Year: 2016

Apple offering up to $200K for vulnerabilities in new bug bounty program

Cody Lee ∙ August 4, 2016

Apple on Thursday launched a new bug bounty program, in which it will pay researchers cash for discovering vulnerabilities in its products. The announcement was made at the annual Black Hat security conference by Apple's head of security engineering Ivan Krstic.

Several major technology companies, such as Microsoft and Google, have long offered similar programs, but Apple has remained a holdout until now. The iPhone-maker will pay anywhere between $25K and $200K for exploits, depending on where it is and what it does.

Read More

Samsung caught using drawings of Apple Watch in its own smartwatch patent filing

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 4, 2016

The iPhone's look and feel isn't the only design feature Samsung “borrowed” from Apple (100+ top designers agree), for which it was ordered to pay nearly $1 billion to the Cupertino firm in damages (later slashed to $548 million). No, the South Korean company is notorious for frequently borrowing a page from Jony Ive's design book when it comes to other things like the look and feel of software, packaging, marketing material and more.

As was discovered by Patently Apple, the Galaxy maker appears to have borrowed a few familiar looking images from Apple in its latest patent filing for a ”Wearable Device” which includes drawings of Apple's smartwatch that depict the Digital Crown, crystal back, heart rate sensor and even several of its proprietary band designs.

Read More

Apple gives away Brushstroke painting effects app

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 4, 2016

Brushstroke is one of those image effects app with a unique twist. Not only does it transform your photos into faux paintings, but optionally lets you order mounted canvas prints of your images directly from the app that you can hang on the wall.

Apple named Brushstroke its Free App of the Week in December 2014. If you forgot to grab this nicely done $2.99 iPhone and iPad app for $0 back then, now's your chance.

Read More

Google Photos gains 3D Touch shortcuts and storage optimization feature

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 16, 2024

Google today issued a minor refresh to its native Photos app on the App Store, introducing 3D Touch shortcuts for the Home screen and a much-needed new feature designed to optimize storage space on your device. Bumped to version 1.13, Google Photos for iPhone and iPad produces a 3D Touch menu upon pressing its Home screen icon, giving you access to the following shortcuts: I'm Feeling Lucky, Free Up Space and Make Shared Album.

In addition to these 3D Touch shortcuts and the new storage-optimization feature, this edition of the app packs in unspecified performance improvements.

Read More

Apple’s free app of the week: hocus

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 1, 2018

Apple on Thursday updated its App of the Week promotion with the game hocus. This means from now through next Thursday, you’ll be able to pick up the minimal puzzler for both iPhone and iPad for free—saving you $1.

Hocus is described as a perspective illusion puzzle game. Players are tasked with moving a red cube through a maze of gray beams—very similar to Monument Valley. There are 85+ levels, and you can even design your own.

Read More

Report: Apple talking to programmers about creating a digital TV guide

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 1, 2018

Apple has started talking to TV programmers about creating a digital TV guide, reports Recode. The guide would work on both Apple TV boxes and other devices, like iPhones, allowing users to quickly find their desired TV shows and movies, and play them with a single click.

The new direction is a spinoff of the skinny-bundle TV service the company wanted to launch last year. After several years of failed negotiations with networks and studios, Apple has decided to just build an interface for content, and let everyone else worry about the red tape.

Read More

Depthicons by Ryan Petrich & Surenix brings parallax effects to your app icons

Anthony Bouchard ∙ August 4, 2016

Every once in a while, a jailbreak tweak hits Cydia that offers a fun new aesthetic to your iOS device(s). Some end up becoming hits, while others slowly disappear into the archive of Cydia's ever-expanding jailbreak tweak library.

Depthicons on the other hand, a new jailbreak tweak release created jointly between developer Ryan Petrich and designer Surenix, may just end up being the next hit, and we'll show you why in this review.

Read More

Facebook tweaks its algorithm to further reduce clickbait in your News Feed

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 4, 2016

Facebook began removing deliberate hoaxes from users' News Feeds in April 2014. The following year, the company stepped up fight against spammers with more changes aimed at helping reduce the number of misleading posts, also known as clickbait. Today, the social networking firm announced a set of new measures to further reduce clickbait in your News Feed by using a brand new system which can automatically spot phrases commonly used in misleading headlines.

Read More

U.S. regulator grants Apple Energy permission to sell solar-generated power to public utilities

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 4, 2016

Apple Energy LLC, a subsidiary of Apple, Inc. registered in Delaware last month, has successfully obtained federal approval from the United States Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to sell excess energy generated from its solar facilities into the wholesale market, joining Google parent Alphabet in the energy-trading business.

The firm sought permission from FERC to begin selling power within 60 days of its filing on June 6. Sales can officially begin on Saturday, Bloomberg said, as FERC's determined that Apple Energy doesn't pose a risk of being able to hike up prices.

Read More

Will overhauled Apple Store shopping app launch today or next Thursday?

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 6, 2017

Welcome to Thursday, when Apple typically refreshes its app and content stores with new apps, games and media. Bloomberg said last week that Apple was working on a totally overhauled Apple Store shopping app that should include a “For You” tab and have the same basic features and interface across the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

Reports on Twitter and MacRumors reveal that a banner for the new Apple Store app has now gone live on some international App Stores, suggesting imminent launch.

Read More