Apps

Nintendo to release first smartphone game this year, 5 games by 2017

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

After years of waiting, we could see Nintendo's first smartphone game within the next 6 months. The Verge passes along comments made by CEO Satoru Iwata during a shareholders meeting, in which he stated the company is aiming to debut the game before the end of the year.

Additionally, Iwata explained that Nintendo plans to release 5 mobile titles between now and March 2017. "You may think it is a small number," he said. "But when we aim to make each title a hit, this is not a small number and should demonstrate our commitment to smart devices."

‘Toca Nature’ goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Cody Lee ∙ May 7, 2015

Apple has just named “Toca Nature” its App of the Week for this week. This means that from now through next Thursday, you’ll be able to download the award-winning education software for both iPhone and iPad for free—a great savings of $2.99.

Geared towards kids, Toca Nature allows you to shape nature and watch it develop. Want to grow your own forest? Go for it. Want to create a mountain range and enjoy the view? You got it. Plants, animals, landscapes and more are at your disposal.

Flickr 4.0: auto-upload is back, revamped UI, new filters, Instagram sharing and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 7, 2015

Yahoo-owned Flickr has refreshed its iPhone application this morning with a number of significant changes, most notably redesigning the user interface for easier navigation and bringing back the auto-upload feature (originally added in 2013, but subsequently removed).

The app also brings out a brand new Camera Roll section which looks a lot like the iOS Camera Roll. Coupled with one terabyte of free storage for your photo and video uploads, the new Flickr 4.0 for iOS is a worthy alternative to Apple's stock Photos + iCloud Photo Library combo.

Pixelmator for iPhone coming soon, iPad version goes half price

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 6, 2015

Pixelmator, arguably the most popular alternative to Adobe's Photoshop available on the Apple platform, is “coming soon” to the iPhone, its developer has confirmed in a blog post published today. In addition, the iPad edition of Pixelmator is on sale and can be grabbed now with a cool fifty percent discount for just $4.99. As it'll soon be a universal app for the iPhone and iPad, now's the time to grab the iPad edition and upgrade later to Pixelmator for iPhone at no additional cost.

You can now check in to places from your wrist with Swarm for Apple Watch

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 5, 2015

Swarm, Foursquare's dedicated location check-in application for the iPhone, received a nice little update Monday, adding the Apple Watch component which allows you to easily check in to places and see who’s nearby.

This is especially handy considering that Foursquare's main iPhone and Apple Watch app lacks this functionality as it's now focused on finding places to eat, drink and visit.

Google confirms snapping up Timeful, iPhone-only time management and scheduling app

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 31, 2018

The Internet giant Google today announced via the official Gmail blog that it is buying Timeful, an iPhone-exclusive productivity application designed to help you get things scheduled so you can get them done.

The nicely designed application, positioned as your calendar and to-do list with intelligent assistance to make the most of your time, is available on the App Store for the time being but its functionality will be eventually folded into Google Apps, including Gmail, Calendar and more.

Tweetbot 3 updated with support for new ‘Quote Tweet’ feature

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 30, 2018

The Tapbots issued an update for their iPhone Twitter client Tweetbot 3 today, bringing the app to version 3.6. The release includes a number of bug fixes, and it adds support for the new 'Quote Tweet' feature Twitter rolled out last month.

For those who haven't used the feature yet, it's actually pretty handy. Unlike the typical retweet, which will insert the tweet between quotation marks and count toward your character limit, Quote Tweet embeds the tweet like a card or photo.

T-Mobile again offering free MLB At Bat Premium subscription to customers

Cody Lee ∙ April 30, 2015

Football season has long been over and basketball is getting there, but baseball season is just getting started. And for fans of the sport who are either on T-Mobile, or thinking about it, you'll be interested to know that the carrier is once again offering MLB At Bat Premium to customers.

As noted by Droid-Life, the promotion is season-long, beginning May 1 and running through the end of September. To qualify, customers must download the MLB At Bat app on Android or iOS while on T-Mobile's network—you will not get the discount if you are on Wi-Fi or roaming.

‘Mighty Switch Force! Hose It Down!’ goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Cody Lee ∙ April 30, 2015

Apple has just named WayForward's "Might Switch Force! Hose it Down!" its App of the Week for this week. This means that from now through next Thursday, you’ll be able to download the award-winning pick-up-and-play puzzler for iPhone and iPad for free—a solid savings of $1.99.

For those unfamiliar with the game, you play as a member of Planet Land's Fire Brigade that has to help put out fires around Tangent City and evacuate any trapped Hooligan Sisters. You accomplish this by strategically moving and rotating tiles to direct your water towards the flames.

Premium Star Wars games discounted deeply on Mac App Store and App Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 30, 2015

With only five days left until the annual Star Wars Day celebration (May the Fourth Be With You, says the marketing tagline), Aspyr Media is celebrating the occasion in advance by temporarily slashing five premium Star Wars titles for the Mac by fifty percent.

The Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Star Wars: Empire At War, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed games have gone half price each, in some cases even lower, on the Mac App Store. Put together, these downloads normally sell for a combined $70, so you're looking at a cool $40 saved if you download the five Mac games while this promotion lasts.

Amazon’s Instant Video for iOS can now stream content in HD and over cellular

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 30, 2015

Amazon's Instant Video client for the iPhone and iPad has received an update Thursday, bumping version number to 3.0 and bringing out several improvements to streaming video quality.

Users can now stream Instant Video content on their iOS device through their carrier's cellular network while controlling their mobile data usage settings. In addition, the ability to watch video streams in high-definition has been added, too.

Best Buy app now accepting Apple Pay, coming to retail stores later this year

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Best Buy announced today that it will begin supporting Apple Pay within its mobile app, effective immediately, and within its stores later this year. This is a major partnership for Apple, as it’s the first one with a member of MCX—the Walmart led consortium of retailers that are backing payment app 'CurrentC.'

A Best Buy spokeswoman told Recode that “we remain invested in MCX,” but she would not comment on when CurrentC will be available to the public and if the electronics retailer would accept it at launch. “We are actively monitoring their pilots,” she said. “It’s too early to declare whether we will take it at launch.”