App Store Apps

Blendoku 2, Momento, Relight, and more apps to check out this weekend

Now that Best Buy is selling the Apple Watch for $50 off, there is no better time to get your hands on one. Plus, with the money you save, you can get an Apple Watch magnetic charging dock. In the meantime, those of us with small hands have a glimmer of hope that Apple will bring back the four-inch screen some day.

Whether you're looking for content for your Apple Watch, four-inch or 5.5-inch iPhone, iPad Pro, or Apple TV, we've got a list of apps and games for you to consider this weekend.

Sidefari review: A clever app that lets you use two Safari windows with Split View

Sidefari, an App Store app first brought to my attention by MacStories, is a release that allows you to view two Safari windows side by side by means of some clever use of iOS 9's Safari View Controller.

The app, which is available for purchase for only $0.99, comes courtesy of developer Franscico Cantu. Just made available today, Sidefari can come in handy for any user with an iPad that's capable of Split View, but will be something that is most appreciated by iPad Pro owners.

Beat Sports review: turn your Apple TV into a Wii, sort of

With the fourth-generation Apple TV now available, we are getting a glimpse at the types of apps and games that are being developed for our living room. One surprising addition to the gaming world comes from Harmonix (creators of Guitar Hero and Rock Band).

Beat Sports is a rhythm-based sports game. Players use their Siri Remote control as a sort of Wii style motion-based remote to swing away at oncoming balls. We've got a full game review of Beat Sports for your reading enjoyment.

Stackables photo app goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Apple on Thursday updated the App Store with a new App of the Week: Stackables for iPhone and iPad. This means that from now through next Thursday, you can pick up the popular photo editor for free—a solid savings of $6.

Stackables is a beautifully-designed effects and layering app. It's packed with over 200 effects expertly crafted by by renowned photographer Dirk Wuestenhagen including textures, light leaks, analog film filters, grain and more.

Spark for iPhone adds Exchange support, iPad and Mac version in the works

Readdle's incredibly efficient (and free) email client, Spark for iPhone, has just gotten a whole lot more useful with full support for Microsoft Exchange accounts in the latest update in the App Store.

This was the main feature request from thousands of people who wanted to use Spark with Exchange in the workplace, developers tell me.

Even more exciting than that, the team has confirmed that they're hard at work putting finishing touches on Spark for iPad, which should be released “soon”. In addition, a spokesperson for the company tells me via email that their next step will be “creating the best email client for Mac.”

Facebook to let you hide posts from your ex, without blocking or unfriending them

Most of us have been there before. You break up with your girlfriend or boyfriend, and maybe choose to unfriend or even block them on the service, but traces of your relationship are still all over the place on your Timeline, for everyone to see. So, what do you do? Do you block them outright, which will remove all their posts and also hurt their feelings?

There's got to be a better way to handle this first-world problem, don't you agree? Facebook though about that, too, and it seems they've come up with an interesting solution.

Google+ for iOS gets a facelift and new features in latest update

Following yesterday's overhaul of Google+ Communities and Collections on the web, today Google+ for iOS gets bumped to version 5.0 and thoroughly redesigned.

The new-look Communities and Collections are now accessible through the new Google+ 5.0 for iOS app. This edition of the software includes other improvements, too, including switching between multiple accounts and expanded options for sharing with folks outside Google+.

Vine update makes it super easy to remix your favorite videos

Vine on Wednesday announced a new update for its popular mobile video-sharing app. It appears that this is a backend update, as I didn't have to download anything to see the changes (although I did restart the app), but there are a few new features worth noting.

The first is a new audio remix option. With Remix, users can make their own creations with sound from any Vine with the touch of a finger. Just tap the [...] button beneath a Vine clip within the mobile app, and select "Make an audio remix" from the popup menu.

Official Google app revamps voice search interface and Google Now cards

In addition to refreshing the layout for Communities and Collections on Google+, the search monster today also rolled out an update to its iOS search app.

Available at no charge in the App Store, the native Google search experience on your iPhone, iPod touch and iPad now includes an overhauled voice search interface with a nicely animated logo.

More important than that, the layout of your Google Now cards has been reworked and updated to better organize and surface content for you.