App Recap: Bookly, Sepnia, Watch to 5K and Major App Updates
In this week's App Recap, we've highlighted books app "Bookly," productivity app "Sepnia," and health and fitness app "Watch to 5K" as three apps that are worth checking out. We've also compiled a list of apps that received major updates this week.
Apps to Check Out
- Bookly (iOS, Free) - Bookly is an app that promotes making reading a habit through a reading timer, achievements, and detailed statistics that include both weekly and monthly progress reports. Users also have the ability to set goals and reminders to help stay on track. Bookly intelligently calculates how long it will take for users to finish the text based on their current pace. Although Bookly is free to download, users looking to get the most out of the app can subscribe to Bookly Pro, which includes tracking for an unlimited number of books, iCloud support, and more. Bookly Pro is available in one month, six month, and 12 month subscription options priced at $4.99, $19.99, and $29.99 respectively or a one-time upgrade of $49.99.
- Sepnia (iOS, Free) - Productivity app Sepnia lets users combine calendars and todo lists in a simple manner. Users can add and schedule both tasks and reminders to help organize day-to-day events. Sepnia conveniently displays the exact time remaining until it's time to begin the next task at hand, which can be helpful with managing a busy schedule. Although the app is free to download, the ability to add notes to tasks, manage categories, create routines, and add an unlimited number of actions is limited to subscribers of Sepnia's pro version, which is priced at $1.99 per month with a seven day initial free trial.
- Watch to 5K - Running Program (watchOS, $2.99) - Watch to 5K is a fitness app that can be used to coach users up to running a 5K in just nine weeks by following the Couch to 5K program. The app works with music and podcasts playing in the background and will intelligently lower the volume as run progress updates are pushed to the user. Aside from being able to track distance, calories, heart rate, and average speed, Watch to 5K will store run sessions in the Health app on the Apple Watch's paired iPhone. The app also encourages users to stay motivated with progress tracking and trophies that are awarded when runs are completed.
App Updates
- BMW Connected - The BMW Connected app was updated this week with the ability to add a BMW Digital Key to the Wallet app on an iPhone. Users with a proper vehicle and device running compatible software will be able to lock and unlock the car by holding their iPhone up to the door handle. An iPhone can also be used to start the vehicle when placed in its smartphone tray.
- Pocketdex for Pokémon GO - Popular Pokémon GO companion app Pocketdex recently received a new update with the addition of the Raids tab that allows users to see raid bosses that are currently available. Additionally, users can receive notifications when raid bosses change. The app's new IV Scanner will intelligently scan Pokémon splash screens in the Pokémon GO app to obtain the exact IV of users' Pokémon, which will consequently send a push notification from Pocketdex with Pokémon information.
- WhatsApp - WhatsApp this week announced a new update that brings both the ability to scan contacts using a QR code and Dark Mode support for the app's web and Mac versions. The update also introduces several new video call improvements, animated sticker packs, and more.
Know of a great new app that we've missed? Let us know in the comments and we'll check it out for next week's App Recap.
Popular Stories
iOS 26 was released last month, but the software train never stops, and iOS 26.1 beta testing is already underway. So far, iOS 26.1 makes both Apple Intelligence and Live Translation on compatible AirPods available in additional languages, and it includes some other minor changes across the Apple Music, Calendar, Photos, Clock, and Safari apps.
More features and changes will follow in future ...
With the fourth betas of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS 26.1, Apple has introduced a new setting that's designed to allow users to customize the look of Liquid Glass.
The toggle lets users select from a clear look for Liquid Glass, or a tinted look. Clear is the current Liquid Glass design, which is more transparent and shows the background underneath buttons, bars, and menus, while tinted ...
Apple plans to cut production of the iPhone Air amid underwhelming sales performance, Japan's Mizuho Securities believes (via The Elec).
The Japanese investment banking and securities firm claims that the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are seeing higher sales than their predecessors during the same period last year, while the standard iPhone 17 is a major success, performing...
Apple's software engineers continue to internally test iOS 26.0.2, according to MacRumors logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions.
iOS 26.0.2 will be a minor update that addresses bugs and/or security vulnerabilities, but we do not know any specific details yet.
The update will likely be released by the end of next week.
Last month, Apple released iOS 26.0.1,...
While the new iPad Pro's headline feature is the M5 chip, the device has some other changes, including N1 and C1X chips, faster storage speeds, and more.
With the M5 chip, the new iPad Pro has up to a 20% faster CPU and up to a 40% faster GPU compared to the previous model with the M4 chip, according to Geekbench 6 results. Keep in mind that 256GB and 512GB configurations have a 9-core CPU,...
iOS 26.4 is expected to introduce a revamped version of Siri powered by Apple Intelligence, but not everyone is satisfied with how well it works.
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said some of Apple's software engineers have "concerns" about the overhauled Siri's performance. However, he did not provide any specific details about the shortcomings.
iOS 26.4 will...
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year.
The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...
With the fourth beta of iOS 26.1, Apple added a toggle that makes Liquid Glass more opaque and reduces transparency. We tested the beta to see where the toggle works and what it looks like.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
If you have the latest iOS 26.1 beta, you can go to Settings > Display and Brightness to get to the new option. Tap on Liquid Glass, then...
Apple plans to launch MacBook Air models equipped with the new M5 chip in spring 2026, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple is also working on M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro models that will come early in the year.
Neither the MacBook Pro models nor the MacBook Air models are expected to get design changes, with Apple focusing on simple chip upgrades. In the case of the MacBook Pro, a m...
