If you’re an iPad owner, our first app worth downloading today is for you. It’s Google’s Gmail email client, which has just received a number of improvements to allow iPad users to take advantage of their big screens when reading emails and composing messages. We’ve also got Xbox One SmartGlass, the companion app to Microsoft’s Xbox One console releasing on Friday, which gives you remote control of the powerful console. Finally, Tilt to Live 2: Redonkulous will test your tilting skills as you dodge a barrage of incoming enemies.
Gmail update (Free)
What’s it about? Access your Gmail account (or accounts) with Google’s official app for its web-based email service.
What’s cool? Gmail is one of the most popular email clients on the Internet, and Google’s iOS app brings a lot of its best features to mobile users. You can access as many as five Gmail accounts from within the app, where you can see and respond to emails, group messages into folders, use swipe controls to quickly flip between conversations and more. You can also integrate Gmail with other apps, like Google Drive and Google Calendar, to quickly access shared documents or respond to calendar invites. Gmail’s new update adds a major visual update for both iPhone and iPad, and iPad users also get a full screen view for messages and composing emails, better scrolling, and a new landscape-oriented navigation bar.
Who’s it for? If you’re an avid Gmail user, try the mobile version of the email client to get access to a lot of handy email features.
What’s it like? You’ll also find useful email clients in Yahoo Mail and Mail+ for Outlook.
Xbox One SmartGlass (Free)
What’s it about? Microsoft’s new Xbox One gaming console is headed to stores on Friday, and you can get ahead of the action with the Xbox One SmartGlass app with its many social features.
What’s cool? Microsoft’s new Xbox One console will be capable of controlling lots of different multimedia elements of your entertainment center, and the Xbox One SmartGlass is a great companion to that functionality. The app lets you control your Xbox remotely, making it easy to do things like use your iPhone or iPad as a remote to browse through the console’s menus, enter text with your device’s keyboard, access second-screen content for games and other media, and even add content to your Xbox One even when you’re not at home using your Internet connection. You can also use the app to access your Friends list and send messages, track achievements and watch game clips across a Wi-Fi or cellular data connection.
Who’s it for? Xbox fans and anyone planning to pick up an Xbox One will want to get this app to go with it.
What’s it like? Grab the Xbox 360 SmartGlass app for Microsoft’s older system, and don’t forget to snag the PlayStation App if you’re picking up a PlayStation 4.
Tilt to Live 2: Redonkulous ($2.99)
What’s it about? Use tilt controls to move a ship through an endless barrage of enemies in Tilt to Live 2, in which your only defense is to grab single-use weapons to fight off the onslaught.
What’s cool? Like its predecessor, Tilt to Live 2 is all about intensity. As a small ship surrounded by flying enemies of all sorts, your only real option is to flee certain death with all available haste. Scattered across the screen as you dodge enemies are weapon orbs that you can touch to activate, which fire a single-use blast of fire to clear out some of the bad guys. Tilt to Live 2 includes huge boss fights, two difficulty modes, a host of new weapons to unlock and the ability to send score challenges to your friends using Game Center integration.
Who’s it for? If you like games that require quick reflexes and some skillful tilting, check out Tilt to Live 2.
What’s it like? The original Tilt to Live is also worth your attention, as is Hyperlight.
