Monday, May 20, 2013

Facebook makes it easier for iOS developers to add sharing to their apps





Are you not getting enough Facebook in your life? Do you find yourself wishing that your third party apps offered better integration for the social network? If you answered yes to either one of these questions, you’ll love this.


Facebook just announced that it’s pulling the native Share Dialog feature it introduced last month out of beta today. This will allow developers to add sharing features from the social network to their apps with a single line of code…


The company explains that the new Dialog offers a lightweight and consistent way for developers to enable Facebook sharing from their apps. This will eliminate the need for users to login before sharing, negating up to 3 extra steps.


From Facebook’s developer blog:


“The Share Dialog further improves upon theiOS 6 share sheet by adding support for publishing Open Graph actions to make it easier for people to tell their stories on mobile. In addition, people can now tag friends and share where they are enabling them to share in a more meaningful and engaging way, while helping even more people connect with your app.”


If you’re a developer, and you’re wanting to check out the new Share Dialog, you can find it in Facebook’s SDK 3.5 for iOS by clicking here.



Sunday, May 5, 2013

7 apps to check out this weekend



As the workweek shuts down and the weekend begins, we prepare for the sweet respite that is a lazy Saturday afternoon. If you don’t have plans this weekend that involve climbing a mountain or drinking cervezas with family, you may be looking for a little entertainment.


When you know you will have a lot of free time on your hands, you may want to check out some apps we think are great from this past week. Whether you want to fortify yourself in the closet with an epic space battle, or settle in with a good book, here are some apps we think you’ll like…



Vendetta Online
This space-based adventure is the perfect game to settle in for a long weekend of doing absolutely nothing. Based on the desktop version, this “twitch-based” battle adventure will make you feel like the captain of the Starship Enterprise. Well, maybe if the Enterprise were a shuttlecraft. Fly through outer space in this fully functioning MMO where your neighbor is your enemy and your prey is your neighbor. Control your ship using the iPad’s accelerometer or test your mettle with the virtual joystick. Pick up missions that take you to the far reaches of the galaxy and fight in epic wars against opposing factions. Yeah, it’s on. This app is available for $0.99.

Fotopedia Reporter

If you have ever wondered what it would be like to be a photojournalist, you can have your chance with this user-based photography app from Fotonauts. Upload your own images and either add text from Wikipedia, or write your own story, like a real reporter, and share it with the rest of the Fotopedia Reporter community. You can rate and comment on other reporters’ stories and follow your favorites. If your friends are using the app, add them too. The more you explore, the more you will discover. Adding your own Fotopedia story is as easy as taking a picture. This app is available for free.

Sorcery!

When someone tells you that you choose your own path in life, you can be sure that they are correct when you play this epic gamebook adventure. Don’t be fooled by its book-like appearance. This may have a lot of words, but it is definitely a game. You will battle enemies in stats-based fights, explore vast lands, earn untold riches, and even cast spells that may save your life. Based on the gamebook story of the same name from the Fighting Fantasy series of the early 1980s, this revolutionary choose-your-own-adventure game is nothing short of perfection. If you were thinking of settling in with a good book this weekend, make it this one. Your adventure awaits. This app is available for $4.99.

Star Command

This app dropped into the App Store on May 2, and made it big as Apple’s App Store Editor’s Choice on the same day. This space adventure is a strategy-based simulation game full of pixelated perfection. You start off building your ship’s crew in a SIMs style gameplay, but you will also be battling against your foes as you fight to protect what you have just built. Hire crewmembers, assign them tasks, watch as your craft becomes a well-oiled machine and then go out and fight the enemy on his turf. If Vendetta Online is too much game for you, Star Command will keep you busy without overwhelming you. This app is available for $2.99.

Emilly in Darkness

Some of my favorite types of games to play are atmospheric ones. Much of the time, the basic gameplay isn’t much different than a traditional platformer, or a physics-base game. They just look cooler. This game is definitely atmospheric. You follow the path of a young girl who is murdered in a dark forest for unknown reasons and ends up in a surreal world full of demons. To kill the oncoming enemies, you shoot your own blood at them. For the most part, this is a basic action adventure game. You use a virtual control pad to move and an attack button to shoot. If you are looking for a good haunting this weekend, let Emilly take you for a ride. This app is available for $1.99.

Evomail

Mail clients are the new hotness right now and Evomail is on fire. This Gmail-specific application lets users interact with their mail in a more useful way. It takes the things you love about Apple’s Mail app and smashes it together with the things you love about Gmail’s web-based mail service. Label messages, read threads, and even tweet your conversations to the world. You can have multiple accounts, as long as they are Gmail accounts. Responding to emails is as easy as swiping to the right. With Evomail, you get the best of two email clients, rolled into one. This app is available for $2.99.

Angry Birds Friends

Just when you thought you’d had your fill of those fat little fowls, they are back and friendlier than ever in this multiplayer tournament for the Angry Bird masses. Meet up with Facebook friends in weekly challenges to see who is the best pig poker around. You can also collect bird coins and daily rewards. Rub your winnings in your buddies’ faces, or send them a heartfelt consolation prize. If you’ve already been tearing it up in the ABF arena on Facebook, don’t worry. You won’t have to start over. Your stats will sync with your iOS device. This app is available for free.