Each week, a new round of apps and app updates land in the iOS App Store. This week is no exception with the debut of Fit Men Cook – Healthy Recipes and a major update to Day One for OS X. These titles are only a sampling of what is available. Read on for our weekly picks of the best new apps and app updates that you shouldn’t miss.
New and notable apps
Heroes and Castles 2 [$1.99] Enter Heroes and Castles 2, a 3rd person action-RPG, strategy, and castle defense mash-up!
Knights of Pen & Paper 2 [$4.99] Prepare to join Knights of Pen & Paper 2 in a turn-based, retro style, pixel-art adventure full of danger, intrigue, and semi-appropriate cultural references!
Fit Men Cook – Healthy Recipes [$2.99] Kevin shares his journey with the Fit Men Cook community and inside this brand new app where you’ll find the best way to prepare over 100 of his most popular recipes.
Horizon 3 – Calendar + Weather [Free] Completely rebuilt from the ground up, Horizon utilizes the latest technologies your iPhone offers to bring you an entirely new way to plan, and enjoy your calendar.
Tallowmere [$3.99] Indulge Lady Tallowmere and see how far through her lovingly violent dungeons you can delve in this 2D indie action roguelike-inspired platformer.
The Barbarian [$9.99] The Barbarian is a Top Down Action RPG built for mobile. Intuitive controls allow for enjoyable game play.
RPG Alphadia Genesis 2 [$4.99] Long-awaited sequel to the Alphadia series with refined controls and 3D battles!
Updates you don’t want to miss
NBA Game Time 2014-2015 [Free] Follow the excitement of the NBA Season with NBA Game Time for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Version 6.4.4 includes the following changes:
- Full 2015 NBA Playoffs support:
- NBA Game Time on Apple Watch:
Day One [$9.99] Record life as you live it. From once-in-a-lifetime events to everyday moments, Day One’s elegant interface makes journaling your life a simple pleasure. . Version 1.10 includes the following changes:
- NEW: Day One Sync—An alternative service for syncing your Day One journal.
- NEW: OS X Photos app support.
- NEW: Mac OS X Share Extensions—Create entries using the OS X system share menu.
- NEW: Added white menu bar icon to support dark menu mode.
- NEW: Added two new fonts—“Open Sans” and “Roboto.”
- NEW: Added Diagnostics tab to Preferences for troubleshooting issues.
Time Timer: iPad Edition [$4.99] Enjoy stress-free time management with the new & improved Time TIMER for iPad. Version 3.0 includes the following changes:
- iOS8 compliance.
- Set-By-Touch (Touch and drag to set a quick-start timer.)
- Set-with-Options (Customize and save timers for common routines, or any situation.)
- Play Bar (A new tool that visually depicts how many times a timer will play.)
- 6-Timer View (showcase up to six timers on a single screen.)
- Horizontal or Vertical Display (View timers in either position, as single timers, in List View, or the 6-Timer screen.)
- List View (Saved timers are segmented based on whether they are running (Active) or not (Inactive).
- Awake Mode (Keeps the device from falling asleep when the app is open.)
- Continuous Alert (Extends the alert when a timer runs out until it is dismissed.)
- Alert Icon (turn on/off audible alert while timer is “Active”.)
- Apple TV (Push timers to TV monitors or interactive whiteboards using AirPlay).
VOX for OS X [Free] The beauty is in its simplicity, yet behind the minimal exterior lies a powerful music player with a ton of features & support for all audio formats you should ever need.. Version 2.5 includes the following changes:
- Introducing Loop – a new cloud-based music locker service with any format support and unlimited storage. Stream in full quality to any device or cache it for offline playback.
Paper by FiftyThree [Free] Used by more than 13 million people worldwide, Paper turns your iPad into a digital notebook, with everything you need to bring your ideas to life. Version 2.5.1 includes the following changes:
- Think Kit is here! Now Paper gives you the power to create diagrams, charts, and wireframes at the speed of thought.
- Think Kit adds three new tools—Diagram, Cut, and Fill.
- Powered by the Intention Engine™, Think Kit helps you quickly create powerful, personable graphics to express any idea, and continue seamlessly into your favorite presentation app.
Citymapper – the ultimate real time transit app [Free] The ULTIMATE TRANSIT APP for New York, San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Singapore and more! Version 5.3 includes the following changes:
- Route around disruptions/ service issues.
- Save bike and cab trips.
- SHARE TRIPS!
- And improvements to the Watch app.
ThinkBook – Todos, Notes, Projects, Outlines [Free] Imagine the next step up from a todo list app. It has todos, sure, but it also lets you take notes, organize them into outlines, make projects from them and track your progress. . Version 2.0.1 includes the following changes:
- ThinkBook 1 was definitely old-school! so I’ve totally re-jigged the user interface.
- So I’ve made ThinkBook a universal app. The toolbar is moved to the bottom, and the history bar is now a menu. It’s a much more intuitive interface.
- did you know you could bookmark entries in the old navigation bar? no? most people didn’t. Now there’s a ‘bookmark’ button next to each entry, you won’t miss it.
- Cloud services.
- I’ve had to make ThinkBook free with in-app purchases. Owners of the old version get everything I’ve mentioned so far for free, but new functionality is provided as IAP.
- iCloud transfers. Use iCloud to update your notes between devices.
- More notebook covers, there are now two default ones, and you can buy ten more.
- Dark themes, there are three default themes, they have light backgrounds like the old ones, and you can buy three more with dark backgrounds.
Transmit for iOS [$9.99] Transmit for iOS allows you to connect to that server and manage all your files, exactly as you’d expect. Transfer. Make folders. Rename. Delete. Set Permissions. You know how it works, and Transmit does it.. Version 4.5 includes the following changes:
- Greatly improved S3 support!
- SFTP now supports encrypt then MAC (ETM) for SHA2–512 and SHA2–256
- SFTP now prompts with the DSA or RSA fingerprint when connecting to a server for the first time
- WebDAV will no longer attempt to reconnect repeatedly on authorization failure
- Improved battery life (well, we’re now making fewer redundant connections, which means less load on your CPU, so why not)
- Small fixes: in some cases data wasn’t being refreshed in the UI where it should have been, some UI elements were the incorrect size, etc.
Apple’s App of the Week
Quetzalcoatl: Quetzalcoatl is your new challenge! Be prepared to push the limits of your brain with its 180 carefully designed snaky puzzles! $1.99 → Free
Apple’s highlighted collections
Apple this week updated the iOS App Store and is now featuring apps that let you make music with your mouth and gamesthat are a work of art .
Top iPhone and iPad Apps in the App store
- Top Free iPhone: Facebook Messenger [Free] Instantly reach the people in your life—for free. Messenger is just like texting, but you don’t have to pay for every message (it works with your data plan).
- Top Paid iPhone: Dark Sky – Weather Radar, Hyperlocal Forecasts, and Storm Alerts [$3.99] Dark Sky can tell you at a glance exactly when it will rain (or snow) up to an hour in advance, so you’re free to walk the dog or run out to lunch and know you’ll stay dry.
- Top Free iPad: YouTube [Free] Get the official YouTube app for iPhone and iPad. Catch up with your favorite channels, enjoy the world’s largest music collection, and share easily with friends.
- Top Paid iPad: Minecraft [$6.99] Play the biggest update to Minecraft: Pocket Edition so far! It’s the overhaul of a generation. Download it now and see for yourself!
- Top Grossing iPhone and iPad: Clash of Clans [Free] From rage-filled Barbarians with glorious mustaches to pyromaniac wizards, raise your own army and lead your clan to victory! Build your village to fend off raiders, battle against millions of players worldwide, and forge a powerful clan with others to destroy enemy clans.
Know of a new app or app update that is not on the list? Then share your personal favorites in the comments.
