Netflix now allows from downloading of movies and TV episodes for on-the-go viewing, and Discogs has issued a major update full of redesigned features
This week has been unusual in that there have now been three times where it seemed like a good idea to look at the release of media app updates. Only some breaking news prevented a story about the apps yesterday.
Without a doubt, the app update that has been the most noteworthy comes from Netflix. They’ve actually managed to slip two updates through Apple’s App Store system this week (a minor miracle). Version 9.0.0, released yesterday morning is the big one, it now allows subscribers to download movie and TV episodes on-the-go viewing. This has been a major request from users.
The problem is that the update also broke the app for some users so Netflix rushed out version 9.0.1 which is a bug fix update and hopefully makes everything alright again.
Another major update is from Discogs, the music catalog service. Version 1.7 was due to be released at 1 pm ET today, but it slipped a few minutes before appear – but it is there now.
“The app now pulls in all of the Discogs database information associated with an artist or band,” the service said today. “Flip through a full artist image gallery, browse through the band members, name variations, aliases, etc. Band members and other artist data are all linked, so it’s easy to explore and discover connected artists and releases. When you find a new favorite artist, you can tap the share icon at the top of the screen to share your discovery via social media, text message, email, or simply save as a note on your phone. Browsing an artist and want a quick reminder of which of that artist’s releases you have in your Collection? See how many releases from a particular artist you own – just tap on the “In Your Collection” number to see a narrowed list of releases from that artist or band in your Collection.”
There is also a redesigned label view and a redesigned release view (see the GIF above for examples).
The tronc newspapers still have their newspaper apps appearing under the Tribune Interactive developer account so the updates for The Baltimore Sun, Chicago Tribune and LA Times (among others) still don’t reflect the new name of the company – which I guess is good. The updates are for bug fixes and bring the apps up to version 4.2.
Several eBook services released app updates this week. Glose, the social eBook reader, updated their app so that one can now open any quote from the readfeed or profile into the corresponding book page – obviously importantly when sharing quotes.
The Inkling app update is the first since the release of iOS 10 and brings the app up to version 4.3. The update brings in a redesigned library and support for the 12.9 inch iPad Pro.
The update for Amazon’s iOS Kindle app is for bug fixes and follows an earlier update in November which introduced Prime Reading. The app is now on version 5.5.
The UK daily The Telegraph – famous or infamous for its support for Brexit – has updated its mobile app called The Telegraph – news. This is a relatively new app, released in early October, though because it says version 8.2.0 one might think it is still the original app.
This update now allows you to go straight to the article when you tap on a push notification – one you think that would have been the case before, but I guess not. There are also other unnamed improvements in this update, as well.
ESPN has released a major update for its mobile app. The update brings in Stats (self explanatory), Live Cards (see cards from other games) and Stream Switch (which allows you to bounce around from game to game). There are also some redesigns to be found after installing the version 5.4 update.
Google has issued updates for a number of their apps including Google Maps which brings traffic information to your home screen via the Nearby Traffic Widget. Also updated were the Gmail iOS app, Inbox by Google, Snapseed and YouTube Music apps.
Finally, Pandora issued a minor bug fix update for its iOS app earlier this week.