Year: 2014

Google Now cards now rolling out on desktop in Chrome for Mac

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 30, 2023

Rich desktop notifications have been available in Google’s Chrome browser for the Mac for some time now, provided you were on the Canary channel where Google hosts early and unstable alpha releases of its browser. The normals, however, had to wait until desktop notifications for the Now cards made their way into the stable Chrome channel.

According to Google itself, that day is today - people on stable Chrome releases should start seeing Google Now alerts being pushed to their Macs and PCs. The handy alerts are nested right inside the browser’s notification center that sits in your Mac’s status bar (bottom-right if you're using Windows)...

Twitter pulls #music app from the App Store ahead of April 18 shutdown

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

Twitter will discontinue its #music app on Friday, April 18. Conveniently, April 18 marks the app's first (and obviously last) anniversary. Yup, Twitter #music is officially dead. As part of the move, the micro-blogging startup has already pulled the free iPhone and iPad application from the App Store.

Whenever a piece of software gets removed from the App Store, it becomes unavailable for download or re-download so folks who plan on continuing to use the music discovery app have better backed it up in their iTunes library on their computer.

If you only keep Twitter #music on your iOS device, transfer it to desktop iTunes by connecting your device to a computer and choose the Transfer Purchases option nested under iTunes' File > Devices menu...

Dated: customize timestamps in the Messages app

Jeff Benjamin ∙ March 24, 2014

The hidden timestamp feature that appears when you swipe from right to left while inside a Messages app thread just got customized. Dated is a new jailbreak tweak that allows its users to dynamically change the makeup of the timestamps that appear in the Messages app.

Using toggles found in the tweak's preferences, Dated users can add or remove the year, month, day, hour, minute, seconds and AM/PM indicator. All of this can be done on the fly without the need of a respring. Have a look inside as we take Dated for a spin in our hands-on video walkthrough.

iTunes Radio is getting NPR’s streaming news channel today

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 18, 2016

National Public Radio (NPR) is adding the first streaming news channel to Apple’s free iTunes Radio service, Re/code just reported.

The unexpected development marks the official branching out of iTunes Radio, which debuted last September as a music-only streaming service available on Mac and PC desktops as well as on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices.

When NPR’s new channel goes live later today in iTunes Radio, Apple users will be able to tune in to a free stream offering 24/7 mixes of live news with segments from pre-recorded shows such as 'All Things Considered' and 'The Diane Rehm Show.'

But the good news doesn't stop here. Read on for the full reveal.

UPDATE: NPR's channel is now live in iTunes Radio...

3D Flyover views for Cordoba, Perth and Saint-Tropez now live in Apple Maps

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 24, 2014

Apple has added to its struggling Maps service cool three-dimensional Flyover views for three major new cities in Australia and Europe.

Starting today, anyone can rotate and zoom in on the architectural details and explore the topography of Australia's Perth, Spain's Cordoba and France's Saint Tropez.

The company's been dutifully expanding 3D Flyover coverage in more place around the world. Back in January, folks living in the cities of Marseille, France; Cape Town, South Africa; and Helsinki, Finland started seeing 3D Flyover maps in Apple Maps on iOS and OS X...

New Google app: Photowall for Chromecast

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2018

The Internet giant Google on Monday released a brand new iPhone and iPad application, Photowall for Chromecast.

Conceived as a collaborative photo sharing “Chrome experiment,” the software uses your iOS device and Google's inexpensive $35 Chromecast HDMI dongle to allow anyone to beam their photos to a Photowall on your Chromecast-equipped TV, creating an interactive collage of memories.

What's more, YouTube will automatically generate a video of your Photowall to show off to friends who don't own a Chromecast. The app is now live in the App Store...

DockFlow: add Barrel-inspired animations to your dock

Jeff Benjamin ∙ March 24, 2014

DockFlow is a great way to spruce up the iPhone's dock. It allows you to add Barrel-like animations to the dock in a way that genuinely works. If you're at all a fan of Barrel—the legendary jailbreak tweak by Aaron Ash—then you'll feel right at home with DockFlow.

The tweak, which is available for $1.99 on Cydia's ModMyi repo, lets users add as many app icons as they care to place into the dock. From there, you can switch between nearly a dozen different animations ranging from the tame to the not so tame. Have a look at our video walkthrough inside for a brief look at DockFlow.

Apple and Comcast mulling streaming TV service for next-gen Apple TV

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Apple's $99 media-steaming box last year raked in more than a cool $1 billion in combined hardware and related content sales, prompting CEO Tim Cook to argue during Apple's annual shareholders meeting that "it's a little more difficult to call the Apple TV a hobby these days."

The company is reportedly updating the Apple TV hardware sooner than later with refreshed internals, allegedly adding gaming functionality via an Apple TV App Store for downloadable games and a built-in TV tuner to control your existing cable boxes and TV stations.

On the other hand, Apple thus far has been unable to obtain content rights for an a-la-carte TV service due to licensing negotiations and other issues. A report by The Wall Street Journal last night now claims that Apple is negotiating with Comcast using its infrastructure for optimal delivery of a streaming service for the next-gen Apple TV...

Aria: a new take on the stock Music app

Jeff Benjamin ∙ March 24, 2014

If you're looking for a way to significantly change the experience with the stock Music app, then you need to check out Aria, a new jailbreak tweak recently released on Cydia. Aria is a $1.99 release that's available on the BigBoss repo, and it allows you to use a stylish grid interface to display albums and artists.

Along with the interface changes, come more practical ideas. For example, you can add songs to your up-next queue using simple tap and hold gestures. But that's not all that Aria is capable of doing. Check out our full video walkthrough after the break for a look into what makes this tweak so interesting.

Rumor: Pegatron to start assembly of large-screened iPhones and iPad Airs this Fall

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

The Commercial Times newspaper reported last week that Apple's contract manufacturer Pegatron is gearing up to kick off mass production of the iPhone 6 in the second quarter of this year at its China-based plant in Kunshan.

On Monday, The China Times newspaper claimed new information saying that Pegatron has landed orders for both large-sized iPhones and iPad Airs.

However, contrary to The Commercial Times story, Pegatron is actually said to start the operation of the Kunshan plant, which is located in China's Jiangsu Province, in the third quarter of this year.

That facility will be solely dedicated to churning out Apple products. For reference, Pegatron is the primary manufacturer of the iPhone 5c and iPad mini...

Apple apparently moving to fully automated iPhone battery production

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 24, 2014

DigiTimes, the hit and miss Taiwanese trade publication, is reporting this morning that Apple is moving from labor-intensive iPhone battery production to fully automated production lines in 2014. The move is said to stem from Apple's desire to reduce its manpower demand and is expected to prompt other consumer electronics vendors to follow suit, as per supply chain chatter...

iPhone 5c outsold all Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone devices in winter quarter

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

While the iPhone 5c has failed to live up to internal expectations set by Apple, the smartphone certainly hasn't been moving off the shelves as badly as some people might think. According to an AppleInsider report by Daniel Eran Dilger, the mid-tier handset actually outsold every BlackBerry, Windows Phone and flagship Android device in the United States during the winter quarter. Take a look…