How to add a Now Playing shortcut to Control Center

By Jeff Benjamin on Jan 10, 2014

I don’t like to do it all the time, but sometimes I’m jamming to a song so hard that I just have to let the world (or at least my own corner of the Internet) know what I’m listening to. For moments like these, CCNowPlaying is a great jailbreak tweak to have in your repertoire. It allows you to quickly send a tweet or a Facebook status update telling your followers what song you’re currently playing. It’s a tweak that integrates directly into Control Center, and features a stock look and feel.

I put CCNowPlaying through its paces on video and I was impressed with what I saw. Have a look past the break as I showcase how the tweak works in action. Read More

 

How to add Twitter and Facebook share widgets to Control Center

By Sébastien Page on Jan 8, 2014

A few days ago, I wrote a post showing how to bring Twitter and Facebook share widgets back to the Notification Center using an app called Share Widgets for iOS 7. In this post, I noted that Apple probably didn’t add these share widgets in the iOS 7 Notification Center because that’s not the right place for them. When you think about it, sharing something on Twitter or Facebook has nothing to do with notifications.

A more natural fit for Twitter and Facebook share widgets is Control Center. With an array of tweaks now being developed for Control Center, one in particular grabbed my attention as it allowed me to do what I really wanted from the beginning: add Twitter and Facebook share widgets to Control Center.

This tweak, some of you may have already guessed, it CCToggles… Read More

 

Astro is a Facebook Messenger client for your Mac

By Lory Gil on Jan 6, 2014

I have to admit it. I don’t often connect my third-party OS X chat clients with Facebook. I tend to get really distracted when someone starts messaging me through Facebook, more so than my other chat channels. So, I haven’t tested a lot of Facebook messenger apps.

Astro for Facebook Messenger is an app for your Mac that lets you chat with friends, even when you are offline. It includes native stickers, picture uploads, and even seamless group chat functions. Your productivity levels are about to plummet… Read More

 

How to bring Twitter and Facebook share widgets back to Notification Center

By Sébastien Page on Jan 5, 2014

Share widgets have been gone from the iPhone and iPad since the first beta release of iOS 7. Some thought that they would return with the official release of iOS 7, but as we were all able to verify, that was never the case.

Of course, share widgets have nothing to do in Notification Center in the first place. After all, the goal of Notification Center is to notify you, not to provide ways to share to Twitter or Facebook. Still, that was a great loss for many users.

Jailbreakers rejoice, because today, you can easily bring back those share widgets thanks to a new jailbreak tweak called Share Widget for iOS 7… Read More

 

Facebook is testing video ads in News Feed: this is how it looks

By Oliver Haslam on Dec 17, 2013

We told you last week about a Facebook for iOS update that gave the social network the ability to automatically play videos right inside our timelines. Similar to how videos begin to play in Instagram as soon as they’re scrolled to, Facebook has decided to bring the feature to Facebook proper, and as Cody has already told us all, there’s no way to stop it.

Which we thought was a bit odd. That is, until the other shoe dropped and Facebook’s master plan fell into place: video ads.

Now Facebook has published a post on its “Facebook for Business” news page in which it explains how auto-playing videos – and ads – work, as well as offering up an example for those of us yet to be (un)fortunate enough to witness them in our timelines… Read More

 

Facebook updates Pages Manager app with new iOS 7 design

By Cody Lee on Dec 17, 2013

Facebook has posted an update for its Pages Manager this week, bringing the app to version 2.2. The update includes some new tagging features, some performance improvements and an all new design for iOS 7.

For those unfamiliar with Facebook’s Pages Manager, it allows admins to interact with their audiences and keep tabs on activity for their pages by doing things like viewing Insights and replying to private messages… Read More

 

Facebook app gets auto-play feature for News Feed videos, and there’s not much you can do about it

By Cody Lee on Dec 11, 2013

Facebook updated its iOS client this afternoon, bringing the app to version 6.8. The update is a small one, but it does include one significant—and likely controversial—change: video clips will now play automatically in your News Feed.

Now, Facebook has been testing this feature since September, and I’ve had it for a while. And although the videos aren’t extremely annoying, I was hoping they’d make one change before the public launch: give us a way to turn them off… Read More

 

Facebook Messenger update adds one-touch Timeline access and more

By Cody Lee on Dec 10, 2013

Last month, Facebook released version 3.0 of its popular Messenger app. The update was significant because it featured an all-new UI design for the app, bringing its aesthetics more in line with those introduced by Apple in iOS 7.

Today, the client received another update, bringing it to version 3.1. This time Facebook added a few new convenience features that will allow you to access a person’s Timeline or call them (toll-free) by simply tapping on their picture… Read More

 

This is Facebook’s upcoming Reader feature

By Christian Zibreg on Nov 27, 2013

With so much great content being posted online on a daily basis and so little precious time to spare (talk about information overload), we as a technological society have grown dependent on various apps to scrap news articles and store them in pure text form for later reading. And boy are these services plentiful!

Not only do you get clutter-free content, but also can pull your saved articles from the cloud whenever and wherever a few minutes need killing – all in one app and without having to manage and bookmark the URLs.

I used to be a big believer in Marco Arment’s Instapaper read-later app for the iPhone and iPad ($3.99 on the App Store). However, Marco’s lack of vision, slow pace of development and just his general attitude on Twitter prompted me to make a switch to Pocket (formerly Read It Later) months ago.

Honestly, I never looked back since. Pocket comes free and provides tons of capabilities packaged into such a clean and elegant reading experience that’s consistent and available across my iPhones, iPads and and Macs.

These services also cut down on time-sucks that are social networks because people spend less time actually reading news articles on Facebook and increasingly save the stories to Instapapers and Pockets of this world. Zuck & Co. have taken notice of the trend and have been testing a read-later Facebook feature for months, a new rumor has it… Read More

 

WSJ: Snapchat turned down $3 billion buyout offer from Facebook

By Cody Lee on Nov 13, 2013

It was the summer of 2006. Facebook was just two years old, and strictly a college site, with some 8 or 9 million users. And the company’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg, met with board members Jim Breyer and Peter Thiel to discuss Yahoo’s $1 billion buyout offer.

As we all know, Zuckerberg ended up turning down the money, in what has become one of the most infamous moves in the last 10 years of tech. But the wunderkind recently found himself on the other side of the negotiating table, with even more money at stake… Read More

 

Facebook launches redesigned Messenger app

By Cody Lee on Nov 13, 2013

In line with reports from early October, Facebook has launched a redesigned Messenger app for iPhone users this afternoon. The new design matches the aesthetics of iOS 7, and looks very similar to the updated Messenger app launched for Android a few weeks ago.

In addition to the makeover, today’s update also brings about some new features. In the new app, users will be able to see which friends are using Messenger, as well as have the ability to message non-Facebook friends from within the app as long as they have their number… Read More

 

Facebook app update brings post editing to iPad

By Cody Lee on Nov 8, 2013

Last month, Facebook rolled out an update for its iOS app that allowed users to edit posts and comments and preview all of their changes. But up until now, these features have been exclusive to the iPhone.

That changed, however, late last night, when a new version of the Facebook client popped up in the App Store. The update, which brings the app to version 6.7, brings the ability to edit posts to iPad users… Read More

 

And so it begins: first ads begin showing up on Instagram

By Cody Lee on Nov 1, 2013

Instagram officially launched its advertising platform today, putting an end to its 3+ year-long ad-free streak. A ‘sponsored post’ from upscale fashion brand Michael Kors has begun appearing in user timelines.

But it’s not like we didn’t know this was coming. The launch comes just a week after the social network offered up a preview of what ads were going to look like on Instagram, and after months of several warnings… Read More

 

Facebook previews new-look Messenger with phone number integration

By Christian Zibreg on Oct 29, 2013

We were told last month Facebook had been working on a new version of its iPhone client with Graph Search and testing a major rethinking to the standalone instant messaging software, Facebook Messenger (a free download from the App Store).

Today, the social networking behemoth announced a new Messenger experience is now available for limited testing on Android and coming soon to iOS. Representing a major refresh, Messenger has undergone a substantial facelift and now lets folks instant-message each other using only their phone numbers, putting Messenger on a collision course with WhatsApp… Read More

 

Facebook for iOS updated with new editing features, photo comments and more

By Cody Lee on Oct 17, 2013

Facebook for iOS received a significant update this afternoon, bringing the app to version 6.6. The update brings about a number of handy new features, including the ability to edit published posts and comments.

First introduced back in September on the desktop version of the social network, the new editing option allows users to correct spelling and other mistakes in both their posts or comments from their iOS devices… Read More

 

How to quickly post to Twitter or Facebook in iOS 7

By Sébastien Page on Oct 15, 2013

One feature I really miss from iOS 6 is the Share Widget that would let you to add “Tap to Tweet” and “Tap to Post” buttons to Notification Center, allowing you to quickly send a tweet or post to Facebook.

When the first iOS 7 beta versions were released, we all thought the widgets would make their way to the final release, but they didn’t. Today, we’re going to show you a workaround that allows you to quickly send a tweet or post to Facebook in iOS 7… Read More

 

Facebook acquires mobile app-maker Onavo for $120 million

By Cody Lee on Oct 14, 2013

Facebook announced today that it has acquired Onavo, an Israel-based startup. Initial reports claimed the sale price was in upwards of $200 million, but a more recent scoop from The New York Times claims it was closer to $120 million.

There are two parts to Onavo’s business: one of consumer-facing apps that help optimize iOS and Android device performance, as well as minimize their data usage while surfing the web, and one of app analytics for mobile publishers… Read More

 

Facebook removing option to be unsearchable by name

By Cody Lee on Oct 12, 2013

Just a heads up for those that missed the news yesterday: Facebook is going to be removing the ‘Who can look up your Timeline by name’ privacy option that allowed you to make it so your profile could not be found via search.

The social network actually removed the option for those who weren’t using it last December. But for the small percentage still using it, it has announced that they will receive reminders about its removal in the coming weeks… Read More

 

Facebook testing iPhone client with Graph Search, revamps Messenger for iOS 7 style

By Christian Zibreg on Oct 9, 2013

The social networking giant Facebook used to irk fans with its sluggish mobile clients that used to be second-class citizens on smartphones and tablets. Blame it on Zuck & Co. for taking the easy route by wrapping the mobile-optimized HTML code into “native” apps. That changed last year after Facebook hired a few former Apple engineers like Greg Novick and tasked them with rewriting these apps from the ground up to be snappier and more responsive than the web app disguised as a native one.

Although Novick has now reportedly departed Facebook and will return to Apple, the company has been busy developing major new updates to mobile Facebook and Messenger clients on iOS and Android. Both applications are now apparently dogfooded to company employees for testing purposes. Here’s what’s in store for the revamped Facebook and Messenger… Read More

 

Facebook now searches your posts, status updates, photo captions, Notes and check-ins

By Christian Zibreg on Sep 30, 2013

You can kiss good-bye good ol’ days when you could count on limited exposure to your Facebook friends due to theirs not having enough time to meticulously comb through your entire Timeline.

But starting today and onwards, figuring out where you were, what you commented on your ex’s photos, whether you mentioned “drunk” or F-words  in posts and much, much more can become unravelled pretty easily.

That’s the power of Facebook’s updated Graph Search for you. After first experiencing Graph Search in action earlier this year, I went ecstatic. Finally, I could use Facebook’s search field for something more complex than barebone friends search. For example, as an avid photography fan I absolutely love the ability to filter just the photos my mom took in Prague back in 2007, or those of my significant other I snapped up last year.

That was merely warming up – Facebook now includes more of your content in Graph Search than ever before, things like your posts (way overdue), status updates (useful), photo captions (fun), Notes (meh) and check-ins (creepy)… Read More

 
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