Apps

Themeboard review: iOS 8 keyboard with gorgeous themes, unique Emoji bar, auto-correct and more

There most certainly is no shortage of downloadable iOS 8 keyboards in the App Store, so much so that the proliferation of soft-keyboards makes it virtually impossible for us to cover each and every one that hits the Apple platform.

On the other hand, themable keyboards like CoolKey, a keyboard for the colorful, are few and far between.

Customization matters to an awful lot of people and there's admittedly a void here than needs filling. That's where Themeboard jumps in.

Created by Germany-based Taphive, the brains behind such apps as TodoMovies that we reviewed back in March, this app is an advanced iPhone and iPad keyboard with a built-in repository of wonderfully designed themes by some of the best designers around.

Theme board sports a unique Emoji/Kaomoji bar and has plenty of features that users have come to expect from Apple's default keyboard like auto-correction, Caps lock, slide-shift to capitalize, quick delete with three speeds, text predictions, custom shortcuts and more.

Read on for the full review of this feature-packed keyboard.

Winter is coming: Telltale’s Game of Thrones arrives in App Store

Telltale Games last month posted a teaser trailer and a few scant details about an upcoming game based on HBO’s hugely popular, award-winning fantasy drama television series, itself adapted from of “A Song of Ice and Fire”, George R. R. Martin’s series of epic fantasy novels.

I'm pleased to report that on Thursday, the Game of Thrones interactive action adventure game officially surfaced on the App Store and is now available in an episodic format akin to Telltale's The Walking Dead – A Telltale Games Series and The Wolf Among Us.

The narratively driven, six-episode game puts you in the shoes of different members of the Forrester household. The decisions you take have consequences and will change the story around you and determine your characters' fate.

App Recap is back and it’s better than ever!

After a longer than expected hiatus, App Recap is back! For those unfamiliar with it, App Recap is iDownloadBlog's daily column that strives to surface the best new Mac, iPhone, iPod touch and iPad apps you should focus on, notable updates to your favorite apps you should care about, not-to-be-missed deals and freebies in the App Store and Mac App Store, and interesting accessories, software announcements and other tidbits of interest to our readers. Without further ado, here's what's in store for you today.

Mozilla planning to develop Firefox for iOS to ‘be where our users are’

Mozilla has long stayed away from bringing its Firefox web browser to iOS, however it's looking to change its plans to "be where our users are".

The company's release manager, Lukas Bakk, took to Twitter on Tuesday announcing the company will develop Firefox for iOS. He didn't provide word on when it may be released, or if it's even in development yet, but it's definitely comforting words for the Firefox fans out there - which includes our own Sebastien Page. 

Pandora previews UI redesign with emphasis on thumbing, new Station Personalization and more

Pandora, the popular U.S. based music streaming and automated music recommendation service, on Tuesday showed off an upcoming iPhone app update sporting a revamped interface with new Station Personalization features, greater focus on thumbing and more.

Though still a few weeks away, developers were kind enough to share a few screenshots showing the streamlined interface featuring a thumbs-up icon on the Now Playing screen for rating songs, personalized genre and artist suggestions at the top of your list of stations and more.

Google revamps Play Books for iOS with Material Design, adds new features

Google on Monday issued a major update to its Play Books client in the App Store, introducing a thorough Material Design rethinking of the somewhat neglected iPhone and iPad software. The app now includes a host of much welcomed new features.

For starters, the ability to read the previously uploaded PDF and EPUB files is now available in the new Play Books 2.0.

Next, you can now access the books you’ve read most recently in a new Read Now view, where you can also tap to read free samples of e-books carried on Google's store.

Jump past the fold for the full list of changes in Play Books 2.0.

Dropbox for iOS now lets you rename files and folders in latest update

Dropbox on Monday issued a small refresh to its iPhone and iPad client, bringing out the notably missing ability to rename files and folders on the go to the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.

Bumped to version 3.6, Dropbox has also gained a new more actions button when viewing files which on iPhones includes additional item details such as the full file name, size and more.

A new swipe gestured has been added as well, with the recently announced ability to Edit Office documents and save them back to your Dropbox now being added for everyone.

Grab Guardians of the Galaxy: The Universal Weapon for free

Lost in the sea of Black Friday holiday deals and discounts on tons of Mac, iPhone and iPad apps and accessories, Guardians of the Galaxy: The Universal Weapon is now available at no cost through Thursday, courtesy of Apple's ongoing Free App of the Week promotion. That's a savings of $4.99 for the iPhone and iPad download.

In this action-role playing extravaganza, Marvel's cosmic antiheroes face Roman, Nebula and other familiar foes.

The game features cartoonish visuals, familiar characters like Star-Lord, Rocket, Groot, Gamora and Drax, in addition to piles of unlockable ones such as Beta Ray Bill, a story co-written by comic-book scribe Dan Abnett and much more.

I know what you're thinking so I'm happy to report that there are no In-App Purchases in this game and no Internet connection is required to play.

MacPhun’s Cyber Monday: 40% off Mac photography suite and a $25 gift card

Like many other companies, MacPhun, a prolific developer of Mac, iPhone and iPad photography software, is having their Cyber Monday sale today which comes with notable discounts on some of its most popular photography apps.

You can now pick up MacPhun's Mac photography suite for $129.99 instead of $210, that's a cool 40 percent discount on Intensify Pro, Snapheal Pro, Focus Pro and Tonality Pro. Plus, they'll treat you to a $25 iTunes/Amazon Gift Card.

Readdle’s Black Friday promo slashes up to 50% off popular productivity apps

Readdle, the Ukrainian developer behind some of the best iOS productivity apps such as Calendars, PDF Expert and Scanner Pro, doesn't do sales often.

But when they do, there must be a very good reason and I can't think of a better reason than Black Friday.

Starting on Thursday, November 27 and lasting 48 hours only, Readdle's premium productivity applications are available discounted by up to 50 percent. In addition to discounts on Calendars 5, Scanner Pro, PDF Expert 5, Printer Pro and PDF Converter, their Ultimate Productivity Bundle has been marked down, too.

Shopping on Amazon has never been so beautiful with Canopy for iPhone

Not sure about you, but holidays always stress me out. More Black Friday deals than I could possibly process isn't the worst part, it's hunting for great gifts that's both time-consuming and exhausting.

This is especially true when shopping on Amazon. If only someone curated the best and finest products available for purchase on the Internet's biggest catalog...

That's where Canopy jumps in. Created by CanopyCo, Inc., this nifty little iPhone application presents you with a beautifully designed list of Amazon products, neatly organized by categories and brands and curated by “a community with great taste.”

In addition to shopping by categories and brands, the free app lets you find gifts by personality type, see what’s new, trending or the most popular in the product feeds, build a personal collection of your favorite Amazon products and much more.