The AppAdvice tech week in review: Earth Day apps and the 'Apple Watch S'

Everything is turning green

To celebrate Earth Day, Apple is promoting “Apps for Earth.” From now until Sunday, April 24, proceeds (including in-app purchases) from 27 popular apps will be given to the World Wildlife Fund. Among our favorites: Enlight, The Earth by Tinybop, and VSCO.

Earth Day 2016 is Friday, April 22.

The “Apple Watch S”

It looks like Apple’s upgrade cycle for its Apple Watch is going to mirror its iPhone line. As such, 2016 will be the year of Cupertino’s so-called “Apple Watch S,” before the company releases a major design overhaul in 2017.

The new Apple Watch will offer “spec improvements with limited changes to form factor design,” signalling a so-called “s” upgrade instead of more significant hardware changes.

Production on the Apple Watch S is expected to begin soon.

Other news:

• Apple engineers note that hackers are the real danger to our security
• Motor Trend poorly imagines what the ‘Apple Car’ might look like
• Here’s more proof that Apple is removing the headphone jack on its ‘iPhone 7’
• Sling TV unveils a new multi-stream service featuring FOX content
• The Jan. 1, 1970 iOS device-breaking bug is back for pre-iOS 9.3.1 devices

AppAdvice’s AppLists are popular. These lists are now being updated through a series of posts. Among the lists revealed during the past week: Games That Are Gorgeous, The Best Untraditional News Apps, and Games For The Whole Family.

Expect more lists in the coming weeks and months.

Other app news:

• Rebus Zone: Crazy Logic Riddles puts your brain to the test
• Try to reach the rainbow in Cubes – Addictive Puzzle Game
• With Serist, never wonder again if you watched that episode
• Use smart folders, Touch ID and more with Airmail 1.1

For the iPad mini and iPad Air, you can buy a single Smart Case that covers the front and back of your iPad. Not so for the iPad Pro. You can get the same coverage, but you need to buy the Smart Cover and Silicone Case separately. There are advantages to having them as two separate pieces, but it does make full coverage a lot more expensive.

For our full report, click here.

See also: 7 great cases for your new 9.7-inch iPad Pro.