Twitter has added auto-playing videos to its iOS app. This means any animated GIFs or videos will automatically start playing when you scroll pass them in your Twitter feed. These videos are not only annoying, but they can eat into your data plan when you're using a cellular connection. Luckily there is a way to disable them. Here's how:
Submitted by Frank Macey on
Twitter has launched its live-streaming video app Periscope for iOS. The social networking app makes it possible to broadcast live video quickly and simply, right from an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. Followers are notified that your broadcast is live, and they can join and comment on the stream in real time. Periscope even has a "hearts" feature that allows viewers to tap the screen to send fluttering hearts as a sign of appreciation.
Periscope will keep track of hearts received, ranking Periscope users in a "Most Loved" list. Earlier this month, Twitter shut down the competing service Meerkat, which was using Twitter accounts to function. Unlike Meerkat, Periscope allows for video replays to be watched for up to 24 hours after the live broadcast.
Submitted by Bob Bhatnagar on
Frequent users of the iOS Twitter app have probably noticed how easy it is to accidentally perform actions when viewing the timeline feed. Tapping the favorite button or retweeting by mistake can happen inadvertently when scrolling. The jailbreak tweak TwitConfirm seeks to reduce these accidental actions for those with jailbroken devices.
Once installed, TwitConfirm adds a confirmation screen to the retweet and favorite buttons. Selecting one of these actions will result in a dialog box requiring a Yes or No entry to proceed. Since the action is brought to the user's attention, retweeting or favoriting without even realizing it becomes a thing of the past.
Submitted by Anders Batten on
Vine users can now send video or text messages to anyone listed in their Contacts app, or to other Vine members. To send messages via the Vine app, just select the “Messages” option in the Settings menu or tap the Message button on a person's profile.
The new "VM" feature only offers the ability to start one-to-one conversations, not group chats. However, you can send as many video messages as you want, you just have to start separate conversations with each contact. Like Facebook, VM also includes two inbox options: The first option is for people you know, and the other is for "people outside your network". You can disable the option to receive messages from strangers by turning off the "Other Inbox" feature in your Settings menu.
Submitted by Anders Batten on
This week's big stories revolved around the return of one popular app to the Apple App Store and the death of another. Flappy Bird developer Dong Nguyen, announced on Twitter that the mobile game sensation will eventually make a return to the App Store but "not soon." Meanwhile, Twitter pulled its #Music app and told current users it will only continue to work until April 18. Besides the possible rebirth of an old app, and the demise of a high-profile app, it was a slow week for App Store news and releases.
Here are this week's most noteworthy App Store and Cydia releases (03/16/14 to 03/22/14). Apple's Free App of the Week is Ridge Racer Slipstream. The game will be free on the App Store until 03/27/14.
