App Roundup: Google Duo, Office 365, Reeder 3, Viber, more!

In the constantly-changing landscape of the iOS and Mac App Store, and other software marketplaces, new apps and updates to existing titles are announced all the time. AppleInsider highlights some of the more notable app introductions and software updates for iOS and macOS that arrived over the last few days.

This week's highlights include Google Duo becoming more useful for iPads, changes to Office 365, and updates for The Weather Channel, Reeder 3, MailPlane 4, Affinity Publisher, and Viber.

Google Duo

Google Duo, the search company's answer to FaceTime, has been updated on iOS to include support for the iPad. Previously, the app was built for the iPhone display, but could still run on iPad in 2x mode, with the new version now working properly with the larger screen space.

The app provides video and audio calling between registered users, using their Google Account, with calls able to be placed cross-platform between iOS and Android devices. The app also enables users to leave a video message for the user if they are not available to answer the call.

Get it for iOS: Free. Requires iOS 9.0 or later.

Office 365

Microsoft is updating the Office 365 Home and Personal subscriptions, to make it more useful in a number of ways, starting from October 2. First, the Home device install limit of 10 devices across five users, and the personal limit of one computer and one tablet, will be lifted to allow an unlimited number of installations, and to be signed into accounts on up to five devices at the same time.

The Office 365 Home subscription will also increase the license limit from 5 to 6 people on an account, at no extra charge to the existing $99.99 annual fee. The license extension provides access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote for that extra user, as well as their own 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage.

Lastly, Microsoft will be allowing users to manage their subscription from account.microsoft.com.

Get it for iOS and macOS Here. $69.99/year Personal, $99.99/year Home.

Reeder 3

Arguably the best RSS newsreader app has just been made free for both Mac and iOS. It collates all the new articles from websites you choose and presents them together in a particularly well-designed app. Skim headlines, tap to read more or get the entire article right within Reeder 3.

Previously Reeder 3.1.2 for Mac cost $9.99 and for iOS was $4.99.

Get it for Mac:Free. Requires macOS 10.10 or higher.

Get it for iOS:Free. Requires iOS 9.0 or higher.

The Weather Channel

The Weather Company has revamped its iOS Weather Channel apps to include greater detail and increased alerts for real-time reports.

Version 10.0 is centered on a personalized homepage which updates to include details you repeatedly search for. It also includes video reports from local sources plus a graph of weather trends in your area.

Get it for iOS: Free with optional $3.99 in-app purchase to remove ads. Requires iOS 11 or later.

MailPlane 4

MailPlane has updated with a series of new features intended to make using the Gmail app both faster and more powerful. New messages are displayed as notifications and you can optionally reply directly from there or choose to archive the message to find later.

Finding later is also improved: the app now has a single search and navigate field where you can type a term and go straight to a message, a bookmark or other parts of MailPlane.

The app now also supports Gmail's offline mode to allow you to write emails and send them whenever you have an internet connection.

Get it for Mac: $29.95. Requires macOS 10.12 or higher.

Affinity Publisher beta

Affinity Publisher will be a desktop publishing companion to the company's existing photography and illustration apps. While it's not expected to launch for some months, you can now try out the beta version.

Bear in mind that it is beta software. However, Affinity Publisher aims to be to Adobe InDesign what Pixelmator Pro is to Adobe Photoshop. It's a full-featured, well-rounded application that's easy to use. There's no pricing for the final product yet but it's likely to be cheaper than its Adobe rival.

Get it for Mac: Free beta trial. Requires macOS 10.11 or higher.

Viber

Messaging app Viber has recently undertaken a facelift, with a number of changes made to its chat functionality. First, messages are now being delivered at up to double the speed compared to before the change, with new message status icons added to reflect the faster delivery times.

Chat bubbles have been made bigger and brighter than before, to show more content on the screen at once. Lastly, the updated image experience involves higher quality thumbnails of GIF animations, photographs, and videos.

The changes are rolling out for iPhone users at first, with Android soon to follow.

Get it for iOS: Free. Requires iOS 9.0 or later.

Get it for macOS: Free.

4 Comments

deminsd 143 comments · 7 Years

About 6 years ago

Office 365 just keeps getting better and better. 6 users and unlimited device installs...nice!

Affinity seems to be killing it with their Adobe-replacement software. They now have the trifecta of apps...all they need is a really good PDF application, and we could say goodbye to the "rip-off machine" called Adobe! The only problem is Adobe file formats are so entrenched in the "Pro industry" that the Affinity software would need to be compatible with the same file formats, and I'm not sure, but I don't think they are. Baby steps, I guess...

firelock 241 comments · 11 Years

About 6 years ago

deminsd said:

Office 365 just keeps getting better and better. 6 users and unlimited device installs...nice!

Affinity seems to be killing it with their Adobe-replacement software. They now have the trifecta of apps...all they need is a really good PDF application, and we could say goodbye to the "rip-off machine" called Adobe! The only problem is Adobe file formats are so entrenched in the "Pro industry" that the Affinity software would need to be compatible with the same file formats, and I'm not sure, but I don't think they are. Baby steps, I guess...

I agree 365 is a great application suite. My only beef with it at this point is the PowerPoint app for iOS is still crippled compared to its desktop counterpart. The animation tools specifically are not present yet. Which means that PP is mainly useful as a presentation tool on my iPad Pro rather than an editor.

Regarding Affinity, also agree. While I only use their Photo app right now, and that mainly on my iPad Pro because there is no good version of Photoshop available yet on that platform. I don’t necessarily agree that Adobe is ripping anyone off with CC, the subscription is well worth it if you are a pro using the apps for work. My main issue is that I am all-in on using my iPad Pro as my main mobile device rather than a laptop, and I want apps that have pro power that work on that platform. I prefer having a desktop iMac as my main productivity machine, but I want to use my iPad Pro on the go and right now Adobe’s products in this category are lacking. Having attended Adobe Max several times and having used Adobe products since the 90s, it is still evident to me that Adobe would really prefer not to have to support Apple if they could avoid it. They only do so because their user base “stubbornly” clings to that platform. They always wait until competitors take more advantage of what Apple is offering before they grudgingly upgrade their products to take full advantage of Apple’s latest technology and hardware.

deminsd 143 comments · 7 Years

About 6 years ago

firelock said:

deminsd said:

Office 365 just keeps getting better and better. 6 users and unlimited device installs...nice!

Affinity seems to be killing it with their Adobe-replacement software. They now have the trifecta of apps...all they need is a really good PDF application, and we could say goodbye to the "rip-off machine" called Adobe! The only problem is Adobe file formats are so entrenched in the "Pro industry" that the Affinity software would need to be compatible with the same file formats, and I'm not sure, but I don't think they are. Baby steps, I guess...

I agree 365 is a great application suite. My only beef with it at this point is the PowerPoint app for iOS is still crippled compared to its desktop counterpart. The animation tools specifically are not present yet. Which means that PP is mainly useful as a presentation tool on my iPad Pro rather than an editor.

Regarding Affinity, also agree. While I only use their Photo app right now, and that mainly on my iPad Pro because there is no good version of Photoshop available yet on that platform. I don’t necessarily agree that Adobe is ripping anyone off with CC, the subscription is well worth it if you are a pro using the apps for work. My main issue is that I am all-in on using my iPad Pro as my main mobile device rather than a laptop, and I want apps that have pro power that work on that platform. I prefer having a desktop iMac as my main productivity machine, but I want to use my iPad Pro on the go and right now Adobe’s products in this category are lacking. Having attended Adobe Max several times and having used Adobe products since the 90s, it is still evident to me that Adobe would really prefer not to have to support Apple if they could avoid it. They only do so because their user base “stubbornly” clings to that platform. They always wait until competitors take more advantage of what Apple is offering before they grudgingly upgrade their products to take full advantage of Apple’s latest technology and hardware.

Acrobat, in particular is a rip-off. $400 to purchase or $20/mo forever because you own nothing. For a PDF app that everyone needs! It used to be you could get Acrobat Std for $80. You should be able to OWN Acrobat PRO for $80. That's about what it is worth.

I suppose, if you're a graphics art company/pro, $70/mo for the whole suite is OK. It is RENTING software though. Stop paying, loose everything. You own nothing. Back in the day, people would use CS5 or CS6 for YEARS before updating. It was affordable.