In some circumstances, the simplest apps and tweaks are often the best and most successful ones. One of the underlying concepts of mobile software is that simpler is usually better, and in my own experience I have found that packages that are overly complex and unnecessarily in-depth often just get removed and are never used again.
There can be no denying the fact that the Instagram app has been insanely successful since its launch onto the iOS platform. What started out as a simple service allowing users to take a photograph, apply some filters and upload it to the Instagram network ultimately ended up with the social networks’ biggest player, Facebook, stepping in and slapping $1 billion in cash and stocks on the table to buy it.
With Apple being largely responsible for reinvigorating the music industry at the turn of the century and introducing the world to digital downloads, it shouldn’t really come as a surprise that devices such as the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch are so popular for consumers who are looking for a rich music and media playback experience.
Whenever anyone talks about social networking, it is generally the social behemoth Facebook that crops up first in conversation, but with Twitter adding more and more users on a daily basis, the mini micro-blogging service is starting to make some serious waves in the social world. What could be better than mixing the power of a jailbroken iOS device with quick and simple access to two of the world’s largest social forums? And for good measure, throw in voice input support to update your status on said social networks, then we definitely have a winner here.
Considering the amount of excellent and quality apps that are available on the App Store, it goes without saying that iOS device users will more than likely have a decent amount of apps installed upon their device to allow them to complete a wide range of tasks. With all of those apps in one place, all having different abilities and functions, it also stands to reason that notifications are going to be used to allow users to keep track of what is going on, and so that nothing important is missed or overlooked.
After more than two years of work on bringing new features and reaching out to other mobile platforms, Foursquare completely redesigned their apps for iOS and Android. The updated app, numbered 5.0, offers a much better user-experience and a new recommendation system. We’ve discussed both right after the jump!
I have never been personally fascinated with any kind of extensive use of the Japanese Emoji art, but that might be because I don't feel the need to express myself in text and email messages through the use of different emoticons. Thankfully, I don't represent the majority of the user-base and the cute little Emoji icons always seem to be extremely popular.
When it comes to chopping up fruit, a simple kitchen knife will usually do the trick, and although some fruits have particularly tough skin, the Samurai sword is seldom necessary. Luckily, nobody told that to Halfbrick Studios, who, two years ago, created the immensely-addictive iOS marvel that is Fruit Ninja.
Not long ago, there was a rumor that Microsoft was going to announce a feature called SmartGlass for tablets and phones at E3, allowing users to interact with content on the Xbox using their "second-screen" devices. Well, that rumor has panned out to be true; during its E3 keynote, Microsoft did officially announce the service.
We have seen in the past that developers who push their packages to Cydia seem to go through trends relating to the parts of iOS that they enhance with their creations. We have seen this with Notification Center and Siri based tweaks, with the trend seem to be erring towards the iOS device lock screen in recent weeks, with developers launching tweaks such as Unfold, Unlockize and PaperLock.
