Year: 2014

New reports suggest only more expensive 4.7-inch iPhone 6 to be unveiled next month

Cody Lee ∙ Updated September 26, 2016

Apple this morning sent out invitations for a media event on September 9th, where the company is expected to unveil the iPhone 6 and a new wearable device. We've heard conflicting theories on whether or not we'll see one or two new handsets on stage, but a new report out this afternoon suggests the former.

According to website GforGames, "informed sources" are telling Chinese media outlets that only the 4.7-inch version of the iPhone 6 will make an appearance at the event, alongside a new 5s model with 8GB of storage. Apparently the larger 5.5-inch iPhone will make its debut later this year in limited quantities.

Instagram is down, it’s not just you! [update: it’s back]

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 11, 2016

If you've noticed that Instagram isn't working properly this afternoon, it's not just you. Several users have taken to Twitter to complain that the popular image-sharing service is down, and a few of us here at iDB have confirmed the outage.

While parts of the app are still working for some folks, it seems that the Explore tab isn't loading for most users, and many are having issues getting their personal feeds to load. We're also seeing '503 Service Unavailable' in the News tab.

Icebreaker: A Viking Voyage goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Cody Lee ∙ August 28, 2014

Apple has named Icebreaker: A Viking Voyage it's App of the Week for this week. This means that from now through next Thursday, you’ll be able to pick up the popular game for both iPhone and iPad for free—a decent savings of $1.

For those who aren't familiar with the game, it was created by Angry Birds hit-maker Rovio Entertainment and Nitrome. It's essentially a Cut The Rope-style physics-based puzzler, which has you rescuing vikings from blocks of ice.

Poll: is Apple wearable going to unmask itself come September 9?

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 28, 2014

With Apple's September 9 event now official, the speculation game can begin, again.

And with a rumored Apple wearable device ostensibly in tow for the big reveal alongside a pair of new iPhones — or that's at least what Re/code's John Paczkowski has learned from sources — the time is right to hear your thoughts on the matter.

So, is Apple going to announce a wearable device at the event, do you think? Context: an “Apple wearable” may not necessarily stand for a “smartwatch” per se — or denote an ”iWatch” at all, as the media has tentatively dubbed the elusive wrist-worn gizmo.

Go ahead, cast your vote after the break and then join us in comments for a healthy discussion from some wildly different perspectives, hopefully.

BlurSlide gives a new look to your ‘Slide to Unlock’ slider

Alihassan Mahdi ∙ Updated September 7, 2014

One of the many reasons that users jailbreak their iOS device is to customize the various UI elements. BlurSlide is yet another customization tweak that brings a new look to the 'Slide to Unlock' slider.

Developed by CP Digital Darkroom, BlurSlide allows users to change the original Slide to Unlock design to that of iOS 7.1.x's power off slider style, which features a round movable knob with a blur background. Yet, the best thing about this tweak is that it provides a lot of options to customize the slider the way you want. Although the tweak is still in the beta phase, it worked smoothly without any issues on my iPhone 5s running 7.0.4.

Capacity of Flint Center for Apple’s September event hints big announcement incoming

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple must be planning big announcements for the September 9th media event that members of the press just got an invite to. Not only is the capacity of the Flint Center much larger than Apple's usual product unveiling venues, but the Cupertino-based company is constructing its own building on the Flint Center grounds as part of the event.

Notability finally arrives to the Mac

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 28, 2014

Notability by Ginger Labs, the powerful iPhone and iPad note-taker to annotate documents, record lectures, sketch illustrations and more, has leaped to the Mac.

Now available in the Mac App Store for $9.99, the Mac edition completes the experience by extending functionality found in the iOS app to your desktop.

The app makes it easy to create notes by dragging PDFs, photos or audio files from your desktop to Notability.

Handwriting and sketches can be scaled, transformed, rotated, nudged and restyled to your liking. Most crucially, your notes will look the same on your Mac, iPad and iPhone and of course sync seamlessly between devices through iCloud.

Minuum previews its height-changing keyboard for iOS 8

Jake Smith ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

Popular Android keyboard developer Minuum has finally previewed its keyboard coming to iOS 8 this fall. It's not like other third-party keyboards we've seen thus far, instead, it transforms from a standard full-scale QWERTY keyboard with autocorrect and then fades away to take up only half of your visible screen.

CloudApp for Mac updated with quick screen recording, Google App support

Jake Smith ∙ Updated August 4, 2016

The folks behind CloudApp released a big update for the service on Thursday, making it easier for users and companies to quickly share links, photo, texts and more from a Mac. The update is being labeled version 3.0, and brings CloudApp Motion, CloudApp for Teams, updated Pro plans, Google Apps support, and an embedded video and audio player into the mix.

Groupon offering $15 iTunes Gift Cards for $10

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 29, 2017

The popular deal-of-the-day website, Groupon, on Thursday started offering $15 iTunes Gift Cards for just $10, representing a cool 33 percent saving on Mac and iOS apps, movies, television shows, books and other items sold on the iTunes Store, the App Store, the iBooks Store and the Mac App Store.

The offer is available on the Groupon website here and limited to one per person. Quantities are limited so better hurry up and grab your $15 iTunes Gift Card with a 33 percent discount now before it's too late.

IMDb pulls ‘On DVD/Blu-ray’ pages and external links, adds showtimes refinements

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 28, 2014

IMDb, an Amazon-owned online database of information related to films, television programs and video games, has a nice iPhone and iPad app. As of today, it's become a tad more useful while also retiring a pair of handy features.

Now bumped to version 4.4, the refreshed software makes a few unexpected changes to the experience. First up, the 'On DVD/Blu-ray' pages have been removed completely because the data source the app was using "wasn’t up to snuff".

Moreover, outgoing IMDb.com links from the app's title and name pages have fallen victim of Apple's app submission guidelines and will be no longer available within the app going forward.

Other changes in this version are outlined after the break.

Wired: iPhone will have NFC chip and feature its own payment platform

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 28, 2014

According to sources familiar with the matter who spoke to Wired, the rumors were in fact true as the next iPhone is reportedly going to have a Near-Field Communication (NFC) circuitry and feature an Apple-branded payment platform.

Apple's contactless mobile payment solution is being described in the report as "one of the hallmark features" of the iPhone 6 when the device is unveiled on September 9 (alongside a rumored Apple wearable device).

"We’re told the solution will involve NFC," reads the report.

For what it's worth, the reliable John Paczkowski of Re/code has “been hearing the same” about the NFC-enabled iPhone 6.

Recent leaks of purported iPhone 6 components have indicated that the forthcoming smartphone could indeed be outfitted with an NFC chip by a semiconductor company called NXP, which currently supplies the M7 motion coprocessor for the latest iOS devices.