Apps

GarageBand for Mac gains three new Drummers, can now export to MP3 and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 20, 2014

If you're an aspiring musician and a user of Apple's free music-making software for the Mac, you should know there's a new GarageBand update sitting in the Mac App Store.

The free GarageBand version 10.0.2 edition contains multiple enhancements to Accessibility and adds the option to export a song as an MP3 file.

The latter is much welcomed as you were previously required to export songs as QuickTime or some other format and then use iTunes or a similar app to manually convert the digital file into the commonly used MP3 format. There are also some new Drummers, but more on that after the break...

Starbucks 3.0 is out with new iOS 7 design, shake-to-pay and tipping

Cody Lee ∙ March 20, 2014

That big Starbucks app update we told you about last week has arrived in the App Store today. The update, which brings the client to version 3.o, includes the long-awaited redesign for iOS 7 as well as a handful of major new features and improvements.

On the new features side, we have shake-to-pay, which will allow you to bring up your barcode with the flick of a wrist to pay for your Starbucks order. There's also a new digital tipping function that lets you tip your barista, and a new Dashboard view...

Pandora upping monthly ‘One’ fee, dropping annual subscriptions

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 18, 2016

Pandora announced this week that it is going to making some significant changes to its Pandora One subscription service over the next couple of months. Most notably, it's going to be raising the monthly subscription cost and eliminating the annual option.

Citing rising licensing costs, Pandora says that it's raising its 'One' fee from $3.99 per month to $4.99 per month, and taking away the discounted annual plan altogether. The company says that royalty rates it pays to artists have increased 53% since it began...

On-rails shooter Star Horizon now available in the App Store

Cody Lee ∙ March 20, 2014

Great news gamers, that beautiful on-rails space shooter 'Star Horizon' we told you about earlier this month is now available in the App Store. This means you can download it now to your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch (running iOS 6 or later) and get to playing.

Star Horizon was developed by Tabasco Interactive, and is powered by the brawny Unity engine. The game follows John, a private in the service of the Federation, in his journey through the cosmos as he rescues friends and battles the enemy in his warship...

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes companion app hits the App Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Konami today released the next installment in its popular action-adventure stealth franchise, Metal Gear Solid. The game is officially called Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and available for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

And to go with it, Konami has created a namesake iOS companion app, now available free in the App Store.

Although the iPhone and iPad application connects to the main Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, some modes do not require console connectivity. Jump past the fold for full details...

Checkmark 2 review: this location-based reminder app gets even better

Lory Gil ∙ March 19, 2014

In July of 2012, Christian wrote a very positive article about Checkmark, calling it the app that Reminders should have been. Thanks to location and time-based reminders, the app made it much easier for users to be notified at the right time and place about an upcoming event or task.

Checkmark 2 just launched in the App Store. Not only has the app received a complete iOS 7 redesign, but it also now includes iCloud sync and recurring reminders. Plus, a whole slew of new features make Checkmark 2 the app that Checkmark should have been…

Flappy Bird developer confirms he’s bringing back the hit game

Cody Lee ∙ March 19, 2014

Watch out Flappy Bird copycats, the original is making a comeback. Developer Dong Nguyen has confirmed with fans on Twitter that he is restoring his hit game to its rightful place in the App Store, although he hasn't given a specific launch date.

Nguyen is also on hand at this week's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, and several developers and gamers that have run in to him at the event have said the same thing: that Flappy Bird will be making its highly-anticipated comeback...

Vimeo snatches up video-making iPhone app Cameo

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

For the second time in the past year, Vimeo has acquired an iOS app-maker. Following its purchase of Echograph, an app for creating GIFs, in early 2013, the video site has bought Cameo, an iPhone application for making short, high quality movies.

If you've never heard of Cameo before, that's probably because it just launched in October of last year. But it's been turning heads during its 6 months in the App Store—we named it one of our apps of the week, and Apple gave it a 'Best of 2013' award...

RollerCoaster Tycoon coming soon to iOS

Cody Lee ∙ March 19, 2014

I'm what you would call a '90's' kid. I grew up during the decade, watching cartoons like Doug and Rugrats and playing video games like Sim City. And over the years, I've seen a lot of these video games get remade for,or ported to, iOS—except for my favorite one: RollerCoaster Tycoon.

Well I'm happy to announce that this is going to change soon. Atari has confirmed via the original game's landing page that it is working on a mobile version of RollerCoaster Tycoon, and it will be coming to the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch shortly. Oh and don't worry, we have a trailer...

Gameloft teases major Asphalt 8 update including new cars, maps and more

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Yesterday we told you that Gameloft and Twitch were teaming up to bring live gameplay streaming to mobile devices. Their first project is Asphalt 8: Airborne, where users will be able to stream live video of them playing the game from their iPhone or iPad to their Twitch channel.

As we noted before, the new feature will launch alongside an upcoming Asphalt 8 update that will add new cars, new maps and more. And Gameloft has just posted a great-looking trailer for the release, titled 'Welcome to the Great Wall,' which we've posted for you down below...

Google Voice reportedly getting axed soon in favor of VoIP-to-phones Hangouts integration

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 18, 2014

Have you even wondered why it's been nearly six months since Google last refreshed the free Google Voice for iPhone application (it still lacks iOS 7 styling)? After all, isn't Google Voice supposed to be a priority for the Internet giant?

For those unfamiliar with it, Google Voice is a telephony service that offers a bunch of nice features such as voicemail, free text messaging, call history, conference calling, call screening, call routing, blocking of unwanted calls and voice transcription to text of voicemail messages, to name a few.

According to a new report, Google could be looking to retire the standalone Voice app for iOS and Android and instead fold its functionality into the native Hangouts app, which was released in the App Store in May of 2013...