Articles about Windows App

Every Friday, my colleague Martin Brinkmann details the best Windows 8 apps that surface in Store during the week. I have closely followed the series mostly to check new arrivals (since I use Windows 8) but also to get a feel of the quality and value that developers bring to the new ecosystem.

As some of you have mentioned in the comments, the highlighted apps are not exactly up to par with offerings available on Apple App Store or Google Play. The most noteworthy ones are few and far between, something that is immediately noticeable after browsing through the available selection on Windows Store. The most resounding apps come, for instance, from Microsoft, Nokia, Shazam, Twitter and a couple other major players. There is more to it, of course, but the quality and value are still inadequate these days.

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Thirty-fifth in a series.  Microsoft has released the preview of the upcoming Windows 8.1. With it came many changes to the operating system, application management and the store.

Some, like the ability to use smaller or larger tile sizes or the option to uninstall multiple apps at once, have been on the feature request list of many Windows 8 users.

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Thirty-fourth in a series.  The total apps growth this week jumped over the 3,000 new apps mark again after having hit that threshold for the first time two weeks ago.

The total app count in the US Windows 8 Store rose to 63,756 free and paid apps up 3,034 apps from 60,722 the week before.

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Microsoft just released the second major iteration of its Blink Windows Phone 8 app which now introduces GIF (the pronunciation is still open for debate) support, new features and improved functionality.

The app, which is built by Microsoft Research (the software giant's research arm), allows users to take advantage of its burst shot feature to combine multiple pictures (the number is user-selectable) into a GIF image. The GIF can be viewed directly after creating it and can be shared via email and three social networks -- Facebook, Microsoft's Socl and Twitter. (It's time to test this with the help of your pet and post the results, for posterity's sake of course.)

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Adobe caused a fair amount of controversy over forcing users into subscription services, while Microsoft Office continues to provide an option to its customers. Now Adobe rolls out its latest Creative Cloud model, in the form of Windows 8 apps -- yes, you still need to pay a subscription fee.

The new rollout comes with several options, including the flagship Premiere Pro CC, which packs in new features for video editors, such as enhanced GPU support, redesigned timeline with new shortcuts and new selective paste attributes, new closed captioning capabilities and additional codec options.

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Thirty-third in a series. This has been another strong week for Microsoft's Windows Store as apps surged past the 60,000 app mark in the US store for the first time.

A total of  60,722 apps are listed in store at the time of writing, 2,711 more than last week. Free apps have increased by 2,129 to a total of 47,034 apps in the last seven days, while paid apps have seen a moderate growth by 582 apps to 13,688 in total.

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Thirty-second in a series. Windows Store has seen one of the largest growths in its history this week breaking the 3,000 apps mark for the first time this year. A total of 3,033 apps were released, raising the total app count of the US Windows Store to 58,011 apps.

44,905 of those apps are listed as free in the store, an increase of 2,413 apps this week alone. Paid apps increased by 616 apps this week to a total of 13,106.

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Ever since Windows 8 arrived I have struggled to fully embrace the Modern UI. The new user interface offers a polarizing experience -- it impresses me on a touchscreen but fails to get my attention on a run-of-the-mill display like my laptop features. For this reason, my forays into the new realm are mostly limited to reading and replying to emails, chatting with friends on Facebook and using Twitter. The Desktop continues to be my safe heaven, relying on it to carry out my daily routine.

Don't get me wrong, the Modern UI is not bad but it feels much more natural to use on a tablet -- touching tiles gives way to an intimate and enjoyable experience. But buying a new device which offers a touchscreen is not a particularly sound method of kindling a long-lasting relationship with the Modern UI. With the decline of the PC market, Microsoft is aware of this as it looks to revamp the new user interface in Windows 8.1 with new features aimed at "stealing" users away from the Desktop.

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It's not often that I wish to find out what "Qorwagh" or "ghaH*" mean, but when curiosity strikes I can always power up Bing Translator on my Windows Phone. Sadly, Microsoft does not provide a similar app on Windows 8, leaving folks to look up the meaning of those Klingon words using a web browser. Until today, that is.

On Thursday, the software giant released its excellent Bing Translator on Windows 8 and, yes, I can assure you that Klingon is among the supported languages. The app is similar to its Windows Phone 8 counterpart in terms of functionality and includes options like camera translation and more mundane ones like text-to-speech.

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I'm not saying Windows 8 is directly bad for your health -- but it can indirectly lead to lung cancer and countless other diseases. It can also indirectly get you addicted to a particular drug -- nicotine. How is this happening? Through Windows 8 in-app advertising.

As many of you know, I recently made the switch to Windows 8 -- for which I paid for the privilege. Paying for an operating system is unlike the very capable and robust Linux Mint, which is absolutely f

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Thirty-first in a series. Yesterday Microsoft confirmed information about the upcoming Windows 8.1 update that it plans to release later this year. The update will introduce several improvements to the start screen and Windows Store that improve the usability of that part of Windows 8.

While I do not want to rehash what Wayne already mentioned in yesterday's article, I'd like to point out a couple of key changes in Windows 8.1. One of the biggest changes is the introduction of new tile sizes. To be precise, Windows 8.1 users will have access to a smaller and one larger size.

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Thirtieth in a series. Several stock apps were updated this week. The Xbox Music app supports the import of iTunes playlists in its latest version, and users of the video app benefit from the improved accessibility of actor and director information.

The official Major League Soccer app for Windows 8, MLS MatchDay, has been improved as well featuring "exclusive content and this season’s schedule, standings, highlights, play-by-play, roster lineups, game stats, goals, cards and substitutions" as Alan notes.

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It may not be 'America's pastime', but Microsoft still proudly announces that it is making a deal with Major League Soccer to bring the sport to its Windows 8 customers.  The sport known as soccer in the US, but football to most of the rest of the world, joins the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball and the National Hockey Leagues on Microsoft's latest operating system.

The announcement came at yesterday's game between the Los Angeles Galaxy and New York Red Bulls held at Red Bull Arena. The MLS Match Day app is not new, only "improved". This new version features exclusive content and this season’s schedule, standings, highlights, play-by-play, roster lineups, game stats, goals, cards and substitutions.

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Twenty-ninth in a series. The US Windows 8 apps store crossed the 50,000 apps mark for the first time today; a total of 50,156 apps are listed in the store, with the majority of them free to download and use.

That's an increase of 1,639 apps in the past seven days, a sharp drop over last week's increase of nearly 2400 apps.

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Twenty-eighth in a series. Several popular apps received updates this week. A new version of the ESPN app was uploaded to the store adding tennis coverage to it and fixing a couple of bugs related to the live scoring tile feature and the display of select sports when they are snapped on to the side of the screen.

Toolbox, an app offering access to custom tools that you can display next to each other on the screen received its first commercial in-app upgrade. Users can add a Twitter client to the app for a one-time payment of $4.99.

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