Apps

Physics-based puzzler ‘Magnetized’ goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Apple has just named “Magnetized” its App of the Week for this week. This means that from now through next Thursday, you’ll be able to download the abstract physics puzzler for both iPhone and iPad for free—an awesome savings of $2.99.

In Magnetized, you are tasked with navigating a moving ball through a series of neon mazes using magnetic control points. It sounds simple at first, but the mazes get increasingly difficult, forcing you to try and master momentum and direction.

Adobe retires Photoshop touch apps & previews Rigel, its new retouching solution for iPad

Photoshop maker Adobe said today it will be pulling Photoshop Touch apps for the iPhone and iPad from the App Store and other mobile platforms next Thursday, May 28. At the same time the company gave a sneak peek of its forthcoming new retouching solution for mobile, Rigel, which should be available later this year.

Adobe said it will sharpen focus on Creative Cloud mobile apps like Photoshop Mix, Photoshop Sketch, Adobe Comp CC, Adobe Shape CC, Adobe Brush CC and Adobe Color CC.

App Store highlights apps for Global Accessibility Awareness Day

In honor of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Apple has begun highlighting apps with specialized accessibility features. The curated section features apps such as Instapaper, which offers text-to-speech, and Workflow, which can automate complex tasks, and is featured on the front page of the App Store.

Apple has long been praised for the accessibility features in iOS. Grammy Award-winning artist, who has been blind for most of his life, famously took time out of a concert to thank Steve Jobs and company for their work, saying "there’s nothing on the iPhone or the iPad that you can do, that I can’t do."

Asphalt 8 picks up new cars, exclusive decals, Tenerife track, widget support and more

Asphalt 8: Airborne, Gameloft's free-to-play arcade racing title for the iPhone and iPad, today received a major content update in the App Store. The game has gained a number of new cars, tracks and loads of other improvements, amongst them support for the Apple Watch and a widget for the iOS Notification Center.

Asphalt 8 was first to support Metal, Apple's new graphics framework in iOS 8 that makes graphics intensive games run smoother with more effects. Now Gameloft provides the latest Asphalt update as a 64-bit application that should run even faster on iPhones and iPads powered by Apple's A7 chip or newer.

Sunrise Calendar and Wunderlist integrate, letting you create and manage Wunderlist tasks in Sunrise

6Wunderkinder GmbH, the German developer behind the popular task/to-do app Wunderlist, and the team behind the cross-platform calendar application Sunrise Calendar, on Thursday announced feature-rich integration between the two apps.

The move allows fans of both services to create Wunderlist tasks directly in Sunrise, write a Wunderlist task as done and change its due date in Sunrise and more.

Tower Slash review: fast fingers score big in this fast-paced swiping game

When I think of games that require impeccable timing and impossibly fast reflexes, I think of Flappy Bird. That game was once a hugely popular title, which generated many, many addicted players.

Tower Slash almost fits into that category. Except, it is slightly easier to score high and provides unlockable new characters when you reach certain goals. We've got a full game review of Tower Slash for you right now.

iOS 9 reportedly includes new ‘Home’ app for controlling HomeKit smart devices

Enhancements to Apple's HomeKit are expected to be among a flurry of software and platform advances in tow for the Worldwide Developers Conference next month. According to sources, the Cupertino company is thought to be announcing a new app in iOS 9 called Home for managing and controlling HomeKit-certified accessories for the connected home, 9to5Mac learned Wednesday.

Flow by Outlook, Microsoft’s hybrid IM/email iPhone app, inadvertently leaked

Microsoft has inadvertently leaked an upcoming hybrid email and messaging app via a download webpage marked "Microsoft Confidential", ZDNet reported Wednesday.

Called 'Flow by Outlook,' the lightweight email app should release for the iPhone. It's being billed as a “great way to have rapid email conversations on your phone with the people who are important to you,” as per leaked changelog.

Free video calling in Facebook Messenger rolling out to all users worldwide

Facebook confirmed today that free video calling in its mobile Messenger application has begun rolling out to all users worldwide. The feature launched in select markets on April 27, 2015.

“Quick update on video calling in Messenger: we're happy to share we've now rolled out the capability globally, with the exception of a few countries we're still working on improving quality for,” David Marcus, Messaging at Facebook, wrote in a post on Facebook this morning.

SwiftKey keyboard launches theme store

SwiftKey, the popular gesture keyboard for iPhones, iPads ands iPods with iOS 8 or later, today launched a brand new theme store featuring a dozen themes for customizing the look and feel of its keyboard.

After debuting on Android in 2014, the built-in theme store is now available to iOS users with twelve newly designed themes, priced from 99 cents to $1.99.

Spotify rolls out podcasts, video, news, Running feature, activity-based playlists and more

Spotify is determined to give Apple's vertically integrated iTunes ecosystem a run for its money. At a media event in New York City, the Swedish streaming-music startup has moved into video, as previously suspected.

The service will now host video podcasts and other types of video content like news, much like Apple's iTunes. According to TechCrunch, Spotify will also serve up playlists that are more personalized and relevant to what you’re doing at the time.

Apple-owned Beats Music also features activity-based playlists, mostly human curated, so this is another shot across Apple's bow.