By Lisa Caplan on May 21st, 2012 iCloud support and new paid and free levels in Disney's hit game update Fans of Disney Mobile’s hit game Where’s My Water - both the free and paid version – have a lot to be happy about. Disney just added iCloud support for cross-device game synching, and lots of new levels. In the paid version of the game, 20 Lost Levels – free version classics – have been added to their own chapter, and Disney announced its intention of updating these regularly. And, if fans have purchased Cranky’s Story, a distinct game mode available throughin-app purchase only, the story wraps up in this update than with an additional 20 levels, making a total of 80 for the extra $1.99. Players who have the free version of the game haven’t been left out either. A new chapter entitled “Days of Summer” is out with 12 new levels Read More

A friend on Twitter asked me the other day if I had a list of the educational apps I have on my iPad. With all the reviews I have done, I was ashamed to admit that I've never taken the time to list those apps that I use on a regular basis with my children. I reached out to the other writers at TUAW and asked them the same question. Together, we compiled a list of our favorite learning apps for children, and wow, what a list. The apps are presented below in no particular order. SparkleFish ($0.99, 99-cent in-app purchases) Paper by FiftyThree (Free, in-app purchases of $2.99 for tools and $7.99 for everything) Minecraft-Pocket Edition ($6.99; more game-ish, but building with blocks is learning, no?) Articulation Station (Free; sound packs are $2.99 to $5.99, full app is $49) Motion Math Hungry Fish (Free, in-app purchases from $2.99 up to Read More

...until now, not much was known about the China native. But that quickly changed this morning with a report from M.I.C. Gadget, which gives an in-dept... Read More

Diggin' Dogs [99¢] from Soap Creative and Chillingo is already being compared to Disney's popular release [99¢],  since both games use the same "swipe-to-dig" mechanism. But the inspiration for Diggin' Dogs actually came from Soap Creative's online Flash game Truffle Hunter, which you can try on your computer. Personally, I didn't think much of that Flash game, but I'm diggin' Diggin Dogs with its noisy little puppies. The easy-to-use controls involve a mix of swiping, tapping and tilting. You drag to dig burrows for the dogs to clamber down and swipe to make the dogs jump. Tap to activate and deactivate objects (such as changing gravity orientation), and tilt to make the dogs, coins and various in-game items slide left or right. If you're not a huge fan of tilt controls (like me), don't worry your fingers do most of the work. To keep the dogs safe (and alive) you must Read More

02.01.12        App Score: 10/10    Disney Mobile’s has received some well-deserved accolades as a top-rated game and indeed, since it’s release in September the water-physics puzzle game has been a top seller in the App Store. For fans of the Swampy and Cranky battle for bathwater, the recent update that included “Cranky’s Story” is a welcome addition to an already stellar game. Where’s My Water? features seven different sewer worlds with 20 levels each and the recent introduction of Cranky’s Story provides an additional 5 with the option to purchase additional chapters. The premise of Where’s My Water? is to solve each level by creating water flow to Swampy’s bathtub. Swampy is a hygiene-oriented alligator who really loves to take baths, but his nemesis Cranky is trying to block the water. To help Swampy stay clean, players solve various puzzles by digging out dirt and removing obstacles that Read More

Where's My Water [$.99 / Free] keeps getting bigger, better, and ... harder? Earlier yesterday, Disney polished off yet another update to the playful puzzle title, adding in some neat story elements and a total of five free puzzles and many others via IAP. The package itself has been dubbed "Cranky's Story." We'll let the boilerplate do the explaining: Cranky is the toughest alligator around and he has worked up an appetite from sabotaging Swampy’s water supply. He eats anything, especially all the rotting and disgusting junk found in the dumps and sewers. Cranky will not eat vegetables however, and now his food is covered with vegetable-like algae. Use the dirty purple water to clean off Cranky’s plate so he can eat! Disney says that upon IAP unlock, users will get "50 super-challenging puzzles... and enjoy a completely new way to play." Catch that? Looks like these guys are hoping to Read More

Disney has released the very first new content pack for the extremely popular Where's My Water, "Cranky's Story." It features 40 new levels for the price of 99 cents. Instead of guiding clean water to a shower head as you did in the original game, this update has you direct dirty water to Cranky's plate so he can eat his "junk food." Where's My Water is a breakthrough title for Disney. Not only has it been phenomenally popular on iOS, but the game's also been released on other mobile platforms, and the free web version appeared in a campaign about clean drinking water. Disney is currently working on animated media about the game's characters, so this has turned into a pretty substantial franchise for the House of Mouse. This update raises the game's profile and demonstrates Disney's investment in iOS and this property. Fans of the game should find the update Read More

WhatsApp is momenteel niet meer te downloaden uit de App Store. De reden is onbekend. De app, die al wekenlang bovenaan de ranglijsten met bestverkochte apps stond, heeft de eerste plaats nu afgestaan aan Where’s My Water. WhatsApp was afgelopen tijd negatief in het nieuws omdat het eenvoudig bleek om de status van andere gebruikers zomaar te wijzigen. Opvallend was, dat dit nieuws zich vrijwel alleen in Nederland verspreidde en nauwelijks in andere landen. Het verwijderen van de iPhone-app lost echter het probleem niet op: de kwetsbaarheid is te vinden in het WhatsApp-protocol en misbruik werd gedaan via een externe website (WhatsAppStatus.net), die losstond van de app. Bovendien kunnen bestaande WhatsApp-gebruikers nog steeds worden getroffen door de bug. Om misbruik te maken hoefde een kwaadwillende alleen het telefoonnummer van het slachtoffer te weten. Toen WhatsApp het IP-nummer van de website blokkeerde kwamen de hackers terug met de Windows-tool WhatsApp Status Changer. Read More

...UK Top Paid iPhone Apps: #6 Where's My Water? #Games - iTunes: http://t.co/BpNhoUau... Read More

In case you've been busy spending the holidays with friends and family, or just cross-country skiing to the North Pole, here's our recap of last week's epic, five-part series on the 50 best iOS games of 2011. How many do you own? #50: Temple Run In 2011, independent developers Imangi Studios had their biggest hit yet: The endless running game Temple Run. A cross between Canabalt and Raiders of the Lost Ark, in Temple Run you have to make split-second decisions and quick button presses to try to survive. The combinations of simple swipes and tilt controls, plus Temple Run's freemium pricing and stylish 3D graphics, made it one of the year's best high-score survival games. Our Bottom Line: Now is your chance to be Indiana Jones. #49: Tapper World Tour After nearly 30 years, the Tapper license awoke from a drunken stupor to revel in the App Store. Tapper World Read More

Here it is: Our Top 10 games of 2011. It's been an amazing year for mobile games and technology, and these 10 games represent what we think are the most fun you can have on an iPhone or iPad in 2011. Tell us your year-end favorites in the comments section, and get ready for a spectacular 2012! #10: Mage Gauntlet Mage Gauntlet is Rocketcat Games' most ambitious title yet, and all that effort paid off magnificently. Infused with the developer's delightful humor and pixel-perfect 16-bit art, Mage Gauntlet gives you a satisfying array of attacks and puts you up against hordes of enemies. Before long you'll be performing a dance of death, slaughtering baddies with every step as you make your way through the levels. The game has tons of content and lots of replay value, making it one of the year's best for anyone with an iOS device. Our Bottom Read More

By Carter Dotson on December 30th, 2011 As 2011 winds down to a close, 148Apps takes a look back at our picks for the top five games released this past year. In what was another fantastic year in the world of iOS gaming, we are here to bring you the titles that we, the staff of 148Apps, thought were the best of the year. Here are our top five picks for the Best Games of 2011: : Listening to some of the most prominent voices in gaming journalism right now, so-called ‘social’ and ‘free to play’ games are the scourge of the industry, and will bring forth the end of gaming as we know it, or at least a cowpocalypse. Of course, the problem is more that these games tend to be designed for nefarious purposes, to try and suck every last penny out of players’ wallets. Tiny Tower was one Read More

Mobile analytics firm Mobilewalla has ranked the top apps across all four mobile platforms for 2011, using its own ranking system known at the “Mobilewalla Score.” Instead of looking at raw user ratings, this scoring system is an algorithm that analyzes a variety of factors in addition to ratings, including an app’s position within its own category, volume, social media sentiment and more. The scores are a numerical value between 0 and 100, with a higher score indicating a more successful app. It’s an interesting way to slice the data, and gives a different picture of the app store ecosystem than typical year-end lists do. Those often look solely at download numbers and tend to include apps which have been popular for years – like Facebook, Twitter, Angry Birds, etc. Other lists, meanwhile, are editorially selected or curated, like some of those we’ve featured here. The list below is grouped by platform Read More

Mobile analytics firm Mobilewalla has ranked the top apps across all four mobile platforms for 2011, using its own ranking system known at the “Mobilewalla Score.” Instead of looking at raw user ratings, this scoring system is an algorithm that analyzes a variety of factors in addition to ratings, including an app’s position within its own category, volume, social media sentiment and more. The scores are a numerical value between 0 and 100, with a higher score indicating a more successful app. It’s an interesting way to slice the data, and gives a different picture of the app store ecosystem than typical year-end lists do. Those often look solely at download numbers and tend to include apps which have been popular for years – like Facebook, Twitter, Angry Birds, etc. Other lists, meanwhile, are editorially selected or curated, like some of those we’ve featured here. The list below is grouped by platform Read More

I love video games as much as the next guy, as long as the next guy doesn’t spend hours a day grinding through the upper levels of Call of Duty or the latest Super Mario creation. So for casual mobile gamers, as promised in this week’s App Smart column, here’s a list of my top 10 new iPhone gaming apps for 2011. Scribblenauts Remix ($1) A beautifully-designed cartoon adventure game for children, Scribblenauts Remix is the mobile version of the popular Nintendo DS title. (For ages 9 and older.) Where’s My Water? ($1) A charming, light game in which you help an alligator find water in increasingly complicated conditions. (For ages 4 and older.) Tiny Tower (free) Build a tower within the limits of your ever-changing virtual budget. It’s creative problem solving, wrapped in graphically cute packaging. (For ages 4 and older.) Tiny Wings ($1) An adorable, seductively simple and addictive Read More

...@SwampyTheGator: RT if you updated #WheresMyWater? "Stretched Thin" chapter Apple http://t.co/2OvE7f1h AND Android http://t.co/tEQYuqVj... Read More

During December and January, The Unofficial Apple Weblog is soliciting your nominations and votes for the best products for Mac, iPhone/iPod touch, and iPad. We'll start with nominations in a category, and then tally your votes for the top-nominated products a few days later. The winner in each category receives the highly-coveted title of TUAW Best of 2011. Today's category for TUAW Best of 2011 nominations is iPhone games. With over 500,000 apps in the iOS app store, there are plenty of games to choose from, and literally hundreds that became popular in 2011. Infinity Blade II ($6.99) was an App Store game of the week, so perhaps it deserves your nomination for the best iPhone game of the year. First Person Shooter fans love Gameloft's Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation ($6.99) on the iPhone, while Swampy the Alligator has captured the hearts of adults and kids alike in Where's My Read More

Disney Mobile's fairly well-received puzzle game, [$.99], has received another big content update. This latest chapter, which is available now for $0, adds a new steam mechanic, more collectibles, and a total of 20 new puzzles. With this added into the overall level tally, the game can safely boast 120 different levels. Let's focus on that steam mechanic for a second since it ties into the chapter's name, the "Boiling Point." In the chapter's puzzles, you'll guide water into hot things, which converts the liquid into a gaseous cloud. Steam eats away at very specific pieces of a puzzle's environment, revealing opportunities to keep the game's Rube Golberg-ian action moving and Swampy the Alligator happy. Here's the new trailer: Eli Note: Just as I was about to unleash this story to the wild, I discovered that Where's My Water is the latest game to be available for free via Apple's crazy Read More

By Chris Kirby on November 26th, 2011 This week at 148Apps, Disney brings water to Androids, Black Friday descends with lots of sales, and pigeons must be stopped. Read on for more... This week at 148Apps.com was all about the US celebration of Thanksgiving, and the inevitable retail aftermath known as Black Friday. Rather than fight the crowds, 148Apps founder Jeff Scott put together a comprehensive Black Friday app sale list that continues to grow, and grow and grow. Scott says, “App sales are nothing new, but the biggest of the year is here, and we’ll be tracking the best of the sale apps right here. Expect lots of updates over the weekend.” Jeff Scott also invited faithful 148Apps.biz readers to attend the upcoming AppNation III conference, saying, “Want to attend AppNation III? 148Apps network readers can get a 30% discount on the registration fee by using code 148APPS on the Read More

Tim FitzRandolph joined Disney Mobile's gaming team from the lowest rung possible: The Quality Assurance department. Game testers often work long hours on early versions of unfinished games, and FitzRandolph's first job was no exception. "I studied film studies and nothing to do with games, and also studied the Japanese language. And I had lived in Japan for a couple of years, so I was fluent in Japanese," he remembers in a recent interview with TUAW. "I didn't know what to do, and I settled down on a job listing on Disney for QA testing on an upcoming game, and they wanted someone bilingual. That was actually my kind of thing, my way in the door. I got to work on this game called Spectrobes, which was a DS game that Disney created with a team in Japan, so they needed someone to help do the testing and translate the bugs Read More

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By Leanna Lofte, Saturday, Oct 1, 2011 | Every week a few of us from team TiPb will bring you our current favorite, most fun and useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they’re iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch related, they’re fair game. To see what we picked, and to tell us your pick, follow on after the break! I’ve often felt that the native iOS calendar (particularly on the iPhone) isn’t really very good, and I’ve longed for a good update to it with every new release of iOS. As such, I’ve tried many calendar replacement apps over the years, and while some are fantastic, I always find myself gravitating back to the simple look of the native calendar. Lately I’ve been using a new app though, and I’m feeling pretty good about Read More

Metacritic has released its monthly listings for iPhone and iPad, and right there on top of the ratings charts is the same title currently sitting on top of the paid charts: Disney's Where's my Water? Where's my Water is by the same team behind Disney's megahit JellyCar, and it features the company's first character ever created just for mobile games: Swampy the alligator. All Swampy wants to do in this one is take a shower, but of course in the sewers where he lives, the pipes are all cut off and blocked up with dirt. So it's the player's job, by scratching dirt off the screen, to guide the water down the screen and into Swampy's shower. There are three ducks to collect in each level (which you can pick up by diverting the water to them), collectibles hidden in the dirt in some areas, and a few other mechanics, including Read More