On a regular basis, Apple World Today posts a list of notable new apps or app updates that have been released. They may not necessarily be new, but they’re popular and deserve mention. Here are today’s picks.
iOS Apps/Updates for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch
David Sumner has served up Tactical Checkers 1.0. It’s a free (for a limited time) two-player game. Play occurs on a 5 x 4 board with moveable checkers. You can play the computer at any of four levels or play another human.
Rory Buckley has introduced Word Search Challenge 1.0. The free app brings the classic word search puzzle to an interactive form, with the bonus of in-game features and an online multiplayer game mode. Word Search Challenge generates puzzles from a large database of words.
Davka Corp. has launched Ready for Rashi 1.01. The $5.99 app teaches students how to read Rashi script, the semi-cursive Hebrew typeface. The script is used to display the commentary of Rashi, the 11th century Bible and Talmud commentator, as well as those of many other Bible and Talmud commentators.
Guru Arcade has debuted Pop Rocket Rescue 1.0. It’s a free stacking puzzler where players are tasked with rescuing “Fizzies,” a species of soda pop-producing aliens scattered across 13 worlds. Players must build a tower using different shapes, while contending with gravity as they try to build in a way that keeps their friends safe.
tvOS Apps/Updates for the Apple TV
Kitefaster has rolled out a free version of Deep Sleep Sounds for the Apple TV. The developer originally wrote the app to help his newborn baby fall asleep. However, the sounds also help adults sleep, study, or relax. Deep Sleep Sounds can play the last selected sound immediately on launch, useful for calming fussy babies as soon as possible. White Noise and Deep Sleep Sounds is available in a free version allows play duration for up to one hour. The $2.99 pro version plays sound continuously for up to 12 hours.
Magnin & Associates has floated out Bumper Boat Battle 1.0 for the Apple TV. The $1.99 game features three different types of gameplay including a 10 boat free-for-all, and a buoy race (similar to a rodeo barrel race) in both single and two-player modes.
Mac OS X Apps/Updates
Twocanoes Software has launched SD Clone 2.2, an update of its tool to clone SD cards on the Mac.
It clones up to eight SD cards simultaneously from a single image file or SD card. SD Clone shrinks and expands the image as needed to fit your data on any size card. The app supports the Raspbian Raspberry Pi operating system, Linux and other operating systems.
SD Clone supports a variety of flash memory cards and formats, including SD and micro SD cards. Version 2.2 offers speed and other improvements.
SD Clone requires Mac OS X 10.9 or higher and costs $99.99. A demo is available for download.
Eltima Software has released Elmedia Video Player 6.5, an update to their universal media player for Mac OS X (10.7 and higher).
It’s a multifunctional media player with its own volume control that supports all common and not very common audio and video formats. Playback speed is adjustable; users can create and manage their own playlists. Along with multiple new features, version 6.5 offers AirPlay support for streaming audio and video among various devices.
Elmedia Video Player 6.5 is free and available worldwide through the Mac App Store in the Entertainment category. Elmedia Video Player has the Pro version available for $9.99 via in-app purchase.
Tension Software has upgraded Mac Shutdown to version 4.0.
The utility can use “Soft Shutdown” and “Hard Shutdown” to power down your Mac. Soft Shutdown is issued at the Finder level and tells all running apps to quit before shutting down the Mac. The Hard shutdown and can shut down an app that doesn’t want to quit before rebooting the Mac.
Mac Shutdown 4.0 requires Mac OS X 10.10 or higher and costs $12. It’s available at the Tension Software website.
