Android Central

Wordsplosion is a new word game I can't stop playing Posted: 09 Feb 2013 02:50 PM PST If you like word games and want a new challenge, you need to check out Wordsplosion. The game play is easy enough to get a handle on -- you have five chances to guess a five letter word. You can get hints if you do well, and your number of lives raises with your score. If you guess the word correctly, you move on to another word. If you're wrong, you lose a life. Lose all your lives and the game is done, and you want to kick yourself for missing the easy ones. But you can share your score to Twitter or Facebook to make you feel a little better. The words themselves are simple, five letter words we use every day. But sitting up there without any context makes this one a real challenge. All your guesses must be words from the dictionary, so you can't cheat and try aeiou to find the vowels (foiled again!). The game is beautifully done on the design and graphics side, and everything runs smooth. The only thing not to love is the annoying in-line ads every three or fours turns, and those are easy to remove with a single in-app purchase of $2.99. Well worth it for an app I'll keep around for a long while. The game trailer is after the break, and you can grab it from the Google Play link above and give it a try. read more

Apps of the Week: JuiceSSH, 7x7, Audible for Android and more! Posted: 09 Feb 2013 12:55 PM PST You shouldn't be surprised at this point that we bring you the apps of the week every Saturday afternoon. What we hope to surprise you with is the variety and quality of the apps we choose. The Android Central writers try their best to find some diamonds in the rough, the little-known apps that we use ourselves but may not be on every device out there. Hang on after the break and see how we did this week. read more

ZOMG: Windows Phone design lead Joe Belfiore tweets from Android Posted: 09 Feb 2013 07:34 AM PST Hey, I've got absolutely no problem with Joe Belfiore, the man in charge of "definition and design" for Windows Phone, apparently tweeting from an Android device. In fact, I've long raved about how much I like the way Windows Phone 8 looks, even if it lacks the functionality of Android. I've covered enough Windows Phone events to recognize that dude knows his stuff. And I dabble with Windows Phone (and soon, BlackBerry 10) on weekends, to help keep familiar with what else is out there. Using other platforms makes good sense. But the official Twitter app? C'mon, Joe. You can do better than that. In fact, here's a a quick primer on some much better (and more functional) Android Twitter apps. Give 'em a shot. Thanks, Andre, for the inadvertent tip.

The best Twitter apps: Comparing timeline views Posted: 09 Feb 2013 06:54 AM PST Twitter apps are funny things. Few Android applications invoke such passion -- furor, at times -- from users. And this coming at a time when Twitter itself is trying to de-emphasize applications for the mobile web. Third-party developers have a few more weeks before stricter API rules go into effect, limiting future growth. And even Twitter's own official app doesn't have all the bells and whistles that have been packed into any number of Twitter clients. Everyone has a favorite Twitter app. Or two. Maybe even three. Like we said, Twitter apps are funny things. Even deprecated apps retain strong followings. After the break, we put some 17 Twitter applications side by side in the timeline view. Most have the same basic functionality, and it's interesting to see how one app might have influenced another. We've throw in one outlier as well -- more on that app later. So have a look, and see how your favorite Twitter application stands up against some other greats. read more

Pinterest update improves group board management Posted: 08 Feb 2013 05:11 PM PST Pinterest has just updated its app offering to improve the experience of managing community boards from your Android device. The new update -- version 1.3.1 -- lets users properly view the contributors to a community board, so you can see who is pinning items with you. The update also lets you accept or reject board invites, as well as leave boards you're already a member of. You can grab a download or update of the new Pinterest app from the Play Store link at the top of this post. Users looking to grab the update on the Amazon Appstore will see the update appear soon. More: Pinterest Blog