Rovio is gearing up to release its first new episode for their most recent hit, Angry Birds Star Wars. This new episode includes our favorite snowy planet Hoth, chock full of pig driven AT-AT walkers. The update is set to go live sometime tomorrow and should keep you Rebel Alliance Angry Birds lovers busy for a bit.
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.
Like Spotify, Rdio offers unlimited music streaming for a monthly subscription fee. Today Rdio unveiled a completely redesigned iOS app in the App Store, and it’s available now as a free download for subscribers.
Clean and simple design has always been a plus for Rdio, and the new iPhone and iPad apps reflect that design taste.
Fruitiny is a retro-style memory game for iOS, one of those games that takes about 10 seconds to learn and many hours of tapping to conquer.
Australian airline Qantas has announced its support for Apple’s Passbook service, allowing users to checkin using digital boarding passes on their iPhones.
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.
I remain firmly of the opinion that a driver should drive, and not sip coffee, or listen to the radio, or text his lover, or use cruise-control. As a cyclist, I rely on the pilots of these road-going behemoths to pay attention to the road in order for me to remain alive.
So I have mixed feelings about a gadget which puts a cellphone within such easy reach.
General Motors has announced that its upcoming Chevrolets will be the world’s first cars to offer “Eyes Free” Siri integration, allowing drivers to use the voice control capabilities of their iPhone without taking their hands off the wheel. The feature will be integrated into GM’s MyLink infotainment system.
With all the junk floating out there at the Apple App Store and Google Play (Android users, you get the nastier end of the shaft in this case), it’s no wonder good apps can often go undiscovered and neglected, withering pitifully under a heap of flashy debris.
One way to find diamond-in-the-rough apps — or apps that actually do what you want them to — is to regularly read blogs like either of the Cult twins. But there’s another way, and it involves using an app discovery tool like Hubbl.
Good news, everyone! Barnes & Noble’s Nook app for iOS has just been updated with support for Apple’s fantastic VoiceOVer accessibility feature, as well as the zoom functionality. This brings the Nook iOS app up to parity with iBooks, the only other iOS e-reader app that can be used by folks with a visual impairment or learning disability to have books read out loud.
Zoom lets those with low vision see the screen at much higher magnification than just increasing the font size, allowing them to use the buttons, icons, and other visual interface systems that they can’t see at the standard size on the iPad or iPhone screen.
The original Air Display is a great way to add a temporary second screen to any laptop or desktop Macintosh. It’s also super easy to set up and use, as we told you in an iOS tip a while back.
Unfortunately, it’s also a bit on the spendy side. While $10 really isn’t that much to spend for quality software that lets your Mac use an iPad as a second monitor, some folks might not want to spend that much without giving it a good try first.
Minecraft fans might be interested in Minecraft Reality, a two-dollar app that popped up in the Store last week. It lets you insert Minecraft-created 3D models into the real world, which sounds pretty cool. But it has some limitations.
The shipping delay for Apple iPhone 5 has been steadily dropping over the past few weeks, and today it reached an all-time low of just one week. At least, that’s the case if you live in Australia. Estimates for other regions — including the United States — are still at two weeks, but we’re expecting those to drop soon, too.
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.
C’mon, who among us hasn’t snapped a photo on Instagram and thought “wow, that’d look great on my wall” — I know I have. So Art.com came up with Photos to Art, a slick app that painlessly, almost magically transform your digital snapshot into a piece of art — all you need to provide is some money and a bit of imagination (and they’ll even help you with that last one).
We’re a few weeks away from the start of a new year, which means the time to adopt new habits is fast approaching. Rather than adopt a new habit, some people learn a new skill – and building apps for the iPhone and iPad is very much in fashion these days. This soon-to-end Cult of Mac Deals offer aims to help you build those apps with the most in-depth and comprehensive Xcode course for complete beginners.
And you can get this course for just $79 — but do it before it’s gone for good!
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.
I’ve stayed in some pretty nasty hotels in my time, but none of them ever quite got as bad as Bad Hotel.
Bad Hotel is bad in the sense that I wouldn’t want to stay there. Too many bad guys trying to smash it down all the time. Unusual, for hotels, but there you go.
As a game, though, Bad Hotel is fantastic. It’s brilliantly different. It doesn’t care what you think of its weirdness. It’s there to entertain, and does so with charm and wit.
Right now, iOS’s notifications system is curiously bifurcated in design between the alert bubble system of iOS 4 and the banner notifications that appeared in iOS 5. A new concept floating around, though, has some great ideas on how these systems could be merged in iOS 7 by a new iOS UI design team lead by Jony Ive.
Twitter may have given up on its official Mac client, which hasn’t seen an update in well over 18 months, but one third-party developer hasn’t. Deniz Mert Edincik, an iOS developer from Turkey, has taken it upon himself to patch the application to provide support for Apple’s new Retina MacBook Pros.
Apple has reportedly further distanced itself from rival Samsung by switching its suppliers for iPad and MacBook batteries. The Cupertino company has been seemingly working to avoid Samsung’s components since the companies became embroiled in various legal battles all over the world.
Editor’s Note: We will be updating this post with more deals as we find them, so make sure to check back later. Also, if you see a deal we missed, let us know in the comments and we’ll add it!
Here we go again – the big retailers are starting to preview their Black Friday sales to whip us all into a frenzy. Target, Best Buy, Amazon, and Walmart, so far, have stepped up early to let potential shoppers know what, exactly, they can expect to find at each respective online or brick and mortar store this holiday season. Here’s what’s in store (pun totally intended) for you. We’ve also started rounding up the online store specials for this most festive retail season of the year, as well.