AppShopper

Apple’s App of the Week promotion goes big again this week, offering Halfbrick Studio’s wildly popular Fruit Ninja for free. The respective versions of Fruit Ninja for iPhone and iPad will cost you zero dollars right now and should continue to do so until April 18 if Apple’s timing remains consistent.

Apple started the App of the Week promotion last summer and it’s featured a few major titles recently, including Angry Birds, which had never gone free before, last month and Plants vs. Zombies in February.

Fruit Ninja has been in the App Store since 2010 and it’s even been featured in one of Apple’s iPad commercials. If you’re not familiar with it, you’re armed with a virtual sword in the game and your goal is to slice as much fruit tossed on the screen as possible by swiping with your fingers. There are various game modes where you need to avoid slicing bombs, avoid letting any fruit drop un-sliced, or slice as much fruit as possible in a short period of time.

Here’s the trailer for the iPad version:

Not convinced it’ll be fun? Download it anyway – it’s free!

• $.99Buy Now
  Games
  

  Fruit Ninja

  Last Changed:

  4 weeks ago

  Rating:

  4.50 (60315)

  Version:

  1.8.4 (514)

  iOS iPhone

  For the hundreds of millions of fans around the world with trillions of fruit sliced - thank you for you amazing continued support! You have made Fruit Ninja one of the most popular games of all...

• $299Buy Now
  Games
  

  Fruit Ninja HD

  Last Changed:

  4 weeks ago

  Rating:

  4.50 (18780)

  Version:

  1.8.4 (520)

  iOS iPad

  The worldwide smash hit iPhone game Fruit Ninja has now arrived for the iPad, featuring glorious HD graphics and incredible unique content not to be found on any other platform! ******* ...

Last month, Google announced that it will shut down its Google Reader RSS service on July 1, 2013, citing a decline in the usage of the service. With hundreds of apps in the App Store relying on Google Reader, this shutdown puts a lot of developers in a tough place, forcing them to find an alternative or retire an app entirely.

In response to the uncertainty, Silvio Rizzi, the developer of popular RSS app Reeder announced via Twitter this afternoon that the iPad and Mac versions of the app are now free. In a blog post explaining the change, Rizzi states that development of Reeder to work around the Google Reader shutdown is in process. While the iPhone version of Reeder already offers support for other RSS services (with support for Feedbin on the way), the iPad and Mac versions will be getting the same treatment in version 2.0 and they will be free until then.

Reeder has been my preferred RSS app for a while now and I have confidence that Rizzi will adapt and keep Reeder as useful as it’s always been. If you’ve had Reeder on your Wish List or are just getting into the RSS game, now is a great time to get the Mac and iPad versions to take advantage of the temporary price reduction.

• FreeBuy Now
  News
  

  Reeder for iPad

  Last Changed:

  7 weeks ago

  Rating:

  3.50 (238)

  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 (364)

  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) ★...

App Cubby’s Launch Center Pro, which is one of my most-used apps, got a major update late last week and it’s now on sale for 40% off for a limited time, bringing its price down to $2.99 from $4.99.

Launch Center Pro is a productivity app that can help you complete common tasks you do with your iPhone more quickly. For example, you can set up Launch Center Pro to open Instagram and go right to the camera tab so you can quickly capture an image. Or, you can define an action to call or text message your spouse with a single tap.

Launch Center Pro works using URL schemes to interact with other apps. Think of URL schemes as a way for Launch Center Pro to open another app and go to a specific action, like a browser bookmark to your favorite page within a website. Not all apps work with Launch Center Pro out of the gate, though – an app’s developer must incorporate URL schemes into their app so that Launch Center Pro can use these “hooks” to open the app and carry out actions within it. For a bit more on how Launch Center Pro works and how I have it set up on my iPhone, see this article.

In version 1.1, which hit the App Store late last week, several actions can now be completed right within the app. For example, you can now draft a text message right within Launch Center Pro and it will be sent without switching you over to the Messages app. The same goes for emails as well.

The full list of what’s new in 1.1 is as follows:

• In-app messaging actions — group messaging and preset text
• In-app email actions — attach last photo taken or attach photo from the clipboard
• Clipboard actions — place text on clipboard, place last photo on clipboard, convert text on clipboard, and x-callback-url support
• Expanded Text Expander support — snippets can now be expanded automatically while launching an action
• New Tweet action — tweet last photo taken
• Reorganized Action Composer
• Bug fixes and other enhancements

I use Launch Center Pro multiple times every single day and highly recommend it to automate common tasks you do regularly. Buy it now while it’s on sale. If you already have it, now is also a good time to gift it to someone else to save yourself a little scratch and share a bit of app joy at the same time.

• $399Buy Now
  Productivity
  

  Launch Center Pro

  Last Changed:

  2 weeks ago

  Rating:

  4.00 (97)

  Version:

  1.1

  iOS iPhone

  🎥 Check out the demo video: http://appcubby.com Launch actions, not just apps! It’s like speed dial, but for more than just phone calls! Launch Center Pro creates lightning quick shortcuts to...

Apple has been running an  App of the Week promotion, in which a paid app is made free for a short period of time, since last summer. A couple of weeks ago, Popcap’s Plants vs. Zombies was the featured app for this promotion and this week sees another well-known game, Rovio’s Angry Birds, under the App of the Week spotlight.

The original Angry Birds for the iPhone debuted in the App Store in 2009 while the HD version for the iPad arrived in April 2010. The game proved to be tremendously popular, prompting Rovio to release additional versions including Angry Birds Seasons, Angry Birds Space, and Bad Piggies as well as t-shirts, hats, and just about anything else that you can slap the likeness of an Angry Bird on.

Since its release, the original Angry Birds for iPhone has been priced at $.99 for most of its time in the App Store while the HD version has jumped around between $.99 and $4.99. Neither app has ever been available for free until now.

Apple’s App of the Week promotion usually runs from each Thursday through the following Wednesday. If this pattern holds true, Angry Birds and Angry Birds HD will remain free through Wednesday, March 13 and go back to their regular prices on Thursday, March 14. That gives you a nice window of time to download them but you should get to clicking the Buy Now buttons below sooner rather later lest you forget before this week’s promotion ends.

• $.99Buy Now
  Games
  

  Angry Birds

  Last Changed:

  3 weeks ago

  Rating:

  4.50 (376)

  Version:

  3.1.2

  iOS iPhone

  Use the unique powers of the Angry Birds to destroy the greedy pigs' defenses!

 The survival of the Angry Birds is at stake. Dish out revenge on the greedy pigs who stole their eggs. Use the...

• $299Buy Now
  Games
  

  Angry Birds HD

  Last Changed:

  3 weeks ago

  Rating:

  4.50 (217)

  Version:

  3.1.2

  iOS iPad

  Use the unique powers of the Angry Birds to destroy the greedy pigs' defenses!

 The survival of the Angry Birds is at stake. Dish out revenge on the greedy pigs who stole their eggs. Use the...

Whitaker Trebella’s Polymer is free for a limited time, down from its regular price of $1.99, as part of TouchArcade’s Free Play program. Polymer debuted in the App Store last year and offers a unique twist on the sliding puzzle genre.

In Polymer you’re presented with a grid of various shapes. Each shape has at least one dot that acts as a connection point where it can be attached to other shapes. To create a finished shape, you must slide columns and rows to put together a shape that has no exposed connection points. A shape with no exposed connection points is a polymer and you then tap on it to remove it from the board, which earns you points. The more pieces a polymer has, the more points you earn.

This probably sounds a bit confusing so here’s the trailer video where you can see how it works:

TouchArcade gave Polymer four stars in its review when it was first released and the game has received several updates since then. Polymer is an unusual puzzle game that can be played in quick bites here and there and it also has the power to draw you in for long sessions to create the biggest, baddest polymer you can make. It’s definitely worth a download now while it’s free (and even at its regular price of $1.99 if you miss this sale).

• $299Buy Now
  Games
  

  Polymer

  Last Changed:

  8 weeks ago

  Rating:

  4.50 (53)

  Version:

  2.3

  iOS Universal

  Polymer is a strategic shape-creating game that combines the logic of Rubik’s Cube, the sliding mechanism of Chuzzle, and the creativity of Lego. Slide columns and rows to create...

PopCap games has made the iPhone and iPad versions of its super cute and incredibly popular game, Plants vs. Zombies, free for one week. This is the first time ever that these apps have gone free and you even have the luxury of several days to hit the Buy Now button instead of some ridiculously small window of time. But don’t wait. Don’t be fooled by the stretch of time before you until Plants vs. Zombies goes back up to $2.99 for the iPhone version and $6.99 for the iPad version next Thursday. Locate the Buy Now buttons at the bottom of this post and click them immediately.

I’ll stop pestering you for a moment and take a step back. Plants vs. Zombies is a tower-defense style game in which you need to defend your home, and ultimately your brain, from zombies. The home defense weapons at your disposal are in the form of plants. You might think that plants would be useless against zombies but you’d be wrong. These plants can shoot peas and spikes and do other amazing things to destroy the zombies marching across your lawn and even your roof with the goal of eating your warm, delicious brain. Despite the gory intent of the zombies and the rampant destruction you’ll rain down upon them, Plants vs. Zombies is cute and suitable for a wide range of ages.

If you want more information, check out the review of Plants vs. Zombies over at TouchArcade. Here’s the official trailer for Plants vs. Zombies:

Now enough talking. Move your mouse to the Buy Now buttons and click before February 28!

• $.99Buy Now
  Games
  

  Plants vs. Zombies

  Last Changed:

  3 days ago

  Rating:

  4.00 (247)

  Version:

  1.9.8

  iOS iPhone

  Get ready to soil your plants as a mob of fun-loving zombies is about to invade your home. Use your arsenal of 49 zombie-zapping plants — peashooters, wall-nuts, cherry bombs and more — to...

• $.99Buy Now
  Games
  

  Plants vs. Zombies HD

  Last Changed:

  3 days ago

  Rating:

  4.50 (159)

  Version:

  1.9.6

  iOS iPad

  Get ready to soil your plants in this high-definition, multi-touch adaptation of the PopCap hit! Winner of over 30 Game of the Year awards.* Plants vs. Zombies™ was spawned from the fertile minds...

This isn’t exactly app related but I thought this deal was newsworthy for any app developers among AppShopper’s readers. Our sister site, TouchArcade, has worked out a deal with Sticker Mule where you can get 50% off an order of their vinyl 2-inch by 2-inch stickers with rounded corners by using the coupon code TOUCHARCADE at check-out.

TouchArcade’s Editor-in-Chief Eli Hodapp can personally vouch for the quality of Sticker Mule’s products. If you’re going to GDC or any other app-related event this year, you’ll want to get some stickers printed up of your app’s icon to do some trading. TouchArcade will have plenty on hand to trade at GDC in San Francisco next month so get in your orders soon so you’ll have them in time.

And if you haven’t already, be sure to download the official TouchArcade app to stay on top of the latest news and reviews in the world of iPhone and iPad games.

• FreeBuy Now
  Entertainment
  

  TouchArcade - The Best New Games

  Last Changed:

  3 weeks ago

  Rating:

  4.50 (376)

  Version:

  1.1.4

  iOS Universal

  Find the Hottest new games for your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad before everyone else! Save money by bookmarking games to your own personal Watch List which notifies you of any sales, updates, and...

Tapbots, the maker of several popular iOS and Mac apps, has made its App.net client for iOS, Netbot, free in order to “spur adoption” of the budding ad-free social network. The iPhone and iPad versions of the app will remain free for an “unspecified period of time” according to the company’s post on App.net announcing the price drop.

The price drop also coincided with the release of version 1.3, which adds support for private messaging.

App.net was created by entrepreneur and developer Dalton Caldwell. It’s an alternative to Twitter that is promised to remain ad free and flexible for developers. App.net lets users get a bit more verbose than Twitter, allowing 256 characters per post compared to Twitter’s limit of 140 characters. However, App.net isn’t free – you’ll need to shell out $5 per month or $36 per year to use App.net. In addition to posting privileges, an App.net account now comes with 10 GB of storage that can be used by client apps for file storage.

The iPad and iPhone versions of Netbot debuted in October at $4.99 each. Netbot looks exactly like Tweetbot for Twitter though it has a different color scheme and some slightly different functionality to reflect what App.net is capable of. Since it’s a paid service and doesn’t have nearly as many users as Twitter (and it’s uncertain that it ever will), the average person probably isn’t going to be interested in App.net and a client app like Netbot. However, if you prefer a smaller audience for your musings and want to avoid the advertising that Twitter forces on its users, App.net is the way to go and Netbot is definitely an excellent iPhone and iPad client for it.

• FreeBuy Now
  Social Networking
  

  Netbot for App.net (iPhone...

  Last Changed:

  12 weeks ago

  Rating:

  4.50 (27)

  Version:

  1.4.1

  iOS iPhone

  App.net is your passport to great applications like Netbot. Need an App.net account? Download "App.net Passport" (http://app.net/passport ) for iOS to signup for free. Netbot is a...

• FreeBuy Now
  Social Networking
  

  Netbot for App.net (iPad edition)

  Last Changed:

  12 weeks ago

  Rating:

  4.00 (23)

  Version:

  1.4.1

  iOS iPad

  App.net is your passport to great applications like Netbot. Need an App.net account? Download "App.net Passport" (http://app.net/passport ) for iOS to signup for free. Netbot is a...

Yesterday, the National Geographic Society dropped the price of its World Atlas app from $1.99 to free. It’s not clear if this is a temporary change or a permanent one but it’s the first time this app has been available for free since it was released in the App Store in 2010. Though I hope that many of you haven’t been waiting nearly three years for it to go free so you could save $2, a deal is a deal so hop to it if you want to get this excellent app with maps and information for every country and major city on this lovely planet of ours for free.

National Geographic World Atlas gives you a virtual globe through which you can explore the world. You can zoom in on any location to see a more detailed map and read about the primary languages, religions, government type, currency, and much more for countries around the world. You can view the world in one of multiple map styles (classic, antique, satellite, or road) and even download maps to your iPhone or iPad so you can do your virtual exploration even when you don’t have an internet connection.

National Geographic World Atlas is a universal app with an interface optimized for the iPad’s larger screen and also the iPhone 5. If you have children who are curious about the world or if you like to do a little virtual exploration yourself, it’s a fantastic reference app from a highly respected institution.

• $199Buy Now
  Reference
  

  National Geographic World Atlas

  Last Changed:

  9 weeks ago

  Rating:

  2.00 (39)

  Version:

  3.0.4

  iOS Universal

  National Geographic has taken its award-winning World Atlas and updated it completely for 2013 with a new look, improved functionality, and brand new features. ALL MAPS UPDATED • All National...

Developer Cultured Code has put its highly-rated task management Mac app, Things, on sale, dropping its price to $24.99 from its regular $49.99 until January 31. This sale is significant because Cultured Code hasn’t ever put Things on sale since it’s been available in the Mac App Store, so if it’s been on your Wish List, now is the time to get it.

Things is a heavy-duty task management app that is flexible enough to let you take a detailed approach to document multiple levels of tasks as part of a large project or create straightforward lists of single tasks you need to complete in the course of a day or week. There are companion apps for the iPhone and iPad (which are, alas, not on sale) and you can sync everything across all of your devices via Things Cloud, Cultured Code’s free synchronization service.

If you’re still not sure about spending $24.99 on Things for Mac, you can download a trial version through Cultured Code’s site. If you like it after seeing the trial or are willing to pony up the money to buy it for keeps sight unseen, be sure to do so before its price goes back up on January 31.

Editor’s note: iCloud was originally listed incorrectly as the synchronization service used for Things but this has been fixed.

• $4999Buy Now
  Productivity
  

  Things

  Last Changed:

  1 week ago

  Rating:

  4.00 (258)

  Version:

  2.2.1

  Mac OS

  Things is a delightful and easy to use task manager. It's the perfect companion for everything you want to achieve in life, offering a great balance between ease of use and powerful features. ...