If you’re shackled by a unwieldy wireless plan that’s costing you an arm and a leg each month – FreedomPop is here to change all that. 100% free voice, free text, and free data on a 4G network is unheard of – but how can you make history if you don’t break boundaries?
That’s right. FreedomPop is offering the nation’s first 100% free mobile phone service with free voice, text, and data for one year – and Cult of Mac Deals has it available for only $159!
55 percent of Hinge users are looking to find a relationship, according to internal user surveys by the app developer. 35 percent want to find good dates. Only 5 percent admit to just wanting a hookup.
That’s a huge contrast from other apps like OK Cupid or Tinder, said Hinge developer Justin McLeod, who spoke to Cult of Mac over Skype.
His goal, he said, was to create a much better dating app, one that was just as easy to join as Tinder, but with more quality results. It seems to be working, as the app is growing by 10 percent every week.
Things has been a staple to-do app on iOS and OS X since the iPhone app was first released back in 2008. And despite its infamously slow update cycle, it remains popular.
The Apple Design Award-winning app has not yet received its major iOS 7 redesign, but today Cultured Code has announced that Things 3 will be coming “as early as possible in 2014.”
On top of that, Cultured Code is also announcing that Things has sold one million copies to date.
Goalability — Productivity — Free
A lot of people say that if you want to stick to a goal you set, the best thing you can do is tell other what you’re trying to do. If you keep it inside, you’re only accountable to yourself, and guess what? You lie.
Goalability aims to add that missing piece by making your goals public and putting them out where all your Facebook friends can see them and check in on you.
And you can do the same to them because karma is very real, and we are all of us its agents.
Old people probably remember Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!, a game for the original Nintendo Entertainment System about Little Mac, a tiny boxer rising through the ranks by defeating opponents so much larger that they look like they could swallow Mac whole with very little difficulty.
It’s an underdog story that owed a lot to films like Rocky and The Karate Kid — movies that helped to create that most honored of sports-story traditions: the training montage.
Endless Boss Fight, a new free-to-play game from developer White Milk Studios, is basically a perpetual game version of those montages.
It’s the holiday season again, and iOS devices top the lists of many of us, adult and child alike. If you’ve gotten one this year (kudos!), here’s our handy guide to get you started: the 12 “must have” apps for your brand new iPhone and iPad. Because, seriously, there are way too many apps out there to figure this out all on your own. You’re welcome.
VLC – Universal – Free
If you want to play movies you’ve downloaded on your iPhone or iPad, but don’t want to limit yourself to officially sanctioned formats via iTunes and the Videos app on your iPhone, VLC is your app. It’s a free, open-source port of the computer-based media player and it will play all those different video formats, like WMV and OGG files, without the need for conversion. You can watch your movies you’ve downloaded to your iOS device, or you can sync directly with Dropbox or iTunes on your Mac, as well as an embedded web server.
VLC in the App Store
Evernote – Universal – Free
This is, hands-down, the single most used app I have on my iPhone. You can create and edit text notes, reminders, and task lists and sync them across all your devices, including the web. You can record voice, audio and photo notes, search for text inside images, organize all your stuff into notebooks and tags and even share notes via email, Facebook, and Twitter.
Add to your Evernote shopping list on your Mac, for example and it will appear on your iPhone for use at the store. Share that note with your roommates or spouse, and you have the ideal solution for making sure everything gets purchased the next time one of you is at the store.
Evernote in the App Store
Fantastical 2 – iPhone – $3.99
This, well, fantastic, calendar replacement app uses a natural language parsing engine to help you make appointments and reminders with text or dictation. Say, “Lunch next Tuesday with Amy,” and Fantastical 2 will figure out what you mean, and place in on the appropriate slot.
You’ll never want to swipe those fiddly date and time wheels again. While the original Fantastical is still just as great, the new version has been updated for iOS 7. If you’re sick of the way typical digital calendars work, this is the app for you.
Fantastical 2 in the App Store
AroundMe – Universal – Free
AroundMe uses your location data to quickly let you find the nearest bank, bar, gas station, hospital, hotel, movie theater, restaurant, market, or taxi cab. You’ll get a complete list of nearby businesses in your chosen category, along with your distance from them, and you can quickly get the location up on a map. You can even send the info along to a buddy, or add the location to your Contacts. As if that wasn’t enough, you can even use AroundMe to fill you in on the details of the place using Wikipedia.
AroundMe in the App Store
Pocket Casts – Universal – $3.99
Our very own Killian Bell says this is the best podcast app out there, and it’s got the ratings to prove it. Pocket Casts is a sraightforward, easy to use, powerful “podcatcher” app that lets you subscribe and play any podcast out there, sync and back them up, filter your episode lists, set up auto downloads, and a ton more.
The killer feature here? Refreshing up to 50 podcasts in the same time it can take other podcast apps, even Apple’s, to refresh one. Grab it now and see what you’ve been missing.
Twitter – Universal – Free
Power users may prefer apps like Twitterrific and Tweetbot, but for the rest of us, the official Twitter app is really all we need. The latest update adds quite a bit of functionality, including a neat swipe between panels interface, easy conversation drilldowns, and more. If you need to access Twitter on your iPhone or iPad, but don’t want a cluttery interface or more features than you can shake a stick at, this is the one to start with.
Twitter in the App Store
Boxie – iPhone – Free
The original (and best, in my opinion) cloud storage drive, Dropbox, has its own iOS app, but Boxie makes that app feel old and slow. This super-useful Dropbox client app features many more ways to manage, organize, and access all your Dropbox content, with a gorgeous interface to boot. Boxie turns your Dropbox storage into something truly useful, getting you access to all your stuff with a minimum of effort or slow loading times.
Boxie in the App Store
Google Maps – Universal – Free
I hate to say it, but you really need to download Google’s navigation app. While Apple Maps is much improved these days, Google has been at it quite a bit longer, and while I much prefer Apple’s driving interface, Google Maps is just a more comprehensive experience.
Finding and getting to your destination is just much easier with Google Maps, and the voiced turn-by-turn navigation just seems to make a little more sense than Apple’s does. Don’t leave home without this on your iPhone or iPad.
Google Maps in the App Store
Instagram – iPhone – Free
Instagram is not only a photo sharing service within an app, but an entire social network, itself connected to other services out there like Flickr, Facebook, and Twitter. It launches quickly and lets you capture that moment in time so you can filter and contrast it into something visually interesting (usually!). Getting your photos out there is super fast, and now Instagram even does video sharing, with 15 second clips that use the same filtering system as the photos.
Instagram in the App Store
Mailbox – Universal – Free
Email may have revolutionized the way we communicate in our business personal lives, but Mailbox has truly change the game for mobile email management. Using a few easily remembered swipe-based gestures, Mailbox lets you deal with your email quickly and efficiently, storing some in lists, scheduling others to look at later, or just deleting the crap out of the stuff you really aren’t gonna read anyway. Mailbox puts the productivity back into your email workflow, and you’ll thank the developers for the innovation.
Mailbox in the App Store
Pocket – Universal – Free
Pocket, formerly Read It Later, may not be the first such service where you can send long web articles to your iPhone or iPad to read later, but it’s quickly become my “read this later” service of choice. There’s a Pocket extension for every web browser out there, and a click sends it along to the Pocket servers, which deliver your own mix of saved reading material for offline perusal at your own convenience, even offline. Pocket is simple to use, and I’d never be able to read those long articles without it.
Pocket in the App Store
Bump – iPhone – Free
Incredibly simple, Bump lets you do just that: touch your iPhone to another one running Bump and you’re instantly sharing your contacts, files, and photos. Heck, you can even use Bump with your Mac, provided you’ve downloaded the Mac app to your computer. It seems like a silly thing, but getting files around from device to device has never been simpler.
Bump in the App Store
This is Cult of Mac’s exclusive column written by an actual Apple Store Genius who answers all your questions about working at an Apple Store. Our genius must remain anonymous, but other than “Who are you, anyway?” ask anything you want about what goes on behind that slick store facade.
This week our Genius answers why the iPhone screen can be repaired in stores while the iPad has to be shipped away from special care. We also discuss whether working at the Apple Store can be turned into a solid career, plus the top 5 most annoying things customers do at the Apple Store.
Got a question you want the inside scoop on? Send us your questions and the answers will be published first in Cult of Mac’s Magazine on Newsstand. Send your questions to newsATcultofmac.com with “genius” in the subject line.
Q: Why can the Apple Store fix my broken iPhone screen in under 30minutes, but when I broke my iPad screen they had to swap it with an entirely new device, rather than just swapping the glass?
Apple really hasn’t made the iPad has repairable as the iPhone quite yet, even for Geniuses. Because of the design of the iPad display, when certain components break we have no choice but to swap your iPad for a new one and send the broken unit to be refurbished.
Right now it’s impossible to pop-off the iPads’ display and replace it with a new one due to all the glue Apple uses to keep it secure in the frame. With the iPhone, we can turn out the screws at the bottom and access a number of different components that can be replaced, like the vibration motor, speakers, camera, receiver and more.
The iPad is designed to be as thin as possible and I guess that meant Jony felt sacrifices to repairability outweigh the benefit of thinner and lighter iPad. Apple hasn’t developed a system yet for us to reattach iPad displays and looking at how thin everything is becoming, I’m not hopeful that will change soon.
Q: How long have you been working at the Apple Store? Are there any opportunities to make a career out of it and would you recommend it?
I have been working at the Apple Store just short of two years now. I started in a part-time position at the Genius Bar as a Family Room Specialist, a sort of lower-level genius that handles the mobile support queues and a few other tasks like training sessions. I applied to work full-time after I had learned the ropes and shortly after I was promoted to Genius. Despite the seemingly high turnaround, the fight for the better paying positions, like genius, can be pretty tough. There is a lot of competition. Most of the management positions require management experience, especially in retail, but on some occasions the experienced and qualified geniuses gets promoted to a management position.
For me, working at Apple has helped me develop and grow each day. It is a happy place to work, most of the time. Difficult customers and crazy workloads can sometimes make it hard to keep positive but it’s these people that succeed best at the Apple Store. In the end, It’s just a job for me. One that looks good on the resume. If you can get one of the higher paying roles and stay positive in the craziness that is the Apple Store you can definitely make a career out of it.
Q: What are your top five customer pet peeves?
We’ve shown you plenty of app deals, but this one may be the best. App Santa is a new project from some of the best and most popular indie iOS developers. It includes 15 award-winning apps that have been discounted for Christmas, like Clear, Tweetbot, 1Password, and Day One.
Here’s the full list:
Rockstar Games has been re-releasing its GTA catalog on iOS platforms for the past few years. GTA 3 appeared as a 10th-anniversary port back in late 2011, and revered follow-up Vice City turned up a year later. San Andreas’ arrival isn’t a surprise, then, but it’s certainly a pleasant treat — a bit like when that Christmas gift you’d been requesting all year finally turns up under the tree.
For those unfamiliar with this particular entry, it follows the rise and rise of former gangbanger Carl Johnson — aka CJ — as he returns to Los Santos to find his mom dead, his family in ruins and his former gang marginalized. From there it’s a climb back to the top, as CJ takes on local gangstas and corrupt cops en route to re-establishing control of the streets.
When your smartphone’s biggest selling point is its customization options, you need to get a little creative with your print ads. And that’s exactly what Motorola has done for the Moto X. In the January edition of Wired magazine, the company has a full-page ad with built-in LED lights that allows you to change the color of the Moto X printed on the page.
Check out the demonstration video below.
Remember that story we ran recently about the Grinch Apple Store that stole Christmas?
For those who don’t recall, the news item in question concerned a giant Christmas tree in shopping area De Passage of Netherlands city The Hague, which had been removed at Apple’s request so as not to obscure the entrance of its new store.
Just as in real life — where trouble-making siblings get more attention than quiet, studious ones — it seems that everyone is speculating about the supposed low sales of the iPhone 5c, while ignoring the fact that the iPhone 5s is ticking along nicely.
Very nicely, in fact, according to Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Chris Caso, who says that sales of the 5s haven’t fallen off since launch — and are more than offsetting weak demand for the 5c.
BBM has been a huge success on Android and iOS, and so although they may be rival platforms, that won’t stop BlackBerry from porting over its biggest and best BBM features to keep its messaging service alive.
In 2014, the Canadian company will rollout major updates that add BBM Channels, BBM Voice, and new sharing features — and you can see them in action in the video below.
Investors and other interested parties may have an explanation for Apple’s M.I.A. deal with China Mobile — and that explanation could be lower-than-expected iPhone 5c sales.
That’s according to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who suggests that this is the reason a deal between the two parties has yet to be finalized.
It’s come a long way from its disastrous early days (although there is still the occasional tendency to direct someone the wrong way up an airport taxiway), but Apple Maps may finally be taking the lead over its competitors — if you’re inclined to believe Apple’s latest patent.
The patent — recently published by the US Patent and Trademark Office — was filed May 31 this year, and applies to an “Interactive Map” application, which would display multiple layers of information regarding local landmarks.
The built-in iOS Reminders app has two big advantages: it’s ubiquitous, and it syncs flawlessly between devices. This makes it a great back end for other apps’ reminder systems, which is handy as the reminders app is a nightmare. Viewing and checking off completed tasks is fine, but creating them? Even Siri starts to seem attractive.
Luckily, you can now use an app called This Week to create and use your reminders. Better still, it excels at adding and managing due dates, which is the weak point of Reminders’ already weak task-creation offering.
Having issues with the VPN service for OS X Server Mavericks not accepting L2TP connections?
According to Apple the problem can happen if the client and server are behind different network address translation (NAT) gateways.
What would happen if you took a dork-o-lithic nylon “Executive Laptop Case” and tossed it onto a (giant) blender with a Chrome messenger bag? Well, I guess the blender would choke and break, but if you used a metaphorical blender then you’d end up with a slurry that could be turned into the Boa Nerve, a bag designed to take you “from the conference room to your bike.”
Coinciding with the launch of the redesigned Mac Pro and the upgrade to Final Cut Pro X, Apple’s pro digital audio workstation Logic Pro X has also received a major update — in the form of a Mac Pro-optimized version number 10.0.5.
The IMDB app has finally – finally – been updated to fit in with iOS 7’s tasteful decor. Heavy users of the app won’t really notice anything different in the layout, which remains as easy to use as ever (and way better than the terrible web version), but everyone will appreciate the new lick of paint, and the other new features that have been added to v4.0.
Speaking of remote-control and movies, Filmic Remote is a new companion app for the fantastic-but-fugly iOS movie-shooting app, Filmic.
As you will have guessed from the name, Filmic Remote lets you use one iOS device to remote control the Filmic app running on another iOS device.
AirWeb is web browser for your Apple TV. It uses your iPhone or iPad as a control and shows the results on the big screen via AirPlay, letting you quickly browse to any site using your multitouch screen.
You know hellish it is to watch somebody else browse the web as they double-click links and circle their cursor/finger around the page as they search for something to click? AirWeb solves that problem.
Back before there was home video, there was Super 8, Kodak’s home movie system which used film cartridges to record sound and moving images, ready to be played back onto a giant projector screen at home. So pervasive is the aesthetic of Super 8 that even today, fake home movie footage in TV shows and movies is usually degraded to look more filmic.
But this isn;t a post about nostalgia. It’s a post about a sweet new digital cartridge – the Nolab – that brings old Super 8 Cameras back to life.
Pyle Audio makes one of pretty much everything. If it has wires, knobs, plastic or is made of a material that can be found in or near our solar system, Pyle makes it. Cover for your boat’s stereo? Yes. How about a thingy that detects leaks from microwave ovens? You bet. And a waterproof telephone handset for the shower? Try not to gurgle when your boss calls.
Add one more gadget to the (wait for it) Pyle. This time, the prolific company has proffered up a scale — one of the fancy Bluetooth-connected ones that comes with its own app.
Shazam has been a favorite iOS app of mine for years. Have you ever been out and about, heard a song, and wondered what it was? That’s what Shazam is for. It’s always felt like magic to me, and the app’s developers have even added the ability to identify TV shows.
The most recent update to Shazam adds a feature I’m not sure I like, the ability to listen and identify music/TV without the user asking. In the past, you’ve always had to tap the button in the center of the screen, but now an auto switch makes it possible for the app to be listening in the background even when it’s not open or the iPhone is locked.