Year: 2014

Apple asks ‘Neato’ to remove keyboard in ongoing war on widgets

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple is once again going after a Notification Center widget for overstepping its bounds. Neato, a popular note-taking widget with a built-in keyboard and share controls, says the Cupertino firm has threatened to remove the app for violating its App Review Guidelines.

More specifically, the developers behind Neato told Gizmodo that Apple has asked them to remove the keyboard from their widget, or else. The team tried to appeal, but Apple wasn't going to budge, and gave them two weeks to submit an update to correct their issue.

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Showcase iPhone 6 game Vainglory now available

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 30, 2018

Vainglory, a much anticipated multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game that Apple featured during the September 2014 iPhone 6 keynote, launched unexpectedly early and is now available for download in select App Stores, developers announced Tuesday. Created by a team with a rather interesting name, Super Evil Megacorp, Vainglory for the iPhone and iPad is their first game ever but Apple was so impressed they decided to feature the game as a showcase of the graphics power provided by the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

Driven by the E.V.I.L. engine, Vainglory renders action in a silky smooth sixty frames per second with as many as 1.3 million polygons in the game map. The game is powered by Metal, Apple's new low-latency graphics framework in iOS 8.

Due to Metal's requirements, Vainglory needs iOS 8.0 or later and runs on iOS devices outfitted with Apple's A7, A8 or A8X mobile processor variants found inside the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air, iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3.

Both the iPhone and iPad editions of Vainglory are free in the App Store.

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Apple Watch resolutions and other interesting tidbits disclosed in developer tools

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 18, 2014

Apple has left many questions unanswered regarding its upcoming smartwatch following its September unveiling. Representing a brand new form factor for iOS, the fashionable wrist-worn accessory sports a Retina panel which Apple bills as an "incredibly high pixel density" screen laminated to a machined and polished single crystal of sapphire (strengthened Ion-X glass on the Sport collection).

With today's release of the official Apple Watch software development kit (SDK), watchful third-party developers have scanned the files in search of interesting tidbits and discovered references to pixel resolutions for both the 38mm and 42mm high Apple Watches, in addition to other previously unknown details worth mentioning.

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Final Fantasy 1-6 games go half price

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 18, 2014

Publisher Square Enix has slashed six Final Fantasy games in the App Store by as much as fifty percent. The first five installment in the series are now available half price each, with the exception of Final Fantasy VI, now 30 percent off for a limited time.

Assuming you'll be picking up all eight titles that are currently on sale, you're looking at a cool $56 saving. Jump past the fold for the download links.

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Good deal: 65% off 6-piece iPhone photo lens kit

Cody Lee ∙ Updated December 2, 2016

If you’re an avid iPhone photographer, and find that the handset’s tiny lens just isn’t cutting it anymore, there is a number of add-on lens kits to choose from. TRNDlabs makes one of those kits, and it's being heavily discounted right now by deals site Stack Social.

They're calling it the "The New Age Smartphone Photo Kit," and it includes pretty much everything you'd need to take great photographs. There is a variety of lenses, a carrying case, a tripod, and best of all, it's all compatible with the larger iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

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Apple releases first iOS 8.2 beta to developers

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Alongside its release of WatchKit, Apple has posted the first beta of iOS 8.2 to developers. The update brings about support for the new Apple Watch developer tools, and can be downloaded either over the air, or directly from the dev center, by any registered iOS developer.

Interestingly enough, the beta release comes just one day after Apple pushed out iOS 8.1.1 to the masses, which had only been in testing itself for a few weeks. That's quite the turnaround time when you consider that Apple sometimes waits several months between iOS releases.

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New Facebook Groups app goes live in App Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 30, 2018

Facebook on Tuesday announced a brand new iPhone application, now available at no cost in the App Store. Dubbed Facebook Groups, the 54-megabyte download promises to give you a dedicated space for you and your groups and make it easy to discover and join new groups, post photos and links, or create your own.

For those wondering, Facebok Groups are like forums on the Internet. Anyone can create a group covering specific topics.

For example, families can create closed groups to share family photos, organize vacations and more. Or, your team could use Facebook Groups to post updates and schedules, your school or neighborhood may have set up a Facebook Group and so forth.

Facebook Groups is available free in the App Store.

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Viber updated with iOS 8 Share extension, Interactive Notifications and other improvements

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 18, 2014

Although it's been losing ground to rival WhatsApp, which recently passed 600 million registered users, Viber very much remains the second-most popular instant messaging and VoIP solution on mobile.

Following WhatsApp's most recent half-baked update which brought out support for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus screen but no iOS 8-specific features, Viber on Monday refreshed its iOS app for headline iOS 8 features.

You now have Interactive Notifications for easy interactions with Viber alerts and a brand new Share extension making it easy to send content from other apps directly to Viber.

Also new in this update: the unavoidable bug fixes, stability fixes and performance improvements, plus some design changes and other nice-to-haves to provide a more intuitive experience.

Viber is available free of charge in the App Store.

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John Gruber: Apple working on ‘the biggest camera jump ever’ for the next iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

In the latest episode of The Talk Show, famed Apple pundit John Gruber mentions that he’s heard “from a birdie of a birdie” that Apple is working on the “biggest camera jump ever” for the next iPhone, as first noted by The Tech Block.

He's heard little in terms of camera features aside from a brief mention of a “weird two-lens system” that should take the next iPhone's camera into “DSLR quality imagery,” those are Gruber's exact words.

Apple's been using a five-element lens design for iPhone back cameras since the 2011 introduction of the iPhone 4s.

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Twelve South launches Deluxe edition of HiRise stand for latest iPhones and iPads with gold finish

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 18, 2014

Premium accessory vendor Twelve South today took the wraps off a Deluxe edition of its famed iPhone and iPad dock for charging and hands-free use.

The high-end HiRise Deluxe versatile stand ships with color-matched 'Made for iPhone' Lightning and micro-USB cables to charge iPads and iPhones.

The stand can dock your devices in battery cases, such as the Mophie Juice Pack, thanks to its height-adjustable clips, with one-handed adjustment for cases. The HiRise Deluxe is available in three color options, including an all-new gold finish to complement your gold iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air 2 or iPad mini 3.

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Fleksy keyboard clocks in a new typing speed record

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 30, 2017

Fleksy keyboard, among the first soft-keyboards for iOS 8, broke the Guinness World Record for fastest texting six months ago and now they've done it again.

As announced Tuesday, following September's release of its iOS 8 keyboard Fleksy has now made the iPhone 6 Plus the fastest phone for typing by clocking in a new typing speed record on the device.

Brazilian teenager Marcel Fernandes Filho, who is seventeen years old, used Fleksy’s iOS keyboard to break his previous record of 18.19 seconds with a new time of 17.00 seconds.

Fleksy Keyboard is a 99-cent download from the App Store.

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