Year: 2016

VLC media player lands on Apple TV

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 12, 2016

VLC for Apple TV was supposed to be released back in December, but it took longer than anticipated. As of Tuesday, the application is now available free in the App Store on the fourth-generation Apple TV.

According to Felix Kühne, lead iOS developer for VLC, the app is “a full port of VLC media player combined with platform-specific features” and it supports virtually all formats under the sun, just like its iOS counterpart.

Like Infuse and Plex, VLC permits you to stream audio and video item stored on network-attached drives to your Apple TV, without having to manually convert DIVX, AVI and other “foreign” files into iOS-friendly formats.

Let’s Talk iOS: 3.5mm headphone jack, iPhone 7 rumors, iOS 9.3 beta, and more

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated February 1, 2018

Episode 117: Apple releases iOS 9.3 beta 1 with tons of new features, a new report claims that Apple is cutting iPhone 6s production, more iPhone 7 rumors hint to waterproofing and wireless charging. Will Apple ditch the 3.5mm headphone jack? The team debates about this and other things in a brand new episode of Let's Talk iOS.

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How to disable and prevent access to FaceTime on your iPhone or iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 29, 2025

Learn how to restrict FaceTime on the iPhone or iPad to block the feature completely so your child cannot send and receive video calls from other people.

Spotify links up with Genius to annotate your music

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 16, 2018

Spotify today announced it is partnering with Genius (not to be confused with iTunes Genius), to annotate your music. Genius is the crowdsourced musical knowledge startup that annotates music lyrics and other online content and Spotify is betting that this new feature will help retain its competitive edge over other music-streaming services.

Available at launch via a limited number of tracks through special playlists—called Behind the Lyrics and curated by Spotify and Genius—this feature adds backstory and commentary which pops up as you play tracks on Spotify.

Infuse for Apple TV gains custom Favorites graphics, new zooming/sorting options and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 4, 2018

Infuse for Apple TV, a versatile media center app by aTV Flash Black developer FireCore, has received an update in the App Store today, bringing a bunch of welcome additions to the experience. No longer are those media folders you add to Infuse represented by generic icons: you can now add custom artwork to them, letting you pretty up Infuse's menu.

New zoom options have been added for removing encoded black bars, you can now sort your media by filename and rename or remove a Favorite by long-pressing its icon. Read on for the full list of changes in this edition of Infuse.

Live Periscope broadcasts are being integrated into Twitter’s mobile app

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 12, 2016

In a major move, micro-blogging startup Twitter today announced that live Periscope broadcasts are coming to Twitter for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, making it possible to watch broadcasts without leaving Twitter's mobile app.

Now when you tap a Periscope link in your timeline, no longer does it take you to the Periscope app. Instead, those links are getting replaced with the broadcast itself that automatically plays right within your tweet.

Spark for iPhone gains custom swipes in notifications, pinch-zooming and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 12, 2016

Readdle's Spark for iPhone is an awesome email client and I can't wait to use it on my iPad (coming soon) and the Mac (it's in the works). Today's update makes it even better.

In Spark 1.5 for iPhone and iPod touch, you can now customize which swipes are available in notification actions for new messages. You can also designate an email signature to be your default on a per-account basis, zoom in on HTML emails and more.

Steampunk-themed Grave Matters comes to Apple TV

Lory Gil ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Grave Matters is a Steampunk themed graveyard adventure where players dig up energy cells while trying to avoid being dragged to the underworld by a nasty machinelike Steamborg. We reviewed the game over a year ago when it first launched.

The game's developer, Ideonic, recently made a special edition that is exclusive to Apple TV 4. This big-screen version has updated graphics, a new control system, and a new soundtrack, while still maintaining the same, fun mechanics of the original.

The ATV 4 version has all the same, wonderfully steampunky graphics as the iOS version. The cut scenes, which were some of my favorite parts, are just a beautiful on the television screen, but in a bigger and better way.

Emoji Party is like Heads Up! with emojis… and on Apple TV

Lory Gil ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Whenever I'm in a crowded area, especially where there are long lines (think: Disneyland) I see dozens of people playing Heads Up! It is hugely popular and a fun way to pass the time when you are with a group of people.

Emoji Party is similar to Heads Up!, but instead of just words on the cards, the app also uses thousands of iconic emojis. If you are really good at making faces, you can help the guesser with recognizable emoji looks. The best part is that this game is compatible with tvOS, so you can get hours of charades fun right in your living room.

Apple introduces new OTA update option to developers

Jeff Benjamin ∙ January 11, 2016

If you're a developer who doesn't already have your iPhone on a developer seed, then updating to the latest iOS beta means going through iTunes to accommodate the update.

While going through iTunes is the traditional manner for facilitating updates, it's antiquated, and largely unnecessary from a technical perspective. Wouldn't it be much better if you could upgrade to a developer seed without needing to connect to iTunes?

That's the basic premise behind the new Configuration Profiles released by Apple alongside iOS 9.3. These profiles essentially allow you to take a shortcut directly to the beta seed path without needing to touch iTunes. If you've ever upgraded an Apple Watch, or used a Public Beta, then you're already familiar with the process.

iOS 9.3 preview: Night Shift, 3D Touch, Notes improvements, and more [video + screenshots]

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated June 13, 2018

We've put together an in-depth video showcasing many of the new iOS 9.3 beta 1 features. I think it's safe to say that this release packs in many more features for a minor version release than we're used to. In this video, we showcase the new Touch ID security option for the Notes app, the new quick action 3D Touch shortcuts, updated News app features, multiple Apple Watch pairing ability, and much more.

Developer shows off iOS 9.3 beta 1 jailbreak

Jeff Benjamin ∙ January 11, 2016

It looks as if iOS 9.3 beta 1 has already been jailbroken, which lends hope that a public version of an iOS 9.3.x jailbreak may be possible. But don't hold your breath; this is the same hacker/developer—Luca Todesco—that recently shared a screenshot of a jailbroken iPhone 6 running iOS 9.2.1. He previously made it clear that he has no intention of sharing, and it doesn't look like that's changing anytime soon.