Year: 2014

The best Weather apps of 2014

Lory Gil ∙ Updated October 14, 2018

The weather may be getting crazier each year, but the apps that tell us about conditions, both local and across the globe, are getting more reliable. With the update to iOS 8 just a few short months ago, we’ve seen an influx of weather related services that we are glad to add to our Home screen (and Lock screen too).

We rounded up what we think are the best weather apps to have released in 2014. Then, we voted on which ones we liked the best. The winner and runner-ups are listed below; along with the weather app we think takes the cake for all-time.

Google wants to be the standard to power your car infotainment system, no smartphone needed

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Google has plans to release a new version of Android that will be directly built into cars, getting rid of the need to pair the car's infotainment system with a smartphone for a user to access features, reports Reuters. This is a big move from Google's current Android Auto and Apple's CarPlay, which require a phone to be connected to stream music, access maps, and more.

Amazon Instant Video updated with support for iPhone 6 and 6 Plus

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Amazon updated its Instant Video streaming app today, bringing it to version 2.9.5. As the build number indicates, it's a fairly small update, but it should make users happy with its improved support for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

This means that streaming videos should look better on the larger, higher resolution displays of Apple's newer handsets, as should the app's menu system. You can now see more content in a single glance, making navigation easier.

Brushstroke is Apple’s new Free App of the Week

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 18, 2014

It's Thursday and those of you who frequent iDB know what that means: Apple's editors get to discount and highlight another app as part of the App Store's ongoing promotion marketed under the ‘Free App of the Week’ banner.

With last week's free app, the popular retro-futuristic 3D shooter Space Qube, soon going back up to its regular price of three bucks, we now turn our attention to Brushstroke, a photography app available to you at no cost for a week.

Created by Code Organa, the developer behind the amazing ToonCamera app which turns your video and photos into a live cartoon, Brushstroke transforms your photos into beautiful paintings in seconds. Brushstroke made its App Store debut back in March, has an average rating of 4.5 stars based on 285 reviews and was never free before.

AppBox 8: a powerful Lock screen add-on for iOS 8

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Developer Jacob Caraballo has released an updated version of AppBox specifically for iOS 8. Like its predecessor, AppBox 8 functions as a Lock screen launcher and overall Lock screen enhancer. AppBox 8 can launch apps directly from the Lock screen without entering a passcode. It also features plugins for certain apps to access shortcuts for composing new notes, accessing playlists, contacts, and more.

Amazon’s Prime Now app featuring one-hour delivery released for iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 18, 2014

Online retailer Amazon today launched Prime Now, a shopping and ordering app for iOS and Android with one-hour delivery directly to a customer's doorstep in select markets.

Available exclusively to Amazon’s $99 per year Prime members, the software allows you to shop for tens of thousands of daily essentials such as diapers, toys, paper towels, shampoo, batteries and mor, plus gifts like consumer electronics, wearables, books, toys, clothing and other items.

One-hour delivery will set you back eight bucks per order while two-hour delivery is available at no cost.

For the time being, Prime Now is available from 6am to midnight, seven days a week, in select areas of Manhattan, with more markets to be added at a later stage. The app will even ping you when the new delivery services launches in your area.

Fruit Ninja and all other Halfbrick Studio games are free right now

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

The folks over at Halfbrick Studios must be getting in the holiday spirt, because they just discounted their entire library of iOS games down to free. That's right, for a limited time, you can pick up any one of their popular apps for iPhone and iPad, at absolutely 0 cost.

Even if you're not familiar with the Halfbrick name, there's a good chance you've played one of their titles. The studio is responsible for a number of iOS hits including Fruit Ninja, Monster Dash, Jetpack Joyride and more. Full list of games and App Store links below.

BBC investigation finds continued poor working conditions at Apple plant in China

Jake Smith ∙ December 18, 2014

The BBC launched an investigation into a Pegatron plant that Apple uses to manufacturer its products in China, and found poor treatment of workers, after Apple has stated several times that it's cleaned up its act.

The British media giant found standards on workers' hours, ID cards, dormitories, work meetings and juvenile workers were being breached at the Pegatron factories. It even recorded workers falling asleep on the production line after a 12-hour shift.

Glimpse lets you check your favorite webpages from Notification Center

Sébastien Page ∙ December 18, 2014

Glimpse is a new app that lets you pin one or more favorite webpages to the Today tab of Notification Center, allowing to have a quick glance at your most visited websites, without having to launch Safari. The Notification Center extension is particularly handy to check news-focused websites where information is often time sensitive, and where a quick look is usually enough to get an idea of what is going on, without necessarily unlocking the device and opening up the full web browser.

Telltale teams up with Mojang on narrative-driven Minecraft: Story Mode, due in 2015

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

Telltale Games, the makers of cinematic games liek The Wolf Among Us and The Walking Dead series, and Mojang, a Microsoft owned game developer studio based in Stockholm, Sweden, are teaming up on a brand new, narrative-driven game set in the Minecraft universe.

Minecraft: Story Mode, premiering in 2015 on consoles, computers and mobile devices, has an original story and, like all Telltale games, will be driven by the choices you make.

Shift review: randomize filter effects with precision adjustments

Lory Gil ∙ Updated March 17, 2019

By now, you probably have your favorite go-to filter app. There are enough of them in the App Store that, no matter what your preference is, there is probably an app that suits your needs.

Shift is a photo filter app that may make you rethink whether or not you’ve found the right one. First, you shuffle premade filters in a random selection. Then, tweak the filter you like best to make it perfect. We’ve got a full app review of Shift for you today.

Major 500px app update adds built-in camera, iPhone 6 support and more

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Popular photo sharing service 500px has posted a monster update for its iOS client today, bringing the app to version 2.9. The update brings about a number of significant improvements, including support for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus and the 1Password iOS 8 login extension.

Perhaps most noteworthy, though, is that 500px has added a built-in camera to the app, with the option to control focus and exposure manually. So the app once only served as a browser/manager tool for the service, it now competes directly with Instagram, Flickr and others.