Forgetting the disaster that was Battlefield 3: Aftershock, I’ve always thought EA’s other Battlefield titles for iOS were pretty good. But the company has promised a new “high-end” and “high-performance” Battlefield title for mobile that could come a little closer to its console counterpart — and may even be able to “inter-operate” with it.
The Spotify app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch has finally been updated to support iOS 7. There are some subtle interface changes that better fit iOS 7’s new design guidelines, but it’s not quite the overhaul you may have been expecting.
Who cares?
That’s the question I was asked time and time again when I told people that BBM was coming to Android and iOS. But it seems a lot of people care. In fact, when BBM finally made its cross-platform debut yesterday, the app was downloaded over 5 million times in just eight hours.
The next best thing to actually being at an Apple press event is being able to watch the whole thing live from the comfort of your own living room. Unfortunately, the Cupertino company doesn’t live stream every event to the public, but you’ll be pleased to know it will be showing today’s iPad event.
I dig biplanes, but nothing says dogfighting like a British Spitfire up against a Messerschmitt Bf 109, or a Marine Corsair duking it out with a Mitsubishi Zero.
For the next installment of turn-based strategy gem Sid Meier’s Ace Patrol, 2K and Firaxis Games have gone with the latter, and bumped the game ahead several decades from World War I, setting it smack in the middle of the Pacific during World War 2.
Note: This article originally appeared in the Cult of Mac Newsstand issue, Game On!. Grab yourself a copy or subscribe today.
Most video games transform you into a warrior, a thief, a space alien or race car driver. A new breed of games aims to make you a better person by putting you in the shoes of a young father with a son dying of cancer or playing the part of someone grappling with depression, immigration or sexual identity issues.
Called “empathy games,” they hope to change one of the most often criticized aspects of these beloved pastimes: that they foster violence and isolation. Game designer Jane McGonigal’s widely read 2011 book “Reality is Broken” set the playing field for a world where games reward good behavior and nice guys finish first.
The Hulu Plus app for iOS has been updated today with support for Google Chromecast. You’ll find a new ‘Cast’ button within the app that will stream your favorite shows to your television with the help of the $35 dongle.
“We know you’ve been enjoying the Hulu Plus app on Chromecast with your Android phones/tablets and iPads over the last few weeks. Today, we are excited to add the Chromecast integration for Hulu Plus to your iPhones.”
The addition of Chomecast integration will finally give iPhone users the ability to use their app as a custom remote. From the Hulu Plus ass you can control videos on Chromecast connected to your TV while also browsing the app on your iPhone to queue up your next choice. The update is available for free in the App Store.
Source: Hulu
BlackBerry announced this morning that its BlackBerry Messenger app for iPhone will be available later today, but you’ll have to wait in line before you can use it.
After a disastrous attempted launch last month, the company says it has fixed all the server issues caused by a leaked BBM APK for Android, but to ease into the cross-platform launch it is implementing a waiting system where iPhone users download the app, enter their email address, and then wait for an email notification that you can finally use BBM.
Did Jony Ive design iOS 7 in Microsoft Word to win a bet at the bar? Almost certainly not, but he could have. Every single one of the new iOS 7 icons — including the more intricate ones like Game Center, Maps, and Stocks — can be recreated almost perfectly in Word.
Vaclav Krejci demonstrates the whole process in the video below.
SEGA has today announced its mobile games lineup for the coming months, with a number of notable new titles heading to Android and iOS.
Highlights include a revamped Sonic the Hedgehog 2 — which will be available on Android for the first time; Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing Transformed, and a rhythm franchise that originally made its debut on the Nintendo DS.
Fastmail, a mail device which really is fast, has just gotten even faster, and even slicker. The best alternative to Gmail just launched a brand new mobile interface that is so good that you might even ditch the native mail app on your iPhone and iPad.
There are a bunch of apps out on iOS for kids, from educational apps to sports apps and more. Sure, you can get reviews of these games by adults, sometimes even from parents of kids who use them.
We thought it’d be fun, though, to ask the kids themselves.
Welcome to Kid APProved, a series of videos in which we ask our own children what they think of apps on the App Store that they’re using.
This week, it’s Halloween-themed Costume Quest from Double Fine Productions. Here’s what our Kid APProved reporter thinks.
Asphalt 8: Airborne, the latest high-octane racing game from Gameloft, is now free for a limited time as part of Apple’s App of the Week promotion. The discount comes less than two months after the game made its App Store debut, and it’s usually priced at $0.99.
As promised, Microsoft has released its official Remote Desktop app for Android and iOS to coincide with the launch of Windows 8.1. The app is free to download and use, and just like the many third-party remote desktop clients, it allows you to access your Windows PC remotely from your smartphone or tablet.
A year and a half ago, Bob Shor’s diabetic dad asked him if he had seen his dad take his insulin. Bob’s answer, “No, I didn’t see you take your meds” was interpreted by his father as “No, you haven’t taken them.” His dad overdosed that day, which Bob says was the reason he and his brother Rotem created MediSafe, a collaborative app that helps keep track of long-term medication.
The app will remind users when it’s time to take meds, and display dosage and an image of what the meds actually look like. There’s even a refill reminder and personalized information and details about taking the drug and effects. But the big feature is the app’s collaborative nature.
Cell phone numbers are a direct path that often lead straight to us, regardless of where we are or what we’re doing. And once we’ve given someone our number, they have it for good. And if things go south, the only option is to change your number, right?
Pretty much — but that’s easy to do if you used a new app called RingMeMaybe to give them a temporary number in the first place.
The only reason I picked up Disco Bees to play today was the name. I’m really rather tired of the match-three dynamic, but I figured cute bees and disco music was a good combo to try, regardless.
What I found was a compelling match-three game that does indeed have the same mechanics as many other free-to-play matching games, like Candy Crush or Dragon Academy. In addition, however, it’s got amazingly adorable dancing bees and a killer soundtrack that does fantastic justice to the disco genre without using licensed music.
Did I mention cute dancing bees? You really need more? Fine.
Wondering what Spacetime Games is up to these days? After a successful launch of free-to-play Battle Dragons this past August, the team has turned its attention to a new combat strategy game with the same branding: Battle Command!
In this new game, you’ll take command of a small group of soldiers and try and shape them into a crack team of military force. You’ll collect resources, construct bases, recruit troops, form alliances, and fight on the battlefield (obviously). Battle Command! will have a bunch of single player missions to help hone your skills, and then some serious global multiplayer, something Spacetime has been getting right for years.
While you may see the same adverts inside the Facebook app no matter which smartphone you use, those ads are 1,790% more profitable on the iPhone than they are on Android-powered smartphones. That’s according to an analysis of over 200 billion Facebook ads from Nanigans, one of the biggest customers of Facebook ads.
I don’t know about you, but I love Control Center in iOS 7. I don’t know how I managed without it before (or why it took Apple so long to introduce it). And I’d love to see a similar feature brought to the Mac that would allow me to control my music, adjust the brightness of my display, and toggle things like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
Fortunately, we don’t have to wait for Apple to create it, because it’s already here, thanks to Controls+ for Mac.
Sparrow was once my favorite third-party email clients for Mac and iOS, but after its creators were bought by Google last year, the likelihood of improvements and new features seemed to go out of the window. And indeed, the app has been all but ignored since the acquisition — until it got a surprise update today.
iOS 7 had been available to the public for just 27 days as of Monday, October 14 — and it had already been installed on 71% of all iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches. That’s according to the latest report from Mixpanel which suggests iOS 7 could be the fastest-spreading iOS update to date.
Touch ID has received all kinds of praise since it made its debut on the iPhone 5s last month, so naturally, the question everyone’s asking is whether the new fingerprint-scanning technology will make its way to other iOS devices.
We’ve already seen evidence that suggests it will come to the second-generation iPad mini, and the blurry picture above seems to prove that Touch ID is also coming to the fifth-generation iPad, alongside its all-new design.
Still waiting for BBM to come to Android and iOS? Aren’t we all.
It’s been almost four weeks since BlackBerry attempted and then stalled its cross-platform BBM rollout, and the Canadian company has remained pretty quiet about its plans ever since. But according to chief marketing officer Frank Boulben, we could see BBM in the App Store and Google Play before the end of the week.
For telly addicts in the U.K., the free TVCatchup app for Android and iOS makes it easy for them to watch live TV channels while they’re on the go. But thanks to an ongoing legal dispute with a number of public service broadcasters, the app’s developers have been forced to pull popular feeds, including ITV and Channel 4.