Apple patent suggests whether best to call or text

By Ed Sutherland on Apr 30, 2013

While in the middle of being told Apple is washed-up, a has-been being overtaken by Android, comes a patent which reminds us the company actually has some good ideas left.

Take, for instance, those annoying calls which seem to arrive in the middle of dinner. The gear heads at Apple also find them annoying and created a way to put you in control of who calls you when and whether a text might suffice. Particularly when you have a mouth of spaghetti.

The granted patent describes a “system for facilitating contacting people using electronic devices.”

Instead of taking the usual path most technology firms selling smartphones would follow – creating multiple ways to blast messages to you – Apple goes for a more zen-like approach, realizing that understanding when not to make a call could make for the ultimate smartphone… Read More

 

Facebook begins rolling out free Messenger VoIP feature to the US

By Cody Lee on Jan 16, 2013

Earlier this month, we told you that Facebook had added a free VoIP calling feature to its Messenger app in Canada. It was clearly a test, to ensure that the social network’s servers could handle the added bandwidth. And apparently the tests went well.

Today, many users, including us, have noticed that Facebook has quietly started rolling out the VoIP feature to the US version of its Messenger app. It comes by way of a new ‘Free Call’ button, which will allow you to telephone your FB contacts for free… Read More

 

Test finds that Sprint iPhone 5 has the best call quality

By Cody Lee on Oct 21, 2012

According to Apple, the iPhone 5 has much better call quality than its predecessor thanks to its new wideband audio technology. Unfortunately, no US carrier supports this feature yet.

This means that call quality on your iPhone 5 still greatly depends on your location and who your service provider is. And according to a new report, Sprint is the one to beat in this category… Read More

 

RingerX VIP Now Available on Cydia

By Jeff Benjamin on Feb 2, 2012

A couple of days ago we provided you with an in-depth preview of RingerX VIP, the jailbreak tweak that lends fine grain control over your iPhone’s vibrate and ringing behaviors. It’s now available for download on Cydia’s BigBoss repo. If you haven’t seen our preview, be sure to check it out.

 

RingerX VIP: Control Ringer and Vibrate Behavior for Calls and Messages

By Jeff Benjamin on Jan 31, 2012

Don’t you just hate it when you miss an important call because you forgot to turn your iPhone’s mute switch off? Or what about that one annoying person that always calls at 3 in the morning? Wouldn’t it be nice if you could forever silence their calls?

With RingerX VIP, all of these scenarios feature easy solutions.

This is a jailbreak tweak for those who require fine grained control over how various contacts are treated whenever they call you or message you… Read More

 

Add Calling and Messaging Shortcuts to Your Home Screen with QuickContact

By Oliver Haslam on Jan 17, 2012

The current trend of finding ways to get icons on an iOS device’s Home screen with the intent of creating shortcuts for actions is nothing new. It was originally one of the big jailbreak advantages, and now it’s back. This time, you don’t need to jailbreak anything.

QuickContact is the latest in a long line of apps that offer the user a way to create shortcuts on the Home screen, and now sending SMS messages and making phone calls are the order of the day.

The best part about this is the fact it’s not actually an app at all, but rather a web app. Read More

 

iPhone Owners Complaining of Mysterious Mute Bug on Outbound Calls

By Cody Lee on Jan 5, 2012

Apple launched its latest handset, the iPhone 4S, in October of last year. And while the company seems to have corrected the infamous antenna problem, the device has still had its fair share of issues.

From its poor battery life — which is more than likely iOS 5 related — to its Sprint data speed troubles, users have had multiple complaints regarding the handset. And now it looks like we can add another problem to the list… Read More

 

Apple’s Latest Patent Victory: In-Call Multitasking

By Oliver Haslam on Dec 21, 2011

Apple is having quite the week, especially considering we are just a few short days away from Christmas. First, the lawyers Apple keeps in a Cupertino basement successfully got the ITC to ban HTC’s handsets due to a patent infringement, and now the company has been granted yet another patent to beat the competition with.

The patent awarded is for a ”portable electronic device with graphical user interface supporting application switching.” That may sound extremely wide-reaching, but we are told that things get a little more specific than that, should Apple actually decide to wield this particular club.

What the patent boils down to is the ability to multitask during a call, something the iPhone was praised for back in the day… Read More

 

Does Your iPhone 4S Audio Echo During a Call?

By Alex Heath on Nov 1, 2011

Battery life isn’t the only complaint about Apple’s newest smartphone. Customers are reporting an issue with the device’s audio echoing during a voice call.

An Apple discussion thread is alive and kicking with hundreds of disgruntled iPhone 4S users that are complaining about an audio echo on the other end of the call when talking on the phone via an Apple hands-free headset.

And we thought that no one used a smartphone to actually call people anymore… Read More

 

HiddenCalllog: Keep Prying Eyes Out of Your Call History

By Jeff Benjamin on Sep 3, 2011

Want to keep nosey people out of your call history? Then this simple, yet effective jailbreak tweak entitled HiddenCalllog, might be just what the doctor ordered.

HiddenCalllog makes it easy to quickly disguise yourself as one who has absolutely no friends that care to call you, ever.

Great for keeping nosey folks out of your call log, perhaps not so great in various other situations… Read More

 

FunnyCaller: Customize Caller ID for Incoming Calls

By Cody Lee on Aug 21, 2011

If you’ve had an iPhone (or any smartphone) over the last few years, chances are you’ve seen Caller ID spoofing. Basically, it’s an app that will change your outbound Caller ID information when making a phone call.

But most of the apps for the iPhone are sketchy, and usually require money after the first few calls. Luckily, infamous jailbreak developer moeseth has created a similar tweak to help feed your inner prankster… Read More

 

‘CallBar’ Sets the Bar When it Comes to Managing Incoming Calls

By Jeff Benjamin on Jul 18, 2011

One of the best things about the jailbreak community is when its members listen to the voices of the users, and team up to create something fantastic.

That’s exactly what happened with this latest Cydia release entitled CallBar; it’s a culmination of teamwork and listening to the feedback from those in the community.

CallBar essentially allows you to manage incoming phone calls — whether it’s strictly a voice call, or a FaceTime call — without losing the focus of your current task.

Instead of taking up your iPhone’s entire screen announcing your incoming call, CallBar adds a subtle, yet noticeable, notification at the top of your iPhone’s screen.

The result is a well thought out tweak that greatly improves the experiencing of receiving and managing phone calls on the iPhone. Be sure to check out our full video walkthrough inside… Read More

 

Dialer Shield: Stop Accidental Screen Presses While Talking on Your iPhone

By Cody Lee on Jun 13, 2011

It’s no secret that jailbreaking has made owning iDevices more enjoyable. If there is something that you don’t like about your iPhone or iPad, chances are that the jailbreak community has a utility or app that’ll help.

Dialer Shield is certainly a testament to that, as it provides an easy solution to a fairly annoying problem. Have you ever been talking on your iPhone and accidentally pressed End Call or another function with your cheek? Dialer Shield solves this by locking your iPhone screen during phone calls… Read More

 

New in iOS 5: Stop the Hackers Tapping Your Line With Unsecured Call Warnings

By Guest Author on Jun 8, 2011

Did you know that while you’re running iOS 4 on your iPhone, hackers can intercept your phone calls and listen in on your conversations like they do in the movies? Thankfully, however, a new feature in iOS 5 will warn you when you’re at risk.

Under the first beta release of iOS 5, if you attempt to make a call that hackers can tap into, you will receive a warning to tell you that the network you’re using is not encrypted… Read More

 

New Jailbreak App Lets You Easily Delete Phone Calls

By Sebastien Page on Jun 3, 2011

Ever wished you could delete individual phone calls from your call logs on your iPhone? If so, Call Delete is the app for you. Up until now, you could only delete none or all of the missed or placed phone calls from your iPhone, but Call Delete is going to change that by giving you a little more freedom.

Just like you would guess, Call Delete lets you delete specific phone calls from your iPhone logs. If you recently called your ex and you don’t want your new girlfriend to find out, this is going to do the trick… Read More

 

iQuickCall Allows You to Quickly Call, Text, or E-Mail with Activator

By Alex Heath on Apr 7, 2011

iQuickCall is a jailbreak tweak that allows you quick access to the number you call everyday. Using the gesture options built into Activator, iQuickCall gives you several methods for quickly prompting the option to call/text/e-mail someone from anywhere on your screen.

There are apps in the App Store that try to solve the issue of quick contact reference in iOS, but iQuickCall uses the system access benefits that jailbreaking provides for a more integrated approach… Read More

 

Apple Finally Approves TrapCall App After 201 Days

By Kickstar13 on Apr 5, 2011

Apple’s App Store approval process has been known to be a very long and hard process for iOS app developers. Although Apple had loosened app approval process back in September of 2010, it seems that certain apps are still taking a good amount of time in limbo before receiving the green light.

One such application happens to be the TrapCall app by Tel Tech Systems Inc. The app went officially live today after 201 days (almost 7 months) in review by Apple.

TrapCall puts an end to those annoying blocked and private calls, claiming to be the first and only service to unmask blocked calls. Read More

 

CallerID Faker for iPhone Has All the Cool Features for Free

By Cody Lee on Mar 8, 2011

Ok Cody, caller id applications have been around for ages, what’s so special about this one? CallerID faker, in the Cydia Store, isn’t a new concept or a new application. But it can be a hidden gem to those whom aren’t aware of its existence.

Perhaps you’ve already played with CallerId Faker, or an application like it. SpoofApp was nice in its time, but after a five minute demo call, the app requests you purchase SpoofCards. This app, however, allows you to make an unlimited amount of free calls, with a few restrictions… Read More

 

Apple Posts Differences Between CDMA and GSM iPhone 4

By Kickstar13 on Feb 16, 2011

Yesterday, we posted a data speed comparison, comparing AT&T and Verizon networks. While Verizon seemed to do better than AT&T in every way (in the San Francisco area, at least), it looks like the Verizon iPhone has some shortcomings as well.

Although we missed it, it seems that Apple had posted a comparison chart last week, detailing the differences between the GSM and CDMA versions of the iPhone. This comparison chart solely focuses on how the GSM and CDMA versions of the iPhone handle calls… Read More

 

AskToCall Makes You Think Twice Before Phoning the Girl You Like

By Jeff Benjamin on Dec 28, 2010

If you have a hard time asking out that girl that you’re interested in, then definitely stay away from AskToCall, otherwise you’ll never call her.

AskToCall is basically the phone version of AskToSend, another jailbreak tweak that helps you second guess your sending of SMS and email messages.

Once installed, there are no apps or settings to configure, but you will notice a new prompt every time you dial from your favorites, recents or contacts… Read More

 
Page 112