Alex Heath

Apple is Rumored to Ship 21 Million iPhones Next Quarter, 5 Million of Which Will Be CDMA

Alex Heath ∙ December 29, 2010

Digitimes reports that 21 million iPhones will be shipped in Q1 of 2011. In case you didn't know, "Q1" is an industry term for "quarter one;" each business year is composed of four quarters, with each quarter representing three months out of the year.

This scoop from Digitimes indicates that Apple will most likely be doing some sort of revamp to the iPhone before March of 2011. It's not that much of a stretch to think that Apple could have a fantastic first quarter and pull off selling 14-15 million regular iPhone 4 units, but what really makes this rumor interesting is that Digitimes says that 5-6 million of these devices will be CDMA iPhones.

Contacts with Taiwan-based component suppliers say that the CDMA iPhone will be launched in North America and Asia Pacific in the first quarter of 2011. Digitimes says, "Currently, Foxconn is the only maker of WCDMA iPhones, while Foxconn and Pegatron Technology have equally shared the production volume for the CDMA version, the sources noted..."

There Were Huge Spikes in App Store Downloads Over the Holidays

Alex Heath ∙ Updated February 16, 2018

I'm sure it comes as no surprise that there were plenty of iOS devices under the tree this Christmas season. Most of you either gave, or saw a loved one receive a new iPod Touch, iPad or iPhone. Two very prominent applications in the App Store, Facebook and Tap Tap Revenge, have shared their download numbers from the holidays. The results are very impressive.

Both Facebook and Tap Tap Revenge 4 have sat comfortably near the top of the App Store charts for quite some time, and TTR4 has been the number one app for several days. Both of the apps had huge download spikes this past weekend, giving us a good idea of how many iOS devices were opened for Christmas...

A Closer Look At The Life Of The Foxconn Worker

Alex Heath ∙ Updated September 17, 2017

Foxconn, the Chinese industrial giant, has been under the spotlight recently due to a string of suicides supposedly linked to the factory's awful working conditions. Foxconn is Apple's main supplier for product manufacturing; it's the place where our iPhones get made.

A french journalist and photographer, Jordan Pouille, recently revisited a large Foxconn facorty in Longhua, China. His visit was in tandem with a highly publicized pay raise for the factory's 300,000+ Chinese workers.

While it seems that the living conditions of these young workers (mostly teenagers or young 20-somethings) has improved since Foxconn's dehumanizing treatment of its employees was brought into the light, something still doesn't feel right about the way that our gadgets are being made...

IconHarvester: The Easiest And Prettiest Way To Change Your iPhone App Icons

Alex Heath ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

In the jailbreak community, there are plenty of ways to change the way that your iPhone interface looks. Icons especially are a large part of the iOS interface that people like to tweak to their liking.

Once jailbroken, you can do all kinds of things to your iPhone's icons. You can convert old app icons to retina display icons, arrange the way they look on your home screen in any way you want, and the list goes on and on.

Themes via apps like WinterBoard also allow you to change your icons to suit different looks. IconHarvester, by NanoTech, is a relatively unknown jailbreak app that focuses specifically on icon-theming. It's elegant and simple interface make it well worth the price for any icon lover...

Easily Rename Your iPhone App Icons From The Springboard With Icon Renamer

Alex Heath ∙ Updated February 28, 2018

Earlier this year, we reported on a Cydia tweak called "Rename" that allowed you to easily rename an app's icon name. Since then, the tweak has seemed to vanish from the Cydia Store. Luckily, there is a new tweak on the block that allows you to rename apps straight on your iPhone, and it's even easier than Rename.

Icon Renamer, by the renowned Cydia developer Ryan Petrich, is a new Cydia tweak that allows you to rename icons from your iPhone springboard in the simplest way possible. There's nothing to the actual tweak, it integrates itself into your iPhone springboard...

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Alex Heath ∙ December 25, 2010

The iPhone Download Blog team wanted to take a moment to wish you, our readers, a very merry Christmas and happy holiday season. It's easy to get sentimental during the holidays, and there is plenty to reflect on from this past year. The site's readership has tripled since 2009, and the iDB community has grown larger and more diverse.

As the site grows, we are constantly reminded of how awesome our readers are. You guys are what make the iPhone Download Blog possible, and as corny as it sounds, we are very grateful...

How to Give An iPhone App This Holiday Season

Alex Heath ∙ Updated February 6, 2016

It's that time of year. Christmas music, staff parties, plenty of egg nog, and gifts. As fellow iPhone users, what better gift is there to give each other than what we crave: more apps.

We could all probably name at least a few apps that we would like to have, but haven't bought yet. How nice would it be to wake up on Christmas day and have that new app you've been wanting?

Luckily, Apple allows you to "gift" an app to a friend. If you didn't know about gifting apps, I'm going to walk you through how to gift an app, along with some gift-giving tips...

Apple Is Denying In-App Donations To Developers

Alex Heath ∙ Updated October 10, 2018

Apple has never been known as an easy company to get along with. While it has always made some of the greatest products on the market, it is also notorious for being overly censored and stubborn with its decisions.

We recently reported that an unofficial WikiLeaks app had been pulled from the App Store. It was thought that Apple could have justified the pull based on their charitable donation policy. As it turns out, that policy has been plaguing app developers for some time, and they're starting to get frustrated.

The Huffington Post recently published an article on Apple's denial of in-app donations for charity. Many developers run non-profit, or support non-profit, organizations and would like to allow their app's users to make philanthropic donations in the same way that other in-app purchases function. For some reason, Apple has been denying these requests from developers, and it's making Apple look like the bad guy...

Sam’s Club Offering iPhone 4 Upgrades for Only $147 Through Christmas Day

Alex Heath ∙ December 22, 2010

Sam's Club is selling AT&T-locked iPhone 4's for $147 with a two-year contract. This offer runs through Christmas day, and is the cheapest retail sale of an iPhone 4 that you will find this holiday season.

The Sam's Club "iPhone Christmas" is part of a growing trend. Retailers everywhere seem to be discounting smartphones around this time of the year, but there hasn't been much discount activity on Apple's coveted iPhone.

While this Sam's Club promotion is short, it's still a killer deal if you're eligible for an iPhone 4 upgrade...

Camera+ is Back in The App Store

Alex Heath ∙ Updated February 16, 2018

The Camera+ fiasco has been an interesting one to follow. The popular photography app was a sensation when it was first released in the App Store. Then, it was pulled. Just like that. The app was updated with a backdoor to allow a volume button camera shutter, which apparently Apple didn't like.

At the time of it being pulled, Camera+ was considered the crème de la crème of photography apps. Most felt as though Apple should have lightened up on Camera+ by not pulling the app for simply adding a cool and innovative feature. The problem was that Camera+ violated Apple's guidelines on how an app can interface with the iPhone's controls.

We recently reported that Camera+ had announced that its return to the App Store would be very soon. After many months of silence, Camera+ is back and better than ever...

Ninja Steve: Steve Jobs Satire At Its Finest

Alex Heath ∙ Updated January 27, 2019

Apparently, Steve Jobs really is a ninja. "Ninja Steve" isn't your typical iPhone game. In it, you are the man himself - Steve Jobs.

You aren't the calm, keynote-giving Jobs that we all know and love. You are Ninja Steve. As Ninja Steve, you must fight through waves of green robots (that bear a striking resemblance to the Google Android bot) by throwing your trusty shurikens.

I have no clue how this app got approved for the App Store, but I would think it definitely wins the "Most Assured App to Piss Steve Jobs Off" award...

WikiLeaks App Has Been Pulled From the App Store

Alex Heath ∙ December 21, 2010

It seems that we spoke too soon. A couple days ago, we reported that there was an unofficial WikiLeaks app in the App Store. The app allowed you to view Twitter updates and leaked documents from WikiLeaks.

Igor Barinov, the app's developer, recently tweeted that Apple had his app "removed from sale." At the time of the app being pulled, downloads of the app had nearly approached 4,500 with almost $6,000 in profit.

There is no clear reason why Apple would have pulled such an app, but it's not a shocker that a sensitive app about WikiLeaks was pulled...