Posts Tagged
Google
This week, Google made a ton of announcements about new software products, but the one that we spent the most time talking about here at iPad.AppStorm is Google Hangouts. This is the product that makes Google Plus worth having for many of us. We see it as kind of a big deal.
When the opportunity came to review the new Hangouts app for iPad, I jumped at it. I don’t need another way to communicate — in fact, I think we all communicate with each other way too much — but I wanted to give it a shot and see what all the hoopla was about. I’m always looking for a better way to communicate. Let’s find out if Google Hangouts is, in fact, a better way to chat with friends.
For some people, the stock Mail app on iPad is old-school. It can be difficult to fully integrate with a Gmail account and it doesn’t seem as swipe-intuitive as some of the other options that are available for iPhone. On that note, the iPhone has more email options than I can count but admittedly, the iPad feels really left out.
But I’m staunchly in love with Mail.app. It handles all of my email perfectly well in a beautiful, easy-to-read and easy-to-navigate interface. That makes me the perfect candidate to review Birdseye Mail, the first third-party email app for Google users I’ve ever seen that tries to take full advantage of the iPad’s large 10″ display. If an app like Birdseye can win me over, you know it’s good. (more…)
When Apple decided to remove the YouTube app in iOS 6, I can’t say I was very heartbroken. The app was rarely updated, didn’t function very well and was a tad lacking in features. Nevertheless, if you upgraded to iOS 6 when it was first released near the end of September, you’ve either had to use Safari (or another browser app) or one of the many unofficial YouTube apps (Jasmine being the best option) to get your video content; that is, until now.
In a recent update to the iPhone version, the official third-party YouTube app finally gained iPad support. After spending some time with the app, I’m ready let you know if it’s been worth the wait. (more…)
When it hit the news that Google acquired Sparrow, a very popular third-party email app at the time, there was a harsh outcry by tech blogs and social media. Users were saddened by the notion that their beloved app would essentially be abandoned and stripped for parts. Unlike most app developers, the team at Sparrow was very good about collaborating with users in order to continually improve the app, which users really admired; so, the outcry was understandable.
At this point you may be wondering if I’ve forgotten that I’m reviewing an iPad app, since Sparrow is only available for the iPhone. Rest assured, I haven’t. If you’ve ever used Sparrow on the iPhone you know that the development team behind the app is obviously very talented, but when they shifted gears to work on the Gmail app, post buyout, I began to wait anxiously as I wanted to see if they’d be up to the challenge of fixing Google’s all but failed first attempt at developing a native Gmail app. Now that version 2.0 of Gmail has been released, maybe now I can find out. (more…)
The battle for dominance between iOS and Android is not diminishing. Since the iPhone was introduced in 2007, and Android the year following, a back and forth struggle between the two operating systems continues to endure, with Android clearly winning the numbers game with a 75% worldwide market share. While not a very big threat at the moment, Microsoft has thrown their proverbial hat into the ring with the recent release of Windows Phone 8 and the Surface.
With all three mobile operating systems striving to become the clear choice for would-be smartphone buyers, I find it rather interesting that Google and Microsoft continue to build their presence on iOS, while Apple seems content to playing in their own backyard (so to speak). Why is this important? Hit the jump to find out. (more…)
It’s no secret that I’m a big Google fan. I like using all of the tools they have to offer, including email, calendar, RSS reader, operating systems and of-course, cloud storage. When Google first announced and released Google Drive for Android and a little later for iOS, I was really excited — only to find out that while I could edit files on my Galaxy Nexus, I could only view them on my iPad. Well some time has gone by since then, and Google has made improvements to it’s iOS app. Let’s see how they stack up! (more…)
I love RSS Feeds. They’re a little more focused than Twitter, and I love the way they encourage long-form article reading. At iPad.AppStorm, we frequently cite Reeder as one of those must-have iPad apps for people who have just purchased their wonderful new tablet, but we’ve never once posted our thoughts on what makes the app so great. Today, we rectify that.
Reeder, by Silvio Rizzi, is one of those rare apps that seemed to birth an entire genre. I use it on my iPhone, iPad and Macs, and despite the constantly growing and changing competition, I have yet to encounter a single RSS Reader that I like more. (more…)
In August 2011 our own Scott Danielson reviewed Calendars, which he called a “powerful Google Calendar client for iPad, but with it’s unique feature set and functionality, it might be a bit too much app for the casual scheduler.” Since his review, the team at Readdle have been quite busy releasing updates at a feverish pace (averaging nearly two updates per month). Being one that enjoys going back to the well (obviously not my own) every so often, I gave Calendars a second test run to see if Readdle could improve upon an already impressive replacement for the first-party Calendars app.
Has the app been streamlined to appeal towards casual users? Have the necessary features been added to make it the de facto calendar app? Find out after the jump. (more…)
Every so often, an app comes along that changes the game in it’s respective category. Shazam revolutionized how people identified songs. Instagram changed the way people capture and share photos. Evernote made it incredible easy to share notes across multiple platforms. While it’s become increasingly difficult for apps to change how people do certain things, it’s all the more impressive when one does.
When it was originally released for the iPad in 2010, Google Search certainly wasn’t a game changer. It provided a easy way to use the world’s favorite search engine, but it definitely wasn’t a replacement for Safari. However, with the release of version 2.5, Google Search now offers a voice search functionality that rivals Apple’s baked in voice function, Siri. Join us after the jump to learn more about Google’s new streaming voice search. (more…)
When it comes to doing some work on the move, the iPad has pretty much got you covered. There are so many different productivity apps out there on the App Store and the sheer range of stuff you can achieve using one is quite mesmerising. Regarding iPad office suites, there are a couple of choices out there, including Apple’s popular iWork suite (with Pages, Numbers and Keynote) and there’s chatter that Microsoft is going to release Office for iPad sometime towards the end of the year.
Today we are going to have a look at QuickOffice’s offering (which was recently acquired by Google, presumably to bring some of its features into its own cloud-based Google Docs service), known as QuickOffice Pro HD. Its website promises it to be the “FIRST and ONLY full-featured Microsoft Office productivity suite for iPad,” so I managed to grab a promotional code from the app’s developers for the purposes of a thorough test drive. Let’s see how it got on. (more…)
