App Updates

Working in social media requires us to be up-to-date on the new apps and tech trends the minute they come out. We love testing out new apps in the office. After much downloading and debating, these are the ones we’ve decided are worth adding to your phone.

• Paper — Paper is Facebook’s newest iPhone app. Paper acts as an alternative to the original Facebook app. Users can updates from their friends and browse through a variety of other sections. Paper pulls content from big-name publications as well as small blogs to give people the option to read up on topics like sports, tech and cooking.
• Checkout 51— Every Thursday this app releases 16-30 new offers from brands including SC Johnson, Kellogg’s and Mondelez. Shoppers can then purchase items at any store or online retailer and upload their receipt to the app for a credit. Once you have accumulated a $20 credit on your profile, you can be issued a check or wait until the amount reaches a higher balance.

• Waterlogue — Waterlogue acts as your own personal painter. This app can take your pictures and turn them into beautifully intricate watercolor masterpieces. With a large variety of presets, you are now able to put a new spin on an ordinary looking picture.

• Find. Eat. Drink. — Unlike other restaurant apps, Find. Eat. Drink. does not base its reviews on those fueled by overly excited or disgruntled customers. Find. Eat. Drink. enables you to search for restaurants that have been reviewed by chefs, bartenders and those that are familiar with the industry. 

What apps do you find yourself using the most? Let us know by leaving a comment or by tweeting us at @MonikaDixonPR!

By Marisa Coulter, MDPR Contributor

A Less Stressful Email Inbox

We've all experienced it. We step away from our desk for a total of 20 minutes and BAM! -- just like that, we have an inbox full of emails urgently awaiting our attention. And the anxiety ensues. 

Well, me might have a way to ease this never-ending cycle called we've dubbed 'e-problems'. 

Enter Mailbox, a new iPhone and iPad app that works alongside Gmail to create more user-friendly, anxiety-reducing email experience. 

Mailbox is navigated almost entirely with a simple swiping motion:

-Quickly swipe right to archive. 

-Long swipe right to delete.

-Swipe left to snooze an email.

-Long swipe left to add to a list.

Yes, you read correctly. You can snooze an email to be re-enter your inbox at a later date and time that you designate. This is perfect for important messages that aren't necessarily urgent. 

For those that dislike Gmail's email threads as much as we do (is it not impossible to follow a string of conversations!?), you'll love the format of Mailbox. Conversations are displayed in a more chat-like layout, with the thread in chronological order. This way, you can catch the conversation in the sequence it occurred rather than begin at the end as in Gmail.

One warning: do not be alarmed when you see the number on the app icon indicating the amount of emails you have awaiting you. The number indicates how many total emails you have (read and unread), as opposed to Gmail's count of only unread messages. 

We're definitely give this app a try! Anything to make looking at our inbox a little more bearable. 

Giving it a try yourself? Let us know your thoughts by tweeting us at @MonikaDixonPR! 


By Emily Cleary, MDPR Social Media Director

iOS 7 Update

Well, by now you've probably heard all the buzz about Apple's most recent mobile software update - iOS 7. Sure, you've heard the 'buzz', but chances are you aren't quite sure what all the fuss is about. Lucky for all of us, Mashable pulled together a list of features boasted by the update. This should help you decide if you're ready to download or if you'd rather just stick to what you know. 

This is just the shorthand version, so if you want all the juicy details, you can read the whole Mashable article here. 

1. The Look - Brighter, more colorful, cleaner, sleeker with a top-to-bottom renovation.

2. Control Center - A new location and totally reorganized. The control center is not only the place to do everything from switching to Airplane mode to adjusting brightness, it is now also home to the calculator, alarm clock and more.

3. Lock Screen - Colorful with a new design and updated buttons.

4. Gestures - Now, swiping allows you to do so much more, including swiping away Safari browsers to close.

5. Animations - Subtle animations make everything so much more fun.

6. Font - Helvetica Neue is easy on the eyes.

7. Wallpapers - Beautiful new images offer more variety when it comes to assigning a background photo.

8. Spotlight - Now accessible from any screen by swiping your finger from the top of the screen downward.

9. Zooming - A feature with mixed reviews, tapping an app now opens the content by zooming out from the icon.

10. Photos - Pictures are now organized based on time and place, so locating images is much simpler. And the mosaic display is nice to look at. One of our favorite new features - pick and select effects and filters before a picture is taken.

11. Weather - Hour-by-hour predictions scroll in a row, a lighter background and more functionality. Moving graphics across the top also show current weather in a subtle, but visually appealing way.

12. Folders - Now there is no limit to the number of apps you can fit into a folder, which makes for a much more organized home screen.

13. Ringtones - New tones are actually bearable.

14. Email - Noticeably and remarkably faster.

15. Preview of Open Apps - Double-click the home button and view all applications, webpages and programs that have been recently opened. Simply swipe an app off the screen to close it.

16. Calendar - Simplified and more useful, including convenient scrolling from month to month. 

Sounds enticing, right? Let us know what you think of the new software or share some iOS 7 tricks with us by tweeting to @monikadixonpr or commenting below!

By Emily Cleary, MDPR Social Media Director

Three Tech Destinations for the Fashionista

You're getting ready at night and can't decide on the perfect outfit. So what do you do? Ask your closest friend, of course. Not anymore! With a whole world of fashion app users out there, you can now get a truly unbiased opinion from someone halfway across the world. That's just one of the many reasons that you need to explore these three fashion apps and social media networks!

1. Pose

This iPhone and iPad app is the answer to the what to wear dilemma. Snap a pic of your look(s) and ask for opinions. Or, if you see an outfit you like for fall, add it to your 'Fall into Fashion' collection. The best part? There's a tagging tool that allows users to identify the brand or individual items in their outfit. What does this mean for you? No need to fiercely surf the web looking for the latest item of your dreams. Simply click the item and find out where and how to get it. Essentially, Pose lets you see and shop looks put together by the trendsetters of the world! Or at least the millions that have caught on to this savvy network.

2. Keep

If you've ever experienced frustration on Pinterest because you see something you have to have, but can't find where to buy it, then Keep.com is for you. Keep.com is an image-driven feed of products that will make your friends say, 'Where'd you find that?" This website not only gives you inspiration, but the power to make that inspiration real through purchases. With the latest trends in fashion, decor, accessories and design curated by a community of top tastemakers, you're bound to find your newest obsession when browsing through Keep.com's never ending stream of beautiful items. Really love something? 'Like' it. Need to have it? 'Keep' it. And don't forget to 'follow' your favorite Keepers. 

3. StyleBook

Although this iPhone and iPad app is new on our radar, we can definitely see ourselves getting hooked quickly. Remember the jealously you felt in the 90s when you first saw Cher's high tech closet in Clueless? Well, be envious no more. StyleBook allows you to virtually organize your closet piece by piece, map out your next outfit, test out store items with your outfit for compatibility and even allows you to get stats on your clothes to determine which items you (gasp) repeat most often. With Stylebook, mixing and matching the items you own becomes incredibly easy, and the organizational aspect will make sure you never forget about an item in the back of your closet. 

Being tech-savvy never looked so chic!

By Emily Cleary, MDPR Social Media Director