Yesterday, Categories, an application that allows you to organize the applications on your SpringBoard into folders, received a few updates. The update to version 2.27 was the major one which basically includes an internal rewrite of the app making the app perform much quicker. Updates 2.27.1 and 2.27.2 were basically bug fixes. See the complete change log below.

After updating, I definitely notice an improvement in the app’s functionality. It is MUCH quicker and just feels less bulky. So far, I have not had one crash… which is great! Normally, Categories will crash a few times on me. I also love that when adding an application to a folder, the apps are now in correct Alphabetical order! It makes adding applications so much faster and easier!

Overall, a great update… you will want to be sure to update to update this one. You can get Categories via the BigBoss source.

Change Log:
Version 2.27.2
- Fixed issue on update that caused some users to see no folders after update from 2.26. (Sorry, while this should solve the issue, it wont undo what was done for you that already experiences it meaning you have to set folders up again if this happened to you).

Version 2.27.1
- Fixed issue where editing name or icon only edited first folder in the list.
- Reworked the package, itself, so that it won’t install with CategoriesSB version less than 1.1. This caused some updates to lose contents of the folders because they update Categories but not CategoriesSB.

Version 2.27
- Complete Internal rewrite with help from ashikase
- Reworked how apps are added to be based off bundle ID rather than folder names. Should solve issues like taptap2 and taptap3 not being able to be in a folder together.
- Improved UI (added transitions and such)

You can check out BigBoss’s article about the update HERE.

ScreenShots

Yesterday, CategoriesSB was released in Cydia. CategoriesSB is an application that integrates Categories into the SpringBoard. This is done by loading the folders you create using Categories directly on the SpringBoard instead of loading them as a separate app. What this basically does is allows the folders that you create with Categories to load much faster. This also allows for things like badge support since the folder is directly on the SpringBoard.

You will still need to use the actual Categories application to create, edit, delete and rearrange the applications in the folders you create. You can get CategoriesSB via the BigBoss source.

BigBoss added some info about CategoriesSB on his website:

Developer
Ashikase has written a Springboard add-on for Categories app. What this does is takes categories an moves the folders directly into springboard. The result is that everything loads very quickly, instantly more like. Also, the icons are rounded and badges are supported. Another interesting feature he has added is that if you make a category folder called “Recent” and leave it empty, it will track your last loaded applications. Pretty neat!

This extension to categories was not written by me. Ashikase has written other apps such as backgrounder. He is selling it for 99c in cydia store. If you are interested check it out. If you don’t want to fork out 99 cents, then you can still use categories as it is.

And yes, Categories is still in development and will remain free, but I have been distracted with other stuff recently. But there are plans to integrate some native support for this new extension in the GUI of categories app as well as a long list of things I’ve had planned since 1.1.x time frame…

Check out the full article HERE.

I opened iTunes this evening and what did I see? An update to an app that I had done a review on last week. It was the PhotoList app by Raisix Inc. (click here for the review) I was interested to see what they had updated and I was hoping it wasn’t just stability issues as most updates are. But to my surprise they had added a new feature to the app…Facebook integration!! Now that is cool.

The Facebook integration allows you to do two things: Upload and Download photos to and from your personal Facebook account.

To Download
Within PhotoList, create a new folder that you want to download pics from your Facebook account. Tap on your new created folder and tap the folder icon at the bottom right of the screen. Tap “Facebook” on the “Download photo from” title and after it requests authorization, sign into your Facebook account. Once you have done this tap “Done” and start downloading from any of your Facebook photo folders. Once you have selected your photo, name it or keep the default name and give it your 1 to 5 rating (if you want), and tap “Done”. Once you are done, tap the Facebook arrow and then cancel to take you back to the PhotoList app.

To Upload
Within one of your folders in PhotoList, tap the pic that you want to upload. At the bottom left is a foward icon. Tap “Facebook” on the “Upload photo to” title and after your sign in or authorize, tap “Upload”. The photo will upload to a default PhotoList folder that has now been created on your Facebook page. You will be given a “success” message once the photo is uploaded and hit “Done” to go back to PhotoList.

The only problem with this is that you have to then sign into your Facebook account from your computer to approve the photo before it will post to your account for others to view. PhotoList might want to look into building a Facebook Application as well to compliment this new feature.

This app is totally worth the $$$ now!!!! Maybe Flickr, Picasa Web, and MySpace integration next?

ScreenShots

PhotoList by Raisix Inc. has released an iPhone app that allows you to “rate your photos on a scale of 1 to 5 stars, and then sort by either rating or name when looking through photo folders.”

I really like how this app allows me to create as many folders as I want for all of my pics. Once I create a folder I can then add pics to this folder by selecting the “+” sign at the bottom left of the screen. That will bring up your Camera Roll from within the app so you don’t have to worry about closing the app to put your pics into your folder. Once you have selected your pic, you have to name it and have the option to rate it. I wish however instead of having to give a name to a photo that it would default to the actual “IMG_***” title already assigned to the photo. Minor but that way I don’t have to create a name in the case of fast filing.

Once back into your folder you can then organize by rating or by name. You can also view the photo in portrait or landscape mode (I was very impressed with this as I haven’t seen many apps that utilize the accelerometer that isn’t a game.) To view more pics just flick the photo to the left or right. This app doesn’t utilize the option to zoom which would be cool.

I also checked out a review by a user in the App Store and he was disgruntled that all you could do was file photos. He must have been looking for a mobile iPhoto app and this isn’t the app for that. This is a very basic app for filing.

I my opinion this is a great app for what it does. It is compatible with the iPhone and iPod touch. It does require the 2.2.1 software update.

ScreenShots

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