App Store

Apple Music, Beats 1 & store services experience downtime during VMA nominee announcements

In what's become a norm for the company these days, another outage has hit a number of cloud-based services as users around the world report issues accessing Apple's content stores: the App Store, the Mac App Store and the iTunes Store.

We're also tracking issues with Apple Music and Beats 1.

Indeed, I'm currently struggling to stream my Apple Music songs and Beats 1 radio.

UPDATE 1: Apple has now acknowledged the outage on the iCloud status page. “Users are experiencing a problem with the services listed above,” reads the notice. “We are investigating and will update the status as more information becomes available.”

UPDATE 2: The iCloud dashboard says all services have been restored after three and a half hours of downtime.

Focus brings beautiful time management to iOS and Apple Watch

Perhaps my biggest productivity hindrance is time management. If I’m able to set aside time to focus on a task without distraction and stick with it to completion, my productivity levels exponentiate. Getting to that point, however, can be difficult and requires an incredible amount of self control. Focus is an app I picked recently that helps to both manage time and concentrate on the task at hand. It’s compatible with iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and, soon, Mac as well, and I have a full review below.

App Watch: Dash, MindNode, WeatherBug

One of the tasks for which Apple Watch is best suited is displaying information. Whether it be an upcoming calendar event, an incoming text, or simply the date and time, having this information a wrist raise away is what makes Apple Watch so invaluable.

This week, we have some apps that excel at displaying information on your wrist without requiring or even allowing much user interaction at all. These apps conform to the idea of using Apple Watch for very short amounts at a time, making the experience more natural.

A closer look at Apple Watch apps: PCalc, Notes, and Dispatch

I’m looking forward to the day when an iteration of the Elder Scrolls will come to iPad. Imagine strolling through Tamriel on your Retina display, engaging in Infinity Blade-style combat with man and beast. It’d be glorious. I’m not sure that day will ever come, but I’m anticipating it just the same. I’ll be happy when the latest version of iPad has the hardware to run such a game, regardless.

Instead of discussing my recently renewed obsession with Skyrim, we’re here to talk about some noteworthy Apple Watch apps that I've come across recently, so let us begin.

App Watch: power pack

I like to think of myself as a power user when it comes to my apps and devices, and although that term isn't always applicable, I’ve spent hours in Workflow trying to craft recipes that will save me precious seconds later on, and I enjoyed doing so if for nothing other than the self-satisfaction when I get to run a handmade workflow and watch it perform beautifully.

Today’s App Watch has a couple power user apps to help streamline your day (and an app to make you a powerful user), and I hope, once we're done, you’ll be as excited as I am to use these apps in the future.

App Watch: game on

Although I'm not a hardcore gamer, I do my fair share of gaming, largely on my Mac or PC, but iOS has demanded my attention as a gaming platform as well. Console gaming doesn't greatly interest me, however, due to the cost of games and limitation of genres. But I don't mind investing into a gaming PC that I can also use for work, school, and countless other things, and my iPad Air 2 is also great for playing the more graphically intense titles on iOS.

More recently, gaming moved beyond iPads and iPhones to alight on users' wrists with Apple Watch, which is our primary focus in this article. Although the games are very basic, as they should be, many are designed to burn a few minutes while in line or other places where pulling out an iPhone isn't entirely convenient, while others are built exclusively for Apple Watch.

Noodles! review: a complex puzzle game (with absolutely no heptagons)

When you are relaxing with a nice, simple puzzle game, do you prefer it to be mindless and easy, or are you the type of gamer that likes things that are hard to solve?

Noodles! is a simple puzzle game with a nice, solid challenge. It isn't so hard that you give up, but it is hard enough to make you feel smart when you finally solve a puzzle. Check out our game review of Noodles! below.

App Watch: artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence may very well take over the world one day, but I find it absolutely fascinating, regardless. The concept of teaching computers how to "think" brings an entirely new level to technology, not only in relation to programming, but in how we interact with it as well. The issue is that, once they become sentient, computers will in theory no longer be content doing as we command, but instead turn on humanity and kill us all.

Anyway, the App Store has yet to feature an app for controlling a maniacal robot from your Apple Watch, but there are some apps that utilize a form of artificial intelligence, and we're looking at a couple of them today.

Hackers find easy way to steal large sums of money through Starbucks app

Hackers are stealing money from users' credit cards, banks, and PayPal accounts through the Starbucks mobile app, the coffee giant confirmed to CNN on Tuesday.

The app, which lets users pay at checkout and reload Starbucks gift cards, has an auto-reload function that makes it easy for hackers to take from users, not needing any account numbers.

Cooped Up review: don’t let your expectations cage this gem

One of the first iPhone games I, and certainly many iPhone owners, ever played was Doodle Jump. It came out while the App Store was still in its relative infancy, and the iPhone was beginning its meteoric rise in earnest. Since its release in 2009, we have seen numerous games that copy its pencil and paper art style or gameplay mechanics. So many, in fact, that it has become relatively hard for any game that looks even remotely similar to stand out.

When you first look at screenshots of Cooped Up, I have no doubt that Doodle Jump, Mega Jump, or any number of other apps will be the first thing to spring into your mind. Cooped Up is more than just a cheap knock off, though. What makes this game different? Well, that’s going to take a bit of explaining.

App Watch: food edition

Eating is perhaps my favorite pastime. While I typically prefer to eat at home where I can prepare higher quality food with enhanced taste and healthier ingredients, there are occasions when I have to pick up something in town. In these instances, I tend to gravitate toward restaurants with a mobile app so I can take my time while deciding on my order, and Chick-fil-A and Taco Bell are a couple restaurants that fulfill this criterion.

Unfortunately, the iPhone apps of these establishments don't yet support Apple Watch. There are, however, some food apps that do, so let's take a look at them.

Celebrate Star Wars Day with discounted games, featured books, TV shows & movies, Disney events and more

Today is Star Wars Day, an unofficial annual celebration of everything Star Wars, and Apple is joining festivities with limited-time discounts on select Star Wars-themed games and In-App Purchases for the iPhone and iPad on the App Store.

In addition, the iBooks Store is running a dedicated Star Wars section highlighting books, comics, graphic novels and other Star Wars content.

But we're only getting started.

The iTunes Store has joined the big push by featuring Star Wars music, related television shows and additional iOS apps at standard prices, while Disney is pulling out all the stops with special events at its studios and resorts.