Month: July 2015

CirDock: a jailbreak tweak that puts a spin on the iOS dock

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated May 7, 2018

CirDock is a recently released tweak that provides the iOS dock with new carousel animations, a larger capacity, and three user-toggle-able modes.

Like similar dock-oriented jailbreak tweaks, CirDock provides users with different animation styles such as Linear, Rotary, Time Machine, Cover Flow, etc. In all, there are nearly a dozen carousel animations to be found.

Although having a customizable dock with more than 4 app icons and custom animations may sound run of the mill in 2015, it's really CirDock's filter feature that makes the tweak stand out among the rest. Check out the details in this post for the full scoop.

How to replace the Do Not Disturb icon with today’s moon phase

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Interested in having a waxing crescent in your status bar instead of the standard Do Not Disturb moon icon? A new jailbreak package will allow you to theme the DND icon with the current moon phase.

The package, entitled Do Not Phase, piggybacks on the popular Protean jailbreak tweak in order to accomplish its goal. The result is a slick-looking Do Not Disturb moon icon that clues you in on the day's current moon phase.

Snapchat puts more pressure on jailbreakers by forcing upgrades

Jeff Benjamin ∙ July 21, 2015

It looks like Snapchat isn't resting on its laurels when it comes to protecting its product. After it surfaced that Snapchat was beginning to lock out any one who used Snapchat-centric jailbreak tweaks, users wised up and started downgrading to an earlier version of Snapchat without such protections in place.

Today, it appears that the Venice, CA company has caught on to the downgrading trend, and is now forcing users to upgrade to the latest version of Snapchat in order to use its product.

Hands-on with iOS 9 beta 4

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated June 22, 2018

I've been playing with iOS 9 beta 4 on my iPod touch, iPhone and iPad for the last few hours, and I'd like to share my thoughts on the beta release.

First and foremost, this is the first beta firmware to work on the iPod touch 6th generation, and as expected, it runs like a champ. The iOS 9 beta on the old iPod touch 5th generation was barely usable due to the device's lack of power, but this new iPod touch handles things with no issues.

Another big feature is the return of Home Sharing. As promised by Apple executive Eddy Cue, Home Sharing is now back where it belongs in the Music section of the Settings app.

I've created a video walkthrough to showcase many of the new features found in iOS 9 beta 4. Have a look and let me know what you think about this latest beta release.

15 interesting points from Apple’s Q3 2015 earnings call

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 28, 2016

Apple announced its financial results for its fiscal third quarter of 2015 this afternoon, and the numbers are solid. The company sold 47.5 million iPhones and earned $49.6 billion in revenue, breaking June quarter records and beating Wall Street expectations.

We just finished up the conference call, where Tim Cook and other executives discussed Apple’s performance over the three-month period, and offered up some insights into its future. And as usual, we’ve rounded up the 15 most interesting points from the call below.

iOS 8 adoption rate grows to 85% of devices

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 21, 2015

As measured by the App Store on July 20, 2015, iOS 8 is now powering 85 percent of iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices in the wild.

iOS 7 has dropped from fourteen percent of devices a month ago to thirteen percent of iPhones, iPads and iPod touches in the wild. Earlier iOS releases continue to comprise a meager 2 percent of installed hardware.

We've been tracking iOS 8 adoption rates for months now and to call this an impressive achievement would be an understatement given iOS 8 hit a mere ten months ago.

Apple’s Q3 2015 earnings: 47.5M iPhones, 10.9M iPads, $49.6B revenue

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 7, 2018

Apple has posted its third quarter earnings report for 2015 this afternoon, and says it has broken its own record for the three-month period. The company earned a net profit of $10.7 billion on $49.6 billion in revenue.

That money comes from strong international hardware sales, which accounted for 64% of all revenue. Overall, Apple moved 47.5 million iPhones and 10.9 million iPads during its third quarter, as well as 4.8 million Macs.

watchOS 2 beta 4 for Apple Watch seeded to developers, here’s your changelog

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 21, 2015

In addition to releasing iOS 9 beta 4 and OS X 10.11 El Capitan beta 4 to its developer army, a matching beta of the upcoming Apple Watch software update is now available to registered members of the Apple Developer Program.

The new watchOS 2 beta 4 (build 13S5305d) requires an iPhone running iOS 9 beta 4 and can be applied over-the-air by going to the General -> Software Update section of the Apple Watch companion app.

Apple seeds fourth OS X El Capitan beta to developers

Cody Lee ∙ July 21, 2015

Apple on Tuesday released the fourth OS X El Capitan beta to developers. The new build is available to registered developers via the Updates section of the Mac App Store or through Apple’s Developer Center.

Today’s update comes roughly two weeks after Apple pushed out the third beta of OS X El Capitan, and more than a month after its initial release in early June during Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference.

Apple seeds iOS 9 beta 4 to developers, here’s what’s new

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 21, 2015

Following the release of iOS 9 beta 3 for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad two weeks ago which gave developers access to Apple Music on their development devices while bringing out the News app and a host of refinements, Apple today released iOS 9 beta 4 (build 13A4305g) to registered members of the Apple Developer Program.

5 things I like about the LG G4

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

I've had the privilege of testing out an LG G4 for the last 3 weeks, and I've finally found the time to write down my impressions about the highly esteemed flagship phone. If you've been keeping up with all of the rumblings regarding the G4, then it probably won't be the first time you've heard some of the things I have to say in this overview.

At iDB, we strive to stay in the know about competing devices, and freely acknowledge that some of them do things better than the Apple devices that we're most intimately familiar with. In this post, I'll share five features about the LG G4 that particularly stood out to me.

First and foremost, the camera is bonkers! Not only is the general quality of the camera really good, but it excels in low light situations, features a great 4K video camera, and has tons of manual controls to fool around with. Check out our video overview of the camera inside.

New fingerprint scanning solution could allow seamless iPhone designs without Home buttons

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 21, 2015

A recent report by DigiTimes, a somewhat accurate Taiwanese trade publication, contended that Apple has developed in-house technology for embedding Touch ID sensors into the screen, potentially eliminating the need for the physical Home button.

Tuesday, a security technology firm called Sonavation provided a glimpse into how Home button-free iPhones could be engineered as it announced a breakthrough 3D fingerprint scanning technology embeddable under the Corning Gorilla Glass which Apple uses to protect iPhone displays.