Emerging Free iOS Apps: Assassin’s Creed, Adobe Carousel and Cut the Birds

This week turnover was again high on the free app charts. New, high profile offerings from National Geographic, Ubisoft and Adobe all performed well, and older apps from independent developers SiGMA Communications and Imangi Studios saw boosts in popularity that propelled them onto the charts. While last few weeks have seen more variety in the types of apps on the charts, this week games and utilities were by far the most popular free apps, with magazines dropping off sharply. New Titles on the iPhone Free Apps List Cut the Birds - This week’s new #1 free app is Cut the Birds. The simple game challenges players to protect their iPhone’s screen from a... very familiar looking group of birds by slicing through them in mid-air, which means for all intents and purposes Cut the Birds is Halfbrick’s Fruit Ninja and meets Angry Birds, right down to the character design. Cut the Birds was released on October 26th by independent studio Solverlabs. We'll see how long they withstand copyright infringement suits. GlassPong - Next up is Japanese developers SiGMA Communication’s casual game Glass Pong. The game challenges players to try and throw ping pong balls into a glass by tilting and shaking their phone - replicating the throw by using the accelerometer. Glass Pong is supported by ads, but for a $0.99 in-app purchase they can be removed. The game was last updated on August 20th, but has experienced a resurgence in popularity that has moved it up to the #5 spot on the free iPhone app charts. Text’n’Drive HD - Productivity app Text’n’Drive HD is another older app that’s climbed the free charts this week, landing in the #11 spot thanks to an October 28th update and a limited time sale on pro version upgrades within the app. Developed by Hands Free Software, the utility allows users to check their emails while they’re driving. The free version of the app will read emails out loud from one email account, and the pro version allows users to send responses by talking and supports multiple email accounts. Urban Rivals - The #14 free app this week is Boostr’s multiplayer virtual trading card game Urban Rivals. In the game, players collect cards representing characters from the fictional Clint City and challenge other players to battles with their cards. More Pokemon than Magic: The Gathering, the cards actually gain experience as the player uses them, eventually leveling up and gaining new abilities. The game comes with small amount of free cards, but the player must flesh out their arsenal through in-app purchases of additional cards and credits. Assassin’s Creed Rearmed - Finally all the way down in the #30 spot is Assassin’s Creed Rearmed, a spin-off of Ubisoft’s AAA console title Assassin’s Creed specifically designed for iOS. The multiplayer game challenges payers to blend into an AI controlled crowd as they stalk other players and try to assassinate them, all while avoiding the same fate themselves. Players can level up, earn money and upgrade their equipment but they can also get an edge through in-app purchases. Assassin’s Creed Rearmed was released on October 27th. New Titles on the iPad Free Apps List 7 Billion - Timed to coincide with the birth of the planet’s seven billionth human, National Geographic has released an app to celebrate the event, 7 Billion. This week’s new #1 app, is a DuPont sponsored presentation explores how population growth is changing the world through photos, feature-length articles, videos and interactive features and maps. Adobe Carousel - Adobe is getting into the cloud with its new app based photo storage service Adobe Carousel. The service allows users to add photos to their Carousel library from their iPad, iPhone or computer, and then automatically syncs their photos across all a user’s devices. Users can also edit pictures in Carousel, invite other Carousel users to add photos to their library and share their pictures via Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. All this functionality comes with a price though; the app comes with a free 30-day membership, but after that trial period expires users must purchase a subscription to the service at the cost of $5.99 a month or $59.99 a year. Adobe Carousel was released on October 26th and is currently the #16 free app for iPad. Temple Run - Next up on the free iPad charts is the #19 ranked game Temple Run. New to the iPad as of an October 11th update that added universal support, Temple Run is a running game that recreates the classic movie escape scenario of fleeing an ancient temple packed full of booby traps and obstacles. Temple Run supports Game Centre achievements and leaderboards, monetizes through in-app purchases and was developed by Imangi Studios, a small husband and wife team based out of Washington DC. Wall of Sound - Moving down to the #22 spot we have Wall of Sound, a music discovery app with an innovative user interface that allows users to visually browse a library of over 20 million songs. Users can choose to search for songs by genre, popularity or by how recently they were added, or by scrolling through a near infinite wall of music. Users can navigate with simple gestures or shake their iPads to completely shuffle the wall. While the app only allows for 30 second previews of any songs the users doesn’t already own, it also allows users to purchase the music they find with a single click. Wall of Sound is credited to French developers NuageProduction. Bright House TV - The last entry this week is the brand-new utility Bright House TV. Credited to cable and Internet provider Bright House, the app allows users who have a digital cable subscription with the company to stream cable onto their iPads over Wi-Fi, allowing them to watch up to 100 channels and use their iPad as a TV. Despite Bright House services only being available in six states, the Bright House TV app is currently sitting in the #26 spot on the free app charts.

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Emerging Free iOS Apps: Assassin’s Creed, Adobe Carousel and Cut the Birds

New Titles on the iPhone Free Apps List

Kathleen De Vere

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New Titles on the iPhone Free Apps List

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Kathleen De Vere