AppShopper

Though the recent record-setting Powerball jackpot of nearly $600 million has been won by some incredibly lucky person in Florida, another jackpot is already building. And if you’re a regular player or you only buy a ticket when the jackpots are big, Formigas’s Clever Lotto for iPhone will keep your numbers straight and alert you when there’s a significant pile of money to be won.

Clever Lotto focuses on the Mega Millions and Powerball lotteries available in the US. The app will show you the current jackpots for each lottery and the most recent winning numbers. You can also keep track of your own tickets by entering the numbers you’ve played and if you win, Clever Lotto will even send you a push notification to you alert you.

Clever Lotto shows you the total amount you’ve spent on tickets, how much you’ve won, and other assorted statistics as well. It even shows you statistics about the winning lottery numbers, displaying how often each number has been drawn over time if that’s something you like to consider as you make your ticket selections.

I’m the type of person who buys a lottery ticket only when the jackpot is large enough to make the evening news (I try to play one set of the same numbers each time and let the computer pick the rest) but Clever Lotto has still been useful for me, a once-in-a-blue-moon player. If you missed trying your luck with this last jackpot and don’t want to miss the next big one, Clever Lotto is worth a download. It’s $2.99 but if it helps you win thousands or millions in the lottery, it’s totally worth it, right? All you need is a dollar $2.99 and a dream and all that jazz.

• $299Buy Now
  Utilities
  

  Clever Lotto - Mega Millions...

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  23 weeks ago

  Rating:

  4.00 (10)

  Version:

  1.1

  iOS iPhone

  “Tons of lottery news and information right at your fingertips...” » ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ tapscape.com « “Clever Lotto is easily worth its price of entry.” » ★ ★ ★ ★...

Apple this morning announced that its App Store had reached the 50 billion download mark and that the contest to mark the occasion, which had started on May 2, has concluded. The winner of the contest, who gets a $10,000 App Store gift card, is Brandon Ashmore from Mentor, Ohio.

Apple would like to thank our incredible customers and developers for topping 50 billion apps downloaded,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “The App Store completely transformed how people use their mobile devices and created a thriving app ecosystem that has paid out over nine billion dollars to developers. We’re absolutely floored to cross this milestone in less than five years.

Ashmore’s winning download was the free iPhone game Say the Same Thing by Space Inch, the developer of Mac app Lost Photos, which we featured earlier this week.

Apple’s App Store has seen incredible growth since its launch in 2008. As pointed out by our sister site MacRumors, the App Store took about 3 years and 8 months to reach 25 billion downloads and only 14.5 months for the next 25 billion to reach 50 billion downloads.

• FreeBuy Now
  Games
  

  Say the Same Thing

  Last Changed:

  1 week ago

  Rating:

  4.50 (555)

  Version:

  1.0.2

  iOS iPhone

  From the band OK Go, a totally new kind of word game. It's creative, with no preset answers -- a funny, unpredictable, mind-melding, turn-by-turn game where you have to think like your friends! Say...

Realmac Software, who worked with Impending and Helftone to create Clear for iPhone and Mac, today teased an upcoming iPhone camera app. Analog Camera will feature a straightforward gesture-driven interface, several filters and camera modes, and easily-accessible sharing options. It’s slated to hit the App Store later this month and will cost $.99.

For Analog Camera, we’ve really focused on the core features that were important to us – stunning filters, incredibly fast and easy to use, and most importantly, FUN! With a beautiful fluid interface, and all your favourite services ready to share a photo to, Analog Camera is all about making photography fun again – and coming soon to your iPhone!

Here’s a brief teaser video for Analog Camera:

Realmac Software’s Analog for Mac focuses on basic photo editing with filters and borders. Analog for iPhone looks to be a cleanly designed portable version for the iPhone, a device that is one of the most popular cameras according to Flickr based on uploads to the online photo storage service.

Though there’s no shortage of iPhone camera apps, I’m looking forward to the release of Analog Camera. I’m a big fan of Clear (see my reviews of the iPhone and Mac versions) and have confidence that Analog Camera will be good. If you’re not already familiar with Realmac Software, check out Analog for Mac as well as Clear.

• $999Buy Now
  Photography
  

  Analog

  Last Changed:

  7 weeks ago

  Rating:

  3.50 (120)

  Version:

  1.2.3

  Mac OS

  ✭✭ Save 30% - Limited Time Offer! ✭✭ ✭✭ OS X Mountain Lion and Retina-Ready ✭✭ Analog makes it easy to improve your photos with a stunning selection of filters and borders. We...

• $999Buy Now
  Productivity
  

  Clear

  Last Changed:

  6 hours ago

  Rating:

  4.50 (594)

  Version:

  1.0.1

  Mac OS

  Featured in the Mac App Store “Best of 2012”! Life is messy. Keep it together with Clear, the amazing app for list-keeping that is unbelievably simple, quick and satisfying to use. Clear for...

• $199Buy Now
  Productivity
  

  Clear

  Last Changed:

  7 hours ago

  Rating:

  4.50 (4295)

  Version:

  1.2.2

  iOS iPhone

  As Featured in the App Store “Best of 2012” Collection Life is messy. Keep it together with Clear, an amazing new app for list-keeping that is unbelievably simple, quick and satisfying to use. ...

Amazon has released a new app to allow users of its online cloud storage service to automatically upload and store photos from an iPhone and access photos saved to the service from other devices. Amazon Cloud Drive Photos hit the App Store today and is free to download.

Amazon offers 5GB of storage at no charge – all you’ll need is an Amazon account to take advantage of this freebie. Of course, you can purchase more storage if you’d like, upping to 20GB of storage for $10.00 per year or 50GB for $25.00 year all the way up to 1000GB for $500 per year. Amazon Cloud Drive Photos will use whatever storage level you’ve selected to save pictures from your iPhone. You can also save documents, videos, music, and other items to Amazon Cloud Drive through your computer.

When you first open Amazon Cloud Drive Photos, you’ll be asked to grant the app access to your iPhone’s photos. By default, the app will upload and save pictures from your iPhone’s Camera Roll whenever you open the app. You can even select to allow uploads only when you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network in case you’re not on an unlimited data plan.

If you’re one of the 10 bazillion people with an Amazon account, taking advantage of the free 5GB storage offered should be a no-brainer, especially if you want an easy way to back up the precious photos taken with your iPhone. I’ve found Apple’s Photo Stream service to be less reliable than I’d like and I appreciate that Amazon offers a ridiculously easy way to back up the multitude of pictures captured with my iPhone.

• FreeBuy Now
  Photography
  

  Amazon Cloud Drive Photos

  Last Changed:

  2 days ago

  Rating:

  3.00 (10)

  Version:

  1.1.56

  iOS iPhone

  Protect and store all of your photos in one place with Amazon Cloud Drive Photos. Access your photos from your iPhone or iPod touch, your computer, or any web browser. Take a picture on your iPhone...

If you’re a runner or cyclist and the lucky owner of a Pebble smartwatch, today’s announcement by RunKeeper should make you happy. RunKeeper version 3.3 was released today and it includes support for the Pebble smartwatch to display your current pace and distance stats so you can keep your precious iPhone tucked away safely while you’re out getting your fitness on.

The Pebble smartwatch made headlines last year when its funding campaign on Kickstarter blew past its original goal to hit $10 million. Following some manufacturing delays, Pebble smartwatches began shipping to Kickstarter backers in January just after the Pebble Smartwatch manager app debuted in the App Store.

Here’s a promotional video RunKeeper created to show the app in action with the Pebble:

RunKeeper has been a mainstay in the App Store since 2010 with over 19,000 ratings and an average of 4.5 stars to date. If you run or cycle and want to keep track of your workouts, fitness goals, and more, RunKeeper is worth a look, especially if you own a Pebble smartwatch.

• FreeBuy Now
  Healthcare & Fitness
  

  RunKeeper - GPS Track Running...

  Last Changed:

  17 hours ago

  Rating:

  4.50 (44)

  Version:

  3.4

  iOS iPhone

  Join the more than 17 million people who are using RunKeeper to turn their phone into a personal trainer in their pocket! Track your runs, walks, bike rides, hikes, and more using the GPS in your...

Apple announced a new contest yesterday to commemorate the upcoming 50 billionth download from the App Store with a $10,000 App Store gift card as the grand prize. Additional prizes of $500 App Store gift cards will be given to those who download the next 50 apps after that.

To enter, all you need to do is download an app (free or paid) and if you happen to download the 50 billionth app or one of the 50 after that, you win. If you’d rather not go through the trouble of downloading an app, you can enter to win by completing an online form right here. You can find the official contest rules here.

The contest page in iTunes also lists the top free and paid apps of all time. Unsurprisingly, Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja top the paid list while Facebook and Pandora Radio top the free list.

Apple held a similar contest to mark the 25 billionth download in February 2012, also offering a $10,000 App Store gift card prize then, which was won by Chunli Fu of China. That contest lasted less than two weeks until a winner was announced and I’d wager this contest will conclude even faster than that, so get to downloading apps sooner rather than later to increase your chances of winning. If you’re not looking to spend any money, check out our Top 200 Free iPhone Apps and Top 200 Free iPad Apps lists.

Impending, the same developers who brought you Clear for iPhone (in partnership with Realmac Software and Helftone), and Warner Brothers have released Heads Up!, an iPhone game played by Ellen Degeneres on her TV show. The game hit the App Store this morning and costs $.99.

Heads Up! gives you seven virtual decks of cards in various themes, like movies, pop stars, and accents. Each card has an answer on it and you hold your iPhone up to your forehead where you can’t see it but other players can and their job is to give you clues so you can guess the answer. Their clues should not contain any words actually on the card nor rhyme with any of them. If you guess correctly, you tilt your iPhone down to flip to the next card. If you want to pass, you tilt your iPhone up to skip to the next card right away. Your goal is to make as many correct guesses in the allotted time.

Here’s a video of Ellen playing the game with actress Alison Sweeney:

Heads Up! also records video of each round and you can choose to save the video to your camera roll or share it via email or Facebook. There’s also an option to send your video to Ellen if you think it’s worthy of her attention. Who knows, maybe she’ll actually play it on her show?

Though I’m not a huge fan of Ellen Degeneres, Heads Up! has the potential to be a ton of fun with a group of friends (or strangers, if that’s how you roll) and it’s definitely worth $.99. Right now, there are 11 additional decks available via in-app purchase at $.99 each in case the seven included decks aren’t enough for you. To play Heads Up! you’ll need an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad (though note the game isn’t optimized for the iPad’s larger screen) running iOS 5.0 or higher.

• $.99Buy Now
  Games
  

  Heads Up!

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  4.50 (519)

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  1.0.1

  iOS iPhone

  Heads Up! is the fun and hilarious new game that Ellen DeGeneres plays on her show -- and now you can play it with your friends! From naming celebrities, to singing, to silly accents -- guess the...

If you’re a long-time Mac user and remember the early days of the Macintosh operating system with fondness, you can get a dose of history on your modern iPhone with Classic Note, a notes app that debuted in the App Store last week.

Classic Note replicates the look of the early versions (from the 1980s and 1990s) of Mac OS, complete with the Chicago font designed by Susan Kare, pixelated everything, and a stark black and white interface.

As a notes app, it’s very simple with no bells or whistles whatsoever. The first line of a note is used as its title, which is visible in the main view. Within a note, you can enter whatever text you’d like though URLs entered or pasted are not clickable. You can’t paste or attach any pictures to your notes to gussy them up, nor can you change the order of your notes.

Classic Note is in the App Store’s Entertainment category rather than the Productivity category, a selection that feels right given its limited functionality compared to other more “serious” notes apps.

Click to enlarge

Classic Note does have a few other tricks up its sleeve in the Tools menu. There’s a basic calculator so you can do some number crunching without needing to switch to another app. A Fortune function gives you a random quote or adage, like a virtual fortune cookie. The last item in the Tools menu is Wrangler, a simple game of sorts in which you need to “catch” Clarus the DogCow, another Susan Kare design element from the early days of Mac OS. However, no amount of tapping or dragging to try to catch Clarus actually resulted in an increase in my score, so I have no idea how to play this game.

Classic Note is for the iPhone only though an iPad version is in the works according to a tweet by its developer, David Green.

If you need a notes app that syncs across multiple devices or is accessible on your computer, you’ll want to go with a more robust option like Clear (my review) or Paperless. If you don’t need much in the way of functionality and want a little reminder of days gone by, Classic Note is a charming choice.

• $.99Buy Now
  Entertainment
  

  Classic Note

  Last Changed:

  12 hours ago

  Rating:

  5.00 (10)

  Version:

  1.1.0

  iOS iPhone

  **On sale now!** Take your notes like it's 1985. Classic Notes puts the days of one-button mice and 3.5" floppy disks in your pocket, without breaking your back.

Following the announcement last month that Google will be shutting down its Google Reader RSS service in July, developer Silvio Rizzi promised updates to his popular Reeder app earlier this month to make it usable after the shutdown and dropped the prices of the Mac and iPad versions to $0 until these updates hit. The first of these updates has arrived for the iPhone version of Reeder with the addition of Feedbin support and the ability for the app to act as a standalone RSS reader.

Feedbin is a paid RSS service that works similarly to Google Reader. But if you don’t want to pony up the $2.00 per month to get a Feedbin account, you can just use Reeder as a standalone RSS reader. If you take the latter route, you can add your subscriptions manually or import your existing subscriptions from your Google Reader account. Easy peasy.

The Mac and iPad versions of Reeder are still free and will remain so until Rizzi releases updates to them that add the same new features that just made it the iPhone version so get to downloading them now if you haven’t already. The iPhone version of Reeder is just $2.99 and it’s an excellent app to stay on top of your RSS feeds while on the go.

• $299Buy Now
  News
  

  Reeder

  Last Changed:

  4 weeks ago

  Rating:

  4.50 (34)

  Version:

  3.1

  iOS iPhone

  RSS reader and client for Feedbin, Fever, Readability and Google Reader. - Feedbin syncing (optional, paid account required, see feedbin.me) - Fever syncing (optional, paid web app required, see...

• FreeBuy Now
  News
  

  Reeder for iPad

  Last Changed:

  7 weeks ago

  Rating:

  3.50 (241)

  Version:

  1.5.7

  iOS iPad

  Google Reader Client. - Syncs with Google Reader - Browse by feed or folders - Manage starred items, notes - Mark as unread - Image caching - State saving - Slider control for list entries: ...

• FreeBuy Now
  News
  

  Reeder

  Last Changed:

  7 weeks ago

  Rating:

  4.00 (366)

  Version:

  1.2

  Mac OS

  Google Reader Client. ★ Syncs with Google Reader. ★ Full Readability (readability.com) integration (see Preferences → General) ★ Customizable interface (see Preferences → Appearance) ★...

Google Now, a personal assistant service that first debuted for Android devices last year, has arrived for the iPhone and iPad through an update to the Google Search app.

Google Now provides users with relevant information based on individual search history, Gmail account contents, and current location. This information, including local weather and traffic details, upcoming appointments, events, and birthdays, flight statuses, and more, is shown to users unprompted in the form of virtual cards in the main view in Google Search.

Here’s a promotional video showing how Google Now works within the Google Search app:

Google Search is free to download and requires iOS 5.0 or later on an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. To use Google Now, you’ll need to log in with your Google account since that’s how Google accesses your information to populate what Google Now shows you.

I like what Google Now can do but it’s not as robust as it could be (more thanks to Apple and its limitations on what apps are allowed to do than any failure on Google’s part). And it’s a little bit creepy as well.

Google Now lacks any sort of push notification option so you have to open the app to see what Google Now has to tell you. Google Search isn’t an app I use regularly so opening it just to see this information isn’t particularly appealing to me. Also, though I’ve had a Gmail account for years now and I know that part of the terms of service I agreed to when opening it states that Google will essentially read through my emails, it feels a little creepy that Google will “snoop” through my email, contacts, and calendar, and parse through my Google searches to bring me all of this information.

This aside, Google Now could be incredibly useful to those who make full use of Google’s suite of services. Now if only Apple would let Google and other developers integrate apps more closely with iOS so getting this kind of information is seamless and more fluid…

• FreeBuy Now
  Reference
  

  Google Search

  Last Changed:

  3 weeks ago

  Rating:

  3.00 (1635)

  Version:

  3.0.0

  iOS Universal

  Search faster and easier with the latest Search app from Google. Get just the right information at just the right time with Google Now. Search hands­free with enhanced Voice Search. Answers before...