A new interface update adds search and quick navigation buttons to the main screen on the right side, so you don’t have to tap to make the top bar appear to start your next trip, 9to5Google and autoevolution report. The new shortcut button lets you tap to quickly begin navigating to home or work based on the time of day.
Apps
The best apps download superpowers to your smartphone. The Verge covers the new and noteworthy Android apps, iPhone apps, and games, highlighting great design, impressive utility, and novel features. If it belongs on your phone, you’ll find it on The Verge.


The company completed its acquisition of meal-planning software startup Intent and plans to launch personalized meal features to fit users’ dietary needs, make nutrition logging easier, automate grocery lists, and even add ingredients to online store carts.
Pixelmator, Pixelmator Pro, and Photomator are now officially part of Apple. As noticed by MacRumors, all of Pixelmator’s apps are showing a pop-up message confirming that the deal announced back in November has been finalized.
At least for now, the key question of what Apple will do with Pixelmator’s software remains unanswered. Will it carry on as a standalone offering and be the second coming of Aperture? Or are we going to see a Photos Plus subscription debut at WWDC in a matter of months?
A developer named Isaac Gemal spent a few hours coding using Anthropic’s Claude last week to make WikiTok, a site with a TikTok-like presentation, but instead of vertical videos, you swipe through random Wikipedia article previews you can tap to read, ArsTechnica reports.
Gemal reportedly has no plans for an algorithm, and “liking” a post saves it to a list locally, according to the developer.
It’s no surprise that you can’t find it on Google TV or Apple’s tvOS after the federal TikTok ban, but Axios found that TV makers LG, Amazon, and Vizio also stopped offering the app for download.
It’s understandable. After all, who wants to risk hundreds of billions in fines to offer a social video app designed for smartphone screens?



One app, all your feeds, none of the nonsense of social media. It’s a better way to consume just about everything.
The best selling Super Nintendo game of all time (thanks in part to Super Mario World being bundled with the console at launch) is now available for your listening pleasure through the Nintendo Music app.
There are 49 tracks from the game with a total runtime of an hour and five minutes. If you’re listening at work and are racing a deadline, I’d recommend avoiding “Hurry Up!” Invincibility BGM which is still surprisingly stressful.
The President signed an executive order today to create the fund “within the next year,” and told reporters that the US could use it to purchase TikTok, according to Reuters.
Trump has previously suggested the US could own 50 percent of the app in a “joint venture.”




The livestreaming platform announced that this week, every channel will get the ability to edit and share clips straight to Instagram.
How useful that is for Twitch’s gaming-focused creators is up for debate, but with TikTok’s future in question, adding Instagram to the mix seems sensible.
The new version of Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp -- free of in-app purchases -- debuted last December at $9.99 for a limited time.
For those who have been dragging their feet on buying the new Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete for either iOS or Android, that limited time offer runs out before the end of this week. At 1AM ET on January 31st, the game will increase in price to $19.99.


Now listed as self-published by developer Second Dinner instead of ByteDance-owned Nuverse, the card battler has escaped the TikTok ban and is back for iPhone / iPad players, even though the Google Play listing still doesn’t work.
It was only gone for about a week, but now iOS players can download Marvel Snap to new devices and install updates again. TikTok’s fate remains undetermined.
[App Store]


Cat toy apps like “Meow Cat Game” aren’t new, but my orange fuzzball Trevor is. If you need a way to distract your energetic kitty for a while then they might just buy you enough time to get some work done.


In an X post announcing the change yesterday, the company also said that Canvas, its ChatGPT coding helper feature, now has the ability to render HTML and React code.
OpenAI added that Canvas has rolled out to the ChatGPT desktop app for macOS.








































