Apps

Google buys iOS app prototyping startup RelativeWave, makes Mac app free

Google has acquired RelativeWave, the team responsible for the popular iOS app prototyping software Form. Form is available for Mac and iOS, and allows designers and developers to create rich interactive app prototypes and run them on their iPhone or iPad.

In a note on its website today, RelativeWave announced that they would be joining Google to continue their work on the software, saying they "want to get Form in the hands of as many people as possible, and this is [their] first step in accomplishing that goal."

Telltale offering first episode of ‘The Wolf Among Us’ for free right now

Heads up gamers, Telltale Games is currently offering the first episode of ‘The Wolf Among Us’ for free right now. We named the game one of our ‘Apps of the Week‘ for the iPhone and iPad back in February, and it normally retails for $4.99.

For those unfamiliar with the title, The Wolf Among Us is a violent, mature thriller based on the award-winning Fables comic books. It’s made by the same team behind The Walking Dead, and features similar decision-making gameplay mechanics.

Apple asks ‘Neato’ to remove keyboard in ongoing war on widgets

Apple is once again going after a Notification Center widget for overstepping its bounds. Neato, a popular note-taking widget with a built-in keyboard and share controls, says the Cupertino firm has threatened to remove the app for violating its App Review Guidelines.

More specifically, the developers behind Neato told Gizmodo that Apple has asked them to remove the keyboard from their widget, or else. The team tried to appeal, but Apple wasn't going to budge, and gave them two weeks to submit an update to correct their issue.

Ubisoft releases ‘Arcade Poker’ tie-in game for Far Cry 4

Ubisoft has launched a new tie-in title for the highly anticipated Far Cry 4, set to launch on consoles and PCs today, called Far Cry 4 Arcade Poker. It's a standalone app, but players can sync it up with the new Far Cry to earn currency that can be used in the game.

Arcade Poker is an interesting game that plays like a mix of tetris, poker and something else. Cards fall from the top of the screen, and can be randomly shuffled until they hit the bottom to build a 5-card poker hand. The better the hand, the more coins you'll be given.

eBay app update allows you to create, pay for and print shipping labels

Popular auction site eBay has updated its iOS client, bringing the app to version 3.5. The update brings about a handful of improvements, including performance and speed boosts and various new country-specific features.

The release adds new checkout features in Germany and Australia, and a new click and collect option for Argos in the UK. Users can now purchase something from Argos on eBay in-app, and choose to pick the item up locally.

Dropbox app gains larger photo thumbnails and more in latest accessibility focused update

Dropbox, the hot cloud-storage startup which a few years back turned down an acquisition offer from Steve Jobs, on Monday gave its mobile client for the iPhone and iPad significant new accessibility improvements to make sure it’s simple to get stuff done if your vision or hearing is impaired.

Based on both Dropbox's own customer research and feedback from the AppleVis community, the improved software makes it easier for people with disabilities to use the app with Apple's VoiceOver feature when logging in to Dropbox, navigating actions within the app and more.

The new accessibility features will be rolling out to users later today, the company said.

Dropbox is a free download from the App Store.

GBA4iOS 2.1 now available, no jailbreak required, hitting Cydia in a few days

After developer Riley Testut saw its popular Gameboy Color and Game Boy Advanced emulator, GBA4iOS, removed from the App Store due to complaints from both Nintendo and Apple, a new version of the software is now available for download from iEmulators.com in an open beta form, no jailbreak required.

Furthermore, the app should be available on the Cydia store in the next few days, Testut wrote on Twitter.

That means all you jailbreakers out there will be able to enjoy your favorite Gameboy Color and Game Boy Advanced games on the best GBA emulator available on iOS.

Team17 slashes all Worms games to 99 cents in 19th anniversary sale

Team 17, a British video game developer behind the Worms series of games, has slashed all Worms games on the App Store to just 99 cents in celebration of the series' 19th anniversary.

Older readers will remember Worms as one of the best games for the Amiga personal computer in 1995. Team17 continued development of the various Worms games with Worms: The Director's Cut which arrived in 1997 with improved gameplay and graphics. The series has since made a jump to consoles and PCs.

Featuring cartoonish pixel art graphics, smooth multi-layered scrolling and an interesting mix of turn-based gameplay, humor and hilarious weaponry, the franchise has gone on to be very successful, selling over twelve million units worldwide to this date.

Penultimate 6 is out with new UI design, improved search and more

Evernote updated its popular note-taking/sketch app Penultimate this morning, bringing it to version 6.0. As the build number implies, the update is significant, ushering in a complete UI redesign, new full screen and highlighting tools, and various improvements.

The new UI design is easily the most noticeable change in 6.0, and it makes for smoother writing and better organization. The new full screen mode is also a great addition, as it allows you to write continuously in full screen without stopping—eliminating distractions.

GoodReader introduces advanced text-to-speech for PDF and TXT documents

I rely on GoodReader to manage files and documents on my iOS devices in one central location. Being a heavy reader, I mostly keep various documents and e-books stored in GoodReader.

Today's update to GoodReader's iOS app contains a whole bunch of new features, improvements and fixes, chiefly a cool text-to-speech capability that speaks passages of text in text files and PDF documents.

It's customizable with different speeds, supports dozens of languages, has playback controls, highlights spoken words in real-time, lets you multitask while listening to spoken word and more. This update is being provided free of charge to existing GoodReader users.

Download GoodReader for the iPhone and iPad for $4.99.

Halfbrick’s ‘Monster Dash’ goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Apple has named Halfbrick's 'Monster Dash' its app of the week for this week. This means that from now through next Thursday, you’ll be able to pick up the title for free in the App Store, saving yourself a healthy buck.

For those who haven't played the game, Monster Dash is a survival platformer/runner that follows the familiar Barry Steakfries (of Jetpack Joyride fame) as he races through levels while avoiding and/or killing monsters.

Numerical, a beautiful iPhone and iPad calculator without the equal button, goes free

As something of a calculator nut, I can never get enough of gorgeously designed calculator experiences. For most people, the stock Calculator is more than enough to run a quick calculation here and there.

Apple, sadly, isn't shipping its Calculator on iPads, forcing you to search the App Store for a third-party solution. But you don't have to be a calculator nut or part with your cash to enjoy doing math on your Apple devices.

That's because developer Andrew J Clark of Very Tiny Machines has just slashed his beautifully done Numerical: Calculator Without Equal app from $2.99 to zero bucks.

Download Numerical at no cost from the App Store.