, you’ll see blues, green, and purple. You can also see the changes in weather listed on a line graph. Tap the graph to get a look at more detailed information on weather conditions. This app is available for $1.99.

Nice Weather 2

Another example of an attractive, minimalist design with accurate weather information is Nice Weather 2. This app uses gradients and particle effects that are dependent on the weather conditions. The particles move across the screen, depending on the speed and direction of the wind. Using gesture-based controls, users can interact with the forecast. Slide your finger along the graph to watch the weather predictions evolve. Slide along the timetable to change days. Tap the thermometer, cloud, wind, or compass to change their values. This app is available for free.

Haze

You want to talk about a minimalistic weather app… this one is about as minimal as they get. You can easily see the current temperature just by opening the app. The screen is brightly colored with a hue that represents the temperature and the exact degree is displayed in the center. You can also see a five-day forecast, check out wind speed using the gyroscope, and navigate using motion. Background animations will show you the following day’s weather trends. This app is available for $2.99.

Weathertron

This is the perfect app for the no-frills business-minded user. You get a live and infograph of the entire day’s weather. You’ll be able to see hour-by-hour, what to expect in the day’s weather forecast, including clouds, rain, snow, and temperatures, all on one graph. See a seven-day forecast with visual reports and narrative summaries. Weathertron gets its data from 16 different weather data sources and statically aggregates them so you will have the most accurate weather conditions in your area. This app is available for $0.99.

Blue

This is another visually stunning minimalist app that looks great and does very little. That is a good thing for some people. Blue gives users a 36-hour forecast for their current location. Swipe upward to see the color gradient change based on the hourly change in weather conditions. Colors are based on temperature, humidity, and sunrise or sunset times for your current location. The temperature is automatically set to Fahrenheit or Celsius, depending on where you are at. This app is available for $0.99.

NOAA Weather Radar

The NOAA is the U.S. federal agency put in charge of predicting weather conditions across the nation. They use all of the resources at their disposal to predict and track weather conditions, storm activity, air quality, and more. This app lets you track storms, check weather predictions, and view radar and satellite maps that offer precise weather data. You can customize locations, see hourly forecasts, and see what the temperature feels like.This app is available for free.

Apple pays tribute to Nelson Mandela on its homepage

Whether you’re planning on getting a new Mac for the holidays, or you’re just looking for some new apps to increase productivity on your current one, you’ll want to check out this big Mac software bundle from Stack Social.

The deal site is currently offering a suite of 10 Apple computer applications, which includes AfterShot Pro, Vitamin-R, skEdit and Compartments, at a steep discount. More details and a full rundown of the apps after the fold…

The following apps are included in the bundle:

• AfterShot Pro ($100) – A fast, flexible photo workflow solution that combines robust photo management, advanced non-destructive adjustments and complete RAWprocessing.
• ColorSchemer Studio 2 ($50) – A professional color-matching application for your Mac that will help you build beautiful color schemes quickly and easily.
• Vitamin-R ($30) – Creates the optimal conditions for your brain by structuring your work into short bursts of distraction-free, highly focused activity alternating with opportunities for renewal, reflection and intuition.
• xTeam 4 ($134) – An elegant & easy resource management application for teams.
• Scrutiny ($55) – Improve your website’s quality, SEO and user experience.
• skEdit ($30) – An HTML Editor that makes creating and maintaining your website easy, or just editing files like Ruby, SQL, Cold Fusion, PHP, HTML and CSS.
• Compartments ($15) – A brand new, gorgeous, fast, easy-to-use home inventory application for Mac OS X Leopard and Snow Leopard.
• Smaller ($20) – A powerful HTML, PHP, CSS and JavaScript compressor on Mac OS X which also has the ability to combine several files into one. CSS and JavaScript compression is powered by YUI Compressor while for HTML and PHP compression it uses htmlcompressor.
• Periscope Pro ($20) -­ Periscope Pro turns your Mac into a surveillance system that records video clips with sound.
• CollageFactory Pro ($30) – A powerful combination of photo collage maker and greeting card creator. With CollageFactory, you can make photo collages and holiday e-greeting cards effortlessly.

If purchased separately, these apps would run you nearly $500 ($484). In fact, there are 5 software titles in the bundle that would cost you more than the purchase price. Stack Socialis offering you all 10 of these apps for just $39.

All of the apps are downloadable, and come with the same support and upgrade options as full retail versions. It looks like (as of 12/7/2013) there are only 3 days left in this promotion, so act fast! For more information, click here.

There are now 1 million apps available in the US App Store

During its October iPad event, Apple announced that it had crossed the 1 million app milestone in its worldwide App Store. This meant that, not counting duplicates, it had over 1 million apps available around the globe at that time.

This week, Apple passed the same milestone here in its US App Store. According to data from app discovery firm Appsfire, there are now more than 1 million live apps in the App Store. 1,006,557 to be exact at the time of this writing…

MacRumors was the first to spot the landmark:

“Apple’s U.S. App Store has reached one million live apps, according to data from app discovery platform Appsfire. Our own app discovery site AppShopper lists the same one million milestone. [...]

Apple has approved a total of approximately 1,439,451 apps since the App Store opened in 2008 and over the course of the year, has been creeping towards the million milestone. Of the 1 million apps available for download, more than half a million are available for Apple’s iPad, and over 900,000 are available for the iPhone. The company has now paid out more than $13 billion to App Store developers.”

Apple has surpassed a number of major App Store milestones over the past two years. In March of 2012, it announced that it had hit the 25 billion app download mark. And in May of this year, it celebrated its 50 billionth app download.