iOS Archives - Memeburn

Spree adds AI-powered image search to iOS app
By Andy Walker: Editor on 8 June, 2017
Online retailer Spree has today announced an app feature that allows users to find clothing items that are similar to uploaded images. Available now on the iOS app version, the retailer says it's the first in Africa to offer the feature that employs "the latest artificial intelligence technologies". The move, Spree explains, is a bid to remain ahead of disruptive trends in the retail industry. "Searching for items with photos and images saves consumers from having to type keyword combinations, which is especially challenging on mobile devices," Spree's head of customer experience Sven Schoof, explains. "In a world where words are commonly replaced...
The ultimate guide to building apps in 2017
By Hendri Lategan on 24 April, 2017
This article is, more than anything, about user experience. Whether it’s an app, a website or something in between, your mobile platform of choice represents an unprecedented opportunity for you to connect to your customers no matter where they are. Connection follows us everywhere we go and permeates every second of our day. However, earning your time and engagement with the millions of mobile users in the market today, means creating an experience that will add true value to the their lives. I’ve long believed that in order to extract value from your consumers you need to create value first. Engagement...

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Apple bars apps from promoting their prices
By Julia Breakey on 30 March, 2017
If you're looking to put your free product in the iOS App Store, you're going to have to settle for the simple "Get" button Apple uses to denote a free app. For the past month the company has been rejecting all apps that advertise their price -- or lack thereof -- in their titles, VentureBeat reports. Apps with names like "Extreme Sail Simulator FREE" or "FREE Daily Meditation" are often called that so when users search for "free" apps, they appear higher up in the results. But now the apps will have to rely on the pull of the products' names rather than their prices. While Apple...
Wikileaks reveals CIA malware for Android, iOS, Samsung TVs
By Hadlee Simons on 8 March, 2017
Whistleblowing organisation Wikileaks has published its latest cache of documents, revealing CIA malware that focuses on Android, iOS devices and smart TVs. Additionally, the documents also show that the CIA has its sights set on vehicle control systems. According to a summary by Wikileaks, Apple's mobile platform was a massive target for the agency. "Despite iPhone's minority share (14.5%) of the global smart phone market in 2016, a specialised unit in the CIA's Mobile Development Branch produces malware to infest, control and exfiltrate data from iPhones and other Apple products running iOS, such as iPads. CIA's arsenal includes numerous local and remote 'zero days' developed...
Skype’s new preview beta adds a touch of Snapchat
By Andy Walker: Editor on 17 February, 2017
Remember Skype? The video conferencing tool is a product we haven't covered in a while, and that's largely because its feature set hasn't changed radically since Microsoft bought it from eBay in 2011. But that's about to change, at least judging by this week's news. Skype's mobile app, available on Android and iOS, is set to receive a number of updates to bring it in line with the other instant messaging apps of this world. Skype Chat will now boast a "Find Panel" which will allow users to "easily find and share links, news, sports results, restaurants, the weather, videos and more...
Disable Facebook autoplay videos on all platforms: a how-to guide
By Andy Walker: Editor on 15 February, 2017
Few things are more annoying than runaway videos on your devices thanks to Facebook autoplay. You can be mindlessly scrolling through your timeline one minute, and the next, some rando in a chicken suit starts dancing on your screen. No one wants that. Thankfully, this system, along with audio accompaniment, is coming to mobile devices too! But did you know that you can switch off the Facebook autoplay system entirely? Absolutely. And here's how you can do just that on Desktop, Android, and iOS. Desktop On Facebook's desktop website, you'll need to navigate to the top right of the site's headline bar and click...
Dropbox Paper is for creatives with too many files
By Andy Walker: Editor on 31 January, 2017
Cloud storage service Dropbox is hoping to modify its company description slightly with its latest product. It's called Dropbox Paper, and it's effectively the company's Google Docs competitor. While, yes, it is yet another online office collaboration tool, the company's Todd Jackson claims that it's so much more than that. "More than a doc, Dropbox Paper is a flexible workspace that brings people and ideas together," he explains. "With Paper, teams can create, review, revise, manage, and organise -- all in shared documents." Google Docs, but for creatives? Largely based on the principle that one basket is good enough for all your office's creative...
Bidvest’s Snappdrive app will let you rent, drive its cars without keys
By Staff Reporter on 23 January, 2017
South African car rental company Bidvest has announced the launch of its first keyless car rental service, Snappdrive. The app allows users to locate, gain access to, and even start Bidvest vehicles, negating the need for physical car keys. "Most often, car rental happens at the end of an arduous travel process," explains Bidvest CEO Paulette McGhee. "With Snappdrive, we eliminate any further hassle or waiting, with the traveller’s phone leading them straight to their waiting vehicle." Bidvest's Snappdrive eliminates the need for key collection or keys to start rental vehicles The company is also able to track its vehicles through the app system,...
Think twice before grabbing popular photo app Meitu
By Hadlee Simons on 20 January, 2017
Meitu, an app which allows users to gussy up their faces in an anime style, has quickly gone viral, but reports suggest that it represents a privacy threat. The app allows users to beautify their faces, delivering larger irises, smoother skin and a host of other changes. But several reports found that the app (especially the Android version), like many, requires a notable privacy trade-off. For starters, its Google Play Store listing reveals permissions such as location, running at startup, device and phone ID, and viewing WiFi connections. Not super crazy, but definitely concerning -- especially the ability to access your device/phone IDs...
Google’s Trusted Contacts is the app parents will love
By Andy Walker: Editor on 6 December, 2016
Once upon a time, you could keep track of your friends' and family's whereabouts using Google Plus. But that was the complicated past. Today, Google debuted a new Android app that aims to simplify keeping tabs on loved ones. Called Google Trusted Contacts, the app lets the most important people in your life request your location data from the app. If you fail to respond to the request, the app will automatically ping your loved one with your last recorded location. It's effectively Google's emergency location app. Trusted Contacts seems to pose a boat load of security problems. For one, your...

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‘Harambe’ lives on as emoji in Apple’s iOS 10.2 update
By Andy Walker: Editor on 2 November, 2016
Good news, internet. Harambe might be making a triumphant return to your Apple mobile device in the form of an emoji. Although many Apple mobile users currently run iOS 10.1, version 10.2 is just around the corner. And with it, comes a slew of new emoji. 72 emoji are included in Apple's latest developer preview build of iOS, with male and female counterparts providing the bulk of the new items. But one particular emoji is causing a bit of a stir on the internet. If iOS 10 doesn't have a Harambe emoji I'm going to be so disappointed. — Harambe (@_The_Harambe) September 12,...
Apple App Store prices drop in South Africa
By Staff Reporter on 18 October, 2016
Great news, Apple users. The Cupertino company has announced that App Store pricing will be adjusted for those in South Africa and New Zealand. Okay, not so great news for New Zealand (prices are actually climbing there), but in South Africa at least, we can look forward to a forthcoming price drop. Apple explains that the change will happen "within the next 72 hours" and will include apps and in-app purchases. It will not, however, affect subscription prices. The company claims that the change is thanks to the current favorable foreign exchange rates. App Store prices will drop for South Africans, but increase...
Meerkat may finally be dead, but Houseparty continues legacy
By Andy Walker: Editor on 3 October, 2016
Life On Air's Meerkat, arguably one of 2015's most exciting apps, has been pronounced dead. As of 30 September 2016, Meerkat is no longer listed on Android's Google Play store, or Apple's iOS App Store. The app, which took SXSW 2015 by storm and became a practical overnight sensation, allowed users to almost seamlessly livestream their activities. It was a novel idea at the time, but an idea that was soon made more mainstream courtesy of Twitter's Periscope. Ware of the Week: Meerkat Live mobile streaming has suddenly become a big potential business. With the current crop of flagship and mid-range smartphones boasting some...
Google Trips is Google’s nifty dedicated travel app
By Hadlee Simons on 20 September, 2016
Google Now already delivers a bunch of features for travellers, but the Mountain View company is upping the ante in a big way with the launch of Google Trips. The new app serves as a hub for travel information, offering trip details from your Gmail account and taking the form of Google Now style cards. So that means you have a card dedicated to your upcoming Johannesburg trip, for instance. Tap the card and you'll get a ton more details to check out, such as reservations, things to do, saved places from Google Maps, day plan options, food and drink choices and...

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Instagram finally hits 1bn download mark on Android
By Andy Walker: Editor on 23 August, 2016
It's taken about four years, but Instagram has this week hit the one billion downloads mark on Google's Play Store. Instagram, an app which allows its users to share and interact with user-posted images, is now the fourth Facebook-owned app that has hit that figure (after Facebook, Messenger and WhatsApp). According to Android Police, it's the 19th app on the Play Store to reach this figure. To put those numbers into rough perspective, around one-in-seven people on the planet have downloaded the app on an Android smartphone. Considering only about a billion-and-a-half devices run a version of Google's operating system, that's massively...