Year: 2014

Apple removes Fitbit products from online store

Apple has followed through with plans to stop selling Fitbit devices. As noted by MacRumors, the company has pulled all Fitbit products from its online store and has begun removing them from the shelves of its retail stores as well.

Previously, Apple carried the Fitbit Flex fitness band and the classic Fitbit one, both of which connected to iOS devices. The reason behind the removals is unknown, but there does appear to be tension brewing between the two firms.

How to add a fifth column of icons to your Home screen

If you're looking for a way to add a fifth column to your Home screen app icon layout in iOS 8, then you may want to check out this recently uploaded tweak called better Five Column Homescreen. This tweak is from the same developer that brought us betterFiveIconDock, and it does just as it states—adds a fifth column to the Home screen on iOS 8 devices.

The result is pretty much as expected—the existing icons are repositioned and proportioned to fit an additional column. Why does the developer insist that his tweak is "better"? Mostly because of the improved spacing mechanics employed by his release. Have a look inside to see what it has to offer.

Facebook introduces new ways to customize your News Feed

As part of an ongoing mission to improve its News Feed experience, Facebook today announced that it has built and updated a few tools to help you customize the content you see everyday. These tools are located in the News Feed settings menu (More > Help & Settings, on mobile).

Of course customizing your News Feed is all about controlling who you see posts from. Starting today, you'll be able to quickly unfollow and re-follow people, Pages and Groups. Unfollowing of course means you're still friends with the user, but will no longer see their status updates.

SphereView: an upcoming iOS SpringBoard launcher with a 3D feel

SphereView is one of the more unique jailbreak tweaks that I've come across as of late. It is a SpringBoard replacement for launching apps, and it incorporates a 3D spherical view to do so.

It's one of those tweaks that has to be seen in action to truly appreciate what it does and how much potential it may have. With that in mind, step inside and watch our hands-on video.

Vevo’s iOS app gains Recently Watched, Google login, search improvements and more

Vevo, a video hosting service operated by a joint venture of Universal Music Group, Google, Sony Music Entertainment and Abu Dhabi Media, on Friday refreshed its iPhone and iPad application with a few new features.

You can now log in to the app using a Google Account and keep track of what you've watched in a new "Recently Watched" section. You should see improvements in Vevo's search and visual tweaks on the browse page and artist pages.

Vero is available at no cost in the App Store.

HandyKey: a tweak that adds a one-handed keyboard to the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus

If you find it difficult to type on large screen iOS devices like the iPhone 6 Plus and the iPhone 6, then HandyKey is a jailbreak tweak that you may derive real benefits from. The tweak, which is available for $0.99 on Cydia's BigBoss repo, brings the ability to add a one-handed keyboard for right-handed or left-handed iPhone users.

Users who use HandyKey have the option of forcing the iOS keyboard to always open to HandyKey when the keyboard is invoked, or a two-finger swipe gesture on the keyboard can be used to orientate it as needed. Have a look at our video inside for additional details and a hands-on demonstration.

Monument Valley confirmed to receive its first expansion next Thursday

Monument Valley by Ustwo, a surreal physics-based platformer and Winner of Apple Design Award 2014, is set to receive its first content expansion next week.

Titled “Forgotten Shores” and provided as a $1.99 In-App Purchase, it's going to add eight brand new levels to gameplay on top of the original ten levels. The update is scheduled to drop in the App Store next Thursday, November 13.

It will be “coming soon” to Google Play and Amazon Appstore. Monument Valley has seen 1.4 million downloads to date in the nearly seven months since its release. According to Wired, the new levels are inserted between the penultimate and final levels of the original in order to provide “a deeper dive into the emotional story of Ida and her amiable friend, the totem”.

Monument Valley is $3.99 in the App Store.

Apple testing upload functionality on iCloud Photos

As part of yesterday's batch of Apple app refreshes, among them the iMovie for iOS update which has enabled support for iCloud Photo Library and the ability to share videos with iCloud Photo Sharing, Apple has now added upload functionality to a beta version of the iCloud Photos web app available to registered iOS developers.

The features makes it easy to use a desktop computer to upload JPG images using the web interface at beta.icloud.com, making them available on all iOS devices and Macs that have iCloud Photo Library turned on.

Apple apparently changes flash storage tech in 128GB iPhone 6 and 6 Plus over alleged issues

Following unconfirmed reports that an unknown portion of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus units with 128 gigabytes of storage exhibit random boot looping and unexpected crashes, Apple has reportedly switched to using a different type of NAND flash technology.

The new iPhones use triple-level cell (TLC) NAND flash technology, but BusinessKorea reported Friday that the Cupertino firm will be switching to multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus going forward.

Mark Zuckerberg explains why you had to download Messenger as a separate app

Facebook took a lot of heat back in July when it disabled messaging from the main Facebook app, forcing users to download the standalone Messenger app if they wanted to keep using the social network to send direct messages to friends and family. To most people, the move went vastly misunderstood, and it didn't help that the company stayed mum about it. At least until now, because in a Q&A session earlier today transcribed by The Verge, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg finally addressed the issue. The reason? It's all about removing friction.

Apple updates iMovie for iOS with support for iCloud Photo Library

Apple has posted updates for a number of its iOS apps today including Beats Music, iWork suite and more. Most of the releases are fairly insignificant, with only 'minor stability and performance improvements' listed in their change logs, but iMovie got some extra attention.

In addition to 'performance and stability improvements,' iMovie for iOS received support for iCloud Photo Library and the ability to share videos with iCloud Photo Sharing. Apple also says that it has resolved the issue that occurred when rotating a device in landscape mode.

Apple now blocking apps infected with WireLurker malware

Apple released a statement today saying that it is aware of the newly discovered WireLurker malware that targets Macs and iOS devices, and it has taken action. "We’ve blocked the identified apps to prevent them from launching," a spokesman for the company told the Wall Street Journal.

Yesterday security researchers at Palo Alto Networks published a report saying they had discovered a new malware targeting Macs and iOS that is the “biggest in scale” it has ever seen. They named the malware "WireLurker" for its ability to jump from infected Macs to iOS devices over USB.