Anyone for tennis? With Wimbledon swinging to its conclusion this Sunday, you’re probably in the mood to get a racket out and go rally down the local courts. But, if you don’t want to miss all the great matches, then you may want to settle down with these three tennis apps that we’ve featured in Free App Magic over the past year to get into a virtual sweat with.

Stick Tennis

First up, we’re serving you a game from the makers of legendary Flash powered time waster Stick Cricket. Stick Tennis is a cartoony take on tennis, getting you scampering around a cel shaded court and timing shots perfectly to bamboozle your opponents.

Where Stick Tennis excels is in how simple it is. Every shot is powered by a swipe on the screen meaning that you can backhand, forehand and lob the ball in absolute ease. It makes the game really simple to pick up, meaning you’ll be playing with the grace of Roger Federer about ten minutes into the game.

Packed with real players, a variety of courts and tons of replayability, Stick Tennis is perfect for those of you wanting to get a match going with minimum hassle.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s time for the June edition of the App Show and we really got our teeth into a wide variety of app industry issues this month.

We chatted with Craig Grannell, games editor for Tap! Magazine and contributor for Macformat, about the changes to iOS 7 and what that means for the future of Apple. We caught up with Iris Campinski from Apps for Good and Ben Howard from ViewRanger to discuss how their work with apps has helped the community. And we discussed how you turn a board game into an app with Rodeo Games’ CTO Richard Brooks and Creative Director Ben Murch.

With Beth reviewing superhero apps and the Free App Magic Chart rounding things off, you can check out this bumper interview special by listening the podcast via http://bit.ly/msappshow.

George

With an ever increasing number of smart mobile devices being sold every year, the mobile app ecosystem is exploding in size as more and more people enter the market. So the Application Developer Alliance have surveyed mobile device owners to find out their behaviour towards apps and see if there are any major insights that mobile marketers should be tapping into.

Read the rest of this entry »

This year for World Oceans Day, we’re taking the plunge and enjoying some fishy fun! Join in and check out our top three fish-friendly apps below!

1)    Sea HD: A High Definition Ocean Aquariam by Air Sea Land

While most fish lovers have to visit their local beach or aquarium to see exotic sea-life, Air Sea Land have designed an app that brings the underwater experience to you! Their stunning pocket aquarium allows you to get up close and personal with real sharks, eels and fish while exploring calm waters, sunken wrecks and coral reefs. With an extensive fact sheet for each featured fish, and a range of high-definition videos accompanied by ambient soundtracks, this soothing app is interesting and informative.

Read the rest of this entry »

Few technology sectors have growing at such a rapid rate as the app industry. From being now existent in 2007 to being a predicted $46 billion industry in 2016, apps have had a major impact on society and our everyday lives around the world. We know there are big numbers involved in the app industry evolution but when you see them laid out in all their glory on the infographic below it shows just how massive the industry has become. One of the stats highlights the pace at which app downloads have increased: from its inception in 2008 it took the nine months to reach 1 billion downloads. Compare that with current figures – by the end of 2013 we will be downloading two billion iOS and Android billion apps per week – and you can see how the world have become obsessed with apps.

Read the rest of this entry »

Wine is made all over the world but this week MagicSolver HQ is celebrating closer to home with English Wine Week. Although perhaps not considered a wine making region of renown when compared to France, Spain, Italy, Argentina, etc, England has actually gained a reputation in the wine making world for producing quality vino. So raise a glass to Blighty with these three wine-themed apps.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hi everyone,

It’s time for another edition of the App Show and, yet again, we’ve got some absolutely cracking features coming up for you.

We’re chatting with Andrew Smith from Appy Nation about how indie developers are coming together to help push their apps up the chart; an essential listen for any of you thinking about extending your marketing reach.

On top of that, we’re also talking tax breaks for British game developers with Dr Jo Twist of the UK Interactive Entertainment Association and Andrew Eades, CEO of Relentless Software, to discuss how the moves may benefit app developers. And, of course, we’ve got the news, reviews and Free App Magic chart to enjoy.

Listen live tonight from 9pm on Star Radio here or catch up with our podcast by downloading it here from tomorrow onwards.

Hope you enjoy the show!

George

It’s the Champions League final this weekend and we’ll be glued to our screens at 7.45 on Saturday evening to watch Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund go toe to toe at Wembley! But if you want to get yourself eager for what will likely be an excellent match, here are three football apps to get you in the mood.

Score! World Goals

Read the rest of this entry »

Judging by the findings of the Developer Economics 2013 report, the monetary rewards for app developers aren’t anything to write home about. Commissioned by ecosystem analyst Vision Mobile, the report – condensed into lovely bite-size form in the infographic below – shows that 67% of developers are actually earning below the “app poverty line” of $500 per app per month. Unsurprisingly the report shows that revenues are boosted the more platforms app developers engage with (72% use two or more platforms concurrently) and even though subscription models pay out more, the most popular is in-app advertising with 38% of app developers adopting this model. To get a more detailed overview of developer practice check out the infographic.

Read the rest of this entry »