Apps

Family fun night can now be played on iOS with Qwirkle

Fans of board games might know about the award-wining family friendly tile game Qwirkle. The game is a lot like a mix between dominoes and rummy tile. It is simple enough to be played by kindergarteners, but challenging enough to be enjoyed by adults.

Qwirkle has just launched in the App Store for the iPhone and iPad. So, now you can bring the fun of tabletop gaming to your digital device. Don’t worry about cleaning off the coffee table. You won’t need any extra room to play this game…

New mockups visualize Apple’s rumored iOS 8 ‘Healthbook’ app

A couple of mockup images surfaced on the web today, hoping to visualize what Apple's rumored health-tracking app could look like. A January report from 9to5Mac said that the app, codenamed 'Healthbook,' would gather health and fitness data from iWatch and launch alongside iOS 8.

In its current state, the Healthbook app is said to resemble the UI of Apple's Passbook application, with various cards offering health and fitness data points. This is what designer Carlos Quijano based his concept on, and according to those with knowledge of the app, it's vaguely accurate...

Yahoo Mail app updated with better support for Apple’s VoiceOver feature

Yahoo has posted a small but significant update for its iOS Mail client this afternoon, bringing the app to version 2.0.5. Aside from the usual bug fixes and performance improvements, the update brings about deeper VoiceOver support.

This is more of a PSA than an update alert—a lot of folks depend on Apple's VoiceOver feature in iOS to help them navigate about apps, input and read text, and perform other actions. And now they can utilize the feature in Yahoo Mail...

Rdio app updated with in-app playlist editing and reviews

Good news for Rdio users this afternoon. The music streaming service has posted an update for its iOS client, bringing the app to version 2.5.7 and adding a few new features including Playlist Editing and the ability to read and write reviews in-app.

Users can now edit their playlists from any mobile device by adding, removing and rearranging songs, and editing playlist artwork. They can also now write reviews for those playlists, and albums, and read reviews written by other other Rdio users...

Documentarian Ken Burns launches iPad app

Documentarian and movie director Kenneth Lauren "Ken" Burns is well-known for his style of using archival footage and photographs and giving them life by slowly zooming in on subjects of interest and panning from one subject to another.

This technique became known as 'The Ken Burns effect' and you'll find it in Apple's iPhoto, iMovie and Final Cut Pro X apps and many other software applications.

Today, Ken's out with a new namesake iPad app, now available free in the App Store, which gives you access to streaming videos containing extras, behind-the-scenes and other footage from all 25 of his films, such as The Civil War, Baseball and Prohibition...

realMyst: Masterpiece Edition now available on Mac OS X

Twenty years ago, a mysterious and complex puzzle adventure game won the hearts and minds of PC gamers. The wickedly complex puzzles and deeply involving storyline created millions of fans and spawned a few remakes and an equally complex sequel, Riven.

realMyst was one of the remakes, and features free-roaming 3-D graphics and a few awesome features that make it more game-like and less two-dimensional. The 20th anniversary version of the original game has recently been launched in the Mac App Store under the title realMyst: Masterpiece Edition…

Popular theming app pulled from Google Play due to Apple copyright complaint

Themer, a popular Android customization app by MyColorScreen, was pulled from the Google Play marketplace last week. The app allows users to browse a selection of home screen themes, and it appears that one of them may be guilty of copyright infringement.

The theme is called 'Seven,' and as you've probably guessed by now, it looks like its creator got a lot of his inspiration from iOS 7. So Apple has filed a copyright complaint with Google, forcing the search giant to remove the app to avoid further legal ramifications...

Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders named IGN’s ‘Free Game of the Month’

Good news gamers, IGN has named the popular Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders its Free Game of the Month. This is one of the few times that the game, which normally retails for $4.99, has ever been made available at no cost.

For those unfamiliar with the title, this particular episode of Sky Gamblers was first released in late 2012 and bills itself as the 'ultimate World War II air combat' game with a variety of levels and plane models to choose from...

Five months later, Path gets its iOS 7 refresh. The question is, do you still care?

The once popular private social network, Path, has finally received today its way, way overdue iOS 7 refresh. I mean, the 2014 Valentine's Day is looming and Apple released iOS 7 back on September 18, 2013.

If you're still using Path - I don't as I'm pressed for time - you'll immediately notice a revamped appearance making the software adhere to the overall iOS 7 aesthetics.

Controls in Settings have been simplified, you can now use the iOS 7 swipe gesture to navigate the menus and browsing the Shop is now cleaner and more streamlined than it used to be.

The team says they've made the new version (3.4) simpler and easier to "do the things you do every day with Path". Jump past the fold to see some nice screenies and learn more about the app. Or, if you're impatient you can just go ahead and immediately grab Path 3.4 free in the App Store...

Shazam’s iPhone app gets an overhaul

With increased competition in the media-fingerprinting and recommendations space and an ever-growing number of new music services vying for our attention, incumbents like Shazam are finding it harder to stay relevant.

Shazam is of course wildly popular so it's not really going anywhere. On the other hand, with growth slowing - they have 150 million users - the company has now decided to redesign the iPhone app in order to increase engagement.

The app redesign signals bigger changes coming to the service later this month. Both Shazam and Shazam Encore have received this visual makeover, now live in the App Store...

Used iPhones with Flappy Bird installed going for $100K on eBay

Here's an entertaining little anecdote to start your week off. By now, I'm sure most of you know about Flappy Bird; that it essentially became an overnight success, and that its developer pulled it from the App Store yesterday. But the saga may not be over just yet.

Shortly after the game was pulled on Sunday, iPhones with Flappy Bird installed started appearing on eBay. It's not too surprising that folks would want to capitalize on its popularity, but what may catch you off guard is that some of them are going for big bucks...

Flappy Bird has been removed from the App Store

As promised by Flappy Bird developer Dong Nguyen yesterday, he has removed the hugely popular game from the App Store, without giving any really convincing reason as to why.

Nguyen claims that he was fed up with the unwanted attention he was receiving after the unexpected success of Flappy Bird, a game that had been released months ago, but which only recently started getting traction...