Apple has had quite a controversy on their hands since they came out with Apple Maps in iOS6. For those of you who have been begging for Google Maps to come back to iOS, it’s time to rejoice. On Wednesday night, Google released their Maps app on the App Store.

Google has given Maps quite the facelift since it was last seen on iOS. It’s not foreign or anything, since it is still a Maps app, but they did tweak some things.

You still have the basic search bar, the locate button in the bottom left, as well as the directions button.

One big update with this version of Maps from Google is the voice guided  turn-by-turn navigation, something that wasn’t available in the original Maps app.

There is nothing real earth shattering with the turn-by-turn. One thing that it has, that people who live in bigger cities have been wanting, is mass transit directions. So if you use the bus or a rail system it will help you get around, plus it also gives you directions if you were walking.

One cool addition is when you find a location or a point of interest. At the bottom of the screen you will see the description of the place you were looking for; from there you can swipe across that information, and if there is another location, like a franchise, it will give you the next closest location. You can also swipe up on that name card at the bottom of the screen and see information such as reviews, photos, street view (if available), website, and phone number.

Street view is one of the most popular features of Google Maps, and of course it has made its way back with this new iOS app.

To no ones surprise, within hours Google Maps was the top free downloaded app on the App Store.

If you’re wanting this new app, head to the App Store now!

We’ve spotlighted this app previously on the Simply Mac blog, but I figured it’s time to dust it off and talk about it again. If you have an iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch/Mac you must have this app on your device. I use this app constantly, because either me or my wife misplace our iPhones and this app helps us track down our digital pacifiers.

It is very straight forward to use. The main thing that you need is a free iCloud account. When you set up your iDevice it actually prompts you to use the app, if you’d like. If you decline and would like to turn it on later, all you need to do is go into your iCloud settings in your main phone settings, and find the ‘Find My iPhone’ switch and flip it on.

You can also access all this via iCloud.com on a Mac or PC to find your device.

When you log into the app or the website, it has an awesome layout to help you find the device you are looking for.

It will list out the devices and then lay them out on a map for you in a very clean, easy view. You can select the specific device and see exactly where it is at, and take actions with it. If you can’t find your iPhone, you can tap ‘Play Sound’ and your phone will start chiming, even if it is on vibrate. If you fear that your phone is stolen, you can tap ‘Lost Mode’, and that will lock down the phone so someone couldn’t get into the it. When it’s in ‘Lost Mode’ you can display a message, like a contact phone number, and the phone will continue updating on the map so you can track it. If you believe your phone is gone for good, you can remotely wipe it and make sure your personal information is safe.

You can perform this on any iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, iPad Mini, and Mac. The main thing is the device has to be on the internet for it to be tracked.

It’s a free app, a free service, and works well, plus it is easy to use. Head here to grab it for your iPhone or iPad. If you have a Mac just go into your iCloud settings to turn it on.

Technology moves at a rapid pace, and it gets faster each day. Old tech like printers and scanners are on the verge of meeting their end with the proliferation of email and cloud computing. However, you may find yourself on the go and all you have is your iPhone and you need to scan a document and email it, but you have no scanner! Well our awesome Marketing Director, Meredith, pointed out an awesome app that will help this conundrum.

Genius Scan turns your iPhone into a mobile scanner! It just uses your camera to take a picture of what you want to send, turns it into a JPG or PDF and allows you to email, put it in Dropbox, or a number of other options.

This app is very cool and can come in very handy… plus it’s free!

Click here to check it out!

I love me some Angry Birds. I know I’m not alone there. I love me some Star Wars. I know I’m not alone there either. Wow, I am a big nerd – along with a lot of other people.

I downloaded this app when it came out on Thursday, and it does start a little slow. Very basic and the run of the mill Angry Birds. It is not until you get a little later that you start to get into the cool nuances of what this version brings you. The cool thing about this game is it has elements from the normal Angry Birds, but it adds a lot of gameplay from Angry Birds Space – such as gravity fields around planets and such.

The main twist with this version is the addition of Star Wars character abilities to the birds.

The main red bird is the Luke Skywalker of the group -he has a lightsaber.

The yellow bird is the Han Solo character – he gets a laser blaster.

The black bird is the Obi Won Konobi of the crew – he has force powers to push things.

The big brown hairy bird is Chewie – he is just a wrecking ball.

The pink bird is Princess Leia – she has a tractor beam gun to pull things.

This game has a lot of cool dynamics. It does challenge you to think in different ways to get the pigs.

Overall, I’d say it’s worth the $1 or $3 depending on whether it’s for iPhone or iPad. It gives you the same awesome Angry Birds game we have all come to know and love, but it adds the added dimension of Star Wars and all of it’s classic characters, locations, and sounds. Go check it out!

CultofMac.com had a great post this wonderful Halloween morning, suggesting some of the better scary games for iOS. I thought I would pass that along!

Here are a couple of the headliners!

Dead Space: anybody that has played this game at all, knows it’s a very creepy game franchise!

Resident Evil 4: Resident Evil is one of the original scary zombie games out there! The forth in the line of games is one of the scariest!

Go to this link to see the rest!