It’s beginning to feel a bit like Christmas… But don’t say goodbye to November just yet because I’ve still got plenty of app store news from the month to share.
If you’d like to pick up a new game for your smartphone, want to learn more about the potential for developing your own app, or are simply curious about current happenings in the world of apps, this is the place to be!
Our games section is filled with all sorts of competitive style games this month, so if you’re in the mood to swipe your way to victory, you may be interested in what I have to showcase below.
Armajet (Violent Trailer) - Soon, in Beta
Armajet is the first of three competitive games available in beta in this month’s app store news. Armajet is a 2D arena shooter game where you’re put into a small arena and must fight players with different weaponry. Each of the weapons have unique stats and players can traverse the arena very quickly with fast paced movement and jetpacks.
Whilst the levels are 2D, I feel that the level of verticality is higher than that of most 3D shooter games - you can get an excellent side-scroller style view of the battlefield and most arenas are filled with lots of complex layers and floors. You’ll have to watch the trailer above to see what I mean.
Beta signups are available for both iOS and Android here.
Fruit Ninja Tournament Edition - Soon, Beta Available
The team behind Fruit Ninja are working on a special new game that incorporates the fast paced swiping of Fruit Ninja and turns it into a player versus player experience. The game is most likely going to make it’s way to full release in early 2017, but there are beta sign-ups available already, Fruit Ninja Tournament Edition will also get its first reveal at the Amazon's Champions of Fire Invitational, which will take place on December 2nd and will offer $100,000 in prizes across eight games: 8 Ball Pool, Bloons TD Battles, Disney Crossy Road, Pac-Man 256 and of course Fruit Ninja Tournament Edition.
You can sign up for beta here.
Get Wrecked - Soon, in Beta
Get Wrecked is another title that also offers fast paced competitive gameplay, although perhaps not competitive as Armajet or Fruit Ninja Tournament Edition. In Get Wrecked, two players will go head to head with two other players in an arena. This time, the arena is 3D, and instead of equipping players with guns, the developers for Get Wrecked have chosen to go the fantasy route. That means, swords, axes, heavy armor or wands, robes and magic spells are available for the players to use on their enemies in any way they see fit. Get Wrecked has an expected January 2017 release, although if there are issues remaining by January it could get pushed back.
You can join the closed beta but you’ll need to join the Discord and have a chat with the developers to get a beta download. More info here.
Some interesting developments from the Google camp this month - they’ve really been pushing their marketing for Google Pixel, that’s for sure.
Google Photos - Scan Photos and Save Them To Your Phone
Google has recently released a brand new app that’s available on both the Google Play Store and the iOS App Store. The app is called Google Photos and it allows you to scan your real photo collection by using your smartphone camera and receive high quality digital copies to save on your phone and in Google Drive. I’d recommend watching through the trailer above because it truly shows the useful nature of Google Photos in an engaging way.
For those preferring to read; essentially you open the Google Photos app, point your phone camera at the photo you would like to scan and then let the app do the rest of the work. It needs to take four points of the image, so essentially four camera snaps and that’s it, it’s done. Google Photos doesn’t just take pictures of your pictures either - it uses what I can only call wizardry to take the photo data and re-create it digitally, just like a real scanner would.
Facebook Really is Eating Your Battery Life
You’re probably aware that the Facebook Messenger app eats your battery like no other app in the world. However, you may be shocked to find out that your battery may be getting eaten up by Facebook even faster than previously thought, especially if you’re on Android. A lot of this battery waste will happen when your phone is in standby mode too. This interesting article by Gizmodo documents a study done on Facebook’s battery consumption and offers a few alternatives. I thought it was a great read and I’ve since moved to other messaging platforms to save myself the battery life.
There weren’t many great new changes in the world of app development tutoring for newcomers, but I did come across a couple of interesting deals that could prove to be valuable.
AndroidGuys $1 Programming Bundle
I haven’t heard of this website before, but I came across a programming offer on their deals section which offers up a range of different online courses at a ‘pay what you want’ price. The programming guides cover 10 different topics, from Android and iPhone development to Ruby, Python and Javascript. Apparently, the course offers $1,500 worth of value, but I’m not too sure on those numbers.
You can pay the average ($15) to get the full 10 course bundle or get a course on Javascript for $1. I haven’t bought into it myself but I think it’s worth having a browse through to see if any of the content in there is valuable to you.
Free Appcoda iOS Guides
Appcoda offer premium guides with close help and support for those that are interested, but they’re better known for their range of free iOS programming guides. There isn’t a huge wealth of information available, but there is just enough for those taking part to get to grips with how iOS app development works, what tools to use and where to go from there.
Some free Appcoda iOS guides will also take you through the steps necessary to create your own simple apps - these exercises are perfect for getting to grips with iOS development as a beginner.
I haven’t had much time to spend on the community this month so it was great to come back near the end of November and have a read through some of the great content available. If you, like me, haven’t had much free time to read through the community blog, here are some app-related highlights.
7 Foundations of Wellbeing and Apps to keep your Life Balance
This is a very excellent read from Treadsoftly that features an application that can help you to reach your 7 foundations of wellbeing and happiness. I’m really glad Treadsoftly went through the effort to craft this blog because it was an excellent read for me and highlighted some important exercises you can do to keep yourself well and happy.
Cooking with SideChef - Tasty meals made easy
Another blog by Treadsoftly! I love cooking, but I often make plenty of mistakes when trying out new things for the first time, so having an app that can guide me with clear step by step video instructions is a dream come true. SideChef is an app that offers these kinds of video tutorials and Treadsoftly has written an engaging review for the app.
With all of the recent news surrounding the new president-elect Donald Trump, I really found myself laughing after reading through Mitchell98’s latest review for a Donald Trump mobile game. Mitchell98 even managed to get a one to one interview with one of the developers behind the projects. Definitely take the time to read through this one. The game is a lot of fun too! It’s named Jrump, and you can check out download links in Mitchell98’s blog or search for Jrump in the iOS store and Google Play store.
Conclusion
That wraps up another issue of the App Store news. I hope you’ve all enjoyed reading through this month’s app store summary. What apps and games have taken your fancy this month?
I’ll see you in the comments section!