In our quest to help you discover some of the best apps at discounted rates, we've featured quite a few App Store gems for those rocking an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. In the name of fairness, we're today turning our attention to the Google Play Store, with five great apps having just gone free of charge.
Apple finally put the rubber stamp on its deal to acquire Beats Electronics, and immediately, Apple made some adjustments to the Beats Music streaming service app on iOS. The app is, incidentally, also available to those on Android and Windows Phone, although at this moment in time, limited to those within the confines of the United States.
Security firm Lookout has been among the foremost in enhancing mobile security to the general consumer, with its apps highly regarded by those who use them. Given how frequently mobile devices are targeted by unwanted intruders nowadays, the company has added a new Theft Alerts system, and whilst similar apps offer features to help users recover a lost or stolen device, Lookout's new implementation is both pro-active and effective in how it goes about its business.
Watch Dogs was one of the games that everyone latched onto when the next generation of game consoles were announced, and with good reason - it looked awesome. Now that the game is upon us, Ubisoft has released a companion app for iOS and Android that aims to make gamers feel part of the universe, even if they don't actually own a copy of Watch Dogs.
Developers of camera apps are being forced - due mainly to the sheer volume now available on mobile devices - to come up with new, innovative ways of bringing something unique and interesting to the table. The likes of Instagram and its many filters have been done a thousand times over, but a new app for Android called Whistle Camera brings a neat, hands-free aspect to the point-and-shoot experience.
The CyanogenMod aftermarket firmware for Android is easily among the most popular and celebrated, but unless you're a dab hand at flashing custom ROMs, then you may well be put-off trying it out for yourself. If you've long since been a fan of the interface, or simply just wanted to try CM out without digging into the guts of your device and potentially voiding your warranty along the way, a new, Play Store-based app offers a taster of the Cyanogen experience without the potential pitfalls of getting stuck en route to more sophisticated modding.
You could be forgiven for thinking that there's nothing but iPhone 6 and iOS 8 news going on right now, what with the leaks, guessing games and varied opinions that are all flying around on a daily basis. In fact, it's probably safe to say that if you're not of the Apple persuasion, then you're probably sick and tired of hearing about everything iOS. That's why we hope you like this new Android theme we're sharing with you today.
Earlier this month, Foursquare announced that it would be venturing away from its very check-in-centric format by offering a new, alternative social app in the form of Swarm. The idea, it seems, is to help users locate nearby friends and subsequently find interesting things to do, and today, the Swarm app has been released for those on iOS and Android.
The Facebook app for Android has just been updated, with the most noteworthy new feature being support for offline post creation. Aside from that, there's not much else to report, although we suspect that - as ever - a few bug fixes and performance enhancements will have been included as a part of the deal. We've got all of the details on the big new feature, as well as the all-important download link for the app, coming up right after the break!
Saving offline maps using Google's famed Maps app has always been slightly tricky and tedious for those on iOS and Android, but thanks to a recent update, things just got a whole lot easier. Below, we'll take you through each of the steps required for you to save offline maps using the freshly-bumped Google Maps 3.0 for iOS and 8.0 for Android.
