Sunday, July 12, 2020

App Recap: Budget Burndown, Endel, Samplr and Major App Updates

https://ift.tt/2Oi8HoZ

In this week's App Recap, we've highlighted finance app "Budget Burndown," health and fitness app "Endel," and music app "Samplr" as three apps that are worth checking out. We've also compiled a list of apps that received major updates this week.


Apps to Check Out



  • Budget Burndown (iOS, Free) - Finance app Budget Burndown is a tool that intelligently tracks daily spending and lets users set a maximum spending budget per month. Featuring no sign up, users can simply link desired cards through Plaid and begin tracking spending. As for security and privacy, Budget Burndown's developer says that credentials are both end-to-end encrypted and inaccessible to the app. Although the app is free to download, users have the option to subscribe to Budget Burndown Pro, which offers custom notifications, saving transactions, a home screen widget, and multiple linked cards for $4.99 per month.

  • Endel (iOS & Mac, Free) - Endel, an app that uses sounds to help immerse users into various tasks, features four distinct modes: Relax, Focus, On-The-Go, and Sleep. Each mode will play audio continuously, and users have the ability to set a shut-off timer that will stop sounds from playing at a desired time. Endel can also personalize sounds for the best possible experience using weather and light levels (location data), heart rate information, and motion data should the user grant the app access. The app is free to download, but a subscription is needed to access the app after the seven day trial period. The app offers one month, twelve month, and lifetime options priced at $5.99, $49.99, and $89.99 respectively.

  • Samplr (Mac, Free) - Samplr for Touchbar, a demo version of Samplr for iPad, utilizes the MacBook Pro's built-in Touch Bar to vary and play back audio samples. Several different controls and effects can also be accessed directly through the Touch Bar. Users can either press the 'R' key to record audio or drag and drop an audio file onto the app when open to begin using the app. Samplr for iPad, the full version of the app, is priced at $14.99 and features six sample slots, additional effects, gesture recording, and more.


App Updates



  • Amazon Alexa - Amazon this week updated its Alexa app with hands-free Alexa activation. Once both the app has been updated and features has been enabled, users can activate the digital assistant by only their voice. Unlike Apple’s Siri system-wide integration, Alexa can only be invoked while in the Alexa app.

  • Gmail (iPadOS) - Google this week announced that it had updated its Gmail app with Split View, which allows the app to be used alongside other apps in a split screen.

  • Google Arts & Culture - The Google Arts & Culture app was updated this week with new features and improvements. Users are able to record videos and take photos of artwork using the Art Projector. Users can also play several new games created by the Google Arts & Culture Experiments team.

  • iWork - Apple this week updated its slew of iWork apps including Pages, Keynote, and Numbers with several new features. Pages and Numbers now lets users easily add captions and titles to content, play YouTube and Vimeo videos right from their respective files, and more. Along with other new features, Keynote gained a new “Play Slideshow in Window” options that lets users access other applications when presenting.



Are you using a great new app we’ve missed? Let us know in the comments and we’ll check it out for next week’s App Recap. Are you a developer of a unique app you’d like us to consider? Send us a message through our tip line at the top of the page and we’ll check it out.
This article, "App Recap: Budget Burndown, Endel, Samplr and Major App Updates" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums



from MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - All Stories https://ift.tt/2Znppty

Google to 'Dramatically' Improve Chrome Impact on Mac Battery Life

https://ift.tt/305mhl0

Google will address long-standing battery life issues, particularly on Mac devices, reports The Wall Street Journal.



Chrome will improve "tab throttling" by better prioritizing active tabs and limiting resource drain from tabs open in the background. This is said to have a "dramatic impact on battery and performance." Google has reportedly been performing early tests on Mac laptops in particular.

"This is an ongoing investment in improvements to speed, performance and battery life," said Max Christoff, director of Chrome browser engineering. Chrome has previously been criticized for poor use of RAM, battery draining, and privacy concerns.

In May, Google set out plans to improve Chrome battery toll by blocking resource-heavy ads. Chrome will also limit the resources that an ad can use before the user interacts with it. In addition to this, Chrome will soon be updated with new optimization that will allow the most performance-critical parts of the software to run even faster.

Google is currently experimenting with the changes, with the intention of releasing the optimizations and improvements to Chrome in a stable release towards the end of August.
Tag: Chrome

This article, "Google to 'Dramatically' Improve Chrome Impact on Mac Battery Life" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums



from MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors - All Stories https://ift.tt/2CxkRHK

Here’s what Nearby Share, an Apple iOS AirDrop-like wireless file sharing feature, will look like on Chromebooks


via About Chromebooks https://ift.tt/3fijwDn

Monday could bring us some answers regarding Google’s new hardware


via Chrome Unboxed – The Latest Chrome OS News https://ift.tt/3iXqIXB

OnePlus Nord 5G AR Launch Invite Priced at Rs 99 Available on Sale Via Amazon India


via News – MySmartPrice https://ift.tt/2ZZ58JW