App Store Apps

Official mobile game of The LEGO Movie hits iOS

Hey kids, if you loved The LEGO Movie now is your chance to enjoy the same fun characters and environments in an interactive iPhone and iPad game.

Released today in the App Store, the LEGO Movie Video Game contains more than 90 characters from the film and over 40 missions. It's a classic LEGO fun so you'll get to build your own virtual LEGO creations using the Master Builders.

Apple names ‘Shades’ puzzler its free App of the Week

Apple has just named UOVO’s ‘Shades: A Simple Puzzle Game‘ its App of the Week for this week. This means that from now through next Thursday, you’ll be able to download the zen-like puzzler for both iPhone and iPad for free—which will save you a solid $1.99.

Released in September of last year, Shades is one of those puzzle games that's easy to pick up and play, but tough to master. The premise should sound familiar to Tetris fans: move falling blocks into position to combine blocks, clearing rows as quick as possible.

Get your weather and jokes all in one place with Funny Or Die Weather

The first time I had heard of the comedy website Funny or Die was after discovering Will Ferrell and Adam McKay’s short film “The Landlord.” I’ve been a fan of the site ever since.

Today, the team that made famous such web series as Between Two Ferns and Drunk History has launched a weather app to bring a smile to your face, even on the cloudiest of days.

This widget lets you play Minesweeper directly from Notification Center

Minesweeper Widget Edition is a new app launching in the App Store today that, as you might have guessed, brings a playable Minesweeper widget to the Today tab of Notification Center. Developed by the same guy who made Overglide, another playable Notification Center widget, Minesweeper Widget Edition promises to offer short and quick gaming to make your wait in line at the grocery store ever so enjoyable.

Facebook Groups adds member search and three new admin features

Facebook's dedicated Groups app received a major refresh Thursday, bumping the groups-management mobile software to version 5.0 while enabling several new features for members and administrators.

Both group members and administrators can now search for other members in groups. Additionally, members can now manage notifications more easily.

Admins can now take advantage of a trio of new features for better management of their own groups, including the ability to block users requesting to join.

Twitter’s ‘while you were away’ feature rolls out to all mobile users, due soon on the web

First revealed as part of Twitter's November 2014 platform update and formally announced on January 1, a new 'while you were away' feature is now officially available to all users of Twitter's mobile app for iOS and Android, appearing at the top of users’ timelines.

The micro-blogging startup explained in a blog post Wednesday that the feature surfaces a few of the best tweets “you probably wouldn’t have seen otherwise,” as determined by engagement and “other factors.”

Spotify introduces Touch Preview for songs, albums, artists and playlists

The leading music-streaming startup Spotify on Thursday announced a better way to preview music using new gestures in its iOS app. Dubbed Touch Preview, the feature allows music lovers to get a sneak peek of any playlist, song, album or artist by holding down their finger to start the music playing instantly.

“It means less time looking for the perfect music, and more time actually listening to it,” wrote the company.

Rdio app updated with New Music Weekly station, smarter sharing and more

Popular streaming music service Rdio posted an update for its iOS client today, bringing the app to version 3.1. The update brings about a new station for hot, just-released music, enhanced sharing capabilities and various other new features and improvements.

The New Music Weekly Station is a handpicked selection of the week’s hottest tracks from Rdio's New Releases section. And as for the enhanced sharing, users can now quickly share music with a press-and-hold while listening to any track, album, playlist or station.

Shadowmatic review: turn abstract shapes into familiar objects

When it comes to puzzle games, spatial reasoning 3-D titles will always grab my attention, especially if they have great graphics and plenty of puzzles to challenge my brainpower.

Shadowmatic is a puzzle game that asks players to think about the world in 360 degrees in order to turn shapes into objects. We’ve got a full game review of Shadowmatic for you today.

Google Docs, Sheets and Slides gain Touch ID support and other new features

After adding a new Incoming section to Docs, Sheets and Slides iOS apps which lets you see all of the files that have been shared with you, Google on Wednesday issued another refresh to its trio of productivity applications for the iPhone and iPad.

Google Docs, Sheets and Slides now feature Touch ID support for passcode lock to keep your documents, app settings and more safe from prying eyes.

In addition to that, each app has gained a few noteworthy enhancements such as a brand new spell-checker in Docs, mentioned after the break.

BBC previews revamped iOS app with personalized coverage, due later this week

The British Broadcasting Corporation announced Wednesday that its revamped BBC News app will be rolling out later this week to iOS and Android platforms. The refreshed software offers a lot more video content and local news and also includes a brand new personalized coverage feature.

Users will be able to follow specific topics via an all-new tagging system that makes it easy to create custom feeds for, say, topics like Apps, Taylor Swift, Genetics and what not.

Gameloft previews Dungeon Hunter 5 with a new multiplayer system, launching later this year

French mobile games maker Gameloft has formally announced Dungeon Hunter 5, the latest installment in its role-playing series that invites you to rediscover the thrill of dungeon crawling.

Launching soon on the iPhone, iPad and Android, Dungeon Hunter 5 will be “the most immersive, accomplished and addictive chapter of the acclaimed action RPG saga,” promises the blurb.