App Store - page 48

Ho! Ho! Ho! It’s Christmas CultCast time! This episode: a new deal in China hands Apple 770 million potential new customers; we cover some of the wackiest rumors of 2013; the Mac Pro delivers surprising results in performance tests; some of App Store’s best apps just went on sale; and we recall some of the best and worst gifts we’ve given or received!

Have a few laughs whilst getting caught up on each week’s finest Apple stories! Download new and past episodes of The CultCast on iTunes or hit play below and let the audio enjoyment commence.

Thanks to lynda.com for sponsoring this episode. Learn at your own pace from expert-taught video tutorials at lynda.com.

Australian-based developer Halfbrick is at it again, with free-to-play Colossatron: Massive World Threat, now available around the globe.

You’ll take on the role of the humungous mechanical robot Colossatron on your quest to utterly destroy city after city, using various colored robotic modules to give your wanton destruction just a little extra oomph.

Yeah, color-matching doesn’t sound that fun, but this one? It really is.

The Pebble smartwatch started as a project on Kickstarter and has now shipped over 190,000 units. While select partners like Yelp and Foursquare have been working with Pebble to create apps for the platform, Pebble is announcing that it will be introducing an official app store of its own in 2014.

Developers will be able to submit and sell apps in what Pebble is calling a “first-of-its-kind wearable tech application directory.” Like Apple’s App Store, Pebble owners will be able to browse for apps to install from the Pebble iOS and Android companion apps.

Last month Pebble released its 2.0 SDK that gives devs access to the device’s accelerometer and full support for iOS 7’s enhanced Notification Center. You can order a Pebble online for $150.

Source: Pebble

iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks have made passwords easier to deal with than ever thanks to iCloud Keychain, which saves your passwords and logins and syncs them across your devices, but it comes with a downside: you have to use Safari on all of your devices.

That cuts Chrome users like me right out, but luckily, there’s great apps like AgileBits’ 1Password, which does everything iCloud Keychain does and much, much more. In fact, I’d go as far as to say it’s the best password manager out there, full stop. So here’s good news: AgileBits has dropped the usually steep price of 1Password by 30%, allowing you to buy the award-winning, ultra-secure password locker for just $34.99.

1Password is an expensive upfront purchase, but once you make it, it’s worth it: free solutions like LastPass just have none of 1Password’s polish.

You can buy 1Password on the Mac App Store here.

Once the king of mobile gaming, over the past few years, Nintendo has found itself caught flatfooted by the rise of smartphones. Although the company’s 3DS portable game console can’t be said to be a total flop, it’s certainly not selling in gangbuster units compared to previous consoles, like the DS or Gameboy. The reason why is simple: most people have a perfectly good gaming device in their pockets all the time now in the form of their smartphone, and don’t want to have to carry around (let alone buy) an entirely separate device dedicated to gaming.

Many critics have suggested that it’s time for Nintendo to give up and just start releasing games based on its prize characters such as Mario or Link as iOS apps. Such advice is short-sighted, but that doesn’t mean Nintendo can’t be better leveraging Apple’s iOS platform… which is exactly what the Big N seems to have in mind.

Earlier this year, Cult of Mac cited a study from Distimo stating that developers with a hope of cracking the Top 10 paid apps needed to be making in the region of $47,000 per day.

Well, after a strong year for mobile, that number has been revised slightly.

According to Distimo’s 2013 Year in Review report, global revenue for the 200 highest grossing apps in the App Store stand at more than $18 million — a figure which breaks down to around $90,000 average for the top apps.

On iOS as on the Mac, there’s only two browsers that most people take seriously: Safari and Chrome. But another browser you should consider is Coast, an iOS browser made by Opera that turns the worldwide web into a sea of apps.

It’s a great browser, one of the few that re-imagines surfing as if it were designed from the ground-up to happen on the iPad, with a primarily gesture driven interface and chrome that stays out of the way until you need it. And now, Coast is getting better, thanks to a beefy 2.0 update.

Okay, so December’s generally a fairly quiet news month, but that does mean that we get to look back and remember the year which preceded it.

Well, it seems Apple is getting similarly misty-eyed about the year that was 2013 (either that, or they want to gloat about the phenomenal success of the App Store this year) since the company has just released its annual “Best Of” list — revealing the top iPhone and iPad apps according to the numbers.

Weather apps have a depressing tendency to be iPhone-only, as if iPad owners have never idly wondered whether it was raining outside or not. Yahoo’s gorgeous, Flickr-integrated Weather app was one of these, but no longer: version 1.5 of the Yahoo Weather app has snuck past the gates of the App Store, bringing iPad support to the mix as well as some welcome new social features.

The BBC has updated its official BBC Sport app, introducing support for the iPad and Android-powered tablets. The new release also makes usability and stability improvements, and allows those on Android to listen to live radio — including Premier League commentaries.

“Glue of the Internet” service IFTTT (If This Then That) is one of the most useful services around. Now a new app from developer Visual Candy is giving users the ability to add “location” to their IFTTT recipes.

At an event in New York City today, Instagram announced Instagram Direct, a new feature that allows users to share private photos and videos with their friends and loved ones. It will be baked into the existing Instagram app for Android and iOS with an update that’s rolling out today.

Sonic The Hedgehog 2 was undoubtedly a reason to buy a Sega Genesis back in 1992, but if you thought it was decent then, you should check it out the new remastered version for Android and iOS.

The title has been completely rebuilt for mobile devices, and it boasts exclusive new content including access to the mysterious Hidden Palace Zone and an all-new “Boss Attack mode,” plus improved graphics and audio.

Hey guys! Do you like videos automatically playing when you scroll by them! No one does! That’s why Facebook’s just introduced the feature to its official iOS app.

The latest game in the Adventure Time series of mobile games will go live on Google Play, the Amazon App Store, and in Apple’s own iTunes App Store this Thursday, according to Cartoon Network.

You’ll get to play as main characters Finn and Jake, along with several other supporting cast members, evading the crazy Ice King while skiing down an epic mountain. Mathematical!

Of course, you won’t use skis, but rather slide down the slope on your butt, true to the wacky television show on which the game is based.

It was back in the good old days of 2012, that we reported that Apple’s App Store had received more than 1 million submissions.

Well, it took between then and now for that number to mean that there are 1 million apps currently live.

Have you ever wanted to dive into the world of mobile game developments? Then this Cult of Mac Deals promotion is going to be something worth checking out.

In this Mobile Game Development With Corona SDK training course, expert author J.A. Whye teaches you to how to build games for iOS and Android devices utilizing the powerful tools available in the popular Corona SDK. There’s no time like the present to tackle this realm, as Cult of Mac Deals has it available for 49% off the regular price – just 49.99!

Many of the stats we have about iOS marketshare and demographics come from third-party companies, most of whom are tracking ad impressions within their network. As such, their stats have the potential of being inaccurate, and need to be taken with at least a little bit of salt.

Looks like online ad network Chitika can be trusted though. Earlier this week, we reported that Chitika was now tracking 74.1% of all devices as running iOS 7. Now, Apple is backing those numbers up, and it makes Google look pathetic.

Did Apple invent the “app”?

In terms of coining the word — or coming up with the idea of software — the obvious answer is that of course they didn’t.

But did Apple’s approach to apps — seen most readily through the type of applications sold through its App Store — forever change what the typical user thinks of when they hear the word?

Readdle has today rolled out a major new version of PDF Expert, on of its most popular productivity apps for iOS. The new release introduces an all-new design for iOS 7, as well as a much-improved file manager and PDF viewer, support for AirDrop and background downloads, and lots more.

360 degree video – like the experiential imagery you see in Google StreetView – is an exceptional way to share one-of-a-kind experiences. And now it’s possible on your iPhone with this latest offer from Cult of Mac Deals.

With the Kogeto Dot and the free Looker app, you’ll instantly have a fast and fun way to shoot fully interactive 360 degree video and share it online. The regular price for the Kogeto Dot and iStabilizer is $89, but through this promotion you’ll get it for 44% off – just $49!

Readdle, the team behind some of the best productivity apps and utilities for iOS, has slashed 50% off five of its top offerings for Black Friday. The sale includes titles like PDF Expert for iPhone and iPad, Calendars 5, and Printer Pro — all of which are now half price for a limited time.

Hatch, the cute virtual pet for iPhone from the makers of Clear, has received its first update just one week after making its App Store debut. The release adds some beautiful wallpapers for your iPhone, introduces some new shop items, and makes a long list of fixes, tweaks, and improvements.

Using the latest Tweetbot release in bed will be a much more enjoyable experience after today, thanks to the latest update that introduces a brand new night theme. The version 3.2 release also makes it faster to switch between multiple accounts, and allows you to reorder them for your convenience.

Apple has tweaked the App Store’s search engine to help users find the right apps even when they’re misspelled, according to a TechCrunch report. This means that developers with apps that either have tricky spellings or spacings should see a boost in traffic. Previously, misspelled searches were hardly ever leading to users discovering the right apps.