The Archives
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02.28.13Toca Hair Salon 2 gets two new charactersToca Hair Salon 2 is without a doubt the best cartoon hairdressing app for kids in the world. Although in fairness, the first Toca Hair Salon is its only serious competition. Now here's some good news: two new characters for your kids to give a makeover to. They're called Jazz and Mindy, and they're accompanied into the app by some new accessories to decorate all the characters with. Developer Toca Boca says the app has been downloaded more than 1m times since its release in December, which is plenty of clipping, brushing and dyeing. The new characters should give lots of those children ...
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12.13.12Toca Hair Salon 2 cuts up a treat on iPhone, iPad and Kindle FireIn what's already a big, big day for new children's apps, Toca Hair Salon 2 might just be the biggest release of the lot. It's a follow-up to the original Toca Hair Salon from Toca Boca, which has got millions of children playing virtual hairdressers. This sequel has four new characters waiting in your salon, as well as new tools to primp them with: a razor, curling iron, straightener and crimper, as well as the existing tools to cut and spray hair-dye. You can wash the characters' hair with shampoo before towelling them off, add accessories like hats and glasses, and (as ...
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11.30.12Toca Tailor Fairy Tales gets a freebie release for iPhone and iPadOur children are still exploring the creative potential of Toca Tailor, which came out in October. It's a wonderfully creative app that gets kids designing clothes, including using your iPhone or iPad's camera to get patterns from the real world. Now it's got a free version, which is perfect for trying the app out if you're not sure about buying the full thing. Toca Tailor Fairy Tales went live on the App Store yesterday. As before, your child can choose patterns from within the app or capture their own with the camera – pets, wallpaper, the sky or whatever else takes their ...
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11.27.12Coming soon: Toca Boca Fairy Tales for iPhone and iPadWe, like many parents, can't get enough of Toca Boca's playful children's apps. Our kids are still having fun with Toca Tailor, which came out in October, but it's already getting a follow-up. Toca Tailor Fairy Tales will be a free app for iPhone and iPad when it comes out on Thursday (29 November), taking the main features of Toca Tailor and applying them to a pair of fairytale characters. "Mix and match colours, prints and fabrics -- or use the built-in fabric camera to create your very own unique patterns from things around you," explains the blurb for its YouTube video ...
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10.25.12Toca Tailor (iPhone / iPad review)Developer Toca Boca is building a strong reputation for itself as a purveyor of high-quality children's apps, with 16 million downloads and counting on iPhone and iPad. The song from its last app Toca Band is still rattling around our skulls, but the publisher has something new: Toca Tailor, which launched on the App Store tonight. Aimed at children aged four and up, it's a logical successor to previous Toca Boca apps like Toca Kitchen and Toca Hair Salon, turning a professional job – clothesmaking in this instance – into a marvellously playful app. Continue Reading...
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10.01.1230 Best Apps for Kids from September 2012 – iPhone and iPadYeah, 30. One for every day in the month. Things were that busy in September, with a blizzard of creative, innovative and engrossing apps for children to write about here on Apps Playground. We've got big names – Toca Boca, Disney, CBeebies, Lego, Winnie the Pooh, Dr Seuss and more – but also some of the best independent children's apps with characters you may not have heard of, but who have great stories to tell, or fun digital play to share. It's been an exciting time, and we're looking forward to bringing you more news, reviews and videos of the best apps ...
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09.20.12Like the Toca Band song? It’s on iTunes and Spotify…As we pointed out in our review, there is only one song in Toca Band, the ace new children's music app from Toca Boca. And while it may be driving you insane after a couple of hours' play, it's also frighteningly catchy. You may not thank us for this, but... You can now buy the Toca Band Song on iTunes, or stream it on Spotify. THERE IS EVEN A DANCE REMIX. This is either marvellous, or these are the end times. We're trying to work out which. In the meantime, Spotify users can stream both versions of the song below, while iTunes customers ...
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09.19.12Toca Band (iPhone / iPad review)We'll get to the important bit without delay: if you have young children and an iOS device, download Toca Band right away. The kids will love it, but so will you. In the week since we got our review copy, we've spent almost as much time playing with it as our sons have. And they've played it a lot… But to cover the almost-as-important bits, Toca Band is the latest app from Swedish startup Toca Boca, which has made a succession of marvellous digital toys for iPhone and iPad over the past couple of years. Previous apps have had children driving trains, cleaning ...
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09.03.12Coming soon: Toca Band from Toca BocaA new app from Swedish developer Toca Boca is on the way, and judging by a teaser video posted on YouTube by the company, it's going to be amazing. Check it out below. We think it's called Toca Band, and the emphasis appears to be on music, with an array of colourful characters singing, playing and jigging about. Watch this space: we'll have news and a review as soon as it goes live on the App Store.
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06.14.12Choo choo! Time to catch Toca TrainFor many parents, news that Toca Boca have released a new app is an instant purchase, no questions asked. The company is making a name for itself with beautiful, playful apps for children. Toca Train is the latest. It's a big step for Toca Boca, since it's the company's first app to be properly 3D. As the name implies, you're driving a train (well, your children are, but you'll be sneaking crafty goes too, we suspect). It's aimed at 3-7 year-olds. The train steams round the track, stopping at stations and picking up passengers and cargo. Yes, you can pull a lever to ...
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