9to5Mac once again gathered the most noteworthy apps that announced news, launched, updated, or went on sale recently and added them in our usual roundup below.
Today’s selection includes a new Japan-only app by Nintendo, updates to popular games like Kingdom Rush HD, and notable iOS and Mac app price drops including big cuts by TomTom for its popular line of GPS apps. Keep checking back for more, though, as we continually update this list throughout the day.
Japan-based Nintendo just released its first paid iOS app, called “Pokédex“, in its home country. According to EuroGamer, a version of the existing 3DS Pokédex app is available for iPhone, iPad, and iPhone in Japan’s App Store. The Pokédex app is initially Japan-only, but it comes with the full Pokémon encyclopedia, and users could purchase four additional monster packs for about $6.18 USD each. The paid app is not Nintendo’s sole iOS app, however, as the game developer also released a Japan-only free app, called “Pokémon Say Tap“, for a limited time last year.
Pay with Square at Starbucks: We already knew Starbucks was signed up to bring Square payments to 7,000 of its stores via the newly renamed “Square Wallet” app. Starbucks just confirmed in a press release that starting today it will officially begin accepting Square payments via a scanned QR.
Fantastical for iPhone: Those familiar with the Mac OS X desktop version of the Fantastical app will be pleased to know developers Flexbits have announced an iPhone version is in the works and coming soon. The Mac version is a slick, menu bar item calendar app for access to reminders and calendar functions, but also has support for iCal, BusyCal, Entourage, Outlook, iCloud, Google Calendar or Yahoo! Calendar. You can sign up to find out when it becomes available here.
New app releases:
Clear for Mac:We knew it was coming and today the Mac App Store version of the popular Clear to do app for iPhone officially makes its way to the Mac.
Jingu Friends:Originally available as a BlackBerry app with more than a million downloads since May 2011 and 3.5 million messages sent monthly, the developers of the Jingu Friends app have released an iOS version of the app today on the App Store. The app allows you to discover new people to chat with through a lounge environment that “immediately drops you into a global conversation stream where you can listen or participate.” From there you can find out more about the messaging apps participants use:
All messages posted on Jingu Friends are public, but users can take their conversations private through seamless integration into smartphone messaging apps like BBM, Hookt, WhatsApp and Kik.
FreshBooks for iPad: FreshBooks is coming to the iPad today with version 1.1 introducing a universal app that now supports both iPhone and iPad.
FreshBooks – The Fastest Way To Track Time, Organize Expenses & Invoice Your Clients, Anytime, Anywhere.
Updates:
Pinterest version 2.1: Pinterest is introducing a new feature today that allows users to create up to three secret boards to share with friends and family. In a blog post, Pinterest explained how to use the new feature: “go to your profile, tap on the Boards tab, and scroll down to the bottom until you see a button that says Create a Secret Board.”
• Block or report other users
• Create up to 3 secret boards
• Edit boards from your device
Clear version 1.2:Clear for iPhone gets a big update today that brings iCloud support, the ability to share quotes on Twitter and Facebook, quick list switching, and more: Expand Expanding Close
