Apple picker This year's thirty-first Week of Applications informs about new game titles for iOS such as Carmageddon or Sonic Jump, about a mysterious project from the creator of Tweetie or about the happenings in the field of Twitter clients...
News from the world of applications
Tweetie creator working on new iOS game, coming soon (15/10)
Loren Brichter rose to fame with his Tweetie app, a Twitter client that became so popular on both Mac and iOS that Twitter hired Brichter and made Tweetie their official app. However, Brichter left Twitter a year ago and hasn't been heard from much, but now it looks like he's back in the game.
His company atebits is moving to version 2.0 and preparing a new game for iOS.
I left Apple in 2007 to start my own company. In 2010, this company was bought by Twitter. Today I'm giving it another shot and introducing atebits 2.0.
My goal is simple. To create fun, useful and new things, improved things. Some may be popular, some unsuccessful. But I love creating, so that's what I'm going to do.
The first thing will be an app, and that app will be a game. I can't wait to share it with you.
On your own Twitter account Atebits is sending screenshots of the approval process in the App Store so far, which means that the release of the mysterious game is near. So far, no one knows what Brichter is really up to.
Source: CultOfMac.com
Echofon ends desktop applications (October 16)
We can speculate whether the new rules of Twitter are behind this move, because of which he had to, for example Tweetbot for Mac to come up with such a high price, but one thing is clear – Echofon is ending the development and support of its applications for Mac, Windows and Firefox. In a statement, it said it wants to focus exclusively on its mobile apps. The desktop ones will continue to work for at least the near future, but Echofon will stop providing them in stores and will also stop supporting them next month. This means that users will no longer receive any fixes and updates.
Source: CultOfMac.com
Average iOS app size up 16% in six months (16/10)
According to ABI Research, the average size of apps in the App Store has increased by 16 percent since March. For games, it is even 42 percent. After all, it was not so long ago that the maximum size of applications installed over the mobile Internet increased from 20 MB to 50 MB. This phenomenon can start to cause problems for users who have chosen a smaller device capacity to save money. Apple currently offers the highest capacity of up to 64 GB, however, 16 GB in the lowest possible version is slowly ceasing to be adequate and Apple should really consider doubling the capacity while maintaining the price. Retina displays are mainly to blame, as applications require two sets of graphics, which must also be included in installations for devices without an ultra-fine display. Reports this week suggested that the base model of the iPad mini will include 8GB of storage, but that's not the only reason we don't believe the rumors.
Source: MacRumors.com
Apple is well aware of the problem with full-screen apps (16/10)
Ever since the launch of OS X Mountain Lion, users have complained about the system's behavior when running an application in full-screen mode when a person uses multiple monitors. While the application fills the screen of one of the monitors, the other remains blank instead of displaying the main desktop or another application in full screen. One user even wrote directly to Craig Federicci, VP of OS X Development. A few hours later, he received a reply from the VP:
Hi Stephen,
Thanks for your note! I understand your concern about using full screen apps with multiple monitors. I can't comment on future product plans, but trust me you are certainly aware of our customers' requests on this matter.
Thanks for using Mac!
So it looks like Apple might fix this issue in one of the next OS X 10.8 updates.
Source: CultofMac.com
Infinity Blade: Dungeons won't be released until next year (17/10)
Infinity Blade: Dungeons, the continuation of the successful game series for iOS, was already presented in March alongside the new iPad, the advantages of which Apple demonstrated on the game from Epic Games. However, the developers have now announced that the sequel to their the most successful series in history it won't be out until 2013. "Ever since the team at Impossible Studios got involved with 'Infinity Blade: Dungeons,' they started bringing great ideas to the game," Epic Games spokesperson Wes Phillips revealed. "But at the same time, because of Impossible Studios, we had to create and build a new studio, and it takes a little more time to implement all the great ideas, so 'Infinity Blade: Dungeons' will be released for iOS in 2013."
Once again, this will be an iOS-exclusive title that will run on both iPhones and iPads, and will offer similar graphics performance to those available on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles.
Source: AppleInsider.com
Apple is not buying Color, but only its developers (18.)
After the announcement that the shareholders of the ambitious Color application, in which they invested over 41 million dollars, intend to completely stop development due to the unclear future of the entire photo-sharing service, rumors began that the entire company intends to be bought by Apple for several tens of millions. However, as it turned out, the California company is only interested in the bulk of talented developers. According to several sources, he intends to pay an amount between 2-5 million dollars for them. Color still has about 25 million in its accounts, which it will obviously have to return to investors. They still threw several tens of millions into the channel, according to John Gruber, a well-known blogger.
Source: AppleInsider.com
New applications
Carmageddon
The great racing classic that occupied gamers' screens 15 years ago is back in full force on iOS. Port Carmageddon was created as a project on Kickstarter, which was successfully funded. The result is good old brutal racing with significantly improved graphics, the main content of which is to run over pedestrians and crash into opponents, which can also attract the attention of the police, who will not hesitate to make your car a scrap. Like the original, the game features 36 levels in 11 different environments and up to 30 unlockable cars in career mode. Among the nice bonuses you will find, for example, playback of repeated shots that you can save, position synchronization via iCloud, Game Center integration or various control methods. Carmageddon is universal for iPhone and iPad (also supports iPhone 5) and you can find it in the App Store for €1,59.
[button color=”red” link=”http://clkuk.tradedoubler.com/click?p=211219&a=2126478&url=https://itunes.apple.com/cz/app/carmageddon/id498240451″ target=”” ]Carmageddon - €1,59[/button]
[youtube id=”ykCnnBSA0t4″ width=”600″ height=”350″]
Sonic jump
Sega presented a new title for iPhones and iPads with the legendary Sonic in the main role. Sonic Jump, which costs 1,59 euros, is very similar to another popular game, Doodle Jump. Also, in the latest iOS game from Sega, you will be jumping until you go crazy, only with the difference that you will transform into the popular blue hedgehog. Sonic Jump, however, unlike Doodle Jump, offers a so-called endless mode as well as a story in which you will have to hunt for Dr. Beat 36 levels with Eggman. In addition, you will not only have to play as Sonic, but also as his friends Tails and Knuckles, who have different abilities. In addition, Sega promises to bring new characters and worlds in future updates.
[button color=red link=”http://clkuk.tradedoubler.com/click?p=211219&a=2126478&url=https://itunes.apple.com/cz/app/sonic-jump/id567533074″ link=”” target=""]Sonic Jump - €1,59[/button]
Tweetbot for Mac
We are talking about a new client for Twitter mentioned in a separate article, but must not be missing in the weekly summary. Tweetbot for Twitter is available for 15,99 € in the Mac App Store.
Folding Text
The new Folding Text app aims to revolutionize Plain Text. This text editor for Mac is based on markdown, but its power lies in special functions that can be run directly in text… with text. For example, if you write ".todo" after the name, the following lines will turn into a check list, which you can check again with the text "@done". However, the most prominent feature is hiding text. After clicking on any heading (which is created with the # sign in front of the text), you can hide everything under it, which can make it easier to work with longer texts, for example. Folding text contains several other similar gadgets, however, according to the author, the first version is just the beginning and the real potential of the application should be revealed by future updates. Folding text should appeal mainly to geeks, you can find it in the Mac App Store for €11,99.
[button color=”red” link=”http://clkuk.tradedoubler.com/click?p=211219&a=2126478&url=https://itunes.apple.com/cz/app/foldingtext/id540003654″ target=”” ]Folding Text – €11,99[/button]
Important update
TweetDeck can now change colors
A bag of Twitter client news broke this week. Tweetbot for Mac was released, Echofon started the development of desktop applications and TweetDeck introduced a new update for all its platforms. It is now possible to change the color theme in TweetDeck, which means that those who did not like the previous dark theme can now switch to a lighter theme. It is also possible to change the font size, there are three options to choose from. There is TweetDeck in the Mac App Store Free Download.
Skitch
Evernote-acquired screenshot-and-edit app Skitch has brought back some of the much-criticized removal features that earned the app many one-star ratings in the Mac App Store. Among them is primarily an icon in the top menu for starting screen capture or a keyboard shortcut that will also facilitate this process. The update can be downloaded directly from the Evernote website, it could appear in the Mac App Store in the following days.
Current discounts
- Dark Meadow – 2,39 €
- ORC: Vengeance - 0,79 €
- Meernotes – Free
- Vintique - Free
- Real Racing – 0,79 €
- The Heist – Free
- Echograph - Create Cinemagraph Animated GIF's - 1,59 €
- iDocs Pro for Google Docs and Google Drive - Free
- iDocs HD Pro for Google Docs and Google Drive – 3,99 €
- Lister: Shopping and To-Do List – Free
- Shape It: Connect & Make – Free
- People HD - Brief History of People - Free
- TextGrabber + Translator – 0,79 €
- The Tiny Bang Story HD – 0,79 €
- Trade Mania – Free
- Cursive Writing HD – Free
- Chop Chop Words – Free
- CoinKeeper: Budget, bills and expense tracking – 0,79 €
- Bike Baron – 0,79 €
- MagicalPad – 0,79 €
- PhotoSweeper (Mac App Store) – 3,99 €
- Memory Clean (Mac App Store) – Free
- Typeli Notes (Mac App Store) – Free
- LinguaSwitch (Mac App Store) – Free
- Boom (Mac App Store) – 3,99 €
- xScan (Mac App Store) – 0,79 €
- The Witcher: Enhanced Edition Director's Cut (Steam) – 3,99 €
You can always find current discounts in the discount panel on the right of the main page.
Watch out for Carmageddon. There is a bug in the otherwise great conversion of this classic that can cause you to lose your saved games. The problem is said to be somewhere in the synchronization with Gamecenter. Unfortunately, I've already lost my saves.
http://www.cultofmac.com/196852/beware-carmageddon-save-bug-could-wipe-all-your-progress/
the savs are terrible, i lost them 3 times but now it's ok, just be connected to the network all the time.
Small addition, Sonic Jump does not take inspiration from Doodle Jump. It's basically a classic from the symbian days. Maybe, but I'm just speculating, it was the other way around :) Personally, I think sonic jump is more fun.