Apps

Wake Alarm Clock goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Heads-up deal seekers. Apple has named Tiny Hearts Limited's "Wake Alarm Clock" its App of the Week for this week. This means that from now through next Thursday, you'll be able to pick up the popular alarm clock app for free for both iPhone and iPad—a solid savings of $4.

For those unfamiliar with the app, Wake is highly regarded for its beautiful and intuitive design, and its range of various alarm modes. You can slap your phone to activate a short snooze, flip it to turn off all alarms, or you can set it so you have to shake your phone to turn all alarms off.

Adobe makes Lightroom for iOS free for everyone, no subscription needed

Since its April 2014 debut, Adobe's Lightroom mobile app has required you to subscribe to Adobe’s Cloud service in order to use the app, but not any longer. As first noted by The Next Web, both Lightroom for iPhone and Lightroom for iPad are now available for everyone without the desktop app, without a Creative Cloud Photography Plan subscription and even without an Adobe ID.

Fantastical gains iOS 9’s productivity-enhancing features, Apple Watch complication and more

Hot off the heels of its big Mac update, developer Flexibits today issued an update to Fantastical for iPad, iPhone and Apple Watch. The new software takes advantage of the new productivity-enhancing features provided by iOS 9 and watchOS 2.

These include 3D Touch support for iPhone 6s owners, a dedicated Fantastical complication for Apple Watch wearers, Slide Over and Split View multitasking modes on the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 4 and much more.

Twitter launches Moments for discovering trending stories and highlighting the best of Twitter

Twitter's excellent iPhone, iPod touch and iPad mobile application was refreshed this morning with a long-expected feature that strives to make content discovery a lot easier with a brand new tab.

Called Moments, it was designed to highlight stories that are trending on the micro-blogging service right now and important ones you may have missed. This edition of Twitter also supports super-sized emoji in Direct Messages.

Twitter is a free download from the App Store.

YouTube app gets a major redesign

After several months of testing with iOS users randomly selected, the YouTube app received a major redesign today, including a new logo, bringing the overall look in line with its Android counterpart. The app is now divided into three main content areas which can be accessed via a swipe gesture: Home, Subscription, and Account.

Review: wrist dialing is easy with Watch Keypad, an app Apple should have made

WatchOS 2 appeals to sausage-fingered types with its bigger, square keypad, and that's quite cool by me, but isn't its lack of a dialing functionality in apps like Messages and Phone quite a shame? This poses a major problem when needing to place a phone call from the wrist to a number you don't have assigned to a contact.

Watch Keypad by Dutch developer Rob De Ruiter, as the name suggests, solves this problem in one fell swoop.

This app makes it real simple and easy to type a phone number to call from your Apple Watch, without any restrictions on contacts. I spent some quality time testing Watch Keypad and will be using a lot going forward, here's why.

Adobe releases Photoshop Fix and Capture CC for iPhone and iPad

Adobe launched new services at its annual Adobe MAX creativity conference today while updating the Creative Cloud lineup and releasing a pair of brand new mobile apps: Photoshop Fix and Capture CC.

Built on the Photoshop technology, Photoshop Fix, a free download from the App Store, brings desktop tools like Liguify and Healing Brush to image editing on the go.

Capture CC, another new app available at no charge, includes functionality provided by several mobile apps like Adobe Brush, Adobe Color, Adobe Hue and Adobe Shape.

SoundShare review: a social network for music lovers

As of October 1, I am officially a paid subscriber to Apple Music. It is the first time in years that I've paid for streaming music. Because I like Apple Music so much, it makes it a little difficult to test music streaming apps without comparing them to what I think is the best version out there.

With SoundShare, you aren't streaming music as much as you are building friendships based on musical interests. Similar to a Twitter or Facebook feed, you can let others know what you are into. Today, we go hands-on with an app review of SoundShare.

Apps of the week: Shooty Skies, Hooks, Mori, and more

Thanks to the recent updates to both iOS and OS X, there have been plenty of new features for us to learn about. Plus, now that the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are in our hands, there is no reason to do anything else but play with your iPhone. If you are looking for some apps and games to add to your device, check out our list below. You may just find something you never knew you have always wanted.

Review: CiderTV doubles as gesture-rich Apple TV remote and volume control for your television

I was researching software remotes for the Apple TV the other day and stumbled upon CiderTV by Aivee Apps. But wait, doesn't Apple's own Remote app for the iPhone and iPad get the job done?

Er, not quite. It's buggy, slow and just a pain in the you-know-what. I want a solution that goes beyond Remote's basic functionality, with features like richer gestures and DLNA volume control for compatible TV sets.

That way, I wouldn't have to constantly juggle between the tiny Apple TV remote and another one for my TV. CiderTV does just that—and then some more—and is available at no charge.

Hit RPG Combo Quest goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Apple on Thursday named Tapinator's "Combo Quest" its App of the Week for this week. This means that for the next 7 days, you'll be able to grab the popular role playing game for free for both your iPhone and iPad—a nice little savings of $1.

For those unfamiliar with the title, Combo Quest is an epic, time-tap role-playing adventure. You play a knight that must fend off vicious enemies and terrifying beasts on a heroic quest to retrieve the Combo Crown, taken by a mischievous dragon.