Mac App Store

Yoink is an awesome drag and drop utility for the Mac

Jeff Benjamin ∙ November 29, 2013

Sometimes dragging and dropping items between multiple windows and full screen apps and folders can be challenging. But dragging and dropping doesn’t have to be a tedious or perplexing task. One of my favorite utilities for the Mac is called Yoink, and it allows you to simplify the process of dragging and dropping on OS X.

Its description in the Mac App Store states that Yoink simplifies drag and drop between windows, apps, spaces and fullscreen apps. As a long time user of the tool, I can vouch for developer Matthias Gansringler’s description. As you’ll see in the video walkthrough that follows, Yoink is one of those apps that you don’t realize you need until you see it in action. Have a look inside for the full walkthrough.

ScreenFlow 4.5 released with new transitions, asynchronous uploads, and more

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

ScreenFlow is, in my opinion, the best screen recording software available for the Mac. It's what I use each and every day to create a lot of the video content that you see on iDB. Its developer, Telestream Inc., has made the app available on both the Mac App Store and via direct download from its website.

Unfortunately, as with a lot of the apps that feature Mac App Store versions and direct download versions, the Mac App Store release lags behind. ScreenFlow is stuck at version 4.0.4 on the Mac App Store, while the direct download version recently got updated to version 4.5. For that reason, I recommend buying the direct download version, because that version gets updates much faster than the Mac App Store version.

It’s also a great time to buy the direct download version, because Telestream is having a 30% off sale. This means you can snag ScreenFlow 4.5 for under $70 bucks. That’s a steal for this type of powerful software, as it's usually $100 bucks.

Version 4.5 of ScreenFlow is a huge update, which brings numerous new features, improvements and bug fixes to the table. Have a look inside to see what all has changed.

PhotoSweeper review: easily clean out duplicate images on your Mac

Lory Gil ∙ November 25, 2013

I may have mentioned this before: I take a lot of pictures. If I’m not trying to get the perfect shot of a rock band with my Nikon, I’m snapping pics with my iPhone. I am, by no means, a pro. I’m not even as much of an avid hobbyist as many others would consider themselves to be. I do, however, have a lot of pictures stored on my computer and in iPhoto. Many of them are duplicates of the same subject because I’m always trying to get just the right shot at the right moment.

PhotoSweeper is a file cleaner for OS X that will help you clear out duplicate images by finding similar compositions and letting you delete what you don’t want from the original location…

Apple adds new features to iWork for iOS and Mac

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 17, 2017

As you know, Apple earlier in the month has promised to bring back dozens of recently-removed iWork features over the course of six months. In keeping with that promise, a barrage of updates has gone live Wednesday on the App Store and Mac App Store, adding new capabilities to the iWork suite of applications on Macs, iPhones, iPads and iPods.

This is the first major refresh since last month's downgrade stealthily removed arguably less popular though essential features in favor of cross-platform document compatibility between OS X, iOS and the web.

I've included full release notes and a couple of highlights right after the break...

Hurry, Instacast for Mac is on sale for 50% off

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated February 13, 2018

One of the better podcast clients for the Mac is available for 50% off its retail price. Instacast, the podcasting client from Vemedio is going for $9.99 on the Mac App Store for a limited time.

The nice thing about Instacast is that you can use it to sync your playlists with its iOS counterpart. That means that it's extremely easy to listen on your Mac, and pick up where you left off on your iPhone, and vice versa.

Instacast is a great way to keep up with all of the episodes of Let's Talk iOS. According to its description on the Mac App Store, this deal is slated to end in one day, so you'll want to be quick if interested.

Apple’s Volume Purchase Program expands to Macs with Managed Distribution

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 5, 2013

Early in the game, Apple took advantage of its Volume Purchase Program (VPP) to allow Business and Education customers to buy iPhone and iPad apps carried on the App Store in bulk and with volume discounts.

Following the free OS X Mavericks update earlier in the month, the company has now updated VPP rules to include Mac App Store apps as well. With this change, Education and Business customers can for the first time buy Mac apps in volume.

In addition, the company has introduced a new Managed Distribution feature for iOS 7 and Mavericks devices which lets businesses and education institutions easily assign and revoke app licenses to individual users. Previously, these high-value customers had to rely on redemption codes to distribute software in bulk...

What to do if you’re running Mavericks GM, and you can’t download the final version

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

A little while ago, I encountered a very frustrating issue that had me pulling my hair out for a while. That is, until I finally stumbled upon the fix for the issue.

As a registered developer, I've been testing out Mavericks since Developer Preview 3, and I made it a habit of installing every release up until the GM version. The nice thing about the Mavericks betas is that you can grab the updates directly from the Mac App Store without having to completely reinstall the OS once a new beta ships.

That all changed when Apple released a stealth (13A603) GM update a few days ago, which didn't feature an update in the Mac App Store. Either you needed to completely reinstall with the new GM build, or just deal with the outdated (13A598) GM build until hopefully OS X 10.9.1 places you back on the correct upgrade path.

Sure this was annoying, but it didn't sound like a huge deal to me until I wanted to download Mavericks this evening in order to make a USB install key, and was continuously met with an error message.

Previous app versions coming to Mac App Store, too

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 22, 2013

A little over a month ago, Apple started letting customers download older versions of App Store apps. This handy new capability was designed to allow folks on legacy hardware to download the last compatible app version for their outdated iOS build. Up until then, the most recent app version available had used to render all of the previously submitted app builds inaccessible in the Mac App Store.

The same 'Previous Versions' feature is now coming to the Mac App Store, writes Apple in its memo to the registered Mac developer community, adding devs can now "let users download an older version” of their apps. I've got more information right below...

1Password 4 now available in the Mac App Store

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

The fine folks over at AgileBits have outdone themselves with the latest update to their awesome password management application. 1Password 4, a release countless months in the making, is now officially available for purchase in the Mac App Store. To celebrate, the team behind it is offering it at $39.99 — a 20% discount.

I've been a 1Password user for a littler over a year now, and I have to tell you, it's the best thing since sliced bread. To be honest, I wasn't much a believer at first. I used another password management tool called LastPass, and that seemed to work fine for me.

That was until I gave 1Password a real shot. Since then, I haven't looked back. There are just so many different facets of this application that make it the gold standard as far as password management apps are concerned. And 1Password 4 has so many subtle upgrades and painstaking attention to detail, that I feel comfortable labeling it the best password management app of all time.

DeskConnect review: how to share files between all of your devices

Lory Gil ∙ Updated March 14, 2018

These days, it is fairly easy to share things with other devices through cloud storage. However, those services are usually limited in size. Plus, it takes a few steps to grab a file, save it to a cloud storage app, then go to another device, open the cloud storage app, find the file, and download it.

DeskConnect makes it possible to easily share all kinds of media across multiple devices without having to save it in the cloud first. There are no limits on number of devices, storage capacity, or file type. Just drag-and-drop and you’re ready to go…

Apple releases OS X Mavericks graphics update

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 12, 2018

Apple has released a new graphics update for OS X Mavericks. The update, which is aimed at users running OS X Developer Preview 3 is to resolve an issue where a Mac running OS X Mavericks Developer Preview 3 may reboot without warning. The graphics update, which is a 1.0 release, comes in at 4.9 megabytes and requires a restart after installation.

Renewing and non-renewing subscriptions for Mac App Store apps coming this Fall

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 1, 2013

Apple with the iOS 5 release on September 19, 2012 brought in-app subscriptions to its mobile operating system. The feature was originally conceived to allow for the creation of subscription-based digital magazines and newspapers sold on the iOS Newsstand, along with enabling app-managed content offered on a subscription-basis. And now, subscriptions will be definitely coming to Mac apps carried on the Mac App Store when OS X Mavericks is released this Fall...