Apps

Day 2 of Apple’s 12 Days of Gifts: free episode of ‘Once Upon a Time’ [updated]

We are now on day 2 of Apple's 12 Days of Gifts event, meaning Apple has removed the Justin Timberlake EP and has posted a new free item for download. Today's gift is an episode—the pilot episode—of ABC's hit television series: 'Once Upon a Time.'

For those who haven't seen it, it's an American fairy tale drama that takes place in the fictional town of Storybrooke, Maine, where the residents are actually fairy tale characters. It sounds odd, but it's currently the #1 non-sports show on Sunday nights.

Update: interestingly enough, it looks like Apple changed the free download item mid-day. It now shows the game Tiny Thief here in the US. Get it while you can!

Reiner Knizia’s Razzia review: let the bidding war begin

I may not have lived throught the height of the heyday of the Mafia, or even know much about the existence of family crime lords (other than what I saw in the Sopranos), but I’ve seen The Godfather enough times to know that these underground gangs want money, power, and a little bit of fame.

Razzia is an iOS app based on the board game of the same name. Players act as the head of the Family in a bid for all of the stolen goods. The player with the stuff proves to be the biggest Mafia leader around…

Apple kicks off its ’12 Days of Gifts’ event with Justin Timberlake EP

Christmas may be over now, but that doesn't mean you have to be done getting presents. Apple has kicked off its '12 Days of Gifts' event this morning with a free gift for its faithful users, and will continue to give one each day for the next week and a half.

Today's gift is the iTunes Festival EP from music superstar Justin Timberlake. The album contains 4 live performances from Apple's annual music festival this year, and is free for all users in qualifying areas who have downloaded the 12 Days of Gifts app...

The 10 best games of 2013

Games are the most popular downloads in the App Store. On any given day, games make up about 80 percent of the top 10 lists for free and paid apps. Because there are so many amazing and cool titles launched in the App Store every day, this best-of list was hard to narrow down.

After much consideration and deliberation, the writers at iDownloadBlog have come up with a list of what they think are the 10 best games of 2013. Check out our favorites and then vote for the one you like best to be added to our Best Apps of 2013 list…

Free OpenEmu 1.0 console emulator is now available to download for Mac

Those of you old enough to remember the golden age of 8 and 16-bit console gaming are in for a real Christmas treat as the OpenEmu console emulator is now available to download for the Mac. After an extensive period of beta testing, OpenEmu 1.0 finally launched yesterday.

This open source project makes possible game emulation on OS X for a variety of high-profile legendary consoles, including Sega's Genesis, Nintendo's Game Boy, GameBoy Color, Game Boy Advance and Entertainment System (the popular NES), as well as other third-party consoles such as the Game Gear, NeoGeo Pocket and more...

The 10 best social networking apps of 2013

The Oxford Dictionary just named “selfie” the word of the year. I’d say that just about sums up 2013. This year, social networking took on a whole new meaning and has become an enormous beast that is impossible to contain. Whether you share your personal life on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, or all of the above, the Internet has made it possible for anyone to keep track of how many people like them.

The writers at iDownloadBlog have come up with a list of what they think are the 10 best social networking apps of 2013. Check out our favorites and then vote for the one you like best to be added to our Best Apps of 2013 list…

Revamped Things 3 coming in 2014 with ‘great new features’

German developer Cultured Code is celebrating the millionth sale of Things, it's high-end to-do and productivity application for the iPhone, iPad and Mac, so the team fittingly announced the upcoming arrival of Things 3. A major revision, Things 3 will bring substantial user interface redesign but it won't be just about the looks as Cultured Code promised some "great new features" to go with the redesign.

And in celebrating the app's milestone, the team is giving away some Mac hardware on Christmas Day. Full details follow below...

Waterlogue review: turn your photos into watercolor paintings

Whether you like it or not, filter and effect apps are the most popular (and prevalent) in the photography category in the App Store. Thanks to digital technology, any amateur photographer can make a silly “selfie” look like a magazine shoot.

You haven’t seen filter until you experience the artistic reimagining of your photos using Waterlogue. This is no mere effects app. It turns everything it touches into a watercolor painting…

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars returns to the App Store with Retina display support

As you may or may not have known, Rockstar pulled Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars from the App Store back in September. They said the removal was due to an incompatibility with iOS 7, and that they would investigate a fix for it.

Well the game made its triumphant return to the App Store this weekend, with fix and all. Now, the popular Grand Theft Auto title is fully compatible with the latest version of iOS, and Rockstar even added in support for Retina displays...

Apps of the week: Flow for Instagram, Blend, Orphinion, and more…

It is hard to believe that Christmas is just around the corner. I seems even more incredible that 2013 is coming to an end. I swear, the older I get, the faster time seems to go by. This weekend, I’ll be partying like Santa on the day after Christmas, three nights in a row. So much cookies and eggnog will be had.

Whether you are filling your belly with holiday libations, decking the halls, or just humbugging out of the entire holiday season, we have a list of apps and games to get you through the weekend…

Google Play Music app updated with new UI for iOS 7 and other improvements

Folks trying out Google's recently-released Play Music app for iOS will be happy to hear that a new version popped up late last night. The update, which brings the app to 1.1.0.988, brings about a refreshed UI and a handful of new features.

Among the new features is support for 'I'm feeling lucky' radio, which builds an instant playlist based on your listening habits, and other new radio options. Users now have access to Genre radio stations and the ability to search for them...

Snapchat updated with photo filters, message replays and more

In an odd late-Friday release, Snapchat has posted a new version of its popular iOS messaging client this evening. The update, which brings the app to version 6.1, is fairly significant as it adds camera filters, message replays and other new features.

For the new filters, you can pick between black and white, sepia and vintage, and you can also add data points like time, weather, and how fast you were going when you took the photo. And as for the new Replay feature, it lets you take a second look...