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Google’s one of the best companies about adding features to their apps over time. The changes aren’t always welcome, of course, especially when they change things we like about their apps. Sometimes, though, it’s fun to be reminded of the best advantage of web apps: they can get new features without you ever having to install an update. When the new features improve your life, that’s very nice.
Today, Google added a new compose pane to Gmail that lets you compose emails in a floating pane much like the Gmail chat window. They also tweaked the research pane in Google Docs, a newer feature that makes it easy to research while you’re, say, writing an essay. Let’s take a look. (more…)
Apple’s hardware and software releases have become global news events, something even non-techies know about. Practically everyone that is any bit informed about the phone industry at all knows Apple unveiled the iPhone 5 this week, enough so that its already sold out in preorders. Yet it’s a slightly unknown fact that Apple makes some very nice web apps for iCloud, ones that bring many of its well known native apps to any browser.
This past week, right along with unveiling new hardware and iOS software, Apple also upgraded its iCloud web apps. They’ve now finally dropped their beta tag, and gained the new Notes and Reminders apps that have become standard parts of iOS and OS X. Let’s take a look.
It’s been a couple of weeks since the Games of the Thirtieth Olympiad finished in London 2012, two weeks of celebrating the sporting achievement and unity of the world combined. The Games were dubbed the first “social media” Olympics since social networking has really grown since the Games in Beijing. Not only that, but mobile technology has seen significant popularity with the rise of smartphones and tablets in the last four years.
Twitter has been both a news source and a source of controversy, as well as being the platform of choice for many to air their criticisms of both athletic performances and the event’s ceremonies. Let’s take a look at the role Twitter has played in the event. (more…)
The Mac.AppStorm team has done a great job over the past weeks rounding up the best in Mac news, giving our readers a great way to catch up on what’s happening in the world of Mac apps without having to stay glued to dozens of rumor sites. There’s been enough interesting web app news this week, I thought we could do the same thing over here at Web.AppStorm.
So, here’s a quick summary of the past weeks’ biggest web app news for your reading pleasure. We likely won’t do these posts weekly, but if you find it informative and enjoyable, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments at the end of the post!
Google+ has been going pretty strong since its launch back in June of 2011. In just a year, it amassed 170 million users — Google is obviously not going to give out the numbers of those who actually use the service, but they like to say 170 million do, so we’ll go with that. Today, Google announced that they are expanding the social network even more with lots of extra customization, a major redesign, better Hangouts, and more.
Not that Google+’s layout was terrible before, but Google thinks they can really enhance it by giving users some customization all around. For instance, with the redesign, you can now customize the new navigation bar on the left by simply dragging the apps around. If you don’t want to see one anymore, then just drag it to the animated “More” button to remove them. Read on for the other notable changes in Google’s redesign along with some opinion on the subject. (more…)
In a recent report, security consultants with Context Information Security revealed that two thirds of web apps are a security risk when it comes to cross site scripting and one in five risk being attack by SQL interjections. The report also suggests that the average number of vunerabilities is up per web app, offering cause for concern.
Should we, web app users, be concerned ourselves over the security concerns? Let’s investigate!
We’ve collected the top four reviews, roundups and how-to articles from across the AppStorm network in February. Whether you’re interested in Mac, iPhone, Web, or Android apps, there’s bound to be something you didn’t spot over the course of the month. Now would be a good time to explore a part of the AppStorm Network you’ve never seen before!
Thanks for reading AppStorm, and I hope you enjoy looking over some of our favourite posts from last month!
2011 was a huge year for social media. Granted, since 2004 we’ve seen an explosion of social networks, an insane growth in Facebook users, and Twitter take on widespread adoption. More of my students are using Twitter today that in previous semesters.
But still, in comparison to other years, this year was huge for social media. Not only did Facebook and Twitter see massive changes, but we saw another big tech company enter the social media ring: Google. The big three are all moving decidedly in one direction: mobile.
There are some of us just love music – we couldn’t do without it. I’d definitely count myself in as one of the music crazy group; in fact, I’m listening to music as I’m writing this post, using my favorite music streaming service, Grooveshark.
Grooveshark is one of the most popular online music search and streaming services, and it has a beautiful web app and extensive catalog of music. The team behind Grooveshark recently updated its interface with a bunch of cool new features, and today I’ll show you the changes. Continue reading to find out what’s better, what’s not, and what should be worked on!
I always want things to stay fresh, be it groceries I buy or the apps I download. So, whenever there is an update to software I use, I dutifully grab it with both hands. When it comes to web apps, I love Google for keeping things fresh and new. They launch new services and update existing ones at breakneck pace.
Recently, Google rolled out a newer look across the board to all its apps. And two of the flagship apps – Gmail and Reader – got the brand new look rolled out universally, last week. One was welcomed with cheers, while the other wasn’t. Turns out, consistant branding and useful UIs are as easy to roll out as pressing a button and giving all of your sites the same color schemes.
