App Update : CarTunes

CarTunes was last updated over a year ago and I wasn't really expecting any more updates. Even so, the app was solid enough for me to have it as my main in-car music player. A few months ago the developer commented on my review stating updates were coming and in the last week two updates were rolled out giving a few more features.

The first update enabled swipe gestures to work on the full screen as opposed to only the album art section which makes the app that much easier to use. A subsequent second update now gives the ability to pin an album or artist as well as enabling a seek feature which can be activated by bringing down the drop-down music player by hitting one of the volume keys and holding down the forward button.

Be sure to check out CarTunes and read the review!

Gesture Music Player's newest update makes it near perfect

Gesture Music Player was reviewed just under a week ago and if you've read the review, you'll know that when the app first hit the market about a month ago, I made some suggestions to the developer in the MSFT marketplace review. The first update included many of the features I had asked for. I again made some more suggestions after the first update and in just under a week the developer has updated it again to fix some of the problems and other features I wanted to see.

WP App Updates : 4th & Mayor, MangaTronic, Snes8x

4th & Mayor, an excellent third-party Foursquare app which I use instead of the regular Foursquare app, has been updated to Version 3.13. No change log is provided but most likely includes some bug fixes and performance tweaks.

MangaTronic, an entertaining photo app which turns your photos into Japanese anime, has been upgraded to Version 1.2 with the following changes :

- Rendering engine has been updated (and is a little bit faster)

- New original effects have been added (33 available)

- "Invert Colors' option has been added

- Ratio issue has been fixed

Snes8x, an awesome SNES emulator app, gets yet another quick update to Version 1.1.1 and includes :

- Fixed a bug that caused the emulator to crash when trying to export the save games of multiple ROMs at once and the corresponding directory on SkyDrive didn't exist yet.

- Added file associations for *.smc and *.sfc files. You can now open those files directly from e-mail attachments and browser downloads and they will be imported by the app (.smc and .sfc files inside .ZIP archives work as well since WP8 supports .zip files)

Hit the jump for QR codes ...

WP App Updates : Nokia Access Point, Battery Level for WP8, Guns 4 Hire

Nokia has updated their Access Point "app" and as usual, no change log is provided. But I assume it was more performance fixes when managing multiple SIM cards.

Battery Level for WP8 has been updated to Version 1.4 and adds in a few bug fixes as well as localization to Russian, Polish, and Hebrew.

Rebellion's excellent Guns 4 Hire has been bumped to Version 1.4.1 which fixes various bugs and improves app stability.

Hit the jump for QR codes.

WP App Updates : Nextgen Reader, Rowi [lite], Words With Friends, Photo Shader

A few app updates :

Nextgen Reader has been updated but seems to just be minor performance/bug tweaks as no change log is present.

Rowi [lite] now includes a setting to change the tile to your phone accent color.

PhotoShader includes a few improvements in final photo output up to 8mb as well as a few UI enhancements as well as live tile setups.

Words With Friends gets an update for performance and stability issues. The app has always been a bit slow but I personally haven't had freezing. The game seems to load slightly quicker now, but it honestly still sucks compared to the iOS version.

WP App Update : Snes8x

Super Nintendo emulator Snes8x has been updated to Version 1.1 with a much needed controller size adjustment and portrait mode setting. Full change log includes :

- Added on option for gray touch buttons

- Added portrait mode

- Redesigned ROM list

- Added recently played list with a snapshot of the last games state

- Apps tile is now a live tile showing the snapshots of the last three played games

- Now possible to pin ROMs to the start screen (tap and hold in the ROM list)

- Added import and export feature for saves (SRAM and save states) via SkyDrive

- Added a feature to change the displayed name of a ROM in the ROM list (tap and hold)

- Added an option to adjust the opacity of the virtual controller

- Added an option for full screen stretch

- Added an option to scale the virtual controller's size

All these updates make Snes8x pretty much a perfect SNES emulator; and all for free. If you love classic gaming and you haven't tried this app out yet, what are you waiting for?

Click here or scan the QR code below

WP App Update : ProShot

The popular photo app, ProShot, which gives you DSLR-like capabilities on your WP8 phone has been updated to Version 2.2 and includes :

- Added Burst Mode (press and hold screen to lock focus + shutter button)

- Added support for portrait UI

- Added auto aspect ratio

- Improved UI animation

- Histogram fixes, no longer beta

- Renamed Display panel to Settings, added more options, settings for burst and image save speed

- Various bug fixes, UI tweaks

- New icon & splash screen

- Added Chinese language support

Click here to download or use the QR code below.

WP App Update : Amazon Kindle

After their last update, the Amazon Kindle app would immediately crash upon opening. Uninstalling the app and re-installing would fix it however. In either case, Amazon updated their app quickly to fix the upgrade crash. Scan the QR code below to download or click here.

WP App Updates : Super Voltage, MetroTalk, Batter Level for WP8

Super Voltage, a fun puzzle game which I hope to review soon, has been updated to Version 2 adding new monsters. 

Scan the QR code below to download or click here.

MetroTalk continues with it's performance enhancing fixes in Version 3.1.1 :
- Fixed critical bug that could cause the app to crash during authentication
- Enabling voice commands or contacts integration no longer results in an error due to corrupted contact entries
- Minor UI update to the overlay icons for pinned tiles
- Various bug fixes

Scan the QR code below to download or click here.

Battery Level for WP8 is also updated to include the following :
- Speech functionality fixed
- Localization infrastructure added; next major update will introduce localization to few European languages. The languages will be added gradually from update to update
- Statistics mechanism

Scan the QR code below to download or click here.

WP App Update : Amazon Kindle, Nokia City Lens

If you're an Amazon Kindle user on WP8, I would not download the newest update, Version 2.0.0.1. The latest update will render the app useless as it'll crash back to the home screen as soon as you try to open it. Makes you wonder if they even check to make sure the app works before they release it, especially for a big company like Amazon whose products are generally good.

Nokia City Lens also got an update to Version 2.0.17.592. No change log is available and I don't use the app so I can't tell if there's any big difference or not; most likely small bug fixes and performance enhancements. Scan the QR code below to download or click here.

A Bunch of WP App Updates

There have been a plethora of WP8 app updates over the past week or so which I couldn't update in time due to some internet problems. However, here's a quick rundown; Rowi [lite], Jewel3, ScoreMobile, MangaTronic, CastleMine Free, Dredd vs. Zombies, Evernote, INRIX Traffic, PhotoBeamer, MetroTalk, Battery Level for WP8, Where's My Water?, and VsysCalendar WP8. Hit the jump for the applicable change logs.

WP App Update : Snes8x

Snes8x has been updated to 1.0.2.0. A button setting called "dissecting" and "intersecting" has been added, but I don't really see a difference. Adjustments for the size of the buttons/d-pad are still unavailable as well as a much needed portrait mode. So it's still difficult to play action games when your fingers cover up most of the screen.

Scan the QR code below or click here to download/get the update.

WP App Update : Snes8x

Snes8x has already been updated with improved touch controls.

The new update makes running and jumping (holding Y and pressing B to jump) a whole easier. This makes playing the games like Super Mario a lot easier. Still, the button layout remains the same and covers a large portion of the screen. The update also removes the setting to adjust the button size.

Scan the QR code above or click here to download.

WP App Update : Jewel3 and ProShot

I'll have a review of Jewel3 up shortly and I've only played around with the basic features of ProShot's free version so far but they both have new updates. I'll be purchasing ProShot and have a review of it up as soon as I get some free time.

In the meantime, if you have either of these apps, hit the jump for the QR codes.

WP App Update : Nokia Audio, Nokia Extras+Info, Guns4Hire

Nokia pushed out updates for their audio and extras+info "apps."

Guns4Hire is also updated with "various bug fixes and stability improvements."

Hit the jump for QR codes ...

WP App Update : Nokia Network+ and SkyDrive

Updates to Nokia's network+ and SkyDrive are now available.

Hit the jump for QR codes.

WP App Update : INRIX Traffic

INRIX Traffic has updated their app.

"New for 4.1:

We added pinned tiles back

Registration system for syncing places"

Hit the jump for download links.

WP App Update : Amazon Mobile

Amazon has updated their Amazon Mobile app to Version 2.0.

Included in the update are standard bug fixes and performance improvements.

Hit the jump below for download links.

Nokia's System QR Codes

Nokia has a few system "apps" which are periodically updated to improve certain phone features. Unfortunately there is no way to actually search for them in the marketplace. However, you can use the following QR codes so that you can check and update these "apps" right away instead of waiting for the push notifications.

WP App Update : Weather Flow, Words With Friends Free, Weather Channel, Nokia Panorama, Nokia Accessories

Weather Flow, Words With Friends Free, Weather Channel by Nokia, Nokia Panorama, and Nokia Accessories have been updated. No change logs provides. Hit the link below for download links to make sure your apps are up to date.