Year: 2016

Hacker Luca Todesco advises jailbreakers to avoid updating to iOS 10.2

While there’s still no public jailbreak for iOS 10 to date, there have been some very convincing demos of personal jailbreaks for it, most of which have come out of the woodwork from none other than well-known iOS hacker Luca Todesco.

Amid the current jailbreak situation, Todesco is now seen warning netizens that if they have any intention of jailbreaking iOS 10 in the future, they should stay on iOS 10.1.1 and refrain from updating to iOS 10.2 when it comes out.

App Store highlights video apps with support for the upcoming Single Sign-On feature

Apple is likely to roll out an upcoming new Single Sign-On feature, which was announced back at WWDC 2016, alongside public releases of iOS 10.2 for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad and the tvOS 10.1 software update for the fourth-generation Apple TV.

Ahead of the feature's debut later this month, the App Store is now highlighting apps with Single-Sing On support via a special section. Single Sign-On remembers a user's cable credentials for use in compatible video apps.

iCloud Photos web app is gaining a sidebar and thumbnail scrubber

As first noted by Brazilian outlet MacMagazine.br, Apple is readying some notable updates for its Photos app on the web at iCloud.com/#photos. In addition to a slightly overhauled appearance, the web app is gaining a pair of new features found on the desktop Photos app for the Mac: a sidebar and a thumbnail scrubber. The web app is currently being beta-tested at beta.icloud.com.

Sales of virtual reality and augmented reality gadgets have been weaker than expected

Sales of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) headsets and accessories have been “weaker than expected,” causing concerns for companies that have invested heavily in these technologies, according to a report Monday by Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes. Weak demand for AR and VR gadgets is being blamed on a lack of content and expensive prices, among other factors.

Apple, as you know, is thought to be researching AR accessories of its own and has filed a number of patents pertaining to virtual reality technologies.

How to enable AirDrop file transfers between unsupported Macs and over Ethernet

The AirDrop file transfer protocol, introduced with Mac OS X Lion and iOS 7, is a fast and convenient way to transfer files between Apple devices. The current version of the service is interoperable between iOS and macOS, but requires both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to be active in order to work. It also requires Mac OS X Yosemite or newer and a hardware model from 2012 or later.

However, the version of AirDrop that shipped as standard with OS X between 10.7 (Lion) and 10.9 (Mavericks), whilst unable to send files to iOS devices, works without Bluetooth and on Mac models going back as far as 2008. Luckily, alongside the newer version, this legacy mode is still included on all Mac models to date, and as this guide will show, can be modified to have an even broader functionality.

Wallpapers of the week: Apple’s demo Photos app images

Every Sunday, the iDownloadBlog Wallpapers of the Week post aims to bring you photo quality wallpapers for your Apple devices. Different genres pop up throughout the year, but our most popular posts always have direct connections to Apple media events and official advertising images.

Today, I present a set of official Apple images AirDropped straight off the new MacBook Pro at my local Apple Store. The images in this set are used in the display demo Photos app to highlight the screen resolution and give users the chance to play with the photo editor. Consequently, you will find the original Apple files and they have been formatted for your devices. Step inside for the downloads. 

Jailbreak tweaks of the week: Columba for iOS 9, Force Delete, & more…

These past few weeks have felt pretty stale for the jailbreak community, but this week has seen a slight resurgence. Unfortunately, with no public announcements from reputable jailbreak teams at this point in time, there's still no news as to when a public jailbreak for iOS 10 may drop.

Regardless, developers continue to make tweaks for iOS 9. In this roundup, we'll show you everything that was released this week, starting with our favorites.

The best apps for the Touch Bar on the new MacBook Pro

If you just picked up a new 2016 MacBook Pro, you may be wondering: aside from the stock apps, what are other great apps that take advantage of that shiny new Touch Bar? While apps are constantly being updated, we've gone ahead and picked out some of our favorites that are currently available.

Space, Capsule, Listables and other apps to check out this weekend

It's the weekend again, and you know what that means. It's time for another one of our Apps of the Week roundups. This week we've selected some great titles for you including a new interactive app for exploring space, an AI service for documenting your life experiences, and an app for creating and viewing shareable todo lists. And as usual, we've picked out two great new games for you to try.