The Essential Download: iOS 9.3.3, Wire And Pokemon Go

Welcome to the Essential Download, a selection of new, updated and essential applications that will make working on a mobile device simpler, more productive and secure activity. There’s even room for a bit of fun as well.

New and updated

iOS 9.3.3

Not a download as such, but an important security upgrade for iPhone users. It patches 40 vulnerabilities in total, but the most critical one relates to how Apple’s Image I/O API handles TIFF files – a standard created in the 1980s for scanned images.

Essentially, it means a dodgy image file could be used to execute malicious code on virtually any iPhone.

You can read more about it here, but trust us, you want to download it. One expert has said it could be iOS’ equivalent of the Android ‘Stagefright’ bug.

Pokemon Go (iOS/Android)

Bear with us. Unless you’ve been under a rock (or a Geodude?) for the past week you won’t have failed to have read and heard about Pokemon Go – and its quite likely you’ll have seen people wandering blindly down streets trying to capture Pokemon.

A phenomenon as well as a distraction, the game is responsible for a number of security and productivity issues. But it’s also an opportunity for businesses too. A number of pubs, banks and retailers are installing ‘lure’ modules that attract Pokemon, and hopefully customers, to the area.

And in Japan, McDonalds will become the first ‘sponsored’ PokeStop. Let’s face it, Pokemon Go is unavoidable.

Wire (ioS/Android)

Not a new app, but the encrypted messaging app’s feature set is now open sourced. This means experts can build their own client from the code and interact with other Wire users. The functionality should make it an ideal alternative to SMS, WhatsApp and Skype for businesses who want more privacy.

Linksys Smart Wi-Fi App (iOS/Android)

If you have a certain Linksys router at home or in your small business, a new app from the manufacturer makes it easier to manage your connection. An easy to use interface, feature discovery and the ability to prioritise certain devices or share guest credentials are all included. The app works with Linksys Smart Wi-Fi routers.

iFiles 2 (iOS)

iFiles is a file manager service that lets you manage documents on your iPhone across multiple cloud repositories, including Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud and OneDrive. Files can be downloaded, shared or created using the application which supports a range of office, PDF, video and audio file types. It costs £3.99.

BBC+  (iOS/Android)

BBC’s latest mobile application aggregates content based on a person’s interest from across the Beeb, including news, sport iPlayer, weather and recipes.

MyBBC accounts are used for a number of the corporation’s online services – such as voting for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year and BBC Music – and are used in BBC+ for personalisation reasons.

The BBC already has multiple applications for its services but the creation of a ‘super app’ should make it easier and quicker to watch, read and listen to content on the way to and from work.

Quiz: What do you know about mobile apps?