Apps

Read-later app Pocket rolls out personalized Recommendations feed

You can now check out the most interesting articles and videos you might have missed using Pocket's newly launched Recommendations feature. Available in Pocket's latest 6.0 update in the App Store, Recommendations takes “the absolute best content being saved across Pocket” and tailors it to your own saving and reading habit, based on what you save, read and watch in Pocket.

Pocket God vs. Desert Ashes turns killing Pygmies into a strategy game

Fans of the popular Pocket God franchise should take note; the company that created the pygmy killing game has teamed up with Desert Ashes to make a game starring the former with the mechanics of the latter.

Pocket God vs. Desert Ashes is exactly as it sounds. The crossover game features the familiar family of worshipers fighting a turn-based strategy battle against the Landians. When those pesky land thieves invade the Island, the Pygmies prepare to fight.

Facebook Moments is now available outside US with new features

Moments, a Facebook-made app that lets you “get the photos you didn't take”, is no longer confined to the United States, thanks to a 2.0 update that went live in the App Store earlier this morning.

For starters, Moments is now available in a total of 34 different markets such as Japan, Russia, China, Germany and Italy, to name just a few.

The app also comes with an interesting new feature that appears to be borrowed from Google Photos, which automatically creates a movie from your photos, while providing bug fixes, performance improvements and improved upload performance.

Viber gains improved spam handling and reporting in latest iPhone update

Viber for iPhone was refreshed this morning in the App Store with improved spam handling. I've noticed an increase of spam messages on Viber lately as I've been regularly getting spam messages from seemingly random people telling me I've won a free iPhone or some fishy contest prize.

While Viber offers the ability to block unwanted contacts from messaging you, this update should help sort out the influx of spam on the service.

No other changes are mentioned for Viber 5.5.1, a free download from the App Store.

Apps of the week: Disneyland, Pac-Man 265, Final Fantasy VII, and more

It is the weekend again. But, not everyone will have the joy of sitting on the porch with friends, cracking a cold one and a joke as the hours slowly tick by. Some of us will be pulling weeds in the hot sun, or driving hundreds of miles to visit family, or even working.

No matter what you are doing this weekend, try to make time for relaxing. If you are looking for some new apps and games, check out our list below. You might find just what you need to make your weekend perfect.

Leaderboards and more added to Foursquare’s location check-in app Swarm

Foursquare's dedicated check-in app, Swarm, has been adding missing features ever since the startup split the main mobile app's functionality into dedicated place discovery and check-in apps.

The new Swarm 3.0 for iOS, which released earlier this morning, brings back leaderboards after gaining mayorships early in the summer. In addition, messages and notifications have been unified under a single inbox view.

Your worldwide and nearby views are now folded into a single Friends tab and a revamped Here Now section is now located under the Nearby section.

Google Photos gains Timehop-like blasts from the past, new sharing options and more

Google's standalone Photos application for the iPhone and iPad today received an update in the App Store, bringing a few new sharing options and other enhancements to your on the go photo-management experience.

Google Photos 1.2 for iOS, a free download in the App Store, will also show you photos and videos from the past so you can take a brief walk down memory lane, a new feature provided in the form of cards in the Assistant view.

I’ve become addicted to this game, and so will you

I'm not much of a gamer, but every once in a while, I come across a little gem that gets me hooked for a short period of time. Circlestances is one of those games.

The concept of the game is pretty simple. Two circles are moving in random directions on your screen. Your goal is to tap the screen every time they overlap. The more they overlap, the more you score. Sounds too simple? 

Puzzler Quell Memento+ goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Apple has just named Fallen Tree Games' "Quell Memento+" its App of the Week for this week. This means that from now through next Thursday, you’ll be able to download the critically-acclaimed puzzler for free on both iPhone and iPad—saving you $2.99.

If you've never played Quell Memento+, it's a zen-like puzzler set in an old abandoned house. Players are tasked with solving puzzles to restore order to the jumbled memories of the last occupant, which then leads them on a haunting journey of self-discovery.

As Apple News launch draws nearer, Flipboard rolls out new personalization features

After iOS 9 launches this fall, reading aficionados and news junkies will have a field day consolidating their reading experience via a brand new Flipboard-like app.

Called News, it basically aggregates news stories and popular blog posts from around the web and presents them in a beautifully decluttered view with smooth layouts made possible by the new Apple News format.

But Flipboard isn't standing still either.

Today, the social news aggregator service began rolling out some changes to its mobile app which it designed to help users fine-tune their Cover Stories view using an all-new thumbs-up and thumbs-down system.