App Store Apps

Apple says its iOS app economy created 80,000 US jobs last year

Cody Lee ∙ April 3, 2013

Apple has come under heavy fire in recent years by critics for outsourcing its manufacturing jobs to Asia. Folks don't like the fact that while the US struggles with unemployment, it pays Chinese factory workers to build its products just to save a few dollars.

In response to the criticism, Apple posted a new page on its website last year touting the more than 500,000 jobs it's either created or supported in the US with its business. In fact, according to its records, its app economy alone created 80,000 jobs last year...

Twitter app updated with the ability to discover, install and launch apps from tweets

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 22, 2017

Twitter yesterday announced that it had added support for photo galleries and apps to its Card features. Galleries are now represented in the stream with multiple photo previews, and app developers can embed more details about their apps.

Today, Twitter updated its iOS apps to support the new Card features, claiming that users can now discover, install and launch apps from tweets. And they also beefed up the apps' performance with faster launch times and general bug fixes...

Rovio bringing its Facebook hit ‘Angry Birds Friends’ to iOS

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

With more than 6 different games from the Angry Birds franchise bouncing around in the App Store, we probably didn't need another one. But we're getting one. Rovio announced today that its bringing its Facebook hit 'Angry Birds Friends' to iOS.

'Angry Birds Friends' combines classic Angry Birds gameplay with Facebook integration and other social features. Players can challenge their Facebook friends in weekly tournaments, collect daily awards and send and receive gifts of power-ups...

500px app updated with Flow for iPad and other improvements

Cody Lee ∙ April 2, 2013

Premium photo sharing site 500px made a big splash last fall when it finally launched a native app for the iPhone. And despite getting pulled from the App Store for a week in January, it's managed to garner more than a million downloads.

Today 500px has updated its iOS offering, bringing the app to version 2.1. The update includes a new Following and Followers list, so you can keep track of your network, performance improvements and adds the Flow feature to the iPad...

Reeder goes free on Mac and iPad

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated May 2, 2017

Despite a few complaints by me over the years, Reeder is still my favorite RSS reader on iOS and the Mac. I use it on my iPhone, my iPad, and my Mac. Recently, as have many others, I ditched Google Reader, but Reeder as an app will fortunately live on.

Today, Reeder developer Silvio Rizzi, announced some big changes for Reeder. The big news is the fact that support and development for Reeder will still continue, despite Google Reader's demise on July 1st. The other big news is that the current versions of Reeder on the Mac and iPad are now free.

Tiny Troopers 2: Special Ops marches onto the App Store

Lory Gil ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Tiny Troopers made its mark on the App Store in June of 2012. The battle-heavy app mixed team-up gameplay with shoot-em-up action. The minuscule military men are back for more and Tiny Troopers 2: Special Ops is an excellent follow-up to its predecessor.

When I first started playing Tiny Troopers, the one thing that stood out to me the most was the use of military-related catch phrases. Every time a little soldier takes down an enemy, you’ll hear him squeak out a line like, “Hurrah!” or, “Open fire!” It was the thing that drew me in. Those little tough guys are so dang cute.

Tiny Troopers 2 incorporates all of the cuteness of the original while maintaining the manliness you’ve come to expect of war games. You’re not going to be sniping fools a la “Call of Duty,” but you can still get your shooter game action fix...

Keep your apps up-to-date with Auto App Updater

Cody Lee ∙ March 30, 2013

I'm on my iPhone all throughout the day, so when an update for an app pops up, I usually grab it right away. On my iPad, however, it's a different story. Sometimes I'll go a couple of days without using it, and the updates tend to pile up.

For those of you with a similar problem, you'll be happy to hear that there's a jailbreak tweak called Auto App Updater that can automatically install your updates for you. So you'll never have to worry about installing them manually again...

Apple updates Find My Friends app with new UI

Cody Lee ∙ March 28, 2013

Apple has released an update to Find My Friends this morning, bringing the app to version 2.1. This is the first Find My Friends release since 2.0.1 came out last October, which added new location-based notifications.

Today's update adds what Apple is calling a "New UI to search for and set location-based notifications." No, that doesn't mean that the ugly leather texture is gone. But it does mean that some parts of the app look better...

Gmail app updated with easier multi-message editing and navigation

Cody Lee ∙ March 27, 2013

Great news today for Gmail users. Google has updated its email client for iOS this morning, bringing the app to version 2.1. The update includes some nice UX improvements, including easier message navigation.

Users with the new app will now be able to swipe either left or right to move between messages, without having to return to their inbox. It also features easier multi-message editing, a handful of bug fixes and more...

Flipboard 2.0 is out with custom magazines, notifications and more

Cody Lee ∙ March 26, 2013

Flipboard released a rather significant update for its iOS app tonight, bringing the social news aggregator to version 2.0. The update includes a few major new features, including custom magazines and user notifications, and other improvements.

Perhaps the biggest addition to the app is the ability to create your own custom magazines. Users can now collect and save content into their own magazines, sort of like Pinterest, allowing users to essentially bookmark their favorite stuff...

MechWarrior explodes onto iPhone

Jim Gresham ∙ Updated January 27, 2019

Growing up in the 90's provided the extreme advantage of spending late nights in front of Mech Warrior 2. Aside from King's Quest V, Mech Warrior 2 is one of the few PC games I ever completed from start to finish. When we were contacted by Personae Studios to review their newest build of MechWarrior: Tactical Command, I had no hesitations to agree. Moving from a FPS console and desktop option to RTS, the iOS Mech Warrior experience will be appreciated by MechWarrior fans, old and new...

Google+ updated with photo filters, new profile design and more

Cody Lee ∙ March 25, 2013

Google has rolled out a significant update for its iOS Google+ client today. The app, which is now in version 4.3, received a number of improvements, including new photo editing features and redesigned profiles.

The new photo editing features are probably the most welcomed addition, and come courtesy of Google's recently acquired Snapseed application. You can now add filters to, crop and rotate, your photos on the fly...