App Store Apps

Microsoft outs upcoming ‘Band’ wearable in new Health app

Microsoft has outed its upcoming 'Band' wearable in what appears to be the premature release of multiple applications. This evening, 'Microsoft Health' landed in iPhone, Android and Windows stores, and a Microsoft Band Sync client popped up in the Mac App Store.

It's unknown at this time if the releases were unintentional, or part of a cheeky PR stunt, but it's likely the former, given the scope of the apps. Microsoft has long been rumored to be working on a cross-platform wearable, and recent reports say it's preparing for launch.

Miika review: a perspective puzzle game with a platformer look

The perspective path puzzle game has certainly been a hit on iOS. For example, earlier this year, Monument Valley turned heads for its visually striking graphics and complex puzzles.

Miika could be called a simpler, cutesier perspective puzzle game in the same vein as Monument Valley. Players must rotate the screen around in order to reveal the right path to take in order to get to the end of the line. We’ve got a full game review of Miika for you today.

Google Wallet for iOS adds low balance notifications and recurring bank transfers

Google on Wednesday announced an update to its mobile Wallet application for the iPhone which now includes handy low balance alerts and another feature allowing users to set up recurring bank transfer in order to ensure there's always money to spend in their Wallet.

The refreshed application did not receive support for the bigger iPhone screens and will be going live in the App Store later today.

Google Wallet is available free of charge.

Omnistat shows CPU, battery, memory usage and more stats straight from Notification Center

Omnistat is a new app available in the App Store that provides a quick glance at some basic stats of your iOS device from within the app itself, or from Notification Center via a Today tab widget. If the name sounds familiar, it's because Omnistat used to be a jailbreak tweak back in the days of iOS 5. The tweak has now matured into a legit application that is simply yet elegantly designed to show various statistics about your device such as CPU usage, running processes and more.

Pandora, Spotify beating Apple’s Beats handsomely on App Store

Pandora and Spotify rank as the number one and number two music streaming apps in terms of downloads, analytics firm AppAnnie reports - no big surprise. However, where things become interesting is that Apple's Beats Music, which the company purchased for $3 billion in May, is placed ninth, below iHeartRadio, SoundCloud and Apple's GarageBand.

You can now preview stickers in Facebook’s latest Messenger update

The social networking giant Facebook on Wednesday pushed a small update to its Messenger client for the iPhone and iPad which lets you preview sticker animations.

Facebook Messenger 12.0 (what's up with version numbers, Facebook?) allows you to press and hold down on a sticker to expand it and view any animations before sending it.

The app is available free in the App Store.

Taco Bell’s new iOS app makes fast food… faster

Many social media users were intrigued when Taco Bell's social media accounts went dark on Tuesday, fearing the worst. Luckily, it was just Taco Bell announcing a major overhaul to its iOS app that allows customers to order and pay for food on their smartphones before even setting foot in the fast food chain.

Amazon App and Path updated with iPhone 6 support so you can see more content

iPhone 6 related updates for your favorite apps continue to roll in more than a month following the release of Apple's bigger handsets.

Following Plex's iPhone 6 update earlier this morning, both Amazon and Path have now refreshed their respective iOS applications with native display support for the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus models.

If you're an early iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus adopter, you know why these updates matter: not only do optimized apps look crisp as anyone would expect, but also take advantage of greater pixel count to display more content, thereby requiring fewer taps and less scrolling.

Black Tower Enigma cuts role-play gaming down to just the puzzles

For years, role-playing adventure games have captured the hearts and minds of gamers around the world. Whether you were catchin’ them all with Pokemon, helping Link rescue Zelda, or bringing back light to the world of Final Fantasy, the games all shared a deep storyline and epic adventure.

Black Tower Enigma has the same deep story development, but instead of traveling across dangerous lands to rescue the damsel in distress, players face riddles and puzzles in a tower of never-ending floors. Solve the puzzle to reveal the stairs to the next level. Eventually you will find your damsel.

Nike+ Running now integrates with iOS 8 Health, adds elevation tracking and more

Apple CEO Tim Cook has had a seat on the Nike board for quite some time now and the sports equipment giant was first out of the gate with an app that showcased the iPhone 5s's low-powered M7 motion coprocessor. But despite close Apple ties, Nike's been suspiciously mum regarding integrating its many iOS apps with iOS 8's Health database.

That changed Tuesday as a new version of Nike+ Running got released with support for NikeFuel data sync with iOS 8's Health application. The refreshed app brings out a few other nice-to-haves, such as tracking your elevation on latest devices and more.

Nike's other iOS apps will hopefully pick up Health integration in due time. Nike+ Running is a free download in the App Store.

OneNote gains Touch ID, iOS 8 Storage extension and more

Microsoft on Tuesday updated OneNote for iOS and OS X with useful new features, including fingerprint based Touch ID authentication to unlock password protected sections of your notebooks.

There's also a new Storage Provider extension in iOS 8 which let you easily add files to your notebooks from your favorite cloud storage service like, say, Dropbox.

On the iPhone, OneNote finally allows you to move and rearrange your notes anywhere you like. Moreover, the note-taking app has now gained ability to open notebooks stored on SharePoint Servers.

OneNote for the iPhone, iPad and Mac apps are free downloads.

Time Warner Cable’s new app lets you use their home phone service on iPhone at no additional cost

Your Home Phone service from Time Warner Cable is no longer limited by physical location as the nation's second largest cable company behind Comcast revealed a new iPhone application Tuesday.

Dubbed Phone 2 Go and available as a free download from the App Store, the software allows existing TWC Home Phone subscribers to use text, voice and video calling for no additional fees.

In addition, you can decide whether you'd like to use your Home Phone service to receive voice and video calls and text messages on your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad anywhere there's Wi-Fi or cellular coverage, including overseas.