After announcing that the iconic game would come to iOS last month, Rockstar is releasing GTA San Andreas today. The game is live in certain countries already, and will be available globally in the coming hours at this link. If the link does not work for you currently, it will do when the clock turns midnight in your region’s timezone. The game costs $7 and is compatible with iPhone 4s and later, iPad 2 and later and the fifth generation iPod touch.
Just in time for the holidays, Pinterest has released a major update to its iPad app with a new user interface and features to enjoy:
Now you can get to your profile, notifications and more from the handy menu at the bottom—it’ll always be there when you need it. And when you’re ready to Pin something new, we’ll show you your most recent boards for speedier Pinning (hello, Pinning sprees!).
The update includes new ways to share and discover boards and includes hidden boards for discovering as well.
The update is available now for iPad on the App Store.
In a refreshing departure from its iconic flick-and-throw style animated gameplay, Rovio is out with a brand new Mario Kart-like game depicting the ongoing battle between the winged warriors and pesky pigs with Angry Birds GO!
Angry Birds GO! delivers ‘breakneck speed’ downhill racing on Piggy Island in the first three-dimensional version of the series for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Expand Expanding Close
Twitter for iPhone received a major update today bringing yet another user interface update for iOS 7 and a handful of feature additions.
Namely, users can now share images over Direct Messages, which is now featured prominently on the bottom tab bar. Previously, users had to rely on third party services for sharing links to images in DMs, but now with native image support images appear inline.
Photo sharing over Direct Message appears to only be supported in the official Twitter apps (iPhone, iPad, Android) and lacks an API, so photos shared over DM currently cannot be composed by third party Twitter clients like Tweetbot or Twitterrifc. Twitter for Mac also lacks support for DM photo sharing, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see it pick up support before third party clients.
The update also brings support for Safari’s Reading List allowing you to save articles from tweeted links for viewing later in Safari. This function was made available with the debut of iOS 7 so it’s nice to see it appear it Twitter’s iPhone app.
The update contains a handful of other features as well (full changelog below): Expand Expanding Close
Chromecast, which retails for $35 (currently $32.88 on Amazon Prime), can now play local files synced with your Plex media library from iOS, Android, or Chrome. Plex support is highly requested and offers a major advantage for content consumers looking to play content from a device to an HDTV.
Castro is a brand new podcasting app for the iPhone (available in the App Store for $2.99). It’s not an update to an existing podcast client. It’s a new app. It doesn’t have any legacy to anchor it down because it really is a fresh start.
iOS users looking to accept payments on their mobile devices now have another option. Flint has just been updated to version 2.0. The app adds several new and useful features for small businesses, such as the ability to create invoices right in the app.
The app also introduces support for Passbook coupons. Merchants can create their own coupons and issue them to customers as Passbook passes. The Flint app can then scan these coupons and apply them directly to a transaction.
The 2.0 update also allows merchants to create orders with multiple items, and scan credit and debit cards using the camera on their iOS device. Cash and check sales can also be tracked within the new app and customers can get receipts for their transactions.
Viber, the popular cross-platform VoIP app, released Viber 4.1 for iOS today. The new app introduces a new calling feature called Viber Out. This service allows users on any supported Viber platform to place outgoing calls to any landline or mobile number in the world at rates lower than many other similar offerings.
Viber Out also allows users to use their real phone number as their caller ID, meaning the party on the other end will see your number as if the call was coming from the users phone, so there’s no need for your contacts to save a new VoIP number in order to recognize you.
Apple has just launched its annual 12 Days of Gifts campaign for 2013. In previous years, this campaign was available only in a few select countries, but not in the United States. For the first time Apple will now allow U.S. customers to participate in the giveaway.
The 12 Days of Gifts app is available for free on the iTunes Store. Each day for twelve days the app will provide a special free item from the iTunes, iBooks, and App Stores. Each gift is only available for 24 hours, so users have to check in every day to make sure they get everything that’s offered. This year the giveaways start on December 26th and run through January 6th.
From 26 December – 6 January, you can download a gift each day—songs, apps, books, movies, and more—with the 12 Days of Gifts app. Each day’s gift will only be available for 24 hours, so download the free app to make sure you don’t miss out. Please note: Not all content is available in all countries.
Amazon’s Cloud Drive Photos app, the company’s dedicated cloud-based photos app which debuted on the iPhone earlier this year in May, updated today with two major features.
First, the app, contrary to the its official name, supports managing videos from your device. Users can upload or download videos up to 2GB in file size or 20 minutes in duration. Expand Expanding Close
Proving it can stay competitive with iTunes Radio, the streaming music service that debuted with iOS 7, Pandora Radio is busy at work bringing new features to its own customizable streaming music service.
The company released a feature update today to its iOS app bringing with it the ability to set song or artist stations as alarm clocks.
While the native Clock app in iOS can awake you to a specific song, Pandora’s station alarm clock is a nice addition to iOS and a compelling reason to use Pandora Radio even if you’re an iTunes Radio evangelist.
Pandora Radio 5.1 also brings full iOS 7 compatibility as it was previously designed for the iOS 7 but built for iOS 6,
Check out the full release notes below and download the latest version from the App Store.
Microsoft has released a major update for its Bing app for iPad. The new app features a revamped interface to match the aesthetic of Apple’s latest OS along with a host of other features and improvements. Users are now able to save the daily image found on the search engine’s home page to their camera rolls for use as a wallpaper or whatever other purpose they decide.
Images and bookmarks can now be saved in the app and synced via Mirosoft’s SkyDrive service to other devices. Search results can now be shared to Facebook, Twitter, and other social platforms. Improvements and updates have been made to maps results, the Bing logo, and other graphics throughout the app.
Google this afternoon announced an update to its Search apps on both Android and iOS that includes voice search support for three addition languages. In a blog post, the company announced that the app can now understand French, German, and Japanese. In addition to being able understand the new languages and give text results, the Search app can also now give spoken answers back in those languages.
To try it out, simply tap the microphone in the search box and ask for anything you’re looking for. If you need some coffee in Munich, just say “Wo bekomme ich Kaffee in München?” to get a list of local options. Wondering what the height of the Eiffel tower is? Get a quick answer by asking, “Quelle est la hauteur de la Tour Eiffel?”. Maybe you need to know who invented the transistor ? Try asking in Japanese for “トランジスタを発明したのはだれ？”
Google says it will continue to work on adding even more languages to its Search app and that this is just the beginning of its efforts.
We’re in the thick of the holiday season and that means lots and lots of gift buying for our family and friends. I’ve been using a number of apps on my iPhone and iPad to smooth out this year’s gift buying experience. Check out my app recommendations below… Expand Expanding Close
Plex, the popular media player for desktop and mobile devices, has been updated to version 3.3 today. The update introduces an updated look based on Apple’s iOS 7 design along with a new media player screen for music and videos. The iOS 7 design isn’t entirely new, but a tweaked version of the existing design. The update also includes miscellaneous bug fixes.
You can get Plex for iOS now on the App Store. For new users, the app is $4.99. Existing users can update to version 3.3 for free.
As we’ve previously reported, Apple began giving away select paid apps in its Apple Store app recently as an added incentive to download and check out the app.
This week in particular Apple has replaced the free app with free music from iTunes instead. The playlist is appropriately holiday themed and features songs such as Silent Night by Kelly Clarkson and The First Noel by Mary J Blige. Expand Expanding Close
The 3.7.1 update is recommended for all Apple Remote Desktop clients and addresses several issues related to overall reliability, usability and compatibility.
The Apple Remote Desktop Dashboard widget* gives you an instant, at-a-glance view of the remote computers in your network.
It’s fully integrated with the Apple Remote Desktop administrative application, so a click on a particular computer will allow you to select and start working with any computer in the system.
The widget requires a user to have the administrative app installed.
Back in April, we reviewed Infuse, a media player application by FireCore, the makers of aTV Flash. After several feature updates, and an announcement earlier this year, FireCore today released Infuse 2, an all new version of the application with a completely redesigned user interface and a new pricing structure.
Amazon announced today an update to Amazon Cloud Player for iOS that brings sync support between its streaming music service and several BMW and Mini cars. Models from 2011 and forward which feature BMW Apps or Mini Connect will be able to access Amazon Cloud Player libraries with dashboard control support as well, Amazon says. Expand Expanding Close
With the debut of Ember for iOS today, the image collection app from Realmac Software just got a lot more useful with iCloud sync connecting your Mac, iPad, and iPhone.
Does the complete Ember suite have what it takes to stack up against Photo Stream, Dropbox, and other image syncing solutions? Check out my week-long hands-on experience below…
