Year: 2014

30 new and updated jailbreak tweaks to check out before the holidays

Ho ho ho! We're just days away from Christmas now, and it looks like Santa Claus already stopped by and dropped a bunch of gifts in the form of tweaks. Alright, I'll admit this is a terrible intro but I needed to tie it in with Christmas somehow.

This past week was again quite a fruitful one in terms of jailbreak tweak releases as we count no less than 28 new tweaks. That's at least what I have found out, but as I said before, this list is by no means a comprehensive one, as I'm sure a few tweaks here and there might have gone unnoticed. If that's the case, make sure to share what tweak I forgot in the comment section.

Festive Christmas wallpapers for iPhone and iPad

As we round out the year, Christmas is upon us. The last shopping frenzies are ending and we turn to the kitchen to bake up our favorite goodies. If you are still looking for some last minute shopping ideas, you can still deliver items just in time. All of your favorite iDB editors compiled their favorite Christmas items in our annual Holiday Gift Guides.

One of my favorite decorative ways to celebrate is with holiday-themed wallpapers. It may sound funny, but that is the item I see most throughout the day, why not dressing it up in some red and green? Take a step inside for a selection of Christmas wallpapers for your favorite device.

The best Music apps of 2014

Music is my specialty. If I’m not playing it, I’m listening to it. Admittedly, I’m a bigger fan of analog than digital, but there are times when playing music on my iPhone or iPad is just more convenient. In those cases, a good music player, or a great streaming service is important.

The writing team at iDB put their heads together to come up with a list of the best music apps to come out in 2014. We then fought each other in a mud pit to be the one who gets to decide the best. Below is the resulting winner and runner-ups for best music app in 2014. We’ve also included the music app we think is the all-time best.

This week on iDB: a gift for everyone

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+.

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

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AnyDrop 3: share any file via AirDrop on iOS 8

Developer Majd Alfhaily is back with a new iOS 8-ready version of AnyDrop, the jailbreak app that allows you to share any file via the built-in AirDrop feature on iOS 8. Entitled AnyDrop 3, this latest version of the app supports both iOS 7 and iOS 8 out of the box. If you're interested in unleashing AirDrop, making it compatible with native file system files and even Music app tracks, then AnyDrop 3 is a jailbreak app that's worth investigating.

iDB holiday gift guide 2014: Sébastien’s picks

My least favorite thing about Christmas is finding gifts for others. I'm usually completely uncreative when it comes to gift ideas, which is why those gift guides are helpful to me. During the last few days, my colleagues at iDB have shared their gift ideas, and today is my turn. Of course, this is really tech oriented, because you know, we're tech heads. There is something for every budget, from big spenders to affordable stocking stuffers, I hope you'll find something to your liking here.

Apps of the Week: Duet Display, Shift, Emoji Type, and more

It’s the weekend before Christmas and I’m still not finished with my handmade gifts. Around this time each year, I begin to realize I set my goals too high. I just run out of time before I run out of crafts. Luckily, I have a backup plan that involves last minute gifts in the form of apps.

If you can’t think of the perfect gift for that friend who has everything, an app or game may be just right. Whether you are looking for last minute gift ideas or just want to fill your iPhone with new stuff, we’ve got a list of apps and games for you to check out this weekend.

iDB holiday gift guide: Lory’s picks

It’s that time of year again for the writers at iDB to tell you all what to do with your money this holiday season. We all have different tastes, but we share a love of gadgets, especially Apple ones. This is the third year for our gift guide. Hopefully, we’ve given our readers some inspiration for the perfect gift for that special someone. Below is my list of great holiday gifts that I think fans of gadgets and gizmos will find worth checking out. My list is made up of gift ideas for fans of music, gaming, and mobile accessories in general.

Apple spent $56 billion on stock buybacks this year

Apple was the biggest buyback spender among the S&P 500 this year, according to MarketWatch. Citing data from FactSet, the outlet reports the iPhone-maker has bought back more than $56 billion worth of shares from stockholders in 2014.

That's a staggering amount, especially when you consider that the company that came in second place among buyback spenders in 2014, IBM, only spent $19.2 billion. Apple spent almost that much ($18.6 billion) during its first quarter this year.

Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest games discounted in Square Enix holiday sale

Joining Halfbrick and others, Square Enix has launched a holiday promotional sale for all of its iOS games. So for a limited time, you can pickup some of the studio's biggest titles for iPhone and iPad at a significant discount.

The Square Enix library contains a number of popular console ports, including Final Fantasy 1-6, and Final Fantasy Tactics, as well as multiple Chaos Rings and Dragon Quest games. We've listed all of the discounted titles below.

Facebook Messenger gains read receipts, fresh holiday content and a huge speed boost

Facebook-owned WhatsApp quietly introduced blue-ticked read confirmations in its mobile iPhone app a month and a half ago and now the social networking behemoth has refreshed its backend to bring read receipts to Messenger for iOS and Android.

And with Christmas around the corner, the company is helping us celebrate the upcoming festivities by adding holiday-themed content to Messenger like fresh sticker packs, a new festive frame and more.

As if that wasn't enough, Facebook's engineers have done a lot of work under the hood to make the app more fluid and responsive than ever before.