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As the week winds to a close and our thoughts turn to holiday festivities next week, here’s a bonus recap for this fine Friday, focused on a selection of app news and updates you might have missed in the last 24 hours or so — our little Christmas gift to you, so go, go, go get ’em!
Instagram Reverses Course on ToS, You Can Stop Rioting (For Now)
Well, that was fast: No sooner did Instagram announce its unpopular new terms of service, then the photo-centric social network has backpedaled on the whole ordeal. “Because of the feedback we have heard from you, we are reverting this advertising section to the original version that has been in effect since we launched the service in October 2010,” co-founder Kevin Systrom wrote in a blog post late Thursday. That still gives you plenty of other bits of the company’s ToS to rant and rave about, should you need some further tension in your life for the holidays. Meanwhile, the company also pushed out Instagram 3.4, adding a new filter called Mayfair as an olive branch for frustrated users.
Apple Reminds Developers of Week-Long App Store Freeze
MacRumors is reminding us that Apple has just reminded developers not to schedule any further price changes or updates between today (Friday, December 21) and next Friday, December 28. That’s the traditional week-long freeze on the App Store and Mac App Stores, during which time no updates or price changes will be honored so Apple’s elves can relax and enjoy the holiday. So we’re also reminding you: Might as well lay off that Update tab for the next week, there’s not likely to be anything for you to download until the freeze gets thawed after next Friday.
imo messenger Now iPad Native with High-Quality VoIP Calling
iPad owners can now experience high-quality VoIP calling thanks to the new imo messenger for iPad app. This free sibling to the existing iPhone and Android app now allows imo.im messenger to be used on all iOS devices, complete with high-quality voice calling and a brand new user interface which streamlines access to conversations by combining messages and contacts for a faster, simplified chat experience. The iPad version also offers group photo sharing and real-time uploading of images, a feature first introduced to the iPhone app in November. You know where to find it… don’t you?
Plex Updates PlexPass, Offers Option to Avoid Premium Subscription
The kindly folks over at Plex have announced some enhancements to its paid PlexPass offering, which gives users a sneak peek at upcoming features before everyone else. In addition to implementing upgrades from one subscription tier to another, the service now accepts PayPal payments for non-recurring annual and lifetime PlexPasses. The better news is that the company’s plans to implement Premium features like PlexSync (which allows networked content to be downloaded for offline playback) have now been rolled into PlexPass — that means no more worries about separate subscriptions, PlexPass users will get pretty much every Premium feature the company rolls out in the future.
Dailymotion 3.0 Introduces New UI, Video Player
Last but certainly not least we come to Dailymotion 3.0, the latest version of the free iOS app for the popular video streaming service. The update simplifies video discovery with a new user interface and improved dashboard, making it easier than ever to find what you’re looking for amongst more than 30 million unique videos and 20,000 daily uploads from users, premium content partners and Motionmakers. The free app also makes accessing your favorite Dailymotion channels and playlists a snap, so head to the App Store and grab the update while it’s fresh out of the oven.
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