Apps

Starbucks offering free month of Lumosity Premium as its ‘Pick of the Week’

Cody Lee ∙ August 27, 2014

Heads up US-based readers, Starbucks is currently offering a free month of Lumosity's Premium service as its App Store 'Pick of the Week.' The promotion is worth a solid savings of $15, and opens up additional games and features for an already extremely popular app.

For those unfamiliar with Lumosity, it's essentially "sophisticated, scientifically designed brain training for anyone." The iOS app, which currently has a 5-star rating on 85K+ reviews, offers games that help improve skills in the areas of memory, problem-solving and more.

Amazon overhauls Audible app, improves search, adds Discover tab and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 27, 2014

The online retail giant Amazon, which just purchased the gameplay streaming platform Twitch for nearly $1 billion, has given its Audible for iOS app a little love earlier this morning.

Now sitting at version 2.1 and featuring a revamped user interface — along with the minimalistic new app icon — the app does away with the outdated design in favor of a more modern iOS 7-friendly appearance.

Audible is an audiobook service owned by Amazon. In addition to the brighter UI, the refreshed software offers a few new features such as an improved search, an all-new Discover tab, a 30-second forward button in the built-in player and more.

Audible for the iPhone and iPad is available free of charge.

The Journey Down: Chapter Two finally makes it to the App Store

Lory Gil ∙ August 27, 2014

In 2012, SkyGoblin launched the first part of an incredible new episodic adventure game that swept iOS users off their feet. The hand painted graphics in The Journey Down: Chapter One are artistic and perfectly suited for the mobile gaming environment. The story is interesting and the characters are funny. The game is great, but is only the first in what is supposed to be a four-chapter story.

Today, The Journey Down: Chapter Two has finally landed in the App Store. For fans of the original, you’ll be happy to know this is just as fun as the first. For those who have never heard of the game, you can download the first chapter for free to celebrate the launch of chapter two.

CiRCA6 is a minimalist game about reflexes, strategy and circles

Lory Gil ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

Sometimes, the best games are the simplest ones. I don’t necessarily mean minimalistic, either. Games that only have one or two goals or only one control mechanism are great for distracting you while not requiring too much of your attention.

CiRCA6 is a simple arcade game where players move a dot around on the screen, destroying other dots. There isn’t much to it, but it has just enough of a challenge to keep you coming back for more.

Infinity Blade series ending on September 4 with final ‘Kingdom Come’ update

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2019

The iOS-exclusive Infinity Blade series will conclude on September 4, the video game production company ChAIR Entertainment, the brains behind the game, confirmed in a blog post.

The elegiac masterpiece and one of my favorite games on the iOS platform is set to come to its inevitable conclusion in the final content update, dubbed 'Kingdom Come.'

Free to all Infinity Blade III players, 'Kingdom Come' will reveal some new secrets, answer more questions and “set you on a quest to defeat one very pissed off dragon,” as ChAIR put it.

Minimalistic puzzle game Bicolor goes temporarily free via Apple Store app

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 27, 2014

Concluding its four-week promotion celebrating the life of a college student, the beautiful minimalistic puzzle game Bicolor has gone free for a week inside Apple's official Apple Store client for the iPhone and iPad (not to be confused with the App Store).

Created by 1Button and released on May 1, Bicolor includes 180 handmade levels, each consisting of just two colors. Bicolor tasks you with completing various patterns in order to clear the board and progress to the next level.

Priced at 99 cents in the App Store, Bicolor is free for the next seven days exclusively through the Apple Store app.

Bik – A Space Adventure is a fun point-and-click game for iOS

Lory Gil ∙ August 27, 2014

Director Steven Spielberg made such magical sci-fi movies as “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “E.T. The Extraterrestrial,” and “War of the Worlds.” Thanks to films like these, I am always looking to the stars, wondering whether there really is something out there.

Bik – A Space Adventure has the perfect plot for a Spielberg movie. Boy goes camping. Boy gets abducted by aliens. Boy saves the world. Help Bik survive with the aid of his new alien buddy Ammut.

‘Madden NFL Mobile’ is now available in the App Store

Cody Lee ∙ August 26, 2014

Just in time for NFL season, EA Sports has released a mobile version of its latest Madden NFL game, aptly-named 'Madden NFL Mobile.' The release coincides with the game's highly-anticipated console release, which began hitting store shelves early this morning.

The good news is, it appears that EA has really improved graphics and animations over last year's mobile Madden title. The bad news, however, is that not much else has changed. The game still requires an Internet connection, and it's littered with in-app purchases.

New ad formats coming to iAd: pre-roll video and full-screen interstitials

Cody Lee ∙ August 26, 2014

Apple announced to iOS developers today that it has enabled new ad formats that could help them generate more revenue. Developers can now add pre-roll video and full-screen advertisements to their apps, via iAd.

The news makes good on a report from back in March, which said the ads would be capable of interrupting a user in-app. It's more likely, however, that the ads will play at moments of transition, such as at the end of a level.

You can now send money via text message for free with Square Cash

Cody Lee ∙ August 26, 2014

Square has released a big update for its Cash app this afternoon, bringing it to version 2.0. The app, first released in October of last year, facilitates the quick transfer of money from one user to another via e-mail, and today's update makes the process even faster.

The UI for sending and contact screens has been optimized in Square Cash 2.0, making it easier to send money, and you can also now add notes to your payments. But perhaps the biggest addition in today's update is the ability to send cash to anyone via text message.

Yahoo Mail for iPad now lets you minimize compose window like in iOS 8

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 26, 2014

Yahoo today issued an interesting update to its native Mail application for the iPhone and iPad which replicates a handy feature we first saw in the stock Mail app in iOS 8.

Now available in the App Store, the refreshed Yahoo Mail version 3.3.2 includes the obligatory bug fixes and performance improvements, in addition to an iPad-specific feature which allows you to minimize the compose window when you need to look something up, just like Mail in iOS 8.

Tumblr for iOS updated with nicer blogs in Explore, filtering by tagging and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 26, 2014

The popular blogging platform, Tumblr, which Yahoo acquired for $1.1 billion in May of last year, has a decent iOS app available — and it's been getting a lot better post-acquisition. Today, the team pushed another update bringing out several new features and enhancements.

If you're new to Tumblr, the signup experience is now prettier and "a lot more educational," as the team put it. More importantly, a pair of changes outlined after the jump make finding and following blogs a lot easier and more enjoyable.