August was a big month for apps.
There were plenty of important updates to popular apps like Instagram and Snapchat, interesting acquisitions of apps by some of the biggest players in tech, and a few new releases worth mentioning.
Instagram
Instagram Stories is basically Snapchat for Instagram. You can share photos and short videos that disappear after 24 hours.
Despite the striking similarities to Snapchat, a lot of people are already using Instagram Stories. The Facebook-owned app recently told TechCrunch that over 100 million people watch Stories at least once a day. That's one-fifth of Instagram's entire user base.
Spotify
Spotify's Release Radar is just like Discover Weekly, but only for brand-new music.
Like Discover Weekly, Release Radar will be updated with roughly two hours of new music once a week. In an interview with Business Insider, Spotify lead engineer Edward Newett said Release Radar was "just the first in a line of playlist experiences following in the footsteps of Discover Weekly."
He described Release Radar as a "mix" of new singles from the artists Spotify knows you listen to and from ones you might not have heard before. Spotify's audio-research team in New York City is also using deep-learning techniques to analyze the audio and determine which specific songs from a new album or EP you would like most.
App Store
Apple finally redesigned its remote iPhone app for the Apple TV. You can use the app to control the Apple TV, enter passwords with the iPhone's keyboard, and use Siri with the latest Apple TV model.
It's much better than the physical Apple TV remote and free to download in the App Store.
