App Recap welcomes you to Monday. Our daily column that helps make sense of the latest iPhone, iPad and Mac apps, games and media on iTunes is back with tons of goodies, discounts, software news and more.
We also feature a new Apple Pay television commercial by MasterCard featuring Gwen Stefani and a huge update to Paper by Fifty-Three while casting spotlight on a holiday-themed update to The Sims FreePlay and the latest Star Wars: Commander refresh that features Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader.
Like in years past, Apple ahead of the holidays published its list of the best and most popular apps, movies, TV shows, music and books available on iTunes. In the category of the top paid iPhone app, Heads Up! came in first. Facebook's Messenger is Apple's top free iPhone app and Clash of Clans emerged as the top grossing iPhone app, respectively. On the iPad side, Minecraft, YouTube and Clash of Clans have been rated as the App Store's top paid, free and grossing apps, respectively.
Without further ado, here's the rest of Apple's most popular apps and media in 2014.
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, the third and final installment in the “Night at the Museum” movie series, is premiering later this month and an official tie-in iOS game is now available for download in the App Store.
Night at the Museum: Hidden Treasures for the iPhone and iPad is a hidden object adventure game that puts you in the shoes of Larry, a night guard from the movie who gets to explore the museum's hidden secrets, exhibits from Camelot, ancient Egypt, imperial China and more.
In his quest, Larry will team up with some of the most significant figures in human history such as Teddy Roosevelt, Atilla the Hun and Joan of Arc. If you're a fan of the movie, this tie-in game should be a no-brainer.
Telltale Games last month posted a teaser trailer and a few scant details about an upcoming game based on HBO’s hugely popular, award-winning fantasy drama television series, itself adapted from of “A Song of Ice and Fire”, George R. R. Martin’s series of epic fantasy novels.
I'm pleased to report that on Thursday, the Game of Thrones interactive action adventure game officially surfaced on the App Store and is now available in an episodic format akin to Telltale's The Walking Dead – A Telltale Games Series and The Wolf Among Us.
The narratively driven, six-episode game puts you in the shoes of different members of the Forrester household. The decisions you take have consequences and will change the story around you and determine your characters' fate.
The official teaser trailer for Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens on Black Friday made its debut on iTunes. Lucas film yesterday tweeted that the trailer will hit iTunes after initially saying that it would only be shown in 30 movie theaters across the U.S. Disney in October 2012 acquired Lucasfilm in a transaction valued at a whopping $4 billion.
The acquisition brought Lucasfilm under Disney's fold and gave the Mickey Mouse house rights to further develop the Star Wars franchise and film new movies in the series in co-operation with George Lucas. The trailer has also hit YouTube and we've embedded it for your viewing pleasure right after the break.
It's official, Universal Studios has adopted Sony's Steve Jobs biopic. In a late night scoop, The Hollywood Reporter says it has confirmed with a studio spokesman that a deal has been reached, less than a week after Sony put the film in turnaround.
Sony had been shopping the project around for more than $30 million, although it's still unclear why it decided to back out. Several high profile names are attached to the film, and it has been widely talked about by both tech and Hollywood press.
Sony Pictures has dropped the highly-anticipated Steve Jobs biopic penned by Aaron Sorkin, according to Deadline. The outlet reports tonight that Sony has put the film in turnaround—meaning that another studio can purchase the movie.
It sounds like that studio is going to be Universal. Deadline's Mike Fleming Jr says he is hearing that the Comcast subsidiary is nearing an agreement, and the deal could close by tomorrow, meaning the project should lose little momentum.
The tumultuous casting process of Sony's Steve Jobs biopic continues, with Michael Fassbender now reportedly in talks to play the Apple co-founder. Variety reports today that following the departure of Christian Bale, the actor has begun "early talks" with director Danny Boyle and Sony execs.
Although not as well known as Bale, Fassbender has starred in a number of high profile movies, including Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds and Ridley Scott's Prometheus. He also received an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor, for his performance in 12 Years a Slave.
In a somewhat ironic twist of fate, Disney is helping blur the lines between Apple's and Google's respective ecosystems with Tuesday's release of its Movies Anywhere app for Android, now available free of charge in the U.S. Google Play Store. That's right, the app now lets folks buy and enjoy Disney content on both iOS and Android devices.
The movie-curating app debuted as an iOS exclusive in February 2014 with support for free streaming of any Disney, Pixar and Marvel content previously purchased from Apple's iTunes Store. Any of the 450 Disney movies you bought using the app would immediately register as purchased inside the iTunes Store.
Now that Disney Movies Anywhere is available for both iOS and Android, not only can you watch your Disney movies across Apple's and Google's platforms, but also purchase any Disney, Pixar or Marvel Universe movie on Google Play and have it available on iOS and vice versa.
Heads up movie lovers and Batman fans, the iTunes Movie Store is offering a great deal on the popular Dark Knight trilogy. For a limited time, you can get all three movies: Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises in HD for just $14.99.
Given that $15 is typically the standalone price tag for each of these movies, the promotion will net you a savings of $30. The three films, which star Christian Bale, come highly recommended too, with all of them rated an 85% or higher on Rotten Tomatoes.
Following the confirmation that he was going to play Steve Jobs in an upcoming Sony movie about Apple's legendary co-founder, actor Christian Bale has reportedly changed his mind and pulled out of the upcoming project deciding he was “not right for the part,” according to a report Monday by The Hollywood Reporter.
This marks another high-profile actor who decided against portraying Apple's mercurial co-founder after Leonardo DiCaprio earlier this year passed on the Steve Jobs role after weeks of discussions with the producers.
The unexpected development arrives less than two weeks after screenwriter Aaron Sorkin told Bloomberg Television’s Emily Chang in no ambiguous terms that the British actor, 40 years old, was picked as “the best actor on the board in a certain age range,” Sorkin said.
With Halloween coming up tomorrow, Apple has discounted a number of horror movies in its iTunes Store down to $9.99. It's also added Saw: The Complete Collection to its Movie Bundles section, which includes all 7 movies from the popular franchise for just $29.99.
Given that each Saw movie typically sells for $12.99, this deal is a savings of more than $60. But if you're not a fan of the Jigsaw killer, there are plenty of other notable movies on sale, including genre classics such as Poltergeist, The Shining, and The Blair Witch Project.