It’s been almost two months since the release of the iPhone 5 and app updates are continually coming in! And why not? Mobile app marketers have declared that this is the perfect time to update and market iPhone apps. Fiksu, a mobile app marketing company, observed that download volumes for iOS apps increased dramatically from October towards the end of the year because of the iPhone 5 release, the holiday sales and industry events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The same patterns were seen last year after the release of the iPhone 4S and 2011’s holiday season. Because of this, mobile app marketers are saying this is a critical month for developers to start updating their apps. Research shows that apps that receive updates during the holidays get four times more users plus more sessions per user.

Well it looks like mobile developers are working on doing just that. Google, TomTom and Starbucks, for example, released mobile app updates last week! What updates did these companies have in store for their loyal iPhone 5 fans? Here’s a quick rundown:

Gmail

• Support for up to five Google accounts
• Ability to respond to Google Calendar invites
• Support for interactive G+ posts
• Support for infinite scrolling in Gmail inbox
• Supports search predictions
• Notification center integration and lock screen options

Google Voice

• Support for iPhone 5’s 4-inch screen
• Bug fixes

YouTube

• Support for iPhone 5’s 4-inch screen and the iPad
• Ability to access channel guides through the YouTube logo
• Support for AirPlay streaming

TomTom U.S. and Canada

• Support for the iPhone 5’s 4-inch screen and all iOS 6 devices
• New TomTom Places (a feature that helps you find local places based on your current location)
• Support for Apple Maps app
• Improvements on HD Traffic
• Discontinued Google Local Search feature

Starbucks

• Support for iPhone 5’s 4-inch screen
• Bug fixes
• Fixes for the Touch to Pay button

Aside from these newly updated apps, you should also try checking out Skype’s revamped user interface and Facebook’s new share button updates. But if you’re in the mood for game app update shopping this holiday season, you might also want to try Angry Birds Seasons. Rovio has updated the popular game app with new winter-themed levels and challenges! Even the Office Jerk was updated last week for the holidays with the Office Jerk Holiday Edition. The update features new items to throw and also reuses the coin-based system. Now go ahead and update those old apps so you can start the next year with a new leaf!