iPhone Applications

Google has launched a new app for the iPhone that aims to make sharing videos on YouTube easier and faster. Once installed, users can set preferences for automatic color correction, video stabilization and location services. You can then use the app to record videos and automatically upload them to YouTube, Google+, Facebook and Twitter . The app also allows you to set privacy settings, edit your video and add free background music.

Two of my favorite features are the ability to upload videos while the app is minimized, and that the app forces users to hold their phone in a horizontal position, in an effort to eliminate the annoying Vertical Video Syndrome.

Sharing photos from your iOS device over email is great, until you run into the built-in limitation that prevents selecting over 5 photos. This means that if you have a large number of photos to send via email, the iPhone will force you to send them in several emails with 5 attachments each.

Thanks to developer Mohamed Alaoui Mrani, iOS users can download Instamail Photos from the App Store and send unlimited photos in one message. The app is currently on sale, priced at $0.99 for a limited time. Of course, you can't go sending too many photos in a single email, because most service providers limit the size of email messages.

Apple has released the App Store Best of 2012 list, which includes this year's Editor's Picks for best app and game, and the most downloaded free and paid apps of the year. The Editor's pick for App of the Year is Action Movie FX, with the $0.99 music app Figure nabbing the runner-up slot, and Rayman Jungle Run was voted the best Game of the Year.

Rovio Entertainment once again topped the paid charts with Angry Birds Space, and YouTube was the most downloaded free app (I wonder why?). Paper was announced as the iPad App of the Year, and The Room was chosen as the iPad Game of the Year by Apple. Read on for the complete App Store Best of 2012 results.

Not to be outdone by Instagram, Twitter has added photo filters to its iOS app. Twitter version 5.2 brings eight different filters, the ability to crop and scale images, and an easy to use grid view for finding the best looking filters for your photos.

Earlier this month, Instagram decided to disable the ability to properly display images on Twitter. Twitter users are now forced to visit Instagram’s website to correctly view images posted via the Instagram app. Instagram’s chief executive, Kevin Systrom said in an interview: “We’ve decided that right now, what makes sense, is to direct our users to the Instagram website".

Google has been on an app updating tear lately, with revamped versions of Gmail, Google Voice and YouTube all hitting the app store within the past week or so. Shopper is the latest Google app to receive a major overhaul. One of the highlights of the update to version 3.0 is a redesigned interface with faster navigation and larger images.

New features include the capability to discover sales and limited time special offers in your local area, right on a special section for sales. Shopper also gets push notifications, to keep you up to date on new features and content available in the app. With GoodGuide product ratings, Shopper also helps you find the best product, not just the lowest price.