Tag: apps

Skyscanner Flights – A real world test

What with the delightful weather we are having here in the UK, you may not have noticed that it is, in fact… summer. Do you feel that you need to get a bit of sun on your bones, or you fancy whisking your loved one away on a …

Just how secure is your smartphone?

Whether you’re playing World of Goo, Candy Crush Saga, a full-on RPG, or the latest real-money casino games, every mobile user needs to be concerned about security. No-one wants personal details stolen, logins compromised, or credit card information hacked into, but the truth is that attacks are on the …

Latest YouTube update brings video editing.

The YouTube app has recently been updated, bringing changes to the user interface – now across the top of the screen are 3 tabs these being Home, Subscriptions and Account. From the Home tab you will be served up recommendations which are based on your watch history. Plus YouTube will now …

Giveaway: Scanner Pro 6 for iOS

A few weeks ago, I wrote a review of the latest update to one of Readdle‘s top apps: Scanner Pro 6 for iOS. This is a free update to an already amazing app. Version 6 brings amazing features like auto-scanning when the camera detects documents, and the all-new radar, …

Running a business from home on your smartphone

I spoke to a friend recently who is already selling products from home. They make a little bit of additional cash but, with a smartphone doing nothing now than advertising their business to friends on Facebook, they wanted to know if there was any additional way of getting …

No, I don’t want an app for that.

I did something I’ve done before last night. It didn’t take long and, after I’d done it, I felt better. I reset my Android phone. Why? Well, I’m sure we’ve all been there. Many call me an Android fanboy but I’m fully prepared to point out the faults …

Four user-friendly and free reading apps for Android

My wife loves reading books. She’s probably read more books in the last month than I have … err.. ever. Now, if you’ve got Android then you may have your favourite e-reader app already, but have you considered the others that are out there? There’s stacks of apps …

Amazon off-load another batch of free apps and games

In my head it’s already the weekend, so I’m spending this afternoon looking for deals. Amazon are having another one of their giveaways via their Amazon freebies. You need to go and get the Amazon app store for your Android phone first, then – until Saturday at noon …

Will smartwatches have the same range of apps as smartphones?

Well, that certainly didn’t take long. No sooner has the Apple Watch been announced and we’re already getting emails telling us about apps that’ll run on the thing. That’s expected I guess, but when betting apps also set to arrive on the thing, you know it’ll probably be …

Top apps to keeping your finger on the pulse of sports news

After reading Leighs problems with his TV (it had an unfortunate collision with a Nintendo Wii controller), I noticed that it would ruin his yearly get-together watching the Cheltenham Festival. Hopefully he’ll have a new TV sorted by then, but if you’re into your horse racing you’ll no …

Why Nintendo won’t make their games available for smartphones

For years, gamers have been imploring Nintendo to release its older games on smartphone platforms and operating systems. These pleas have fallen on deaf ears, however, current president Satoru Iwata is instead taking an entirely different approach. More specifically, he plans to remake popular smartphone games for the …

Getting your app to stand out from the crowd

Creating your own app is hard enough. Learning to code, getting it right, making something popular and then hoping it’ll be downloaded lots is a long and bumpy road to travel. However, if you’ve got a thoroughly enjoyable and addictive game, or a useful and interesting app, it …

Teen Developers – Josh Trommel

Thinking of creating your own app? It’s not as hard as you think, provided you put your mind to it. In our regular feature we take a look at teenage developers, how they got started, what drives them and the challenges they face on the way. This week, …

NENX Review

Roulette and card games haven’t really ever been my forte if I’m honest. However, I do like the challenge of making an educated guess, so when the guys at NENX gave me some free cash and told me to simply guess which way the financial markets were going …

Shifts is the Must Have Calendar for Shift Workers

Shifts is a brand new app by the folks at Built by Snowman, the makers behind Checkmark, Super Squares, and Circles. Their latest app is Shifts, a iOS calendar app for those who work shifts. Rather than focusing on a calendar that incorporates todos, emails, GTD, or whatever …

Ensuring you’re paying attention to what’s important

Noticed some adverts on your TV after 9PM that have a certain gambling theme? You’re not the only one, and for the most part they’re not actually encouraging you to go into your local bookies any more either, because you can simply place a bet by using the …

Amazon dishes up stacks of free apps

The sales and offers seem to arrive earlier and earlier with each passing year. Although Amazon usually give away one paid-for app per day, today they’ve gone a bit bonkers. Their free apps offer is running from now until Boxing Day (26th) and they have up to £150 …

SimCity BuildIt is now available on iOS and Android

SimCity is one of those classic iconic games that has help to shape the video game industry through its many incarnations. There have been mobile versions of SimCity released previously although they have never quite managed to recapture the magic of the big screen original. This may be …

Never Fall Behind with Smartphones

At the train station today I noticed a stack of people just staring at their phones. I was one of them, and if I’m honest I’ve become a phone zombie too. However, despite how mainstream mobile phones have become in society, many people don’t use them to their …

Android Studio is out of beta

If you are an app developer you’re probably familiar with Eclipse and the Android SDK. Back in 2013 Google announced Android Studio which was to be a more integrated and smarter way to build apps. It’s been available to use as a 0.1 Alpha version since May 2013 …

When free really isn’t free

Wondering how the makers of mobile apps can afford TV advertising when they’re free to download? Well, we seem to quite like a model named “Freemium”. The word itself, which is a mash-up of “free” and “premium”, means that you get the entire game or app for absolutely …

Google Unveils ‘Google Inbox’

In a bit of a surprise announcement today, Google decided to announce a new product of theirs’. “Years in the making”, Google says that Inbox, though developed by the Gmail team, is a whole new way to send and receive emails. For many of us, dealing with email has become …

The coolest apps for autumn 2014

With the recent release of the iPhone 6, 6 + and the long-awaited iOS 8, more and more apps and app upgrades are becoming available as we get to the end of the year. Many of us might think we look quite cool with the latest bendy iPhone, …

Why Skylanders Trap Team is an Important Gaming Breakthrough

Skylanders is one of those videogames that transcends the small screen, based around highly detailed toy figures, the Skylanders brand has captured the imagination. The concept behind Skylanders is simple, you purchase a starter pack for your gaming platform of choice which includes the game, a portal of …

Google Creates Local News and Weather App for iOS

In the midst of updates to all their apps, Google today published one that combines local news for your area with the weather and other headlines in one sleek new app. Available for iPhone and iPad, Google says the app is aimed at giving you a personalised view of …

A different sort of background

If Android is your OS of choice and you’re constantly looking at new ways to personalise your phone, give Transparent Wallpaper a try. It’ll effectively turn your screen into a pane of glass, with your icons, apps and folders hovering over whatever you’re looking at. It’s free and …

£100 worth of free apps and games today

Are you a user of Amazon’s own app store? I am, and if you didn’t know Amazon give away a free paid app everyday. I make sure that I check at least once per day as sometimes you can get a real gem every once in a while. …

13 Cool Android/Nook apps that Geeks will love

Software developers are, by definition, geeks, so it should come as no surprise that many of the apps they’ve come up with are tailor-made for people who share their interests. After all, “geekiness” has become something of a badge of honour. Smartphones and tablets offering the full Android …

Which app categories are banking the most?

How much do app developers make? Really? Well, it’s a tricky one to answer. Research by CasinoDailyNews seems to suggest that making a game is your best bet, with 90% of the top grossing apps being games. Currently, at the top of the pile in the Google Play …

EU delivers pre-emptive slap for purchasing in free Apps

When is free, not free? Or free, kinda, but not quite all the time. Except… mostly. Yep, we’re talking about those apps and games which are built around the freemium model. There’s more than one way to build a freemium app. The first way is to build a …

Fields of Battle – Paintball without the Pain

Fields of Battle is a FPS with a slight twist, rather then being a simulation of modern warfare of a historic battlefield it’s a simulation of everyone’s favourite ‘knee deep in mud’ pass time activity – Paintball. Paintball has always enjoyed immense popularity, combining pseudo battle tactics, teamwork …

Android App permissions. Noticed something?

You may have become fairly numb to the fact that a massive chunks of Android apps have the right to read your texts and look at your photos. The whole system is, if we’re honest, too relaxed. We waive any right to privacy in exchange for an ad-filled …

Take vocal control of your phone with Commandr

There’s just something about the idea of being able to talk to your phone to make it do stuff which captures the imagination. It’s the sort of thing that makes you want to test all the things which are to do with voice commands… if only it would …

Samsung refresh their app store.

I tell you what Android needs. Another app store. That’s what it needs. Yeah. Never mind the fact that there’s already the Amazon App Store, GetJar, AppsLib, F-Droid and various other ones that appear on those “couldn’t quite get Google certification” handsets. We need more. Luckily Samsung are …

Amazon dishing out selected paid-for apps for free

Well, not a great deal we can say on this one. There’s 29 top apps available this Friday and Saturday (27th and 28th June) on Amazon which are normally paid-for apps. Apps include Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Card Wars Adventure, Office Suite Professional and all of these below …

20% of apps only used once

A recent survey by Localytics has found that 20% of apps are only used once. This may seem quite high but it is an improvement compared to the last few years with the number steadily decreasing, from 26% in 2011. The graph shows the amount of apps used …