AppleInsider Staff
Third-party developers continue to work on apps tailored specifically for the new screen sizes offered by Apple's latest iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, the latest being Skype, YouTube and Facebook, all of which rolled out updates Retina HD display support on Wednesday.
Skype hit version 5.6 with the latest update, bringing a host of new features and general operational improvements including support for Apple's new iPhone screen sizes. The latest release follows a September update made for Apple's new iOS 8 mobile operating system.
Alongside native iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus resolutions, the update introduces presence indicators in the Recents list, as well as modifications that show number of contacts and time zones on contact profiles. On the chat side, conversations can be marked as read or unread on an individual basis and app sounds adhere to global iOS "Do not disturb" rules.
Skype for iOS comes in at 65MB and is available for free from the App Store.
YouTube was also updated on Wednesday with support for both iPhone 6 models, as well as bug fixes for a status bar that overlapped the app's UI and keyboard orientation issues. Prior to the latest version 2.13, users would see landscape keyboards while entering search terms in portrait mode.
The update also makes scrubbing through videos more responsive and adds the option to view all playlists when adding videos, along with other general enhancements.
YouTube comes in as a 20.4MB download from the iOS App Store.
Finally, Facebook's iOS app hits version 16.0 with graphical tweaks befitting Apple's new 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhones, including smaller native fonts and shrunken user interface assets that are now proportional with the handsets' aspect ratio.
Aside from the graphical buffs, it appears not much else has changed with Facebook's iOS client. As usual, the release notes fail to detail significant changes, instead reminding users that updates come every two weeks bringing bug fixes and performance improvements.
Facebook is available as a free 70.5MB download from the App Store.
Wesley Hilliard
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Malcolm Owen
Andrew Orr
7 Comments
Youtube - did they fix the defects first of all? Worst app ever.
Facebook app's been glitchier than before, though that's hardly surprising. Having read some of the blog posts by their dev team, I realized just how moronic they are long ago. These guys would tear out the foundation of a house and redo all the plumbing just to replace a showerhead.
if only the face book app would stop "draining my battery" flat i would be happier. it is very interesting that since iOS 8 i can now see which apps are power hogs and reasons for battery drain and face book and google apps are the worst offenders.
Facebook has now ruined the app by making all fonts roughly 2mm high, and not scale able either so they are simply permanently illegibly tiny. Not only that, they have failed to add the only thing anyone with a 6 plus wants in the app: landscape! What a wasted opportunity! Shocked really. Of course, appleinsider has switched to infinitesimally small fonts as well so I should expect praise for the changes by them. Sucks!
Facebook, imho, will be a thing of the past in 3-4 years tops, their business model and lack of leadership and focus into what exactly they are about, plus the huge privacy concerns and the way it really mostly interferes with life rather than enhances it should at some point grind it to a halt. Something better must come along. Hopefully at least. If I were a parent I 'd let my kid nowhere near it, I 've seen how it messes with adults head, I can't imagine what it can do to a kid.