Apps

BlueSkyMe for iPad debuts: manage your time, relationships and projects

The App Store has some tremendously useful apps to get the most out of your busy schedule, but wouldn't it be nice if there was a single app to manage your contacts, mails, reminders and calendars and activities instead of a fiddling with a multitude of different applications from multiple devs?

Now there is: BlueSkyMe by Dynamic Elements. The iPad productivity app gives you a comprehensive outlook of your time, relationships and projects in one place.

Red Arrow puts a location tracking widget on your Lock screen

I love taking long walks. I know, it sounds like the beginning of a dating service advertisement, but I really do. I love exploring my city to discover new buildings that I hadn’t noticed before. I get lost on my way to my destination, on purpose.

Red Arrow is the perfect location-tracking app for people that enjoy taking the scenic route to their destination. It will always point you in the right direction, no matter how far off you’ve strayed.

Liberate OS X’s Spotlight search with Flashlight

For years now, Alfred has been a staple of OS X workflow applications, enhancing search on the Mac and adding many features in the process. Spotlight search remained rather antiquated in comparison until Apple revived it with OS X Yosemite, but there's still much to be desired. While Alfred will continue to hold its well-deserved position as a staple Mac app, Flashlight has the potential to reach far beyond the abilities of Alfred to make OS X's native Spotlight search an incredibly powerful and useful tool.

Imagine using ⌘+SPACE as a text-based Siri, in which typing the phrase "remind me to Write Flashlight review at 2pm" or "text Mike I'm on Steam, wanna play?" will do exactly as expected. However, Flashlight not only allows reminders to be made and messages to be sent directly from Spotlight – its potential reaches much further.

Facebook’s WhatsApp popularity continues with 700 million active users, vows improvements

WhatsApp, the huge messaging app owned by Facebook, announced on Tuesday that it now has 700 million monthly active users, making it one of the most popular networks on the entire web. The app, which allows users to send texts without paying for messaging plans through carriers, has reached its new milestone of 700 million active people by adding 100 million users since August.

Google Hangouts gains smart location sharing, statuses, deeper Voice integration and more

Google on Tuesday added new features to its Hangouts app for the iPhone and iPad, namely deeper integration with its Voice telephony service, a pretty smart way to share your location with others, the ability to tell your friends what you're up to via status messages and more.

Today's refresh follows last month's Android app update which introduced a similar set of enhancements. These newly introduced features are available on iOS right now so go ahead and download Hangouts free in the App Store and take the app for a spin.

EA posts new trailer for upcoming game ‘Need for Speed: No Limits’

EA mobile today posted what it is calling the "Official Gameplay Teaser" for its upcoming Need for Speed: No Limits title. Like the previous teaser, it runs about 30 seconds long, but this time there's a lot more in-game footage, and a lot less Ken Block.

Unsurprisingly, the new Need for Speed is being built by Firemonkeys, the combined teams of Firemint and IronMonkey Studios, who both have extensive backgrounds in racing. The game will have a heavy focus on street racing and vehicle customization.

Viber optimized for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus

Messaging app Viber was updated this morning with support for larger screens of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. This update, which brings the Viber app to version 5.2.1, also comes with new emoticons and a few unspecified bug fixes along.

Viber has seen quite a few updates in the last months, with the addition of video calls, public chats, and maybe more notably, iOS 8 Share extension, Interactive Notifications and other improvements.

Twitter planning native video service to rival YouTube

In an effort to drum up more engagement from users, Twitter plans a native video player as an extension of its Vine service, and as a rival to Google's YouTube. Instead of just tweeting a URL to a video elsewhere, Twitter wants users to actually upload videos to its site to keep engagement and sell you products through advertisements.

The Twitter Video website, with limited access, appeared for a short time on Friday evening, clueing us in on some of the features Twitter Video may feature when it launches in the first half of 2015. While Twitter provided a few small details about its video service on a conference call in November, this is the first time we've gotten some real details.

Apple’s ‘Start Something New’ campaign extends to Apple Store walls

Apple has extended its "Start Something New" campaign, to highlight art and photography created on the iPhone and iPad, past the web and into its retail stores.

Twitter user Storeteller noted on Friday that the Regent Street Apple Store in London began displaying the art Apple began showing on the "Start Something New" webpage earlier this week.

Apps of the Week: MoneyWiz 2, MultiCam, WRC, and more

The holiday season is officially over and the New Year has begun. Let 2015 begin. I’ve had my fill of nog and libations and will be spending the first quarter of the year trying to work off all that extra cookie weight I’ve gained.

If you are looking for some apps to help you keep your New Year’s Resolution, check out our list of apps to start the New Year off right. If you are just looking for something to fill your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch up, check out our spotlight of apps and games this week.

Official mobile game of the FIA World Rally Championship hits iOS

Fans of racing games, listen up! The official mobile game of the FIA World Rally Championship has been released in the App Store.

Developed by Firebrand Games and published by Bigben Interactive, WRC The Official Game for the iPhone and iPad includes official content of the 2014 FIA World Rally Championship, including eighteen licensed cars, and lets you play as any of the seventeen official drivers to win a total of thirteen official events of the 2014 WRC calendar.

While previous official titles have been something of a disappointment, WRC The Official Game looks promising, at least graphics-wise, so here's hoping it doesn't ruin the fun with inaccurate and unresponsive controls.

Waterlogue color paint app offered at no cost inside Apple Store app

If Apple's latest Free App of the Week, the hilarious platformer Icycle: On Thin Ice, isn't your cup of tea, how about a nicely done water color paint app that was recently featured in Apple’s new “Start Something New” webpage which highlights the iPad as a way of creating art through drawings and photographs?

Waterlogue by Tinrocket normally sells for three bucks a pop in the App Store but is now available at no cost through the official Apple Store application (not to be confused with the App Store).

Here's how you can redeem your free copy of Waterlogue.