Apps

Microsoft updates Bing Search app with translation widget in Safari and Notification Center

First demoed at WWDC 2014 back in June, Microsoft's Bing translation widget and custom actions for Safari and the Notification Center in iOS 8 is now available by way of an update to the free Bing Search app for the iPhone and iPod touch devices. Available free of charge in the App Store, the new Bing Search 5.0.1 also contains bug fixes.

As shown on the screenshots top of post, enabling the Bing Search Translation action in Safari requires that you bring up the Share sheet in Safari.

TeeVee 3 updated with iOS 8 Today widget, interactive alerts and now free

TeeVee 3, a TV show-tracking app that I reviewed in May by Tomas Perzl of the Czech Republic and Slovakia-based CrazyApps Team, now lets you tweet out upcoming episodes or mark the ones you've seen as watched, directly from the notification itself, and also see which shows are coming next in the Today view of the iOS Notification Center, thanks to its iOS 8-focused update released yesterday.

Other new features available in this excellent iPhone and iPad app include new sorting options (Alphabetically, Reverse, AirDate and Unwatched), the ability to delete a show by long-pressing it in the list and several bug fixes.

As a cherry on top, the team has decided to discount the $2.99 app to zero bucks, for a limited time, in an effort to bring in new customers. If you're going to grab the latest TeeVee 3.1 update, please keep in mind that the app now requires iOS 8.

Twitter’s iPhone app gains interactive notifications on iOS 8, revamps profile pages

Twitter, the popular micro-blogging service, is rolling out a brand new profile experience on Twitter for iPhone, in addition to another cool new feature — support for interactive notifications for incoming tweets on iOS 8 devices — the startup announced in a blog post Thursday.

While the new profiles will be available for everyone using iOS 7 or above, the ability to interact with alerts on the Lock and Home screen is not because this capability is part of the great new features available only in iOS 8.

iOS 8 apps with Notification Center widgets

Now that iOS 8 is here, developers are releasing updates to their apps and launching new apps altogether that take advantage of iOS 8's many new functionalities. Many popular apps are being updated to support Notification Center widgets in the Today view for displaying information and performing actions without having to open the app. We've compiled an extensive list of apps that support iOS 8's new Notification Center APIs and are available to download and install on iOS 8. We're working to populate the index continuously as more updates are released, so check back frequently. If you know of an app that currently has iOS 8 Notification Center widget support but isn't listed below, send us an email at tips@idownloadblog.com or comment below with a link to the app!

WidgetMemo lets you create memos you can pin to Notification Center

Whenever someone tells me something important to remember, or I have a thought that I don’t want to forget, I write it down on whatever scrap of paper I have within arms reach. Oftentimes, those notes get tossed out with the garbage and I forget about them anyway.

WidgetMemo aims to stop the unnecessary loss of important notes by letting you create them on your iPhone using a simple user-interface. Your memos can easily be viewed in Notification Center, where you presumably check regularly throughout the day anyway. So, you’ll never forget what you were supposed to remember…

New ‘Notifyr’ app pushes your iPhone notifications to your Mac

A new iPhone app has surfaced in the App Store that offers a fairly unique feature: the ability to push notifications to your Mac. It's called Notifyr, and it utilizes a companion OS X client and Bluetooth LE tech to automatically send your iOS notifications to your desktop.

The whole thing is fairly easy to set up. After you've downloaded both the iOS app and the Mac client, you'll follow the usual bluetooth pairing procedure. And once that's done, you should start seeing all of your iOS notifications pop up in your Mac's Notification Center...

How to access your calendar app from Notification Center

You've probably noticed how you can access the Weather app just by tapping on the weather condition in the Today tab of Notification Center. If you've tried to do the same with the calendar app, then you probably realized that tapping on today's date in Notification Center doesn't do anything.

This is a minor annoyance that a new jailbreak tweak called TapTodaysCalendar is now eradicating...

Pebble update goes live with full iOS 7 Notifications support

Pebble has had basic support for iOS Notifications in place from day one. The implementation, however, left a lot to be desired as the Pebble smarwatch could only relay the most basic of iOS notifications through a companion iPhone app.

Eagle-eyed readers will remember that the company last week confirmed an upcoming update would enable additional iOS 7 Notification Center alerts.

And just like clockwork, a new version of Pebble's iOS app has gone live now in the App Store, introducing full integration with the iOS 7 Notification Center. This allows Pebble owners to receive any alerts enabled in Notification Center on an iOS 7 device and have them displayed on their $150 smartwatch.

Yes, this includes alerts from third-party apps such as Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp and lots more. Go past the fold for more...

Quickpick: Set Shortcuts in Notification Center Without Jailbreaking

Since Apple released iOS 5, users have been running out of reasons to jailbreak their devices. The software update replaced several tweaks and utilities that were only available to jailbreakers in previous versions of iOS.

So, why are people still jailbreaking iOS 5? A major reason is for the ability to customize the Notification Center with widgets and system shortcuts. But you may not even have to jailbreak for that anymore, thanks to a new app called Quickpick.