iPhone News

Aria: a new take on the stock Music app

Jeff Benjamin ∙ March 24, 2014

If you're looking for a way to significantly change the experience with the stock Music app, then you need to check out Aria, a new jailbreak tweak recently released on Cydia. Aria is a $1.99 release that's available on the BigBoss repo, and it allows you to use a stylish grid interface to display albums and artists.

Along with the interface changes, come more practical ideas. For example, you can add songs to your up-next queue using simple tap and hold gestures. But that's not all that Aria is capable of doing. Check out our full video walkthrough after the break for a look into what makes this tweak so interesting.

Rumor: Pegatron to start assembly of large-screened iPhones and iPad Airs this Fall

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

The Commercial Times newspaper reported last week that Apple's contract manufacturer Pegatron is gearing up to kick off mass production of the iPhone 6 in the second quarter of this year at its China-based plant in Kunshan.

On Monday, The China Times newspaper claimed new information saying that Pegatron has landed orders for both large-sized iPhones and iPad Airs.

However, contrary to The Commercial Times story, Pegatron is actually said to start the operation of the Kunshan plant, which is located in China's Jiangsu Province, in the third quarter of this year.

That facility will be solely dedicated to churning out Apple products. For reference, Pegatron is the primary manufacturer of the iPhone 5c and iPad mini...

Apple apparently moving to fully automated iPhone battery production

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 24, 2014

DigiTimes, the hit and miss Taiwanese trade publication, is reporting this morning that Apple is moving from labor-intensive iPhone battery production to fully automated production lines in 2014. The move is said to stem from Apple's desire to reduce its manpower demand and is expected to prompt other consumer electronics vendors to follow suit, as per supply chain chatter...

iPhone 5c outsold all Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone devices in winter quarter

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

While the iPhone 5c has failed to live up to internal expectations set by Apple, the smartphone certainly hasn't been moving off the shelves as badly as some people might think. According to an AppleInsider report by Daniel Eran Dilger, the mid-tier handset actually outsold every BlackBerry, Windows Phone and flagship Android device in the United States during the winter quarter. Take a look…

How to get turn by turn directions on Pebble watch

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

I was very reluctant to get a Pebble but I have to admit that finally purchasing one a couple months or so ago is probably the best decision I've made in a while. If you listen to Let's Talk iOS or Let's Talk Jailbreak, then you probably already know that I am now a complete Pebble convert. Well, that is at least until Apple comes up with its own wearable, because as it is, the Pebble is extremely limited with what you can do.

Getting directions on your Pebble for example is something that I was anticipating before buying the smartwatch, but as it turned out, the alternatives that are available in the App Store are so bad, that I couldn't believe someone hadn't figured out how to get turn by turn directions on the Pebble the right way. Then I had a breakthrough...

This week on iDB: everything you don’t know about the Music app, and more…

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Like every Sunday, we bring you the stories that were the most popular on iDB during this past week. Whether it is a news piece, an editorial, a tutorial, a new jailbreak tweak, or an accessory review, we sum it all up in one convenient place.

If you like what you're reading, please make sure to spread the love by sharing our posts on your favorite social network.

We're usually hanging out a lot on Twitter and Facebook, more rarely on Google+.

iOS 7: The ultimate Music app guide Apps of the Week: MobileFamilyTree 7, Checkmark 2, Shin Megami Tensei, and more… Themes of the week: Inversify, Ayza, VectrOS and more Wallpapers of last week: still life How to enable Drunk Mode on iPhone Review: ProWidgets Winocm shows off untethered iOS 7.1 jailbreak on iPhone 4 Listen to unlimited music for free with Tuner for YouTube iPhone 6 said to feature ‘Ultra-Retina’ display, 3 new sensors and more How to place folders within folders on iOS 7.1 How to mail more than five photos at once on iPhone and iPad SlideWeather replaces “slide to unlock” with current weather conditions How to add a battery level indicator to the status bar Double mockup: 12.9″ iPad Pro + next-gen Apple TV with iPod touch style remote How to remove geolocation data from iPhone photos Motorola shows off its Android Wear smartwatch, Moto 360, coming this summer

Don't forget to listen to the latest episode of our new podcast, Let's Talk iOS:

And of course, make sure to catch up with the new episode of Let's Talk Jailbreak:

We’re social! Find iDB on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, App.net, YouTube, and in your RSS reader. Also make sure to subscribe to our new podcast!

iOS 7: The ultimate Music app guide

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

The Music app is a stock application that comes preinstalled on all iOS devices. It's the primary way for playing music on the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. With iOS 7.0, a new feature was baked into the stock Music app called iTunes Radio. iTunes Radio is an ad-supported service that allows users to browse more than 250 curated stations. Users can also create and build their own stations, which feature Pandora-like customization over time.

The stock Music app has endured significant changes over the past few years. The Music app was once exclusively relegated to the iPod touch, with iPhone models offering an "iPod" app as a means to play music and watch videos. Eventually, with the advent of iOS 5, the iPod app was broken-up into separate Music and Video apps for the iPhone line, unifying the stock Music app presence across all iOS hardware.

While there are many ways to play music via third-party apps on iOS, the stock Music app is the only music application that's closely integrated with iTunes and allows you to use the iTunes Match iCloud-hosting service. There may be benefits to other apps like Spotify, but no app is as tightly intertwined with the rest of iOS as the stock Music app. With that in mind, please take a look inside, as we break down the many facets of this ever-growing and ever-changing stock application.

Apple highlights indie games via new App Store section Indie Game Showcase

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2018

Apple has created a new section in the App Store to feature iPhone and iPad games by independent devs.

Titled 'Indie Game Showcase' and available on iTunes here, the section highlights such highly acclaimed titles as Year Walk ($3.99) by Simogo, an eerie adventure game based on the ancient Swedish phenomena of year walking, Space Invaders Infinity Gene ($4.99) by Taito, Bumpy Road ($2.99) by developer Simogo Handelsbolag and more...

Watch Jimmy Fallon introducing Billy Joel to iPad beatboxing app Loopy HD

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Jimmy Fallon, the host of NBC's Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, gave Apple's iPad and a beatboxing thirdy-party app called Loopy HD a cool exposure during last night's show. Loopy HD costs eight bucks in the App Store and with it anyone can create music by layering looped recordings of singing, beatboxing or playing an instrument.

Loopy HD is rather sophisticated: it can receive live audio directly from other Audiobus-compatible apps like Apple's free GarageBand and more.

Jimmy and Billy Joel have used the app on air to loop their voices and form a two-man doo-wop group singing 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' by The Tokens in four-part harmony.

The video is a nice reminder that one can create quite remarkable music on the iPad. Even Apple's boss Tim Cook enthused over their "magical" performance...

Virgin Mobile brings contract-free iPhone 5s/5c down to just $385/$315

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 15, 2017

Virgin Mobile, a subsidiary of Sprint, has discounted contract-free iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c to just $385 and $315, respectively, representing significant savings over Apple's respective asking prices of $649 and $549 for the entry-level models with sixteen gigabytes of storage.

If you do the math quickly in your head, that's $264 off the iPhone 5s and $234 off the iPhone 5c. You'll need to sign up for one of Virgin's unlimited data plans starting at $35 per month ($30 if you choose to auto-pay by PayPal or your credit/debit car).

These deals are web exclusives and valid for a limited time only...

Tweetbot for Mac gains thumbnail size option and three-finger swiping

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

Tapbot's popular Twitter client for iOS and OS X, Tweetbot, has been refreshed on the Mac with a few fixes and two new features.

Version 1.5, now available in the Mac App Store as a free upgrade to existing users, lets you choose the size of inline image thumbnails in your timelines, a feature developers added to the iPhone and iPod touch client earlier this month.

And for those who take advantage of multitouch gestures in OS X, Tweetbot now supports swiping left and right with three fingers to navigate through your timelines without having to manually click on the back button...

Winocm shows off untethered iOS 7.1 jailbreak on iPhone 4

Cody Lee ∙ March 20, 2014

Well known hacker and future Apple employee winocm posted a video demonstrating an untethered jailbreak of iOS 7.1 earlier today. The video, which he posted to YouTube, shows off what appears to be an untethered jailbreak on a Verizon iPhone 4.

In a brief tweet, winocm sent out a link to the video with the caption 'iOS 7.1 untethered boot.' Now, details regarding the clip are very scarce right now, but the fact it exists is fueling hope for folks on newer firmware wanting to jailbreak their devices...