Whether you have a company-issued phone or you use your won for both work and play, finding love through dating apps on your device may increase the risk of a security breach for your employer, a new report from IBM says. [More]
apps
App Developer Fights Piracy By Sticking Them With Pirate-Themed Version Of App
By 2.3.15
There are countless ways that software developers and media companies have tried to prevent pirates from illegally copying and distributing their products, but even if those roadblocks work right now, they won’t be effective for long. So one developer of an oft-pirated Android app decided the only way to deal with pirates is to acknowledge their existence. [More]
Police Ask Waze To Remove Speed Trap Alerts To Protect Cops
By 1.26.15
The navigation and traffic app Waze is sometimes very helpful to help motorists avoid snarled traffic, construction, and road hazards. One of its features has some police officers worried, though. They worry that the feature that allows Waze users to alert each other to speed traps could endanger the lives of police officers. [More]
Apple No Longer Labeling Apps As “Free” In The App Store, Though They’re Still Free
By 11.20.14
A successful marketer knows that part of the big sell to customers is all in the language — and it seems Apple doesn’t want to use that dirty “F” word in its App Store to push apps anymore. Customers started noticing recently that on most applications that don’t cost a penny, the button to download them has changed from “FREE” to “GET.” [More]
Taco Bell Inexplicably Marks Launch Of New Pre-Ordering App By Blacking Itself Out On The Internet
By 10.28.14
Guests coming late to a party tend to like making a grand entrance. Apparently that’s Taco Bell’s plan as the company blacked out its social media and internet presence in an attempt to drum up excitement for its latest innovation: an app that lets customers order meals and prepay. Sound familiar? That’s because Starbucks, McDonald’s and other eateries have already announced similar services. [More]
The Time Has Come: Facebook Forcing Smartphone Users To Download Separate Messaging App
By 7.29.14
Have the urge to send a Facebook message to your ex at goodness knows what time in the morning saying Zeus only knows what? If you want to make that mistake on your phone, soon you’ll have to download the social network’s entirely separate Messenger app, or forever keep your peace. Until the next time you hang out with your pal tequila, at least. [More]
RoadNinja Wants Only Five-Star Reviews, Isn’t Subtle About It
By 6.27.14
Ray likes Roadninja, a free mobile app that tells users what amenities and gas prices are available at the next highway exit. He doesn’t think it’s perfect, though. That’s why he was kind of annoyed when it prompted him to leave a review…and his options were limited. [More]
San Francisco Sends Cease-And-Desist Letter To App That Auctions Off Public Parking Spaces
By 6.23.14
Selling off the parking spot you’re about to vacate sounds like a win-win — you get some money and someone else gets a place to put a car. Oh but the thing is? It’s probably not legal if that’s a public spot, like in San Francisco, where the city attorney has warned a mobile app that it can’t help people auction off such spots. [More]
Facebook Accidentally Launches Snapchat Rival App Slingshot Early, Yanks It
By 6.10.14
Seems like someone over at Facebook had an itchy trigger finger, as the social media site released a new Snapchat rival photo service yesterday that it didn’t mean to show to the public yet. It’s since been pulled, and Facebook admits that it was a bit premature. [More]
Facebook Updates Its Login System With New Privacy Controls, Anonymous Sign-In
By 4.30.14
If you’re like me, you spend plenty of time muttering, “No I do not want to log in using my Facebook profile!” while accessing other sites. Because why does the fundraising site du jour need to know I like a bluegrass band called No Vests On Our Chests? It doesn’t, so Facebook has now updated the privacy controls on those connected logins. [More]
Would You Pay $45 Per Month For Unlimited Coffee?
By 4.16.14
How much would you pay per month for an unlimited coffee pass? If you drink coffee daily and don’t brew it at home, that could become a pricey addiction. Yet CUPS, an app out of Israel, recently expanded to this country. Its premise is simple: subscribe and get discounted or even unlimited coffee from independent coffee shops for a discounted price. [More]
Your Addiction To Playing ‘Flappy Bird’ Is The Reason It’s Gone Forever
By 2.11.14
Eyes glazed, staring at the screen, a tiny pearl of drool juuust forming at the crease of a slack-jawed mouth… The Flappy Bird addicts out there (and you know who you are) only have themselves to blame for the game vanishing from app stores, says its developer. [More]
Too Much Of A Good Thing? ‘Flappy Bird’ Developer Pulls Game After Surge Of Success
By 2.10.14
Anyone who’s ever eaten an entire cake in one sitting knows that yes, it is possible for there to be too much of a good thing. And that goes for inedible things as well: The sudden success of mobile game Flappy Bird appears to have been too overwhelming for its developer, who pulled the mega popular game from app stores yesterday say he just “cannot take this anymore.” [More]
South Korea Has Outlawed Bloatware On Smartphones
By 1.28.14
While Apple has long prevented wireless companies from force-placing cruddy, memory- and battery-sucking apps on its iPhones, most Android users have phones loaded with apps from their wireless providers and phone manufacturers that will probably never be used but which can’t be removed. Realizing that this is a mammoth annoyance to consumers, regulators in South Korea have banned the practice. [More]
“Kid-Friendly” Plastic Surgery Apps Pop Up On Apple, Google Stores
By 1.16.14
Because there’s nothing children love more than animated fat-shaming and liposuction, a supposedly youngster-friendly plastic surgery app has popped up in various forms (and has also been taken down) on both Google Play Store the and Apple App Store. [More]
Online Tool Lets You Know If An App Is A Data Hog Before You Download It
By 12.27.13
Have you ever downloaded an app that didn’t seem like it was going to chew up a ton of data only to later find out that it was devouring megabytes without you knowing? A wireless industry group has put together a website that measures data usage on the most popular iOS and Android apps (sorry Windows phone users) so consumers can know what to expect before they download. [More]
Shazam Finally Becomes A Useful App By Also Becoming Slightly Terrifying
By 12.19.13
I’ve always been a bit perplexed by Shazam, the app that listens to music and other media and (hopefully) identifies it. That alone can be useful, especially when you’re out somewhere and trying to figure out the name of a song playing in the background, or the artist performing said song. Problem is, it always took so darn long for Shazam to start up that it rarely had the time to listen to a sufficient portion of the tune I desperately needed to name. Now the makers of Shazam have figured out a way to speed up that process — by always having the app listening to your every sound, even when the phone is locked. [More]
Ad-Filled Monopoly Game, Deluxe Virtual Tooth Fairy, Potty With iPad Stand Top List Of Year’s Worst Toys
By 11.21.13
Do your kids feel that board games are ho-hum without advertising from some of the world’s biggest brands? Maybe your girls and boys are bored with the virtual tooth fairy they already have (yes, this exists) and the only way to make them happy is to pay more to unlock a VIP edition? Or does your potty-training youngster cry because he or she has to take their eyes away from the iPad for a few seconds while they do their digestive duty? Then we have some toys for you! [More]
