App Store - page 69

So here it is: iTunes 11. A lot has changed, but not so much that you’ll feel lost. Here’s what we’ve found after our first poke around inside.

Apple’s App Store has been the undisputed revenue king since its inception, however, its once enormous lead is now quickly shrinking. That leading edge over Android is an argument that’s becoming moot as the Play’s revenue continues to grow at a ravenous rate. According to App Annie, an industry leader in app store analytics and marketing, Google Play’s revenues have skyrocketed 311% in the last year, compared to the App Store’s more conservative 12.9%.

I was never a big fan of the Dreamcast, but it did have a couple of titles I really liked. One of those was Jet Set Radio, a hugely enjoyable game in which you would skate around a city and mark your turf by “tagging” walls, billboards, and rival gang members with spray paint. I’m sure you’ve already heard of it.

Now you can enjoy this awesome game on your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad — because it’s just hit the App Store.

500px launched an awesome iPad app last year, which allowed us to browse the site’s stunning photography from the comfort of our armchairs. We’ve been itching to have the same experience on our iPhones ever since, and today it’s here — a new 500px app for iPhone and iPod touch.

Skype has issued an update to its iOS app that introduces support for Microsoft accounts, and a number of new features. Users can now login to the app using their Messenger, Hotmail, and Outlook.com credentials and then merge their accounts. And if you’ve got an iOS device with a Retina display, you can enjoy animated emoticons. Finally!

Here at Cult of Mac, we love Checkmark, the terrific task management app for iPhone. In fact, we think its awesome location-based reminders make it the perfect alternative to Apple’s own Reminders app. If you haven’t already discovered it yourself, then now’s the perfect time, because Checkmark is on sale for $0.99 just this week.

There are quite a few apps out there that share your location data and allow you to check in at a place, like Foursquare, Facebook, etc. They’re pretty fantastic, and they let your friends see where you are at, and then come meet you.

But what if you want to share where you are going to be in a little while? What about letting your friends know that you’re on your way, and letting them track where you are, how far away you are, and when you’ll arrive at a certain location? Glympse has got your back for that very thing, and some other great stuff.

Adobe pushed out a big update to its Ideas app for iOS today, introducing a number of news tools and features that promise to give you “more creative options and control.” There are enhanced tools for drawing, working with color, and managing layers, Adobe says — in addition to support for the iPhone 5, iPad mini, and iOS 6.

Sonic Jump, Sega’s latest iOS game, has received a great new update that’s now available to download from the App Store. In addition to 12 brand new levels, this release brings new characters and new enemies.

Kicking off this week’s must-have apps roundup is Nokia’s great new mapping app called HERE Maps. It’s accompanied by an awesome App.net client called Stream, a great new app that tracks who stopped following you on Twitter, and more.

I hope you have some cash left after Black Friday, because we have some awesome iOS games for you in this week’s roundup. Kicking us off is Vengeance: Woz With A Coz, the first video game to feature Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. We also have Meganoid 2, and awesome new platform game; the best boxing game you’ll find on iOS, and more.

There’s a good chance you can think of someone who plans on giving an Apple product this holiday season. Apple has rolled out its own Holiday Gift Guide and has its own gifting information page, which details the basics about gifting Apple products. If you’re looking for a little more assistance when shopping for Apple products then this guide is for you. Here we offer some simple tips to help the average holiday shopper save time and money when gifting Apple products.

Danny Trejo’s Vengeance: Woz With A Coz, the new iOS game featuring Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak that we told you about earlier this month, is now available to download from the App Store for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Priced at just $0.99, the 8-bit retro platformer sees Woz teaming up with Danny Trejo in an effort to save Woz’s wife, “J-Woz,” who has been kidnapped.

Readdle, the developer behind some of the most popular productivity apps for iOS, has discounted a few of its best offerings for Black Friday. Some of which are down by as much as 80%, while PDF Expert for iPhone is now completely free. We’ve got a complete list of the reductions below, but remember: they’re only for a limited time, so grab the while you can.

This kind of giveaway is just too good to ignore. In a nutshell, two lucky winners will walk away with an iPad Mini. That’s just…awesome.

So if you’ve ever hoped, wished, dreamed, or thought about getting an iPad Mini this iPad Mini Giveaway is right up your alley.

After announcing back in October that it will bring Grand Theft Auto: Vice City to Android and iOS to celebrate the game’s 10th anniversary, Rockstar Games went quiet on the release, leaving us all to wonder when it would finally arrive. It even had me searching the App Store for ‘Vice City’ on a daily basis in the hope that it would suddenly appear.

The company has now confirmed, however, that Vice City will hit the App Store and Google Play on December 6, priced at $4.99.

For developers, distributing promo codes can be a pain in the neck. Apple gives its third-party devs the ability to share an app with a limited number of users—a feature that is often used to give bloggers like myself early access to software before it comes out. That way we can test and get familiar with a certain app in order to provide helpful feedback and possibly write a review.

A new Mac app called Tokens offers developers a drastically improved method for generating and distributing their app promo codes.

Apple’s App Store first made its debut on the iPhone 3G back in July 2008, much to the delight of iPhone owners whose only taste of third-party software prior to that was with web apps. Now, just over four years on, it has received more than 1 million app submissions.

Back in October of 2010, iOS developer Applidium brought VideoLAN’s legendary VLC media player to the App Store. Unfortunately, the universal app had a short shelf life, as it was pulled at the request of VideoLAN a few months later. The issue revolved around VLC’s General Public License (GPL) licensing agreement. Because VLC is open source software, it was technically illegal for Applidium to sell a port in Apple’s DRM-restricted App Store.

Fast forward more than a year later, and a change in VideoLAN’s licensing means that VLC can be legally brought back to the App Store in all of its glory.

Nintendo, unlike many software developers, has chosen to ignore the goldmine that is Apple’s App Store by refusing to develop its titles for iOS. It’s almost guaranteed that the Japanese company would make an absolute killing if it just brought fan favorites like Super Mario, Zelda, and Pokémon to our iPhones and iPads. But president Satoru Iwata is adamant it will only develop titles for its own hardware.

There are signs, however, that Nintendo is cracking. It just released its first paid iOS app, a mobile version of the Nintendo 3DS’s Pokédex, to customers in Japan.

Memory. Not only do you have one, but you’ve probably played any number of card-flipping memory games in your life… possibly on the App Store, where there are over 50 of such games that promise to test the limits of your recollections.

Those games are now under attack, as Apple is sending notices to developers demanding that they remove the word “Memory” from their titles. It’s not Apple’s fault, though: rather, a German company is gunning for them, claiming it owns the trademark for the word in dozens of European, African and South American countries.

Tap Tap Tap has updated its hugely popular Camera+ app for iPhone today, introducing a stack of great new features and lots of improvements. It claims to have “made the impossible possible” by introducing a front-facing flash, in addition to a horizontal level, live exposure, and more.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II launched today, and with it comes a new update to the Call of Duty Elite app for iOS. In addition to support for the latest game, the app brings an “all-new iPad experience,” which includes a new feature called Elite TV that allows you to live-stream Black Ops II gameplay and multiplayer guides.

It’s been almost a month since Apple began shipping the iPhone 5, and we’re still waiting for some of the biggest apps to be updated for its larger 4-inch display. Fortunately, as of today, eBay and Skype are not longer on that list.

Spotlight is, in my opinion, one of the most underrated features of iOS. I know so many people who don’t use it, yet I find it indispensable when it comes to searching for emails, notes, contacts, and apps I’ve hidden in a folder somewhere. And with SLightEnhancerSearch, a new tweak for jailbroken iOS devices, it’s even better.

SLightEnhancerSearch enhances Spotlight by introducing the ability to search YouTube, Twitter, Amazon, the App Store, and lots more — right from your home screen.