App Store Apps

Plex is now available for the Apple TV

Plex, the popular media organizer, streaming solution, and media player, is now available on the Apple TV. The app, which is available as a free download from the App Store, helps users organize videos, music, TV shows, photo collections, and is able to stream content to the television connected to an Apple TV.

In addition, users can take advantage of special channels for access to even more content like Twitch, Comedy Central, BBC, and more. Plex can stream content stored directly on a local computer with the Plex Media Server installed, or a NAS setup for a media streaming solution that's a bit more robust. Needless to say, Plex has been highly anticipated for new Apple TV users since day one, and it's finally here.

Dropbox update lets you save Safari pages to PDF via new App Extension

Dropbox, the cloud storage provider, has updated their iOS app with new features for App Extensions and an assortment of bug fixes. Now users who have the App Extension enabled in Safari can save webpages to PDFs and also can protect the App Extension itself with their Touch ID fingerprint.

Dropbox previously updated their app with support for iOS 9 and 3D Touch on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, among other new features. While you can already save a webpage to a PDF with iBooks, this is a good update for those that need access to websites later and use Dropbox on another device, such as a desktop computer.

Here are top free and paid Apple TV apps and games

Although Apple's charts inside the App Store for the new Apple TV are currently empty, developer Steve Troughton-Smith was able to sniff out which apps and games users have been downloading the most since the device's debut last week.

As you could imagine, games absolutely dominate the charts, yet another indication that the new set-top box is popular as a casual gaming device. Here's your list of top paid, free and grossing apps and games for the Apple TV 4, accompanied by a few interesting observations regarding app pricing and frame rates in popular games.

Secret Apple app lets you map out building interiors using your iPhone

Apple has a secret app in the App Store which allows some iPhone users to map the interior of a building using their handset. First discovered yesterday by developer Steve Troughton-Smith, an app called Indoor Survey has been available on the App Store since last week.

The software is currently hidden in the App Store and is not operational, suggesting that the official launch is around the corner.

Basically a funnel for Apple's MapsConnect website, the app appears to act as a crowdsourced Ground Truth service aimed at improving the accuracy of Apple Maps data when it comes to indoor maps.

WhatsApp rolls out responding to messages and calls directly from notifications to everyone

After testing out with a subset of its user base a new ability to quickly respond to incoming messages directly from the notification banner, Facebook-owned WhatsApp today began rolling out this feature to its massive 900+ million monthly active users. In addition, this edition of WhatsApp for iPhone also makes it easy to reply to incoming WhatsApp VoIP calls with a message, right from the call notification. Both features require Apple's latest mobile operating system.

Procreate gains support for iPad Pro, Apple Pencil features and more

Procreate by Savage Interactive, the popular sketching and painting app, was refreshed today in the App Store with more than a dozen new features, among them specific ones aimed at the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil which are scheduled to launch later this month.

Procreate 3, a free update for existing owners, now allows for up to 16K canvases on the iPad Pro, with its 128 brushes taking full advantage of pressure sensitivity, tilt detection and palm rejection provided by the Apple Pencil. All told, this edition of Procreate packs in over a hundred new features and refinements.

Best apps of the week: Lean, Lumino City, Stash Invest, and more

Apple TV fans are finally about to get their mitts on the much-anticipated new Apple TVs. We've been waiting years for this one, and can't wait to see what kinds of apps and games are coming to our big screen, no AirPlay required, even if Siri isn't going to be of much help.

If you can't wait to see what is coming to the big screen, and need some small-screen time to tide you over, we've got a list of apps and games we think you should check out. And, don't worry, Siri is going to help you out on Apple TV someday.

New Google app finds people to hang out with

A brand new Google app for your iPhone, currently available on an invite-only basis in the App Store, wants to take the pain out of finding people who are free to hang out.

Aptly named Who’s Down, the 16.2-megabyte download comes with an easy to use user interface featuring a slider that, when toggled, tells the app to let others know you're down to meet up, allowing you to see which of your friends are free to hang out.

EDGE Extended is free for a limited time

Remember Edge, a puzzle game developed by Mobigame? Originally released in the App Store in December 2008, it was one of the best looking, most addictive and innovative games available on the iPhone at the time.

The highly popular title was followed by the official sequel, called Edge Extended, which made its App Store debut in August 2011. Edge Extended has gone free briefly just once since its inception and now Mobigame has discounted the game to zero bucks for a limited time to celebrate the launch of the new Apple TV.

The best Apple TV apps and games for your big screen TV

The Apple TV launch will be accompanied by a surprisingly comprehensive list of third-party apps and games, some of  which were shown off on stage during Apple's media presentation last month. Ahead of tomorrow's launch, a much larger selection of premium triple-A games and apps is available for the device.

We've compiled a list of the games and apps that we think are going to make a difference on the big screen. If you have pre-ordered your Apple TV, bookmark this article as you'll want to download these apps as soon as your shiny new box drops on your doorstep.

Minimal puzzler ‘rop’ goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Heads up gamers, Apple has just named MildMania's 'rop' its App of the Week for this week. This means that from now through next Thursday, you can pick up the popular puzzler for free for both iPhone and iPad, a $1 savings over its usual price.

For those who haven't played it, rop is described as a mind-bending, minimal puzzler with nearly 200 beautiful levels. In each of those levels, you must rearrange the different pieces of rope on a hexagonal grid to match the shape that you are given.

Microsoft folds Sunrise functionality into much-improved Outlook for iOS app

Developers of Microsoft-owned calendar app, called Sunrise, announced in a blog post that the app won't be receiving updates going forward as the team has worked hard on integrating Sunrise functionality into the Windows maker's much-improved mobile Outlook client for iPhone and iPad.

Sunrise Calendar was last updated in the App Store more than four months ago, adding integration with Office 365 events. Just yesterday, Outlook for iOS received a fresh new look alongside a brand native Apple Watch app built on watchOS 2.

At the same time, Microsoft announced that the mobile Outlook app has gone from a couple hundred downloads to more than thirty million installs on smartphones and tablets.