The Niagara Border Crossing app has been released for Windows Phone and Windows tablets and desktops. Any Windows devices running either Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 can download the app for free. As with the BlackBerry version, this app shows wait times for border crossings over the Niagara River between the United States and Canada.
Wait times are shown for all four of the bridges between Western New York and Southern Ontario. These include the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge, the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge, the Rainbow Bridge, and the Peace Bridge. Separate times are shown for cars, trucks, and also for those using the Nexus lanes.
While the introduction of Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 has done a lot to clean up the look of apps, Windows Phone still allows you to give your phone a light theme which can make your app look weird. This requires you to do additional testing for your apps and optionally hard code colors for some elements on the screen.
The ApplicationBar has been replaced by the CommandBar, and is fortunately rather easy to theme in XAML. The following code will force your CommandBar into a dark theme.
If upgrading to Windows 10 from Windows 8.1 then all of your saved settings and progress should transfer over to the new operating system without any extra steps.
Windows 10 is set to be released at the end of the month, and I am somewhat optimistic about how it will do. While most PC users chose to skip Windows 8, I think that version 10 will get the widespread adoption that Microsoft is hoping for.
A few years ago when Windows 8 was set to be released I rushed to get my game Xploding Boxes ready for the launch. This turned out to be a bit of a misplaced priority as most users choose to stay with Windows 7, and not upgrade. This time it seems as if Microsoft has actually remembered that most PC users don’t have touchscreens and will be rolling out an OS the people actually want to use.
Unfortunately I don’t think that too many of these new users will be interested in the types of puzzle games that I have created for the platform. Instead the potential looks to be more that Metro-style Windows 8.1 apps will be able to act as a new baseline for your more boring business types of applications.
Xploding Boxes has been expanded to a total of 500 levels. Version 5.4 in now available in BlackBerry World, Google Play, the Amazon app store, the Nook app store, the Windows 8 app store, and the Windows Phone app store. In addition to the new levels, this update also improves the touch sensitivity on BlackBerry 10 phones, and adds additional menu options to the game play screen on Windows Phone.
About Xploding Boxes
Xploding Boxes is a strategy game where the goal is to start a chain reaction that will explode all of the boxes on the screen. Each level presents a different look and number of touches, requiring a different strategy to solve.
The game itself, and the first 25 levels are available for free, while a one time in-app purchase can be used to access the rest of the levels for just $2.99 while still maintaining your progress from the free levels.
Xploding Boxes is a strategy game where the goal is to start a chain reaction that will explode all of the boxes on the screen. Each level presents a different look and number of touches, requiring a different strategy to solve.
The game itself, and the first 25 levels are available for free, while a one time in-app purchase can be used to access the rest of the levels for just $2.99 while still maintaining your progress from the free levels.
Starbeams has been updated to version 2.0 which expands the number of available levels up to 200. This new version of the game also adds support for Windows Phone in addition to BlackBerry 10 and Windows 8 operating systems.
About Starbeams
The object of the game is to assign colors to each star in order to ensure that none of the stars are connected to another star of the same color. The game starts off easy, but quickly gets more complex, adding more colors and seven pointed stars that can not be changed.
By default the Slider control that Microsoft provides for Windows Phone Silverlight applications is missing some key properties such as the IsSnapToTickEnabled property. However this can be recreated in code to give Windows Phone apps the same functionality.
The free Stuff I Need checklist app has been updated for Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone. This new version adds a few new features, including an improvement to the responsiveness of the pull down tab on both Windows 8.1 and BlackBerry 10.
New in version 2.6
The Android version of the app received improvements to the text input fields, where they now automatically use sentence case capitalization and automatically submit when the return key is entered. Additionally, the sorting was improved so that it is no longer case-sensitive.
The BlackBerry 10 build of the app improves the use list switcher (especially on the Z30, Classic, and Passport phones), streamlines the app, and also makes an additional backup of some settings to the users BlackBerryID.
Windows Phone users will see the biggest changes, as the app has been modified to become compatible with the action center added in Windows Phone 8.1. Additionally, the app now includes an option allowing users to pick alternative font sizes and makes it easier to select existing items.
About Stuff I Need
Originally conceived as a grocery list app, this minimalistic checklist app can be used to keep track of the stuff you need to get, or the stuff that you need to do. New items can be added to list with the ‘Add’ button on the bottom of the screen. Items on the list can be edited (or deleted) by giving them a long press. Lists can be switched by pulling down on the tab at the top of the screen. This will expose a spinner that shows all of your current lists. New lists can be added by using the “+” button on the right side of the expanded tab. Making use of three or more lists requires the use on a one time in-app purchase. Lists are automatically deleted if you delete all items in a list and restart the app.
Xploding Boxes has been updated to version 5.2 with ten additional levels. This brings the total number of levels in the game up to 480.
About Xploding Boxes
Xploding Boxes is a strategy game where the goal is to start a chain reaction that will explode all of the boxes on the screen. Each level presents a different look and number of touches, requiring a different strategy to solve.
The game itself, and the first 25 levels are available for free, while a one time in-app purchase can be used to access the rest of the levels for just $2.99 while still maintaining your progress from the free levels.
Pixelated Shapes has been updated to version 1.4 in BlackBerry World, Google Play, the Amazon App Store, and the Windows 8 App Store. This new version reduces the minimum width required on Windows 8, improves the back up options on BlackBerry 10, and supports the newest version of Google Play on Android.
About Pixelated Shapes
Pixelated Shapes is a twist on the classic version of Pixelated that replaces the familiar squares with triangles and hexagons. The object of the game is to get the screen a single color by slowly growing a blob out of the upper left hand corner by matching it to the colors of the surrounding shapes. This is done repeatedly until either the game is won, or you run out of moves. Under the default settings you must clear the screen in 29 moves or less in order to win. A one time in-app upgrade can allow you to adjust the difficult, switch color schemes, change to different game modes, and get an indicator giving you the number of remaining moves.
Xploding Boxes has been updated to version 5.1 with 10 all new levels. In addition to the new levels, this update includes some bug fixes for the Android and BlackBerry 10 versions of the app, custom highlight colors on BlackBerry 10.3, official support for the Amazon Fire TV Stick, as well as updating to the newest in-app purchase API’s for the Google Play store. The app also continues to support classic BBOS, Windows 8.1, and the Barnes and Noble Nook.
About Xploding Boxes
Xploding Boxes is a strategy game where the goal is to start a chain reaction that will explode all of the boxes on the screen. Each level presents a different look and number of touches, requiring a different strategy to solve.
The game itself, and the first 25 levels are available for free, while a one time in-app purchase can be used to access the rest of the levels for just $2.99 while still maintaining your progress from the free levels.
Version 1.9 of the Starbeams game has been released in both BlackBerry World and the Windows 8 app store. This version adds ten brand new levels. Also the Windows 8 version of the game has now been optimized for Windows 8.1 and the BlackBerry version of the game, now backs up game progress to your BlackBerryID.
About Starbeams
The object of the game is to assign colors to each star in order to ensure that none of the stars are connected to another star of the same color. The game starts off easy, but quickly gets more complex, adding more colors and seven pointed stars that can not be changed.
The Jack-O-Lantern app has been updated to version 2.1 with a few new faces, higher resolution images, and support for the BlackBerry Passport. This update also includes a 47% reduction in the app’s file size.
About the Jack-O-Lantern App
This application is designed to turn your phone into a virtual Jack-O-Lantern in order to help you celebrate Halloween. You can change the Jack-O-Lantern’s face by swiping in different designs from the left and right for the eyes, nose, and mouth. You can also change the back light colour of the design by tapping on the screen.
Pixelated has been updated to version 3.6 for BlackBerry 10, Windows Phone, and Windows 8. This update makes the game more efficient and adds a few new features.
New in 3.6
The BlackBerry 10 version of the app adds the Super-Micro grid size to the app. This option already exists on the tablet versions of the app, but by rendering the screen in OpenGL it is now possible to have this mode on the phones as well. This new feature also adds an additional four achievements to the game. This update also adds support for the BlackBerry Passport (to be announced on Wednesday), and reduces the overall app size by twenty-three percent.
For the Windows 8 version of the app improvements have been made to the multilingual support. Also for users that have upgraded to Windows 8.1 then the app has been optimized for the new OS, and now supports variable sized split screens.
How to Play Pixelated
Pixelated is an addictive puzzle based strategy game that requires a mixture of skill and luck in order to accomplish. The object of the game is to change the colour of the squares until the entire screen is a single solid colour. Starting with the square in the upper left corner you can change the colour of the blocks in order to match that of the surrounding squares. This is done repeatedly until the entire screen is a single colour. The object of the game is to clear the screen in as few moves as possible. Under the default settings you must do so in under 22 moves in order to win. The game is controlled by the large colored blocks at the bottom of the screen.
The Niagara Border Crossing app has been released for Windows Phone and Windows tablets and desktops. Any Windows devices running either Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 can download the app for free. As with the BlackBerry version, this app shows wait times for border crossings over the Niagara River between the United States and Canada.
