Apps

Google releases Spotlight Stories, an impressive 360-degree movie app for iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2016

Originally released on Android back in the fall of 2013, Google's 360-degree spherical video app called Spotlight Stories has arrived on the iPhone as a free of charge download.

Based on the technology originally developed by Motorola's Advanced Technology And Products division ahead of Google's 2011 purchase of the handset maker, Spotlight Stories uses a variety of advanced technologies to deliver cool-looking animated stories in the palm of your hand, including 3D and 2D animation, 360-degree spherical video, sound sphere audio and various sensor fusion techniques.

Xenowerk review: a top-down shooter with an ever-expanding arsenal

Lory Gil ∙ July 24, 2015

If you are a fan of top-down arcade shooters, then you know how much fun it can be to run from room to room, killing things and blowing up stuff with wild abandon. Pixelbite, the team that brought us the Sci-Fi western Space Marshals is back with a new adventure in space.

Xenowerk is an action shooter that puts players in charge of cleaning up a mutant mess left by a biological experiment gone bad. We've got a hands-on game review of Xenowerk for you today.

100 apps and games discounted to $0.99 in massive App Store sale

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 7, 2018

Apple is running a massive sale in the App Store right now, marking down the prices of 100 notable apps and games. The promotion includes titles from a variety of genres, and everything has been discounted down to $0.99.

The promo has been split up into 6 sections: Apps for Photography Lovers, Apps for Kids, Smart Tools for Everyone, Game Hits, App Store Veterans, and More Games to Explore. We've listed some of our favorite deals below.

YouTube app updated with support for fullscreen vertical videos

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 7, 2018

Google's YouTube updated its iOS client today, bringing the app to version 10.28. The update brings about two major enhancements: support for fullscreen playback of vertical videos and push notifications.

The former is fairly significant. Users can now view vertically-filmed videos in fullscreen when in portrait mode—a big improvement over previous versions, which would shrink content between two black bars.

Apple highlights apps for anniversary of Americans with Disabilities Act

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 14, 2018

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Apple has begun highlighting apps with specialized accessibility features. The curated section features apps such as TapTapSee, Color Identifier and more.

Apple has long been praised for its efforts to ensure iOS devices can be used by those with various disabilities, including vision, hearing and motor skill impairments. It also regularly spotlights third-party accessibility applications.

Nickelodeon’s ‘SpongeBob Moves In’ goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Cody Lee ∙ July 23, 2015

Apple has just named “SpongeBob Moves In” its App of the Week for this week. This means that from now through next Thursday, you’ll be able to download Nickelodeon's popular city-builder for both iPhone and iPad for free—saving you a solid $4.

On Day 1, players help SpongeBob move into his Pineapple house, get a job at the Krusty Krab and begin building their own Bikini Bottom. As your town begins to thrive, you'll unlock new characters, buildings, decorations and areas like Jellyfish Fields.

Save links for later with Pinterest’s much improved Share extension

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 23, 2015

Pinterest's Share extension on iPhones, iPod touches and iPads has gotten a whole lot more useful in the latest update which just landed on the App Store.

The free of charge application was among the first on the App Store to have rolled out a native Share sheet extension on iOS 8, albeit sporting a very limited set of features.

With the new, much improved Pinterest button for iPhone, you can now save links for later in a more visual way than before, with customizable Pin descriptions and more.

TodoMovies 4 adds Apple Watch app, custom lists, richer views, tabbed navigation and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 23, 2015

As a longtime fan of TodoMovies, an excellent movie tracker by German developer Taphive, I've been using the app to keep tabs on the movies I wanted to watch.

Since its March 2014 App Store debut, developers have constantly updated the app with meaningful feature additions like Motion Posters in TodoMovies 2, a revamped design in TodoMovies 3 and lots of other goodies.

Previously a $1.99 download, TodoMovies went the freemium route and it did help widen the app's user base. And as of Thursday, TodoMovies 4 is available in the App Store with tons more perks.

For starters, it now offers a nicely designed Apple Watch app for your wrist. On the iPhone side, enhancements include custom lists, a richer movie details view, tab-based navigation, support for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus screens and more.

Read on for a quick review based on my brief hands-on time with the new version.

Office for iOS gains Outlook integration, easier sharing, viewing protected files and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 23, 2015

Software giant Microsoft on Thursday issued a set of updates adding several new features to its Office mobile apps on the iOS platform. For starters, the refreshed editions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint for the iPhone and iPad can finally open and view protected documents.

Next, users can now easily invite others to collaborate on documents and grant permissions from within the apps, another important productivity boost.

Days of Wonder’s board game Splendor goes digital: we go hands-on

Lory Gil ∙ Updated May 7, 2018

Splendor is a hugely popular board game distributed by Asmodee that first launched in 2014 and has received much acclaim in its short lifespan, including a nomination from the board game world's most coveted Spiel des Jahres awards.

Splendor is now available on iOS so you can keep your merchant skills sharp without waiting for your board game group to be ready. We've got a hands-on game review of Splendor for you today.

Google Maps gaining a cool new feature to revisit all the places you’ve explored

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 1, 2017

Google yesterday announced a new feature for users of its mapping service which makes it easy and fun to reminisce about the places you've explored with Google Maps.

Currently available on desktop and Android, the “Your Timeline” feature lets you revisit any place you’ve been on a given day, month or year.

Your Timeline is private and visible only to you.

As a bonus, if you use Google's new Photos mobile app, available free of charge in the App Store, it'll show you the photos you took when viewing a specific day.

Google finally updates Chrome for iOS with swipe to navigate

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 27, 2015

File this one under the “better late than never” drawer. It only took like nearly two years since iOS 7's debut but Google has at long last given users of its Chrome for iOS browser the ability to swipe right or left to navigate backward or forward.

The iPhone and iPad browser, now bumped to version 44.0.2403.65, also brings stability improvements and bug fixes while laying the groundwork for another major feature addition: Physical Web integration in the Notification Center's Today view.

Physical what?