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Feb

[New App] DashClock Facebook Extension Makes Your Clock More Social

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

DashClock is definitely the flavor of the week. Developers are falling all over themselves to build extensions for this multi-talented clock widget, and here's an interesting one. Whether you use DashClock on your lock screen or home screen, the new DashClock Facebook Extension could save you all kinds of frustration.

This app is simple – it displays your unread messages and notification count on the DashClock widget so you don't have to pop open the Facebook app as often. You will need to have the DashClock app installed, but Facebook itself is actually optional. You'll log in via the extension and can set the refresh interval from there.

Feb

[New App] Tapestry Is A Collection Of Short Stories That You Read By Tapping, But You Can't Go Back

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

There are plenty of ways to read books, blog posts, and essays on a mobile device. Although, nothing has quite the same feel as a new app called Tapestry. This app offers a cool reading experience for exclusive short stores written by professionals and random people around the internet. Just tap to advance, but there is no going back if you miss something.

Tapestry is whimsical from the start when it makes the tapping mechanic clear by having you tap on specific locations around the screen, only to reveal that you can actually tap anywhere you want. The app lists a handful of quirky little tales that are updated regularly.

Feb

[New App] Market Helper Lets You Download Incompatible Apps Without Changing The Build.prop (Root Only)

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, Galaxy S III, Kindle Fire HD, News, Nexus 7

One of the more annoying things about the Android app ecosystem is that there are loads of apps and games that are needlessly restricted to one device or another. If you care to get down and dirty, you can edit the build.prop file on rooted devices to make your device appear to be something other than what it is. Market Helper gets you the same results, but it doesn't touch the build-prop and it's easy to revert to your original profile. For obvious reasons, this app is not in Google Play. It is, however, just a sideload away.

Market Helper is a very new app, and it only has a handful of profiles.

Feb

[New App] Neatly For Twitter Releases Beta App For Your Sideloading Pleasure

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

It's hard for a Twitter client to make a name for itself with the market so saturated with competitors, but maybe Neatly has a shot. This Twitter client isn't just delivering your Tweets; it lets you sort, filter, and highlight tweets in your timeline so you see more relevant information. This app has arrived on basically every other platform (even Symbian and BlackBerry 10), but the developers have now offered up a beta Android version for you to try in advance of the actual release.

Neatly claims to be a smarter Twitter client. It scans your timeline and can build you an interest-based experience rather than just showing you everything.

Jan

[New App] Blockbuster Launches New Disc Rental Android App To Complement 10 Streaming Apps

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

Blockbuster probably has bigger problems than scattershot Android app development, but it's a problem nonetheless. On the surface any effort to clean things up seems like a great idea, but the way Blockbuster has gone about it is... well, bizarre. The company, which was acquired by Dish when everyone stopped renting discs, has released a new Android app. Can you guess what it's for? Yep, renting discs. Brilliant!

Blockbuster's movie streaming apps appear to still be listed in the Play Store, but these are device specific. There is one app for HTC devices, one for LG devices, and so on.

Dec

[New App] Sing! Karaoke From Smule, The Maker Of Audiorap And Songify, Puts Your Voice To The Test

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

Okay, get those pipes warmed up for the show. Sing! Karaoke has just dropped in Google Play and it's free to try. Don't worry if your friends and family flee from the room when you get up to sing – you can share your performance later via Facebook, Google+, Twitter, email, and SMS.

Sing! Karaoke includes all the songs the kids are into these days, but not all of them are available to sing for free. You can earn in-app currency by completing offers, or just pay for a subscription and get all the tunes. Once you choose a song, the app will scroll the lyrics and display pitch lines to help you (maybe) sound less terrible.

Dec

[New App] Kii Keyboard Is An Input Alternative With Tons Of Customization

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

Last Updated: January 2nd, 2013

Google has really gotten the stock Android keyboard spruced up in recent versions of the OS. Of course, it's still a limited experience lacking in the bells and whistles of some third-party solutions. Speaking of bells and whistles, the new Kii Keyboard has more tweaks and settings than you'll believe.

Kii takes some of the most popular features from the established keyboards. It has swipe input like the Swype keyboard, word prediction like SwitfKey, and a split layout for tablets like you get in several other apps. Want Emoji? Kii has so much Emoji you'll [hamburger] your [football].

Dec

[New App] Small Call Is A Floating Call Notification That Lets You Pick Up, Hang Up, Or Text Back

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

The incoming call screen got a big overhaul in Android 4.0 last year, but it's still not perfect. An incoming call pulls you away from what you might be doing with your phone. Writing an email? Not anymore you're not. Reading a webpage? You can reload that after the phone call. Small Call notifies you of incoming calls in an unobtrusive way while still preserving functionality.

When your phone rings, Small Call will pop up a floating bar at the bottom of your screen. It has answer and ignore buttons on the sides, and a text button in the middle.

Dec

[New App] Official Etsy App Arrives On Android To Make Shopping For Artsy Trinkets Even Easier

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

Are you feeling particularly craft-y today? Then you will be interested to know that everyone's favorite handmade marketplace, Etsy has a new Android app. It's never been easier to browse for reasonably-priced knickknacks on your phone.

The app feels properly designed for Android. Holo elements like the action bar, tabs, and scrolling are all implemented correctly. Although, it doesn't feel like a cookie cutter Holo app either. Oh, speaking of... I wonder if I could find some Android cookie cutters on Etsy. If you decide to look for something obscure like that, the app's search interface works well.

Nov

Cablevision Releases Optimum App For Controlling And Streaming TV, But Your Device Probably Isn't Compatible

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

Cablevision might not cover the largest geographic area, but it's actually the 8th largest cable company by number of subscribers. Those lucky enough to have Cablevision TV piped into their homes have a new app to play with today. The Optimum app lets you stream TV and control your DVR right from the device. Of course, you need a compatible phone and those are apparently hard to come by.

The video streaming feature is remarkably open. Users will be able to stream all their subscribed channels live to the device. OnDemand content can also be called up from within the app.