Year: 2014

Apple extends TestFlight beta testing to everyone

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated September 6, 2017

Apple's acquisition of TestFlight is about to make a big splash when it comes to the general public gaining greater access to developer betas. A short while ago, developers began receiving emails from iTunes Connect alerting them of the wider availability of beta tester invites.

Developers will be able to invite up to 1000 testers to beta test their iOS apps, and it's all done through a simple email invitation initiated through the iTunes Connect website. Once sent, recipients of the email can accept the invitation and can install the beta app on their iOS devices within the TestFlight app. It seems like a win-win situation for everyone involved. Developers get a super-simple way to manage and send out beta invites, and beta testers potentially receive broader access to the apps that interest them most.

List of jailbreak tweaks compatible with iOS 8

Timothy Reavis ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

Although we're overjoyed at the release of a jailbreak so quickly after the arrival of iOS 8, there are still a number of tweaks that are currently incompatible with iOS 8. Even now that Cydia and Cydia Substrate have been updated, many tweaks still are inducing Safe Mode when installed on devices running the latest firmware, and developers will have to release updates for quite a few of their jailbreak tweaks before they become usable.

Facebook takes on Reddit with anonymous posting app, Rooms for iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 30, 2018

Facebook on Thursday unveiled a brand new iPhone application. Called Rooms and available free of charge in the App Store, it's a flashback of sorts to the Internet bulletin boards which used to be all the rage in the 1980s. It's essentially that anonymous Facebook sharing app that the The New York Times reported on earlier this month.

A Facebook Creative Labs project, Rooms lets you create places for the things you're passionate about.

It's fairly straightforward: just pick your favorite topic, customize the look and feel of your room and share with others. Others can join your rooms either through private invitations or by posting a public link.

If that sounds familiar, it's because Room is a lot like Reddit. “It's perfect for the things you love and interests that make you unique,” said the social networking giant.

Argus activity tracker, now with iPhone 6 support and iOS 8 Health sync for workouts and calories

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 23, 2014

I'm a fitness fan and Azumio's Argus is one of my favorite applications to track my steps, runs and bicycle rides. As I stopped using any health and fitness app which doesn't export data to Apple's Health application in iOS 8, I was pleasantly surprised learning that Azumio just issued a nice Argus refresh which rectifies the problem.

For starters, the new version 3.6 now runs natively on the bigger iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus screens. More importantly, Argus can now export your workouts and calories to the Health app.

Download Argus free in the App Store.

iHeartRadio gains iOS 8 Today widget and CarPlay support

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 23, 2014

Thursday, an enhanced version 5.3 of iHeartRadio became available for download in the App Store.

The refreshed application brings out a nice Today widget allowing you to play your recent stations from the Notification Center in iOS 8. You should also appreciate its built-in support for Apple's in-car entertainment system dubbed CarPlay, so you can now listen to iHeart Radio in CarPlay-enabled vehicles.

The updated app can be grabbed for free in the App Store.

Nike CEO discusses collaboration with Apple on fitness wearables

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

Even though he stopped short of offering any specifics, Nike CEO Mark Parker in an interview Thursday with Bloomberg's Stephanie Ruhle kinda confirmed that partnering with Apple on things “we couldn’t do independently” is ”part of our plan”.

The iPhone maker recently hired a pair of engineers from Nike’s FuelBand team.

These hirings came after the media reported that Nike was significantly downsizing its wearables team and refocusing its strategy. Two months ago, the California firm made more high-profile hires as Ben Shaffer, Nike’s design director for wearables, and the widely recognized fitness expert and key Nike FuelBand developer, Jay Blahnik, both joined the Apple team.

Now Director of Fitness, Health Technologies at Apple, Blahnik can be seen explaining the benefits of Apple Watch in Apple's Health and Fitness promotional video.

Tumblr for iOS gains 2-factor authentication, new video player and commenting features

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 23, 2014

Since Yahoo's $1.1 billion acquisition of the popular blogging platform Tumblr in May of 2013, the Internet giant has been consistently adding new features and enhancements to Tumblr's nicely done iPhone and iPad application.

In its latest update Thursday, Tumblr has picked up three useful features. Firstly, you can now use Tumblr's two-factor authentication to log in securely into the app. Prior versions required you to visit Tumblr's web interface in order to create an app-specific code for use with the app.

Now the process has been simplified as Tumblr's two-factor implementation now supports code creation via authenticator apps such as Authly or Google's own Authenticator for iOS. If you're not using authenticator apps, Tumblr can instead text you a code to your mobile phone number.

The other two features are explained right after the break

Tumblr is available free in the App Store.

Confirmed: Christian Bale to play Steve Jobs in Sony’s upcoming biopic

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 23, 2014

Christian Bale has been officially confirmed as the leading star in Sony's upcoming movie adaptation of Walter Isaacson’s bestselling 2011 biography of Apple's late co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs.

The English actor, 40 years old, will play Steve Jobs, screenwriter Aaron Sorkin made it clear during an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Emily Chang for an upcoming edition of Studio 1.0.

Bale was chosen as “the best actor on the board in a certain age range,” Sorkin said, adding he's ”gonna crush it” and that “there isn’t a scene or a frame that he’s not in”.

“He has more words to say in this movie than most people have in three movies combined,” he quipped.

NHL 2K hits the App Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 30, 2018

2K Games on Thursday released NHL 2K for the iPhone and iPad, a successor to its previous hockey game which can no longer be found in the App Store. Unlike rival Electronic Arts's sports-themed freemium games, NHL 2K is a paid download that will run you eight bucks a pop for the privilege of playing the full game that doesn't limit your gameplay or constantly ask for cash.

Featuring iOS controller support, live roster updates, the My Career mode where you control one player and earn skill points to build up ratings over multiple seasons, turn-based multiplayer penalty shootout using Game Center, in addition to a fast-paced arcade style 3-on-3 mode, this one's feature packed and well poised to storm the App Store charts.

How to jailbreak iOS 8.x with Pangu on Mac OS X using a virtual machine

Jeff Benjamin ∙ October 23, 2014

Although you never can tell with these sorts of things, it doesn't look like we'll be seeing an OS X version of Pangu in the immediate future. Although I'm sure that the Pangu guys are working feverishly on an OS X version of the jailbreak tool for iOS 8.x, it likely lags behind other priorities, such as translation, embedding Cydia, etc.

With that in mind, what options exist for those of us in Mac-only households? You could, of course, visit a friend who owns a Windows machine. Or, you can do what I always do, and install Pangu and jailbreak using a Windows virtual machine on OS X. In fact, you may be surprised (or not), but I don't own a Windows machine, and haven't in years. But I'm always able to jailbreak on day one due to my Windows virtual machines.

In this tutorial, I'll tell you how to set up and install a virtual machine for free in order to jailbreak iOS 8.1 with Pangu on your Mac.

Pixelmator for iPad is here

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 23, 2014

Announced at Apple's iPad media event earlier this month, Pixelmator for iPad launched on Thursday at a special introductory price of $4.99. Originally a Mac app, this incredible Photoshop replacement, built exclusively for the Apple tablet, has all of the hallmarks of its Mac counterpart.

The app's been especially optimized to take advantage of the power provided by the Apple-designed A8X processor ticking inside the new iPad Air 2, though it runs plenty smoothly on A7 devices like the iPad mini 2 and the original iPad Air.

The range of features and capabilities that have been ported over from the Mac edition is astounding and I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that this is one hell of an image editing application that fans of mobile photography and productivity have been craving for since the iPad's inception.

Cydia Substrate updated to 0.9.5013 to support iOS 8

Jeff Benjamin ∙ October 23, 2014

Good news, fellow jailbreakers. Saurik has just pushed an update to Cydia Substrate to lend it iOS 8 compatibility. This means that tweaks that rely on Cydia Substrate to run (most of them should) can now be updated to work with iOS 8 as well.

Cydia Substrate has always been a big part of the puzzle that needed to be there for this iOS 8 jailbreak to really gain steam as far as jailbreak apps and tweaks are concerned. If you're already jailbroken and have Cydia installed, then Cydia Substrate 0.9.5013 should appear as an update in Cydia.