Apps

Oscura Second Shadow review: retro platform gaming comes out of the shadows

Lory Gil ∙ Updated February 5, 2018

One of my favorite category of games is the traditional platformer. It reminds me of running home after school to start up my Nintendo for hours of Super Mario Bros. game sessions. Things have gotten more complex over the years, but a simple, effective platform game can still keep me posted in my chair for hours.

Oscura Second Shadow is one of those traditional platformers that make gaming on mobile devices a treat. By combining old-school mechanics with modern touch screen controls, this game is a solid investment. We’ve got a hands-on game review of Oscura for your reading pleasure…

Sunrise for Mac launches with offline mode, apps, native notifications and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 5, 2018

Sunrise, the popular and free replacement for Apple's stock Calendar in iOS, has been making some notable strides.

Just last month, for example, the team added third-party app integration to Sunrise for iOS. And, the previous month brought us Sunrise for Android and a web app, making for a nice cross-platform solution.

Now available free in the Mac App Store, Sunrise for Mac brings the beautifully laid out iOS experience to your desktop, with such features as full offline mode, third-party app integration, notifications for reminders, support for Google and iCloud calendars and much more...

Facebook Messenger now available for iPad

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

In addition to a Pages Manager update with new commenting and posting features, Facebook Messenger has quietly gained long-awaited universal support for the iPad in an update this morning. Facebook users can now take advantage of the larger screen to chat with family and friends, with access to all of the same features that are available through the iPhone and iPod touch version…

Rayman Fiesta Run goes free for the first time ever, courtesy of Expedia

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 3, 2014

Back in April, I told you about Expedia's interesting promotion which provides free iOS apps through the official Expedia Hotels & Flights travel app, a free download for the iPhone and iPad.

The company kickstarted the promotion by giving away premium travel apps and now they're giving away Rayman Fiesta Run, Ubisoft's colorful, fast-paced endless runner.

Here's how you can redeem the offer and download the game free from within the Expedia app...

iOS journaling app Day One goes free as Apple’s new Free App of the Week

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 27, 2018

Day One by Bloom Built is one of the sleekest journaling programs available for iOS and OS X.

This fine piece of software has been named the 2014 Mac Apple Design Award Winner at WWDC last month, was 2012's Mac App of the Year and gets frequently highlighted by the App Store/Mac App Store editors.

Day One keeps your entries in sync via iCloud across platforms and puts back the fun in keeping a journal of your daily highlights, thoughts and memories.

Its rich feature set includes location/weather support, uncluttered interface styled for iOS 7, multi-Markdown text formatting, full screen mode, passcode lock and photographic entries, to name just a few. And now, for the first time in almost a year Day One for iOS has gone temporarily free in celebration of the upcoming Independence Day weekend (regularly a $4.99 download), courtesy of Apple's ongoing Free App of the Week promotion...

Facebook updates Pages Manager with new commenting and posting features

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 3, 2014

Nearly two weeks after giving its Pages Manager app for the iPhone and iPad a much-needed iOS 7 overhaul, the social networking giant Facebook last night issued another update adding a couple new capabilities for page admins.

The latest Facebook Pages Manager 4.1 update expands on the app's feature set with photos and tagged Pages in comments, direct sharing from your Page, location in your posts and more...

All three Infinity Blade games are on sale this holiday weekend

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2019

Tomorrow is the Fourth of July, also known as Independence Day, a federal holiday in the U.S. commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.

ChAIR Entertainment, the brains behind the Infinity Blade series, an iOS-exclusive elegiac masterpiece, has now discounted all three Infinity Blade games.

In celebration of Independence Day, you can now grab all three games for as little as six bucks compared to their combined regular value of twenty bucks...

Spotify updated with new sorting and filtering options, prompts for playlist duplicates

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 3, 2014

Monday, Swedish music startup Spotify has updated its app with the ability to search your downloaded music while offline. Today, Spotify has received another update which adds an additional few long-overdue capabilities.

Now live in the App Store, the new Spotify version 1.4 offers the ability to view your Play Queue on the iPhone, apply actions to your songs and playlists by taping the ellipsis icon, avoid adding duplicates to your playlists and more.

Jump past the fold for the full reveal...

Tinker app will make sure you stay productive

Lory Gil ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

I’m the kind of person who needs constant self-supervision. I don’t work in an office and I am surrounded by my playthings. I regularly need to remind myself to get back to work because there is no one looking over my shoulder telling me to do so.

Tinker - Tweak Your Productivity is a goal minded productivity app that makes it possible for you to be on task, every minute of the day. Instead of creating long lists of things to do and trying to prioritize them, this app has you create duration-based goals that help you stay on track until your time is up. Read on for our app review of Tinker…

Apple hiring software engineers to help ‘overhaul’ Maps backend

Cody Lee ∙ July 2, 2014

According to a pair of new job listings, Apple is looking for folks to help with a major rewrite of its Maps app programming interface. The listings, which were posted yesterday, call for software engineers to aid the company in a major overhaul of its Maps API.

The job descriptions call for cross-functional leaders to join the Apple Maps API team, which is responsible for the "doorway" to all systems powering the Maps service. The company says it has "big plans" for the API, and is overhauling things front-to-back...

App Recap: a mid-week look at 8 must-have apps

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

If you're looking for a deal on one of the best calendar apps available for iPad, or interested in trying out a brand new Atari-inspired game, don't go anywhere. This edition of App Recap, which covers the best new, updated and discounted apps on the App Store, has a great selection of 8 must-have apps for iPhone and iPad. Wednesday was not an overwhelmingly busy day in terms of apps, but the list ahead should keep you occupied…

Taasky is a beautiful and minimalistic task manager for Mac

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Taasky for Mac is one of the latest entrants in a highly competitive market of apps for task management, to-do lists and getting things done. How it aims to stand out of the pack is with a beautiful and sleek design, but how does it stack up functionally? Taasky can be best described as simple, both from a design and usage perspective. After giving the app a test drive on my Mac for a few days, here are my first impressions…