This was a good week for apps and games. Not only were there some new console-quality additions to the list, but also some of our old favorites received major updates, making them even better than ever. If you are looking for something new that didn’t necessarily show up on the radar this week, we’ve got a list of apps and games that we think are still worth talking about.
Entertainment Weekly on Friday shared first details concerning The Walking Dead creator Telltale's upcoming game series, Tales from the Borderlands. Based on Gearbox and 2K’s Borderlands 2, Tales from the Borderlands takes place on the unforgiving world of Pandora after the events seen in Borderlands 2.
The five-part episodic game series puts you in the shoes of Rhys, a Hyperion ‘suit’ with dreams of being the next Handsome Jack, and Fiona, a Pandoran con artist looking to score her biggest ever swindle, as you follow the adventurers “on their quest for greatness”.
With all of these new iOS 8 keyboards now available, there is just too much fun to be had. You can translate text with Slated, code with UniChar Picker, and use ScribbleBoard because drawing is more fun than typing. It just keeps getting better. Now, the trend is for keyboards for fat fingers.
Type Nine is a big keys keyboard for those extra thick digits. Only unlike apps like Thick Buttons, this one harkens back to before there were such a thing as keypads for smartphones. So, all you old school flip phone typers will enjoy some retro texting.
Evernote updated its popular note-taking/sketch app Penultimate this morning, bringing it to version 6.0. As the build number implies, the update is significant, ushering in a complete UI redesign, new full screen and highlighting tools, and various improvements.
The new UI design is easily the most noticeable change in 6.0, and it makes for smoother writing and better organization. The new full screen mode is also a great addition, as it allows you to write continuously in full screen without stopping—eliminating distractions.
I rely on GoodReader to manage files and documents on my iOS devices in one central location. Being a heavy reader, I mostly keep various documents and e-books stored in GoodReader.
Today's update to GoodReader's iOS app contains a whole bunch of new features, improvements and fixes, chiefly a cool text-to-speech capability that speaks passages of text in text files and PDF documents.
It's customizable with different speeds, supports dozens of languages, has playback controls, highlights spoken words in real-time, lets you multitask while listening to spoken word and more. This update is being provided free of charge to existing GoodReader users.
Download GoodReader for the iPhone and iPad for $4.99.
Apple has named Halfbrick's 'Monster Dash' its app of the week for this week. This means that from now through next Thursday, you’ll be able to pick up the title for free in the App Store, saving yourself a healthy buck.
For those who haven't played the game, Monster Dash is a survival platformer/runner that follows the familiar Barry Steakfries (of Jetpack Joyride fame) as he races through levels while avoiding and/or killing monsters.
From the maker of League of Evil and Devious Dungeon comes their newest title: Random Heroes 3. If you've played any of these games before then this new title will feel very familiar to you as the mechanics are always pretty much the same. Just like in the previous editions of Random Heroes, your goal is to rid the Earth of those bad aliens, with tons of weapons available to you as you collect coins at each level.
As something of a calculator nut, I can never get enough of gorgeously designed calculator experiences. For most people, the stock Calculator is more than enough to run a quick calculation here and there.
Apple, sadly, isn't shipping its Calculator on iPads, forcing you to search the App Store for a third-party solution. But you don't have to be a calculator nut or part with your cash to enjoy doing math on your Apple devices.
That's because developer Andrew J Clark of Very Tiny Machines has just slashed his beautifully done Numerical: Calculator Without Equal app from $2.99 to zero bucks.
Download Numerical at no cost from the App Store.
If you needed an excuse to make VSCO Cam part of your iPhone photographer's toolkit, here's one. On Thursday, developers issued a substantial update to the free iOS app which brings a thoroughly redesigned user interface.
Now a universal app for all form factor iOS devices, VSCO Cam runs natively on iPads and brings out full support for iOS 8 and the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus resolutions.
This release is packed with half a dozen interesting new features, among them integration with VSCO' new mobile publishing platform dubbed Journal.
Download VSCO Cam free in the App Store.
After gaining push support for Google Calendar, enhanced search and Todoist integration back in September and issuing a few maintenance updates since, Sunrise, the popular cross-platform calendar and to-do application, on Thursday launched a major new version in the App Store.
Sunrise now features native display support for the new 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus resolutions so it will no longer run enlarged on the new iPhones.
You can now authorize both Google Tasks and Eventbrite services for use in Sunrise and there's a brand new widget for the Today view of the Notification Center on iOS 8.
Respective iOS and OS X edition of Sunrise are available free in the App Store and Mac App Store.
Following an August soft-launch in select markets, publisher Activison on Thursday released its free-to-play Call of Duty: Heroes in App Stores around the globe.
Seemingly inspired by Clash of Clans, the iPhone and iPad combat strategy game features nice 3D graphics and lets you command an army of elite soldiers, heroes, drones and more.
You begin as a commander of a small outpost and as the game progresses you must conquer new territories, customize and build up your base, lead your heroes into battle and even take direct control of weapons such as the first-person chopper gunner.
Download Call of Duty: Heroes free from the App Store.
2K games this morning released XCOM: Enemy Within for iOS, an expansion for its popular turn-based military sim XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Fans of the franchise will recognize the title, as it was released to PCs and consoles around this time last year.
2K is calling Enemy Within a "standalone expansion" due to the fact that it features the core gameplay of Enemy Unknown, and builds on its storyline, but it's a completely separate app. You do not need one of the games installed in order to play the other.