Apps

Skype for Mac updated with OS X Yosemite support

Following the major 7.0 release earlier this month, Skype today pushed out a new version of its Mac client. Labeled as build 7.1, the update brings about full support for the just-released OS X Yosemite, as well as a number of bug fixes and improvements.

Among the improvements, Skype has made it easier for users to copy a link in a group chat, and leave conversations. It's also fixed the issue that caused crashing when making a video call on Yosemite, as well as the bug related to sending contact info.

Tilt to Live: Gauntlet’s Revenge is harder than ever

The game development team at One Man Left is known for creating fast-pasted, action-packed arcade style games. You may be familiar with their previous titles, Tilt to Live and Tilt to Live 2: Redonkulous. Well, they are back with a new game for your cramped fingers to try out.

Tilt to Live: Gauntlet’s Revenge is the third installment in the series and is proving to be, if you can believe it, the hardest of them all. We’ve got a hands-on game review of Gauntlet’s Revenge for you today.

Flipboard 3.0 is out with design refresh, Zite-fueled ‘Topics’ feature and more

Flipboard today released version 3.0 of its iOS client, and as you can imagine, it's a significant update. The design of the app has been refreshed, and is now more magazine-like and elegant, complete with fresh typography and a new navigation bar for easier browsing.

Additionally, Flipboard has introduced a new 'Topics' feature, which is powered by Zite's technology and Flipboard's own curators. There are over 30,000 topics to follow, each featuring content by top publishers and websites, that can be both searched and explored.

Felllice turns cell life simulation into a minimalist affair

There is a handful of interesting games that involve production and duplication of cell-like organisms. Games like Osmos provide a relaxing arcade game that requires you to be ready to attack anything smaller than you, but lets you drift through life in a tranquil environment as well.

Felllice (yes, with three Ls) is similar to the cell generation game genre, but features a stark black-and-white minimalist design. Collide with cells that are smaller than yours to grow big and earn achievements.

Microsoft outs upcoming ‘Band’ wearable in new Health app

Microsoft has outed its upcoming 'Band' wearable in what appears to be the premature release of multiple applications. This evening, 'Microsoft Health' landed in iPhone, Android and Windows stores, and a Microsoft Band Sync client popped up in the Mac App Store.

It's unknown at this time if the releases were unintentional, or part of a cheeky PR stunt, but it's likely the former, given the scope of the apps. Microsoft has long been rumored to be working on a cross-platform wearable, and recent reports say it's preparing for launch.

Miika review: a perspective puzzle game with a platformer look

The perspective path puzzle game has certainly been a hit on iOS. For example, earlier this year, Monument Valley turned heads for its visually striking graphics and complex puzzles.

Miika could be called a simpler, cutesier perspective puzzle game in the same vein as Monument Valley. Players must rotate the screen around in order to reveal the right path to take in order to get to the end of the line. We’ve got a full game review of Miika for you today.

Google Wallet for iOS adds low balance notifications and recurring bank transfers

Google on Wednesday announced an update to its mobile Wallet application for the iPhone which now includes handy low balance alerts and another feature allowing users to set up recurring bank transfer in order to ensure there's always money to spend in their Wallet.

The refreshed application did not receive support for the bigger iPhone screens and will be going live in the App Store later today.

Google Wallet is available free of charge.

Omnistat shows CPU, battery, memory usage and more stats straight from Notification Center

Omnistat is a new app available in the App Store that provides a quick glance at some basic stats of your iOS device from within the app itself, or from Notification Center via a Today tab widget. If the name sounds familiar, it's because Omnistat used to be a jailbreak tweak back in the days of iOS 5. The tweak has now matured into a legit application that is simply yet elegantly designed to show various statistics about your device such as CPU usage, running processes and more.

Pandora, Spotify beating Apple’s Beats handsomely on App Store

Pandora and Spotify rank as the number one and number two music streaming apps in terms of downloads, analytics firm AppAnnie reports - no big surprise. However, where things become interesting is that Apple's Beats Music, which the company purchased for $3 billion in May, is placed ninth, below iHeartRadio, SoundCloud and Apple's GarageBand.

You can now preview stickers in Facebook’s latest Messenger update

The social networking giant Facebook on Wednesday pushed a small update to its Messenger client for the iPhone and iPad which lets you preview sticker animations.

Facebook Messenger 12.0 (what's up with version numbers, Facebook?) allows you to press and hold down on a sticker to expand it and view any animations before sending it.

The app is available free in the App Store.

Taco Bell’s new iOS app makes fast food… faster

Many social media users were intrigued when Taco Bell's social media accounts went dark on Tuesday, fearing the worst. Luckily, it was just Taco Bell announcing a major overhaul to its iOS app that allows customers to order and pay for food on their smartphones before even setting foot in the fast food chain.

Apps like Pocket is why Handoff is my top new feature in iOS 8 and Yosemite

Pocket, a read-later service, with a recent Mac app update has completed its support for Apple's refreshed mobile and desktop operating systems.

According to developers last week, Pocket for Mac now includes Handoff and can send stuff to other apps that use the Mac's new multi-purpose Share menu. It's Pocket's largest Mac update in over a year.

The iOS edition of Pocket has had Handoff support in place for weeks. And with Handoff now live in the Mac edition of Pocket, I'm not sure how I've managed to do without such a useful feature. I'm a huge, huge Pocket fan and use it every day to bookmark and save dozens of articles that I find during the day for later reading.

With Handoff implemented in both Pocket editions, I now am able to seamlessly continue reading an article right where I left off on any of my Apple devices (Bluetooth must be enabled).

It's awesome and I couldn't imagine my daily computing without Handoff. It's the one feature I use the most, all the time. As I constantly move between my mobile and desktop devices, Handoff removes the friction completely without the mental burden of having to remember where I left off.

Handoff is tremendously convenient. It's fun, easy to use, a time-saver and bridges the gap between desktop and mobile like no other technology before it. And it's only getting started.

Pocket for Mac is available free of charge in the Mac App Store.