Wow, It's An Official Reddit App

That's right, there's an official Reddit app, finally. Too bad it's only for AMA's (Ask Me Anything) but I'll take it.

Download 'Ask Me Anything — official Reddit AMA app'

Tydlig is Free for Apple Store App Users

What might possibly be the best iOS calculator app, Tydlig, is now free if you have the Apple Store app installed on your device. Tydlig is being touted as a "work hard" app for students going back to school this fall. The offer will run until September 12 and then will be updated to feature the next app. According to Apple:

This month we're celebrating four themes that represent the life of a college student: Get going. Head out. Work hard. Wind down.

This week, work hard with Tydlig, a calculator reimagined to help you with everything from tips and discounts to real-time graphing. Work smarter, not harder, by referencing your previous calculations, and share your work by printing or exporting results as a high-quality PDF. 

Foursquare 8.0

Foursquare just launched their app redesign that focuses on location-based recommendations. Foursquare's move to splitting Foursquare and moving check-ins to their new app Swarm has angered many long time users. I, on the other hand, am part of a minority that is excited to try out the new Foursquare app. I rarely used Foursquare in the past for it's main functionality — checking-in, so the app split doesn't bother me. I've yet to find a favorite app in the 'find new things to do/places to eat around me' category and the new Foursquare app has a good chance of occupying that spot on my iPhone, with its vast database of user check-ins and tips.

Get Foursquare

“How To Alienate Your Users And Make Them To Leave Your Successful App”

A 5 step guide on how to alienate your users, by Aleyda Solis:

1. Split your app in two and force users to download your new app in order to have the same functionality they usually enjoyed before with just one, easy to use app. You will have clear arguments: You need to grow and diversify, your functionalities need to evolve and you need to monetize them in different ways, so it would be very complex to keep them all in just one app.

An entertaining post about Foursquare's new strategy of splitting their popular app — Foursquare, into 2. But, this isn't about Foursquare. I never was a big Foursquare user so if anything, I'm excited to try their new app. My frustration is with Facebook. To me, the first point perfectly sums up how I feel about Facebook forcing you to download the Messenger app by removing messaging functionality from the Facebook app. The Messenger app is great and might I add, looks much better than the original Facebook app. But, that doesn't justify forcing a transition especially when users like me just want to send a message and aren't interested in Facebook's take on group messaging, wi-fi calling, voice messages, stickers etc.

As for "clear arguments", here's Facebook's: "Messenger is much faster. You'll get new messages instantly and can reply right away." Great. Perfect for anyone browsing their Facebook feed and receiving a message from a Facebook friend. They'll be on their way to "reply right away" after leaving Facebook and being thrown into the fast Messenger app.

And so with that said, I'd like to add a new step to alienate your users.

6. Leave a shortcut button in your main app to the relocated service because it is fundamental to your main app's functionality. But, users will have to be thrown from app to app just to accomplish a simple task that they once could easily do in the main app.

Once everyone has transitioned into Messenger, maybe Facebook should release an app that lets you write posts because you know, speed and what not. I'll be looking forward to it along with every other frustrated user that gave Messenger a 1 out of 5 rating on the AppStore.

Shazam Comes to Mac

I don't think Shazam needs an introduction but, if you still don't know what it is; it's a service that identifies music and some TV shows just by listening. It's quite fascinating the first time you see it in action — especially popular songs that the algorithm can figure out just by hearing 2 seconds of the intro.

As a mobile only service for many years, getting Shazam on a Mac is exciting news. The Mac app just sits in the menu bar listening and identifying any music it hears. The always on feature was introduced to mobile a while ago but I never really enabled it for obvious battery life concerns. Now that it's on Mac, I'm willing to give 'always on' a try. Interestingly, there doesn't appear to be a simple 'Shazam-ing' button — it's either always on or always off.

There isn't much to point out here but, syncing with other devices would be great. Shazam has always served a secondary purpose for me besides the whole identification aspect. As someone who loves music, Shazam was sort of a to-do list for songs I wanted to listen to, so not having access to my iPhone tags on my Mac is huge.

Get Shazam for Mac

iOS App Hiding Concept

We've all wanted to delete some of the default apps that ship with every iPhone and iPad but of course, that isn't possible. That's why I created this concept video, to show a way to easily hide any app on your device. Enjoy!