Emerging Paid iOS Apps: Hanging With Friends, Doodle Jump & Smoothies Show Growth This Week
The top paid iOS charts have been rather active today, with both the iPad and iPhone hosting new titles. In fact, the iPhone platform found itself with new titles within its top 20. Older titles, such as Doodle Jump, also climbed the charts with the addition of new content.
New Titles Within Top iPhone Paid Apps List
Hanging With Friends — It was released only last week, but the new iOS game of Hanging With Friends from social games developer Zynga is already holding the #2 spot at $1.99 and was recently on sale as a release special. The game is essentially a mobile rendition of the word game “Hangman” combined with scoring mechanics reminiscent of Words With Friends. Though the game is credited to Zynga as a whole, it is the first title from Zynga-acquired company, Zynga With Friends (aka Newtoy), a mobile developer based out of Texas, since the acquisition. Hanging With Friends was released June 9th.
Pocket God: Journey To Uranus — Bolt Creative is the San Fransisco-based iOS developer behind the popular Pocket God franchise. Now, an iteration of the original by the name of Pocket God: Journey To Uranus is rising up to #3 this week (#7 on iPad). The game hosts the typical torturing of pygmies that the series is known for, but is more a compilation of bizarre, intergalactic mini-games. The game is older, but has risen due to a June 7th update that added an entire new memory mini-game dubbed “Quantum Entanglement” in which users must search for entangled atoms in space whilst avoiding black holes. Additionally, the new content also comes with a sale as the app is currently reduced to $0.99.
Baseball Superstars II Pro — In at #13 is a new game from Gamevil, Baseball Superstars II Pro. The latest in the company’s Superstars franchise, this baseball game is true to its heritage. This means over-the-top, anime’esque style characters, and ridiculous superpowers. In fact, the latter is one of the key highlights of the game as users can create their own customizable “super skills” (which from past Baseball Superstars games have been things along the lines extreme pitches… that are on fire). Moreover, though the game costs $0.99, it further monetizes through in-app purchases ranging from $0.99 to $49.99. As for Gamevil themselves, this veteran developer and publisher out of both Los Angeles and Seoul, Korea is no stranger the top charts with games such as Air Penguin and Zenonia 3.
Doodle Jump Rises With New Multiplayer Mode — Doodle Jump is one of the oldest games on iPhone but, no pun intended, it has jumped all the way up to #15 in the past week. This platformer, which uses tilt controls to steer, focuses on moving the character “Doodler” up a sheet of graph paper while avoiding various obstacles. Nevertheless, the sudden rise in the $0.99 title is due to a June 10th update which added multiplayer into the mix. Now users can race against other Doodle Jump players to the top of levels. As for developer Lima Sky itself, the company is based out of New York and formed of two brothers. Other past variants of Doodle Jump have also risen up the app charts when they were released.
Plants vs. Zombies Rises With New “Zen Garden” Addition — It is unusual for us to revisit an older app such as Plants vs. Zombies so soon after it was highlighted (because of an iPad sales promotion from Seattle-based casual and mobile games developer PopCap Games), but now the iPhone version is rising again (now at #19) due to new content. The tower defense-like game has, as of June 9th, added significant additions not unlike those found in Facebook social farming games (e.g. FarmVille). Players can now create a “Zen Garden” which allows them to collect and grow plants that must be cared for daily. Doing so will reward extra coins for spending in the main game. Moreover, new mini-games and achievements have also been added to the $2.99 app. Currently, the iPad version sits at #20, but this update does not appear implemented as of yet.
New Titles Within Top iPad Paid Apps List
Splashtop Remote Desktop for iPad — Splashtop Remote Desktop for iPad made its presence known in early May where it ranked #11 on the top paid iPad app charts, but now the application has taken the #1 spot this week. An app that lets users remotely access their desktop computers from their iPad, the title was already proving useful to consumers, milling about the top 10 and 20 regularly. Now, developer Spashtop Inc., has put the app on sale for $1.99 (normally $9.99), thus shooting the application to the top. Splashtop Inc. is a privately held software company out of San Jose, California. Its Splashtop OS works not only on tablets, but also smartphones, PCs, and Macs.
Whole Living Smoothies — Moving down to #20, comes a new app (released June 6th) called Whole Living Smoothies. For all intents and purposes, it is a cooking app, acting as a guide to making various healthy smoothies. At $1.99, the title also monetizes with in-app purchases such as a Weight Loss smoothie and Detox smoothie recipe for $0.99 each. The lifestyle app is created by Callaway Digital Arts, a New York-based iOS developer whose focus is on children’s and lifestyle applications. Moreover, the company was funded by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, back in 2010.
Osmos — Appearing at #21 is another very old game (last updated December 14th) called Osmos for iPad. A sort of “physics”-puzzle game, players control an amorphous orb with the sole goal of absorbing smaller “motes” in order to grow larger, but must sacrifice size to move; creating a unique balancing mechanism to game play. Though, the game is named “iPad Game of the Year” for 2010, its dramatic rise is due to a $0.99 “Equinox” sale (the app is normally $4.99) from developer Hemisphere Games. This Canadian games developer is a rather small company under ten employees, and thus far, their only release has been the Osmos title.
Snapseed for iPad — Coming back into new app territory, the June 7th released title of Snapseed for iPad appears this week at #26 on the top paid iPad app charts. Developed by Nik Software, the application is a photography app which, like the many that have come before it, allows users to easily tune and correct photos, creatively enhance them with effects, and share them amongst friends. As for Nik Software itself, the San Diego-based software developer was established in 1995 and is centered around the field of digital imaging and photography. The new app currently costs $4.99.
The Waste Land — Rounding out the list this week at #32 is a digital book. The Waste Land is an iPad version of T.S. Eliot’s 1922 poem. However, the app is more than just text. It also includes audio readings, expert perspectives on the poem, as well as references for all of the piece’s allusions. Running $13.99, the app is created by Touch Press, a small London-based digital books publisher.














June 14th, 2011 at 10:51 am
[...] With Friends — Yesterday’s #2 paid app is now today’s #3 top grossing iPhone app. Hanging With Friends is social-mobile game from [...]
June 15th, 2011 at 3:17 pm
[...] free version from the Texas-based developer is proving popular as not only was it #2 on the top paid and top grossing iPhone charts, but is now the #1 top free title as [...]
March 1st, 2012 at 11:26 am
I live in Louisville Colorado and i am a junior at monarch high school. i am a part of or school newspaper and I was wondering if i could use a picture that you own of hanging with friends. i would like to know as soon as possible.
thanks,
Christina Rodie
March 1st, 2012 at 11:54 am
Hi Christina,
We grabbed the picture from the App store, so feel free to copy it for your school newspaper.