Apps

Badland 2 hits the App Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 9, 2016

A year and a half following the original Badland game's debut in the App Store, Helsinki, Finland-headquartered developer Frogmind Games on Thursday released a sequel to the highly acclaimed side-scrolling platformer and Apple's former 'Game of the Year' award winner.

Badland 2, a $4.99 download for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, improves upon the original concept with levels that extend and scroll to all directions.

In addition, the game introduces new and interesting elements such as liquids, flamethrowers, frost, magma, water and volumetric burning light. To celebrate the launch of the sequel, Frogmind has discounted the original Badland game to $2.99, down from its regular asking price of $4.99.

Pixelmator expands Apple Pencil Tilt support to 30 more brushes

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 9, 2016

Hot on the heels of last week's update that brought out official integration with Apple's iPad Pro and support for pressure-drawing with the Apple Pencil and 3D Touch on the iPhone 6s, Pixelmator for iOS today received another update which expands Apple Pencil's Tilt feature to an additional 30 brushes.

Pixelmator 2.2.1 for iOS also sports faster Distort tools and includes several fixes that improve the experience.

You can now request a ride with Uber through Facebook Messenger

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 16, 2015

Uber, the popular ride-sharing service, is now available through Facebook Messenger. Yup, you read that right—you can now call an Uber and request a ride within Facebook's mobile Messenger application.

As announced on Wednesday, the new Transportation feature permits users of the Facebook Messenger app in the United States to request a ride from Uber, without ever needing to download the Uber app or leave a conversation.

Facebook Messenger gains 3D Touch shortcuts, message requests and snowflake animations

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 16, 2015

Facebook has released an update to its Messenger software in the App Store, bumping the app to version 52.0 and bringing out 3D Touch shortcuts on the Home screen for owners of the iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus.

Just press Messenger's icon lightly with 3D Touch and up pops a menu with the New Message option, along with handy shortcuts for starting a chat with your top three most-frequently messaged contacts.

Lightroom for iOS gains iPad Pro & 3D Touch support, camera with real-time presets and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 16, 2015

Adobe today unleashed a major update to its Lightroom photography application for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad in the App Store.

Both Lightroom for iPhone and Lightroom for iPad apps now feature full support for the iPad Pro's high-resolution screen and iOS 9'2 Split View and Slide Over multitasking modes, in addition to an all-new built-in Adobe camera with shoot-through presets.

You also get split-tone adjustments, a Notification Center widget to launch the Adobe camera, full support for 3D Touch shortcuts on the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus and much more.

Asphalt 8: Airborne receives 3D Touch controls, Lamborghini Egoista, Area 51 track and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 16, 2015

Gameloft's super-popular arcade racing title, Asphalt 8: Airborne, has received a major holiday-themed update in the App Store today, bringing out tons of new content. For the first time ever, the Lamborghini Egoista makes an appearance, not just in Asphalt but in any video game for that matter. You can unlock this amazing car, as well as the exclusive McLaren 570, Mercedes SLK 5 and more, in the new racing events starting December 18.

New snoozing and attachment options go live in Readdle’s Spark email app

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 14, 2015

Just a few days after adding support for Microsoft Exchange accounts for work-related emails, Readdle's popular Spark email app for the iPhone received another major update in the App Store last evening.

Bumped to version 1.4, Spark now includes several new snoozing options and new ways to attach images and files. With customizable snooze times and related notifications, staying on top of your emails is now easier than before.

You also get a dedicated button for attaching images to an email message, the ability to chose image size to keep attachment size under control and switch between attaching actual files or sending links to files on your Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive.

Google’s search app gains 3D Touch support, Split View multitasking on iPad & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 11, 2015

The search monster Google on Friday issued an update to its mobile search application in the App Store, adding support for 3D Touch gestures on the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus and iOS 9's new multitasking modes on select iPads, while improving search results for places and local businesses.

With 3D Touch, hard-pressing on the Google app's icon on the Home screen brings up quick shortcuts for Search, Voice Search and Image Search features.

Poison Maps makes great use of 3D Touch gestures

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 11, 2015

Poison Maps, a cool map app in the App Store based on the OpenStreetMap database, takes a novel approach to 3D Touch gestures versus most other 3D Touch-enabled apps, which makes it uniquely useful for navigating.

On non-iPhone 6s devices, the app takes advantage of the patent-pending Context Pan gesture letting you pan large distances by using a single touch of a finger instead of the usual two-fingered pinch-zoom gesture.

On devices without 3D Touch, however, context zooming and context panning is implemented using a long touch to control how far the map zooms out, rather then using the force of the press, as shown in a video demonstration further below.

Google Play Movies & TV gains HD and cellular streaming, AirPlay support, revamped UI & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 11, 2015

Just in time for the holiday season, Google has issued a major update to its official video streaming application in the App Store, Google Play Movies & TV, with several much-needed features and a fresh new design. For starters, you can now stream movies and TV shows rented or purchased on the Play store over your carrier's cellular data network. Moreover, the app has gained the ability to stream video in high-definition.

And if you own a third-generation Apple TV or higher, you can stream your Google Play entertainment right to the big screen with official support for Apple's AirPlay wireless media streaming technology.

Cut the Rope 2 goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Cody Lee ∙ December 10, 2015

Apple on Thursday named ZeptoLab's Cut the Rope 2 its App of the Week. This means that from now through next Thursday, you'll be able to pick up the popular physics-based puzzler for free for both iPhone and iPad—a small but notable savings of a buck.

For those who aren't familiar with Cut the Rope, it's a cross-platform gaming franchise that revolves around feeding candy to a little green creature named Om Nom. Version 2 features new locations to explore, new characters, and fresh gameplay elements.

Tumblr app updated with support for Live Photos

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 9, 2016

Yahoo-owned Tumblr today rolled out a major update to its iPhone, iPod touch and iPad application in the App Store, bringing out official support for Live Photos, introducing 3D Touch Home screen shortcuts and a few other enhancements. Tumblr 5.0 for iOS also makes its messaging feature available to everyone today, lets you send a post to any Tumblr and toss it with the tap of a button.