Apple and Rovio have paired up to give away Angry Birds Rio for the iPhone and iPad for free this week, as part of Apple's 'Free App of the Week' promotion.

The game is normally $0.99 for the iPhone and $2.99 on the iPad.

Carnival

Angry Birds Rio brought more of the same bird-flinging action that we all are quite familiar with by now, but also threw a couple of new very welcome twists into the formula. First and foremost are the boss fights, which were a first for the Angry Birds series and have you squaring off against the main antagonists from the Rio movie. The game also utilized more advanced graphics and recently was updated with tons of new power-ups and support for the widescreen of the iPhone 5.


Angry Birds Rio is free for a limited time on the iPhone and iPad from the App Store. [Direct link: iPhone/iPad]

Top Rated Comments

needfx Avatar
150 months ago
Developers get paid from small ads in the game.

FREE

adds in game = horrible user experience
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Moonjumper Avatar
150 months ago
I wish the Free App of the Week would feature some hidden gems rather than promote games that are already successful.

In a market where discoverability is a big issue, concentrating on the apps we already know is a wasted opportunity.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mabhatter Avatar
150 months ago
Developers get paid from small ads in the game.

FREE

I'd rather pay a small amount than spend time watching ads. If I recall, in the ad version you have to click on the ad screen between every few retries.

Of course this is Angry Birds. The games are just a loss leader for all the merchandizing going on... $.99 is nothing compared to the cut they get from all the swag in stores.

----------

Angry Birds Rio is kind of a dead end anyway. Unless they make another movie, all the levels are finished up and Rovio is done adding to it. But hey! Free Angry Birds for the "Pig Popper Pad"!
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ArtOfWarfare Avatar
150 months ago
Developers get paid from small ads in the game.

FREE
Yes, I bet you've made lots of free apps and made lots of money from ads.

No, ad revenue is a lie. Top ranking apps can make money from ads. No one else can. I have hundreds of thousands of regular users for my free app with ads and an IAP to remove ads. I made $10 in 2012, $3 from ads and $7 from users removing the ads.

In contrast, I made $200 and $8000 from my $1 and $2 apps, respectively. Certainly, quality plays a roll, but I spent twice as many months polishing my free app as I did my $1 app.

I'm never making the mistake of releasing an app users don't have to pay for again... you can get a taste for free, maybe, but getting more than 25% is certainly going to cost money.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mrxak Avatar
150 months ago
As per my standard policy, I've downloaded this for iPhone and iPad while it's free, even though I have zero interest in it currently. I never turn down something free that won't be free forever.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
keysofanxiety Avatar
150 months ago
Shod have always been free.

It is on Android

I agree. I love how games just manage to develop themselves, without any need for silly things like 'paying the programmers'.

It should always have been free! £0.69 is a disgrace! :rolleyes:
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Vertical Camera Feature

iPhone SE 4 Production Will Reportedly Begin Ramping Up in October

Tuesday July 23, 2024 2:00 pm PDT by
Following nearly two years of rumors about a fourth-generation iPhone SE, The Information today reported that Apple suppliers are finally planning to begin ramping up mass production of the device in October of this year. If accurate, that timeframe would mean that the next iPhone SE would not be announced alongside the iPhone 16 series in September, as expected. Instead, the report...
iPhone 17 Plus Feature

iPhone 17 Lineup Specs Detail Display Upgrade and New High-End Model

Monday July 22, 2024 4:33 am PDT by
Key details about the overall specifications of the iPhone 17 lineup have been shared by the leaker known as "Ice Universe," clarifying several important aspects of next year's devices. Reports in recent months have converged in agreement that Apple will discontinue the "Plus" iPhone model in 2025 while introducing an all-new iPhone 17 "Slim" model as an even more high-end option sitting...
Generic iPhone 17 Feature With Full Width Dynamic Island

Kuo: Ultra-Thin iPhone 17 to Feature A19 Chip, Single Rear Camera, Semi-Titanium Frame, and More

Wednesday July 24, 2024 9:06 am PDT by
Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today shared alleged specifications for a new ultra-thin iPhone 17 model rumored to launch next year. Kuo expects the device to be equipped with a 6.6-inch display with a current-size Dynamic Island, a standard A19 chip rather than an A19 Pro chip, a single rear camera, and an Apple-designed 5G chip. He also expects the device to have a...
iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Series Is Less Than Two Months Away: Everything We Know

Thursday July 25, 2024 5:43 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
icloud private relay outage

iCloud Private Relay Experiencing Outage

Thursday July 25, 2024 3:18 pm PDT by
Apple’s iCloud Private Relay service is down for some users, according to Apple’s System Status page. Apple says that the iCloud Private Relay service may be slow or unavailable. The outage started at 2:34 p.m. Eastern Time, but it does not appear to be affecting all iCloud users. Some impacted users are unable to browse the web without turning iCloud Private Relay off, while others are...