Month: April 2013

LSScrubbing allows you to scrub music from the Lock screen

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 29, 2013

LSScrubbing is a recently released tweak that does something so obvious, you'll wonder why it was never there to begin with. The tweak allows you to scrub audio from the Lock screen, which is basically a fancy term for moving forward or backward through a song manually.

The stock Lock screen music controls allow you to skip tracks, go to a previous track, pause, play, or adjust the volume. They also allow you to tap and hold on the previous/next buttons to rewind or fast forward, but there's no scrubbing to be found. LSScrubbing fixes that glaring omission, but you'll have to pay up to do so.

Alleged leaked Japanese carrier document claims iPhone 5S pre-orders start June 20

Cody Lee ∙ April 29, 2013

Tim Cook caused quite a bit of commotion last week when he told investors that Apple "has some amazing new hardware, software, and services coming this fall." Most folks took it as we aren't going to see anything new from the company until then.

But that may not be the case, according to a purported leaked document from Japanese wireless carrier KDDI. The internal note, meant for sales floor staff, offers up plan pricing information and some details about the upcoming iPhone 5S smartphone...

Cash cow is dying as messaging apps overtake SMS by volume

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

For the first time, more messages are being sent via applications such as iMessage, WhatsApp and Viber than traditional texting. That's the message of a new study which found that messages sent using such apps outnumbered those sent through carrier-based SMS in 2012.

That lead is expected to widen this year as chat apps send twice as many messages as texting. The study by Informa suggests the lucrative business of text transmissions could be winding down for carriers.

Although traditional SMS has a larger user base, iMessage, WhatsApp or other chatting apps are sending more texts per user, giving them the momentum...

Google’s iOS Search app, now available with Google Now

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 29, 2013

Boom, just like that Google has issued an update to its excellent Search app for the iPhone and iPad which enables some of the most popular Google Now features on the iOS platform. At least initially, Google Now on iOS devices doesn't support some of the features Android users have come to love.

Boarding passes, activity summary, events, concerts, Fandango and Zillow cards aren't included in the update.

All told, 22 of the 29 card types found in Android have made their way to the iOS edition, including weather, traffic, transit schedules and sports scores. Also: Google Now doesn't have Push Notifications, which makes the feature less useful than on Android, where Google Now can notify users via alerts of their upcoming appointments, changes to their flight schedule, weather and more.

Your promotional video, screenies and additional details are after the break...

Low-cost iPad mini mulled, seen competing with Android cheapos

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 29, 2013

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has a very strong track record, having previously predicted a number of Apple products.

For example, he correctly assumed the MacBook Pro with Retina display would be offered alongside the existing models and called for the phasing out of the 17-inch MacBook Pro.

You'll recall that Tim Cook during last week's conference call advised against major hardware announcements until Fall. Be that as it may, Kuo now thinks Apple could at its upcoming five-day conference for developers refresh the MacBook notebook lineup with upgrades mostly revolving around a speedier Intel Haswell chips.

He is also expecting a new low-cost iPad mini model - the budget iPad mini, if you will - which should help the company fend off the onslaught of cheap Android tablets on the low-end...

iPad tops JD Power’s satisfaction scores for second time

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

After topping J.D. Power and Associates' customer satisfaction rankings for smartphones for the ninth consecutive study, Apple's iPad has now emerged victorious in JD Power's February 2013 tablet rankings. Specifically, the iPad recorded a score of 836 on JD Power's overall TabletIndex Rankings.

The index is based on a 1,000-point scale. Amazon's tablet scored 829 versus the study average of 828 points. The third and fourth-ranked Samsung and Asus tablets received respective scores of 822 and 818 while Acer came in fifth with a score of 782.

Despite Apple's relatively modest lead in TabletIndex rankings, the iPad fared far better in consumer ratings, another important metric of the JD Power study. Consumers rated the Apple tablet 'Among the Best,' giving it a score of five out of five. Interestingly enough, no other tablet was rated about 'Above Average' (four out of five) while Acer received the lowest ranking of 2 out of 5 denoting 'The Rest'...

Apple announces Tech Talks coming this Fall

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

Following an unprecedented interest surrounding Apple's upcoming developers conference this summer, with tickets selling out in under two minutes, the company is trying to make it easier for the folks who won't be able to make it to WWDC this June 10-14. This past weekend, Apple via its portal for developers announced that Tech Talks are coming this Fall to a number of cities...

Square’s Register app gains kitchen tickets, new features for restaurants

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 29, 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeVkbjeL1Lk

Square's Register, the free point of sale app, has been available on the iPhone and iPad since May 2010 and has seen a number of updates since. And with the release of Square's all-in-one $299 iPad POS bundle in February 2012, the Register app gained prominence as the POS solution was designed from the ground up to work wirelessly with the Register app. Today, Square updated the Register software with kitchen tickets and several new ordering features to better server restaurant owners...

Text Heads are coming to biteSMS [Updated]

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

A new feature is coming to what is arguably the best text messaging app for iOS. If you listened to our previous episode of Let's Talk Jailbreak, then you already have a good idea what it is. On the podcast, I speculated about what big new feature could be coming to biteSMS after its developer hinted about a brand new addition. My guess was Text Heads.

Today, we can confirm that, indeed, Facebook inspired "Text Heads" are coming to biteSMS. After a few hints, the confirmation came straight from the horse's mouth.

The iDownloadBlog top news stories of the week – April 28, 2013 edition

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated February 7, 2018

Like every Sunday, we bring you the stories that were the most popular on iDB during this past week. Whether it is a news piece, an editorial, a tutorial, a new jailbreak tweak, or an accessory review, we sum it all up in one convenient place.

If you like what you're reading, please make sure to spread the love by sharing our posts on your favorite social network.

We're usually hanging out a lot on Twitter and Facebook, more rarely on Google+.

How to get Facebook Chat Heads with MessageBox New iPhone commercial: Photos Every Day Concept video shows what iOS 7 could look like without skeuomorphism Tim Cook talks new product categories, downplays chances of larger iPhone Apple announces WWDC 2013 for June 10-14, confirms iOS 7 and OS X 10.9 previews WWDC 2013 tickets: gone in 120 seconds Atom now available for download on Cydia Accentify tints iOS chrome, no WinterBoard required iPhone 5S delayed as coating material interferes with fingerprint sensor How to set up multiple email signatures on your iPhone or iPad The best note-taking apps for iPad FocusTwist: boost your iPhone photography with refocusable photos 10 apps to check out this weekend

Of course, don't forget to listen to the latest episode of our podcast, Let's Talk Jailbreak:

We’re social! Find iDB on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, App.net, YouTube, and in your RSS reader. Also make sure to subscribe to our new podcast!

RemoteTweet lets you share the Remote app’s now playing track

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 27, 2013

RemoteTweet is a new jailbreak tweak that allows you to send a tweet advertising the song currently playing via the App Store's Remote app. The Remote app is an app that can be used to connect to local iTunes libraries on the same Wi-Fi network. This lets you control that iTunes library remotely using an iOS device.

With a combination of the Remote app and RemoteTweet, you can now easily advertise your now playing song via Twitter. This is despite the fact that the song is playing on a remote iTunes library, and not your actual iOS device.

Accentify now available on Cydia

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Accentify — the jailbreak tweak that allows you accent iOS' chrome with custom colors — is now available on Cydia's BigBoss repo for $0.99. The tweak, which we previewed last week, works without needing WinterBoard.

The iOS chrome can be customized with over a dozen highly vibrant colors, and the changes take effect without necessitating a respring. Take a look inside for more information and screenshots from the release...