Facebook turns Notes into a blogging platform with revamped interface

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When was the last time you wrote a note on Facebook? It’s probably been a while, but the company wants to change that. Today Facebook is rolling out its first update to Notes in a long time, essentially turning it into a blogging platform akin to Medium. You can now add a cover photo as a featured image, for instance, as well as add photos and captions, and format your text with headers, quotes or bullet. I use Facebook on a daily basis and I haven’t seen a note written in years. Chances are the new interface will help popularize…

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Crystal will let advertisers jump its adblocker for a price: Good business or short-sighted?

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When adblocking became available for iOS devices with the release of iOS 9, people flocked to the newly released blockers in a bid to speed up Web browsing and cut down on intrusive ads. Ads on the desktop are bad enough, but ads on mobile are often awful. When Marco Arment pulled his app Peace from the store after just two days, Crystal quickly surged in popularity to fill the top spot. As of right now, it’s the best-selling adblocker on the store. However, yesterday it emerged that not only is the company making money from each 99c download, it’s also…

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Love movies? Movietag helps you keep track of everything you’ll want to watch

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In a world of on-demand streaming services, it’s easy to forget that some people still really like owning a downloaded or disk version of a movie, and for anyone with a huge library, Movietag could prove incredibly useful. The interface is straightforward, and once you have an account, adding movies in your collection to the platform and tagging them is as easy as pie. Just search for them using the bar at the top of the screen and then select from the list that appears as you start typing. It’s all pretty slick. Once you’ve added in your downloaded, DVD, Blu-ray…

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iOS 9 won’t let you download slim versions of apps just yet

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Apple announced to developers that it has temporarily disabled an iOS 9 feature called app slicing, which was designed to help users save space on their devices. Part of the ‘app thinning‘ collection of features, app slicing allows iOS devices to download only the assets they require to run, while leaving out files that enable them to work on other Apple gadgets. For example, if you download a game for your iPhone 5, app slicing will exclude unnecessary files such as image assets meant specifically for larger devices like the iPhone 6s Plus as well as Metal graphics code that…

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Product Hunt now lets you follow and search for collections

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Product Hunt, the Web’s favorite destination to discover new apps, gadgets and connected services, has updated its Collections feature, allowing users to follow and search for curated lists. You can now follow any collection you find interesting to receive notifications when new products are added to them. Collections will also show up in search results alongside products. You can now spot collections alongside products in search results In addition, curators can add comments to products in their collections to describe them or note why they’ve included them in their list. The site first introduced Collections in December, and has since…

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Adobe updates Elements hobbyist photo and video apps with more pro-level features

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As a consumer photo/video editing package, Adobe Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements have a long history. The premise is that enthusiasts and hobbyists have a deep desire to create original, compelling visuals, and can gain control over the process with software that specifically targets them. Every year, Adobe refreshes Elements with new feature upgrades — usually adapted from more advanced apps like Photoshop, Premiere Pro or Lightroom — as well as under-the-hood enhancements for better performance. Now at version 14, the apps have been streamlined to do things like remove camera shake from photos and videos, banish haze from your landscapes and…

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Adblocker Crystal picks up where Peace left off, but with a twist

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No one really likes ads — and most people can’t stand the noisy, flashy, blinky, autoplay kind that give online advertising a bad name. But, like it or not, ads go a long way to support online publishers and others whose hard work people enjoy free of charge. No one has figured out a totally fair way to universally let some (non-offensive) ads play and banish other (obnoxious) ones. Nowhere was that more evident than with the agonizing decision by Marco Arment — developer of Peace — who had such a complete change of heart about what his successful iOS 9 adblocker…

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Microsoft’s new Invite app for iOS want to take the hassle out of group meetings

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Microsoft wants to make it easy to set up meetings and calendar appointments on  the go with its new Invite app for iOS. Once you’ve connected your email account, you can suggest various times that work for you and invite attendees. They’ll receive an email – or app notification, if they have Invite installed – and they can specify which of those times work for them as well, and see what options work for other attendees too. After everyone sets their preferences, you make the call on the best time, and the app will automatically send invites to everyone so they…

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Peloton’s on-demand spin class app now lets you bookmark and filter search results

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Last year, when I reviewed Peloton, a new indoor cycling bike system with on-demand lessons from a live studio, I came to the conclusion that the bike itself could be too expensive for most people. Since then, the company has released an iPad app for users to ride along using their own bikes, and today an update will make it even easier to find the rides you want whenever you want it. The latest version of the Peloton app now allows users to bookmark rides they like, whether it’s one they’ve taken before that they enjoyed or from an instructor…

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