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AcDisplay brings Moto X’s Active Display notifications to other Android devices

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acdisplay

If you don’t own a Moto X, but envy it’s Active Display (which is similar to Nokia Glance on Lumia handsets), you can get one on your current Android device too using this third party app called AcDisplay.

The app has been developed by XDA member AChep, and it lights up your phone’s display whenever a notification shows up and then stays alight for a definite period of time. It works both on phones with AMOLED displays and LCD displays. However, in the case of the latter, the entire screen lights up instead of just a part of it turning on. This also stresses the battery more on phones with LCD screens.

The app offers a number of customization features. It allows you to choose which apps do you want to select to show up notifications for. It also supports quiet hours in which no notifications are shown at all. You can also remove the solid background of the notification screen and replace it with a wallpaper. Then the app can also replace your lockscreen entirely.

It’s a neat app that currently supports only devices running on Android 4.4. The developer will be adding new features and support for lower versions of the OS in the future updates.

You can download AcDisplay from the Google Play Store here.

[via]

Google apps on Android might soon get new icons

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According to a new rumor, Google is set to bring new icons for its apps on Android. This could also bring new guidelines for developers to follow while designing icons for their apps on the Play Store. We could soon see round and icons with more dimensional elements gone out of the Play Store.

google new icons on android

Dubbed as ‘Moonshine’, the new icons will be relatively flatter than the existing ones and will more closely resemble the web icons instead of the older ones. They will also have longer and harder shadows. The same icons have also popped up on Google Partners Page for  Calendar, YouTube, and Maps icons, adding credibility to the rumor.

Although, there’s also a good chance that these might not be the final designs and might change more in the future before getting official. We might see them on the new version of Android that Google could be announcing at its I/O event in late June, but we’re only speculating here. It could also be that Google updates its web icons to make the two look exactly similar.

new google icons

[Source]

Halo Spartan Assault becomes the first universal Windows app, others follow

halo SA

Now that Windows Phone 8.1 developer preview is out and many have it on their phones already, Microsoft has also started bringing other changes that came with the package. One of these it the universal Windows apps, which will allow users to purchase and install an app across their Windows Phone and Windows 8 devices without having to pay twice.

As expected, Microsoft’s own Halo: Spartan Assault has become the first app to become universal. In case you haven’t bought it already, you can buy it for $4.99 on either of the two platforms and enjoy it on the other one for free.

Other apps have also started showing up on the store that are universal. Shazam was one such app that we spotted. Universal apps now feature a “Made for Windows Phones and PCs” in their description, so it’s easy to spot them.

Bad Piggies finally gets its wheels rolling on Windows Phone

bad piggies windows phone

While titles from Rovio’s Angry Birds series land on Windows Phone at the same time as iOS and Android counterparts, the series spin off Bad Biggies had eluded the platform until now. Well, the good news is that the app has finally landed on the Windows Phone Store, 17 months after it came on iOS. Fortunately, the game includes all the updates and new levels that have been added through updates on the other platforms.

Bad Piggies put the green pigs that we’ve come to hate so much from the Angry Birds franchise in the driver’s seat, literally. You’re supposed to design complex carts to get the piggies across the finish line. It’s definitely worth a try.

However, unlike the Android and iOS versions, the game isn’t free on Windows Phone and costs $0.99. Still, that’s not a huge amount for an addictive game, given that you haven’t already played it on the other platforms. You can grab Bad Piggies on the Windows Phone Store here.

Amazon Kindle app on Windows Phone receives a minor update

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amazon kindle windows phone

Amazon has brought a minor update to the Amazon Kindle app on the Windows Phone Store. The app has been updated after some time, so it’s a welcome update even if a minor one. The e-book reading app that provides access to thousands of free Kindle books is now on version 2.0.0.6. The update doesn’t add any new features, but fixes the annoying crash on startup bug and another bug that made the app get stuck on the loading screen.

Still unsure about the app? Here’s what it offers:

  • Buy Once, Read Everywhere: Read anytime you have your Windows Phone 8 with you—just download the Kindle app to start reading eBooks now.
  • Sync to Furthest Page Read: Amazon Whispersync technology automatically syncs your Kindle books across apps, so you can start reading on your Windows Phone 8, and pick up where you left off on another device with the Kindle app installed.
  • Personalize Your Reading Experience: Adjust the screen brightness, font size, margin width, and line height.
  • Read Free Books: Choose from thousands of free Kindle books such as Pride & Prejudice or The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
  • Track Progress: Tap the screen while reading a book to see the progress indicator that shows you how much of the book you’ve read.
  • Save Your Favorite Books: Tap while you’re reading to pin a book, or press and hold a book in your library to move it to your Archived Items.

You can pick Amazon Kindle on the Windows Phone Store over here for free, or can scan the QR below.

amazon kindle qr

Asphalt 7, Pictures Lab, Xtreme Joyride and more are the Red Stripe Deals for this week

windows phone red stripe deals

Every Thursday, a handful of quality apps on the Windows Phone Store get discounted by 50 percent or more for a week. It’s called Red Stripe deal and you can check this space every week for the list of apps. This week’s apps include the following apps and games mentioned along with their discounted prices:

  • Asphalt 7 Heat – The Xbox Live certified racer game with multiplayer play and 60 licensed cars. Available for $1.99.
  • My Trips – $0.99 : My Trips connects with the premier travel organization website TripIt.com to synchronize your travel plans and allows you to take it with you on your travels.
  • Pictures Lab – $0.99 : Pictures Lab provides you with thousands of different modifications for your photos and has a camera functionality with superior features like face detection auto focus, steady mode and much more.
  • Xtreme Joyride – $0.99 : Xtreme Joyride takes Hill Climb racing to a new level! Launch yourself and push it to the Xtreme!
  • My Movies – $2.99 : My Movies allows you to catalog your entire movie collection from their international database of more than 750,000 DVD, Blu-ray and HD DVD titles
  • Dungeon Stalker 2 – $0.99 : Get ready to enter a fully 3D real-time world of dungeons, monsters, devious characters and magic places where only the strongest will survive.

Roller Coaster Tycoon 4 Mobile goes live on iOS

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roller coaster tycoon 4 mobile

Roller Coaster Tycoon has been a classic and even after so many years, is still as exciting and challenging game to play. As such, those who find themselves glued more to their smartphones rather than their PCs will be delighted to know that the game has made an appearance on iOS. Named Roller Coaster Tycoon 4 Mobile, the game is now available in the Apple App Store. The name does make sense, since this is the fourth game in the series and the first one on mobiles.

The best part is (according to us at least) that the game will be using the same gameplay as seen on the original Roller Coaster Tycoon. You can design your own coasters, or choose from 20 designs that come with the game. The challenge remains the same, to build a thriving theme park full with people. The game even allows you to to share your design blueprints with others.

Roller Coaster Tycoon comes for a price tag of $2.99. However, you’ll have to shell out more to unlock all features within the game, since it comes with a lot of in-app purchases, which somewhat takes away the charm of the game. Still, fans of the series will be delighted to know that Atari has loaded the game with $5.00 worth of in-game currency. You can grab Roller Coaster Tycoon 4 Mobile for iPad, iPhone and iPod from the app store here.

Facebook app will be loosing chat functionality soon

facebook

Like it or not, you’ll soon have to rely solely on Facebook Messenger to chat with your friends on your smartphone. Facebook is set to drop the option to allow users to chat through the main app on iOS and Android. The news was broken by a spokesperson speaking to Mashable. In fact, the company has already started notifying users of the same in parts of Europe. Those users will have two weeks to download Facebook Messenger before the service expires on the main app.

Facebook will soon be updating its main app so that users going to messaging will be redirected to Facebook Messenger. Although you shouln’t be loosing sleep over it just yet, since Facebook will be sending out tons of notifications and alerts before jumping the ship. The company has started the rollout in some parts, but should cover the entire globe sooner or later. It’s also not known at the moment whether the same would be followed on Windows Phone, since the official Facebook app for that platform has been designed by Microsoft instead.

Why it’s being done, isn’t exactly known. Perhaps, Facebook is trying to increase the penetration of its Messenger app, but then that’ll lead to some in-house competition with WhatsApp. Eventually it’ll be a win win for the company.

[Source]

Bing Apps get updated on Windows Phone, drop Bing from the name

bing apps

 

Bing Apps offer a set of quality apps on Windows Phone. The suite that includes apps like Bing News, Bing Weather, Bing Finance and others have received another update on the platform. However, don’t be surprised if you are unable to find the apps in your phone where you usually have them post the update. The update has removed the ‘Bing’ from the names of these apps, other than it’s unknown what has been updated in these apps.

Luckily, you can still search these apps in the Store with their older names, so you shouldn’t get lost in the plethora of duplicate apps. You can also find them below.

Bing Finance
Bing Finance qr
Bing Food & Drink
bing food and drink qr
Bing News
bing news qr
Bing Sports
bing sports qr
Bing Travel
bing travel
Bing Weather
bing weather
Bing Health & Fitness
bing health qr

Pocket gets updated on Android and iOS

pocket app

Popular reading app Pocket has picked an update on both Android and iOS. The new update adds support for new languages, including Chinese, Dutch, Korean, Polish and Portuguese. On Android, the update also adds a new fullscreen mode that supports the immersive mode on devices running KitKat, hiding the controls and navigation bar. The update also adds refined layout and typography, which ensures that headers, images and paragraphs all flow together.

On iOS, the update brings bug fixes and improved detection for copied links from apps. Check out the changelog below, with the links to both stores at the end of the post.

Android:

  • Pocket is now translated into more languages: Chinese, Dutch, Korean, Polish, and Portuguese
  • Improved detection for copied links from apps like Medium.
  • This update also includes a number of bug fixes and improvements.

iOS:

  • Pocket is now translated into more languages: Chinese, Dutch, Korean, Polish, and Portuguese
  • Improved detection for copied links from apps like Medium.
  • This update also includes a number of bug fixes and improvements.

iOS | Android