Apps

iA Writer, the popular iOS/Mac app for focused writing, launches on Android

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 4, 2018

iA Writer, one of the best and most popular iPhone, iPad and Mac applications for distraction-free writing on the go, has been ported to Android and is now available for download in the Play store.

German developer Information Architects GmbH broke the news in a blog post earlier today. Like the iOS edition, iA Writer for Android is a paid download costing five bucks.

On Android, the app sports the familiar, polished interface with Focus Mode that highlights the current sentence being written. It also syncs with Dropbox and does Markdown — again, just like its iOS counterpart does.

Tweetbot developer lays out iOS and Mac app roadmap, makes Weightbot free

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 30, 2018

Today, developer Tapbots has shared some updates concerning state of development of its popular iOS and Mac Twitter client, Tweetbot, and the whole software lineup for that matter.

For starters, a completely redesigned Tweetbot 2.0 for Mac with Yosemite-friendly look and feel has been in the works for quite some time now. Tweetbot 4.0 for iOS is being readied as well.

“We are going to do a better job keeping our current apps up to date with each new OS release,” they promised. In addition, the company announced closing other projects in order to focus resources on upcoming (and long overdue) updates to Tweetbot for Mac and iPad.

Readdle’s Printer Pro goes zero bucks, courtesy of Apple’s Free App of the Week promo

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 26, 2015

Since its December 2011 debut, wireless printing software Printer Pro has never gone free, excluding a limited one-day promo last April.

That changes today as Apple's editors have now marked the iPhone and iPad application down to $0 (regularly $6.99), listing the app its Free App of the Week in the App Store's ongoing weekly promotion.

Created by Ukrainian developer Readdle, Printer Pro has been downloaded two million times. It's a great app that lets you print attachments, documents, web pages and more right from your iPhone or iPad to any printer.

It automatically finds and connects to a printer on your Wi-Fi network. You can even connect to a USB printer if you install a free helper desktop app on your Mac or PC.

Spotify announces Musixmatch lyrics integration in desktop apps and other goodies

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 14, 2018

Spotify, the world's top music-streaming service, on Thursday announced its desktop apps will be soon getting Musixmatch-powered lyrics engine, making it easy for music lovers to access song lyrics on their Mac or Windows PCs and sing along to their favorite tracks.

Established in early 2010 by Massimo Ciociola and a group of co-founders, the startup, which has offices in Italy's Bologna, UK's London and US's New York, has more than seven million lyrics in 38 languages.

In addition to Spotify integration, Musixmatch is also available as a standalone iPhone and iPad application, available at no cost in the App Store.

Tap Heroes review: whether you are active or not, your adventure continues

Lory Gil ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

You may recall my review of Dreeps, which is a role-playing adventure game that plays by itself, even when you don’t have it open. It works great for gamers that just don’t have time to game.

Tap Heroes is similar in that the fighting continues whether you actively participate, or simply watch the action unfold. We have a game review of Tap Heroes for you today.

TWIST3D puts a new spin on the match-three genre

Lory Gil ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

Traditional match-three games are usually presented on a flat screen with some kind of grid. Players usually flip tiles in order to make a match and point scores go up the more matches you make at one time.

TWIST3D is kind of not at all like that. It is a match-three game, but it is played on a rotating cube instead of a flat grid. You can’t flip tiles, but you can flip the entire cube. You earn the most points for matching tiles that have gems inside of them.

Apple says FCPX is ready for the big leagues, showcases its usage in ‘Focus’ movie production

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 2, 2018

Focus, an upcoming movie starring Will Smith and Margot Robbie, has become the first Hollywood flick to have been edited entirely in Apple's Final Cut Pro X software, USA Today reported Wednesday.

In advance of the film's silver screen debut this coming Friday, Apple set up a dedicated webpage on its website to showcase how the romantic comedy was shot and edited using not just Final Cut Pro X, but other standard software readily available to anyone on the Mac App Store.

Numerous gains Google Sheets, Tesla and Celestial Events channels and other perks

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 30, 2018

Numerous for iOS has been updated with three new channels today: Google Sheets, Tesla and Celestial Events, including SpaceX.

The Sheets channel is of particular importance as you can track any number or date in a Google spreadsheet. For instance, you could track changes to your checking account balance, your company's monthly recurring revenue and even the results of a survey created using Google Forms.

Of course, it's just as easy to track any other number or date in a Google Sheets spreadsheet. You can even elect to be notified when values change or exceed a threshold you set.

Adonit stylus maker launches Forge, visual thinking app for iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 30, 2018

Adonit, the maker of precision styluses for the iPad, released its first iOS application aimed at artists and creative professionals in a need of a digital storyboard to form their thoughts, draw sketches, express their ideas and more.

Available at no cost in the App Store, Forge for iPad works with your finger and fully supports the features of the company's Jot Touch styluses, like pressure sensitivity, palm rejection and custom shortcuts.

Okay? is a minimalist puzzle game that tests your indie ideologies

Lory Gil ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

I’ve often heard gamers say they would rather pay for a title up front instead of downloading it for free and then being asked to pay to continue playing. The idea being that good indie games deserve support, but it shouldn’t be forced on them.

Okay? is a minimalist puzzle game that puts your indie support ideologies to the test. What if you had the option to pay money or play for free, with no change in the content? Would you still show your financial support?

At last, Facebook Messenger gets native iOS 8 Share extension

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 9, 2016

Today, social networking behemoth Facebook issued a small yet important update to its mobile messaging software for the iPhone and iPad. Facebook Messenger version 22 is now available in the App Store and with it comes a much appreciated and long overdue iOS 8 extension.

With it, you can at last send pieces of content to Messenger without leaving other apps. Using iOS 8's standard Share sheet, it's simple to share photos, videos and links directly with Messenger contacts, without leaving context of the app you're currently using.

WordPress for iOS gains WYSIWYG visual editor, in-line image management and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 24, 2015

Blogging on the go has just become a whole lot more easier thanks to an update issued to WordPress's mobile application in the App Store.

Bumped to version 4.8, the software at last brings out an all-new visual editor with additional text styling features and the ability to add images in-line, align them, access image formatting options and more.

What's more, the WYSIWYG editor takes the guessing work out of the equation as it renders your post as closely as possible to what it will look like when published, so you'll preview less and edit more.