'Appy weekend everyone! Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
The long-awaited arrival of beloved Nintendo franchise Animal Crossing on iOS is just of one of the picks for this week’s “Awesome Apps of the Week.”
In addition, we’ve got a great writing app for Mac (perfect if you’re writing a book!), a popular ARPG, and a brilliant point-and-click adventure game. Check out our picks below.
Skype is the latest app to run into problems in China. Photo: Evan Killham/Cult of Mac
China may be working to ban Skype, with the phone call and messaging service disappearing from a number of sites, including Apple’s App Store in the country.
“We have been notified by the Ministry of Public Security that a number of voice over internet protocol apps do not comply with local law,” an Apple spokesperson said in a statement. “Therefore these apps have been removed from the App Store in China.”
A brilliantly spooky, story-driven augmented reality game in which you search for your missing child in a new house is just one of our picks for this week’s “Awesome Apps of the Week.”
In addition, we’ve got a great app for teaching you Mandarin, another ARKit title that lets you get a closer look at some of the world’s top supercars, and a brilliant photo app for getting the most out of your iPhone or iPad.
'Appy weekend everyone! Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
A surprisingly absolutely brilliant mobile version of the classic card game Solitaire is just of one of the choices we’ve made for this week’s “Awesome Apps of the Week.”
In addition, we’ve got an app which works to eliminate the sensor-filled notch from the iPhone X, a destruction-filled endless runner starring a freaking giant dragon, and an augmented reality update to a popular Apple video app. Check out our picks below.
Apple is coming out with a big update to its video-making app Clips today that will be sure to delight users if you’re lucky enough to have an iPhone X.
Clips 2.0 is launching with an all-new feature called “Selfie Scenes” that takes advantage of the iPhone X’s TrueDepth camera to create augmented-reality scenes and stages behind the user.
Another use case for the iPhone X's new smart camera. Photo: Warby Parker
Now that the iPhone X is out and into the hands of customers, developers are eager to roll out new app updates, taking advantage of the handset’s new TrueDepth camera system.
One of the first is glasses manufacturer Warby Parker, which is already employing the Face ID facial mapping data feature to make suggestions about which glasses would suit people’s face shape.
Enjoy glorious HDR on iPhone XS. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
You can now enjoy YouTube videos in fullscreen and super-sharp 1440p on iPhone X. You’ll need the latest version of the app, which adds “pinch to zoom” functionality, available from the App Store now.
Have an 'appy weekend! Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
A fun dogfighting flight sim that sees you shoot down enemy jets and gunships in scintillating styles is just one of our picks for this week’s “Awesome Apps” roundup. We’ve also got a superb grammar-oriented third party keyboard, a brilliant augmented reality update to a big retail app, and a fun RPG that’ll keep you busy for days.
Apple is worth more than the entire US energy sector combined Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple will give investors their first insight into iPhone 8 sales, right on the eve of the iPhone X launch.
The final Apple earnings call of 2017 takes place Thursday, November 2, at 2 p.m. Pacific. Apple’s fourth fiscal quarter ended right after the iPhone 8 started shipping. The results aren’t expected to be record-breaking, but this first glimpse should give us a better idea of how monstrous Apple’s holiday season will be.
Face ID still requires a button-tap to make an App Store purchase. Photo: Aditya Doshi/Flickr CC
There’s one big conceptual difference between Face ID and its predecessor, Touch ID. With a fingerprint, you have to explicitly touch the home button to confirm an action. When unlocking a password-protected app, or unlocking the iPhone itself, it’s hard to do it unintentionally. But what about buying an app? The old Touch ID way is to tap the buy button, and then use your fingerprint to confirm the purchase. What happens with Face ID? How do you cancel a purchase after tapping buy? Do you look away? Close your eyes?
No. It’s much simpler than that, although much less discoverable than touching a fingerprint scanner.
See if your appliances will match your kitchen. Photo: Amazon
Amazon is taking a page out of Ikea’s playbook with an iOS app update today that allows users to see what furniture and other items would look like in their home.
200 million downloads haven't pulled in enough cash. Photo: Apple
Super Mario Run was the hottest game on iOS for months after it hit the App Store. It has now been downloaded more than 200 million times on mobile, and yet, the title is yet to reach “an acceptable profit point,” Nintendo says.
That’s bad news for fans of Nintendo’s mobile games.
What better way to get ready for Halloween than with playing through some of the App Store’s spookiest game titles? With that in mind, here are our picks for the best horror (or, a the very least, creepy) titles available for your gaming pleasure on iPhone or iPad.
The App Store looks all-new in iOS 11. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
The redesigned App Store has been a boon for developers, based on new third-party data that shows getting a little promotion goes a long way when it comes to downloads.
With the launch of iOS 11, Apple made some big changes to how iPhone and iPad users browse apps in the App Store. App Store shoppers are now greeted by big promotions for the App of the Day and Game of the Day which has become worth a lot of money to developers if you’re lucky enough to be selected.
The "banned" app lets you pray in real-time. Photo: Human Coalition
Apple has reportedly banned an anti-abortion app from the App Store after complaints were made about it from “left-wing bloggers.”
Among the features of the Human Coalition app is a “Prayer Feed,” where users can access a real-time map of the United States, allowing them to join in with the prayers of other users on behalf of “abortion-determined families.”
A treat for the brain and the eyes alike. Photo: Returner 77
I’m a big sucker for iOS puzzle games, and I love beautiful, sweeping sci-fi games which show off the graphical capabilities of the iPhone and iPad by creating otherworldly space vistas to explore.
Imagine my excitement then at the upcoming Returner 77, an intriguing blend of both genres which will be arriving in the App Store this week. Check out the stunning trailer below.
AirDroid has made the leap to iOS. Photo: AirDroid
One of Android’s best file transfer apps has finally made the leap to iOS. AirDroid makes it incredibly easy to wirelessly transfer all kinds of file formats between your devices. And unlike AirDrop, it’s not exclusively for Apple devices.
'Appy weekend everyone! Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
A Google app which lets you earn real money for basically no work is just one of the picks we’ve made for this week’s “Awesome Apps of the Week” roundup.
In addition, we’ve got a great artificial intelligence-themed puzzle game, a nifty email app update, and a camera app which lets you double the number of videos you can store on your iOS device. Check out our selections for the week’s most notable apps below.
AR games account for the majority of app downloads and revenue made. Photo: Sensor Tower
The vast majority of augmented reality ARKit apps released so far have been games, according to a breakdown release by analytics firm Sensor Tower Intelligence.
Combing over the AR apps released since iOS 11 launched on September 19, reveals that games represent around 35 percent of ARKit-only apps worldwide, followed by utilities (19 percent), other entertainment (11 percent), education (7 percent), photo and video apps (6 percent), and lifestyle (5 percent). The “other” category — for those apps which don’t fall into any of these genres — accounts for the remaining 8 percent.
Google Opinion Rewards pays real cash for your opinion. Photo: Google
Google Opinion Rewards, the company’s most underrated app, has finally landed on iPhone.
For the first time, iOS users have the chance to answer surveys that earn them real cash. More than 10 million people are already using the service on Android.
It’s not uncommon to see a random popup that asks you to “Sign In to iTunes Store” on iOS. They sometimes appear unexpectedly, but they’re usually genuine. However, one developer is warning users not to enter their password when the popup appears in third-party apps.
There is a chance that the app’s developer is phishing for your Apple ID password. Luckily, there’s an easy trick to distinguish legit popups from phishing attempts.
Tim thinks learning to code should be required in all schools. Photo: Tim Cook/Weibo
If you’re a young student looking to learn a new language, you might want to consider Swift before learning how to speak English, according to Apple CEO Tim Cook.
The Supreme Court's ruling could have a huge impact on the App Store. Photo: Apple
The highest court in the U.S. is debating whether or not it should hear an appeal from Apple on a class-action lawsuit that it lost in a lower court.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court asked the Trump administration’s Justice Department for its opinion on the case. Apple is accused of charging illegally high commissions on the sale of apps in its App Store, but the group suing Apple isn’t developers, it’s a bunch of consumers who purchased the apps.
It's like a "pick your own adventure" experience. Photo: HBO
An innovative new “branching narrative” TV app is being launched by HBO and Academy Award-winning movie director Steven Soderbergh, which will let audiences make active decisions that will help shape the story’s outcome.
A linear version of the show, Mosaic, is set to debut on TV in January 2018. However, the app version isn’t just a bit of advance promo, but a fully-fledged part of the experience, which reportedly took three years to develop.