Apps That
Went Free on
2015-01-27

Created with the Large Hadron Collider in mind, this puzzle game has you pushing and pulling particles around the screen in order to neutralize them. How you accomplish this task is entirely on you, as the game is void of direct instructions. The game includes 50 levels, multitouch controls, and achievements via Game Center.

Weather Dial’s design is laser focused. You won’t be wasting time learning new gestures or digging around menus. Just launch the app, get a glimpse of the weather, and get back to what you were doing. In portrait orientation you’re able to see the current conditions and temperature accompanied by a seven-day forecast. Rotate your iDevice into landscape orientation to get a 24-hour forecast. The app also includes light and dark modes, and iOS 8 Today widget support.

All you have to do is tap the blue dots as they appear as quickly and accurately as possible. Over time other blue shapes will be introduced, and you'll have to go against your every desire to tap them. Orange shapes will also be introduced as you progress, and you'll actually have to tap all shapes but the dots to turn them all blue again. The game includes three skills levels, funky music, and achievements and leaderboards via Game Center.

Take a stroll through the town of Smallbridge and enter different buildings to challenge the locals to games of Ricochet. The basic idea is to place your launcher in the best possible position and fire your token across the table to collect the stars and end up in the capture zone. You want to do all of this in as few shots as possible to earn a perfect rating. Each Ricochet table offers a different challenge, like destructible walls, punching gloves, and gravity bending buttons, so you better be up for the task. The game includes 72 levels, more than 50 tokens to unlock, and achievements via Game Center.

Paper books, magazines, and journals can be cumbersome to work with, especially if you need snippets of text. This productivity app makes it easier than ever before to deal with the physical world. Whenever you find something within a physical document you want to record, simply point your camera at it. The app will grab your highlighted text and allow you to add annotations. It also allows you to record the book it was pulled from by scanning the barcode, and record the page you found it on. Everything you transcribe can be exported to Evernote or Dropbox.