Apps

Neato lets you jot quick notes directly from Notification Center

Neato is a new application that mostly consists of a Notification Center extension that lets you quickly jot down quick notes from anywhere on iOS. After installing the free app from the App Store, simply add the Notification Center extension to start typing in notes from the Lock screen, Home screen, or directly from within an application.

Notes can be synced with Evernote or with Dropbox. Additionally, whatever you type can be easily shared to Twitter, or via email or text message.

Woah Dave! will scratch that old-school arcade game itch

Retro games are a big deal in the App Store. I personally love those fantastic 8-bit games from my childhood. I know that technology has made it possible for our video games to look like movies now, but I have a spot in my heart for those pixelated power ups that I grew up on.

Woah Dave! is a retro style game that pays homage to the classics. Not only does it look like it came out in 1982, but the choppy, blips and bleeps of the soundtrack really take you back a few decades.

Disney’s Movies Anywhere out for Android, makes cross-platform movies a reality

In a somewhat ironic twist of fate, Disney is helping blur the lines between Apple's and Google's respective ecosystems with Tuesday's release of its Movies Anywhere app for Android, now available free of charge in the U.S. Google Play Store. That's right, the app now lets folks buy and enjoy Disney content on both iOS and Android devices.

The movie-curating app debuted as an iOS exclusive in February 2014 with support for free streaming of any Disney, Pixar and Marvel content previously purchased from Apple's iTunes Store. Any of the 450 Disney movies you bought using the app would immediately register as purchased inside the iTunes Store.

Now that Disney Movies Anywhere is available for both iOS and Android, not only can you watch your Disney movies across Apple's and Google's platforms, but also purchase any Disney, Pixar or Marvel Universe movie on Google Play and have it available on iOS and vice versa.

UniChar Picker is an iOS keyboard for Unicode characters and symbols

We’ve seen dozens of colorful keyboard apps that don’t do a whole lot. We’ve tested a handful that have incredible features, but are still basic keyboards, nonetheless. We’ve even seen keyboards that let you access GIF memes so you don’t have to write actual words. How about something very unique and useful to coders?

UniChar Picker does just that. It features more than 500 Unicode characters across six different categories. Set it as your default keyboard to type in any app, or copy and paste symbols in the app to create just the right text.

Pinterest 4.0 is out with sleek new iPhone interface

Pinterest has updated its iOS client this morning, bringing the app to version 4.0. The update doesn't feature a lot of changes, but it does include some speed improvements and bring about a sleek new interface for the iPhone.

The Pinterest team says it "de-cluttered and simplified" navigation within the app, so it’s faster to find your way around, and created more space for Pin images and descriptions, making it easier to sift through and digest content.

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Companion app hits iOS ahead of tomorrow’s console release

The official mobile companion app of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare has been released in the App Store on Monday ahead of the game's global release on consoles tomorrow, November 4.

Featuring Clan Wars, emblem editor and more, the companion app makes it easy to create and manage your clan, produce in-game player and clan emblems on mobile for the first time ever that sync with the console game and even participate in Clan Wars on your iPhone and iPad.

The app is available free of charge in the App Store.

MusiXmatch brings the lyrics of your currently playing songs to Notification Center

MusiXmatch isn't a new application by any means, although I must admit I had never heard of it until this past week when I read about it on French blog iGen. The app has been around for quite some time but it was recently updated to bring its lyrics engine to Notification Center, where it displays the lyrics of your currently playing songs so you can sing along or just try to finally understand what the heck this song is all about once for all.

Assuming you have an internet connection, musiXmatch allows you to have direct access to the exact lyrics that are being sung in virtually any song in your library. This works from the musiXmatch app, or from its Notification Center widget. 

Night Sky Pro delivers a seriously in-depth stargazing experience

I live in a metropolitan area where I’m lucky if I can look up at night and see the stars. It’s just too bright and the air is too congested. Stargazing apps have made it possible for me to actually see deep into the night sky without having to head for the hills.

iCandi Apps, the makers of The Night Sky and The Night Sky 2 have just launched their third in the stargazing series. Night Sky Pro is thick with lots of new features on top of the plethora of features already available on the previous two apps.

Grave Matters review: it’s like Minesweeper for steampunks

At this point in the year, I’ve filled my brain with as much horror movie content as possible. For the entire month of October, I’ll watch nothing but scary movies or television shows. Because of that, I am hyper aware of anything relating to images of death, monsters, or the undead.

When Grave Matters popped up in the App Store, I was drawn to it like a magnet. This necropolis themed puzzle game has all of the elements for a spooky good time. We have a full game review of Grave Matters for your reading pleasure.

Apps of the week: Haunt the House, Run Sackboy Run, and more

This week produced a whole bunch of scary titles. I know that Halloween is over, but there is no reason not to continue the spooky celebration for a little while longer. If I could, I’d keep Halloween going all year long. My costume might get a little gross after the first few months, though. If you are holding onto that creepy feeling just a little bit longer, or maybe want some help with your finances, we’ve got a list of apps and games to get you through the weekend.

Google optimizes Play Music for iPhone 6 screens

Another day, another high-profile app receives its iPhone 6 focused update. After Apple optimized the WWDC app for the bigger iPhone screens, the Internet giant Google on Friday refreshed its Play Music iOS client with native display support for the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus screens. The refreshed application has additionally squashed several bugs and introduced “lots of little tweaks”.

Google Play Music is available free in the App Store.

Apple updates WWDC app with iPhone 6 support

Apple on Friday issued a small update to the official iPhone and iPad application for the Worldwide Developers Conference, its annual pilgrimage for developers which traditionally takes place each summer at San Francisco's Moscone West.

Now sitting at version 2.1.3, the updated software brings out support for the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus screen sizes.

Furthermore, it resolves a bug that would crash the software at launch on devices running iOS 8 or later.

WWDC is available free in the App Store.