Year: 2014

This week on iDB: iOS 8 beta 4 and Yosemite public beta

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

Like every Sunday, we get to take a look at some of the most popular posts that were published on iDB during the week that just ended. Whether it is a news item, a new jailbreak tweak, a tutorial, or an app review, we sum it all up in one convenient place for you.

As always, if you like what you're reading, please feel free 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+.

Apple seeds iOS 8 beta 4 to developers: here is what’s new Apple seeds OS X Yosemite Preview 4 Here is the redesigned iTunes 12 Apple rolls out OS X 10.10 Yosemite public beta – are you in? 10 things you need to know before installing public OS X 10.10 Yosemite beta Can’t redeem Yosemite beta code? Here’s a fix. iOS 8 beta 4 comes with a new Tips app Former jailbreak hacker accuses Apple of building surveillance backdoors into iOS Easily theme your iPhone signal bars with ‘Meter’ The best jailbreak tweaks for the Music app on iOS 7 How to get HBO and HBO Go without paying a ridiculous $100+ cable bill Apple airs new ‘Stickers’ MacBook Air ad Upgrading to a 4K monitor: enjoy Retina quality graphics on an external display How to get your frayed Lightning cable replaced for free The best email apps for iPad Apps of the week: Modern Combat 5, Together, Poptile, and more Wallpapers of last week: alternative transportation

Don't forget to listen to the latest episode of our new podcast, Let's Talk iOS:

Subscribe on iTunes

And of course, make sure to catch up with the new episode of Let's Talk Jailbreak:

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

The best jailbreak tweaks for the Music app on iOS 7

Alihassan Mahdi ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

If you're a big fan of music, you might be interested in taking a look at a list of top jailbreak tweaks that will spice up your stock Music app and allow you to customize it. Although the Music app in iOS 7 has a sleek design and offers most of the features a user might want, there are many tweaks available in Cydia that give you more control over this stock app and enhance your music listening experience. This is why we have compiled a list of the best jailbreak tweaks that will boost your Music app...

Claimed circuit board hints at NFC-enabled iPhone 6 – again!

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 26, 2014

Combing through our archive of posts mentioning "iPhone" and "NFC" is all it takes to realize that talk of Apple allegedly adopting NFC is intensifying, not dying down. In fact, rumors calling for NFC-enabled iPhones date as far back as 2011!

Thus far, however, the iconic smartphone has not picked up support for NFC technology, which is an acronym for Near Field Communication. On the other hand, Apple has numerous NFC-related patents.

Additionally, it doesn't really hurt to mention that a growing number of high-end Android handsets include NFC as part of their standard feature set. Well, today a claimed image has surfaced apparently picturing an iPhone 6 printed circuit board with what appears to be an embedded NFC chip...

Tweetbot 3 quietly rolls out animated GIF support via iOS media player

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

You're probably aware that Twitter began supporting animated GIFs via its web interface in mid-June. If so, you may also recall that Twitter's iOS client has picked up support for this popular file format a mere week later.

The feature isn't exclusive to the company's own mobile apps: Twitter soon after updated its API to let makers of third-party clients implement direct GIF sharing via pic.twitter.com links.

Tapbots' Tweetbot, one of the best Twitter clients for the Mac and iOS devices, does not officially recognize animated GIFs. That's why tapping a pic.twitter.com GIF link in Tweetbot for iPhone opens the detail view for the tweet itself rather than play the embedded animation inline.

This has been driving me nuts - but not anymore. As it turns out, Tapbots yesterday issued a maintenance update to Tweetbot for the iPhone and iPod touch which apparently adds support for animated GIFs via Twitter's pic.twitter.com links. Strangely enough, the official release notes make no mention of this nice little addition whatsoever...

Truefilm is a comprehensive photo editing app with unique features

Andrew Kunesh ∙ Updated October 9, 2018

Though there is a ton of camera apps on the App Store, one recent addition caught my eye: Truefilm. This app is a spin on your normal photo editing app with filters, basic controls, and frames, however, the app offers a couple features I've never seen implemented in a mobile photo editing app, such as version tracking. Read my full Truefilm review to see if it's worth your $0.99.

Upgrading to a 4K monitor: enjoy Retina quality graphics on an external display

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

As many of you know, I'm rocking a 13" Retina MacBook Pro, and I love it. The screen is killer, it's fairly fast, and it's portable.

But as I begin to take on more "intense" projects, I'm starting to realize that I simply don't have enough screen real estate to be the most productive I can be. I need an external monitor.

The problem is, and if you're a current Retina MacBook owner you've no doubt faced a similar conundrum, most of the popular external displays pale in comparison to the Retina display. Even Apple's mighty Thunderbolt Display, with its 27" screen and 2560x1440 native resolution, looks downright grainy when placed side-by-side with the Retina screen of a MacBook Pro.

So what to do? You could hold off until Apple finally decides it wants to get with the program and offer a Retina capable Thunderbolt Display, or...or...or! You could get a ultra-HD 4K capable monitor right now and enjoy a "Retina" experience.

That's exactly what I decided to do. Inside, I'll break down some of the pluses and minuses of my latest pickup, Dell's ($799 on Amazon) 24" ultra-HD display, the UP2414Q.

Apps of the week: Modern Combat 5, Together, Poptile, and more

Lory Gil ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

This was another big week for app and game launches. Probably the most anticipated first-person-shooter for mobile devices made its way into the App Store. There were lots of incredible updates to already amazing apps, and we’ve also been teased with rumors of game ports we’ve always wanted.

Whether you are in the mood to shoot things, want to add some flair to your photos, or are looking for some new effects for your MIDI synth, we’ve got a list of apps and games we think you should check out this weekend…

EqualizerEverywhere makes it possible to adjust audio in any app

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

EqualizerEverywhere is a recently released jailbreak tweak that makes it possible to create and activate custom equalizer presets on the fly. If you're someone who listens to a variety of different audio types on the iPhone, and you're looking for a way to customize sound based on the type of audio, this is a tweak that you should definitely investigate.

We've taken EqualizerEverywhere for a spin, and we were pretty impressed by what we found. Have a look at our video walkthrough after the jump.

BlackBerry, Dell not concerned about Apple-IBM deal

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

You would think hearing that Apple is teaming up with IBM to push further into the enterprise space would be worrisome for competitors. But both Dell and BlackBerry, who are each in the process of reshaping their businesses, say they're unfazed.

In an interview this week, Dell's John Swainson said that while he thought the announcement "made for a good press release," he fails to see how the pair can prosper. Likewise, BlackBerry CEO John Chen likened the deal to "two elephants dancing."

Apple acquires book recommendation startup BookLamp

Cody Lee ∙ July 25, 2014

During Apple's quarterly earnings conference call on Tuesday, Tim Cook said that the company has acquired 5 companies in the last 4 months, not including Beats electronics. We've known about two of the purchases, Spotsetter and LuxVue, and today we add a third.

TechCrunch is reporting that Apple recently acquired BookLamp, a startup based out of Boise, Idaho, that developed big data-style book analytics services. Described as "Pandora for books," the service recommends books through digital analysis of author writing styles...

Big increase in Apple spending suggests major new products incoming

Cody Lee ∙ July 25, 2014

For those of you still skeptical that Apple is gearing up for a blockbuster fall, check out this report from Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty. The analyst dug through its just-released 10-Q filing, and she says it reveals a lot about its upcoming plans.

Huberty explains that the company's significant increase in spending all-but-confirms that we'll see some major new products this year. In fact, its quarter-over-quarter increase is the largest we've seen since it introduced the first iPhone in 2007...

Verizon to soon begin throttling select unlimited LTE customers

Cody Lee ∙ July 25, 2014

Back in 2011, Verizon began throttling data output for the top 5% of its 3G customers on unlimited data plans. The carrier had just picked up the iPhone, and was in the process of rolling out its LTE network, so it needed a low-cost way to save bandwidth.

Fast forward to today, and Verizon issued a press release announcing a similar policy for LTE customers. Starting in October, the company plans to start "optimizing its network," which is a nice way of saying it's going to start throttling high-volume users...