iPhone News

Upcoming large-screened iPhone described as a cross between iPhone 5c and iPod nano

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 11, 2016

There have been numerous attempts at envisioning what Apple's next iPhone might look like, especially as the likes of Reuters and The Wall Street Journal jumped on the iPhablet bandwagon calling for two new large-screened iPhones, one with a 4.7-inch display and the other rocking a screen that seemingly measures at least five inches diagonally.

A new report by the rather accurate Japanese blog Macotakara now claims that the upcoming iPhones will expand on rather than replace the current four-inch four factor offered by the iPhone 5/5s/5c, with the bigger model classed as a phablet...

Download ColorStrokes for free and enter for a chance to win goodies [sponsored]

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

Since it was released in the Mac App Store in 2012, ColorStrokes has been one of the top photo apps with dozens of glowing reviews. Fastforward two years later and ColorStrokes has now been downloaded over 1 million times. To celebrate the event, ColorStrokes developer Macphun (these are the guys behind Snapheal and Intensify for Mac – photo apps named 2012 and 2013 Best of Mac App Store) has decided to give free copies of the app to everybody, and they've also put up a giveaway where lucky winners will be able to grab 1 of 3 awesome Foffa Bikes, plus your ColorStrokes images printed on canvas.

What's the trick, you may ask? There is no trick. All you have to do is head over to Macphun website and get your free copy of ColorStrokes. You will have to enter your name and email address, then a download link and activation code will be emailed to you. Once you've downloaded your free copy of ColorStrokes, go back to Macphun website to enter the giveaway where you will have to like their page on Facebook and retweet a message.

That's all there is to it. If you don't believe in giveaways, you can always get your free copy of ColorStrokes, no strings attached!

Polus is now available on Cydia

Jeff Benjamin ∙ March 11, 2014

Polus—the brand new Control Center QuickLaunch tweak for iOS 7—is available right now on Cydia to download. The tweak, which we covered extensively a few weeks ago, allows you to customize various aspects of the QuickLaunch shortcuts appearing in Control Center, including the amount of shortcuts, size, and shape.

You can even assign Activator actions to each QuickLaunch shortcut, including a single tap and a tap-and-hold gesture. This allows you to do interesting things like assign a tap-and-hold gesture to the Twitter app shortcut in order to launch the compose-new-Tweet sheet. When it comes to Polus your only limit is your imagination. Step inside to review our full video walkthrough of the tweak in action.

Apple lets Vevo live-stream SXSW iTunes Festival

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Apple's iTunes Festival at SXSW in Austin, Texas is kicking off at 8pm Pacific / 11pm Eastern and the music video service Vevo just announced on its blog that it will live stream all of the performances through through its Apple TV channel and its free mobile apps for the iPhone and iPad.

Select performances will be available following each show, Vevo has noted. The five-day event runs from March 11 through March 15 at ACL Live at the Moody Theater.

In addition to Vevo, Apple itself will provide a free live and on-demand stream via the iTunes Store on the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac or PC devices, as well as in high-definition through the newly-refreshed iTunes Festival app, available free of charge for iOS devices and as a channel on the Apple TV media-streaming box...

Hands-on with the Hipjot keyboard beta for Cydia – try it now

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

If you've been keeping your ear to the street as of late, you're well aware of the Nintype/Hipjot keyboard tweak that's currently in development for Cydia. Unlike most Cydia releases, the Hipjot keyboard implementation is being worked on by the developer of the App Store version—Jormy Games—so you can expect a release that's about as faithful as possible to the developer's original vision.

Comparable to keyboard technology like Swype, Hipjot adds a keyboard that largely departs from Apple's stock iOS keyboard. It allows you to use swiping gestures to go from one character to the next in order to build full words, sentences, and paragraphs. The unique text entry method allows its users to type much faster than is possible on a standard iOS keyboard, with some users reaching upwards of 70-90 words per minute without breaking much of a sweat.

I've had the chance to go hands-on with the Cydia version of the keyboard, and I can tell you that it makes typing much faster. Being able to use Hipjot with stock iOS apps, and 3rd-party apps makes typing a breeze. Inside we've created a preview video of the beta build so that you can see how the keyboard works in action with stock applications.

Instagram for iPhone introduces Lux filter slider

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 11, 2014

Facebook-owned Instagram has introduced the popular Lux filter via a free update back in February 2012. Lux is admittedly a nice new way to enhance your photos, but there's just one slight problem: Instagram's one-touch implementation leaves a lot to be desired.

For starters, the effect has no options to fiddle with. For those unaware of Lux, it reduces overexposure and uses sharpening and fill light tweaks to make your shots warmer and people prettier.

It's quite handy in low-light and low-contrast situations, even more so if you take lots of selfies using the iPhone's sub-par front-facing camera. Realizing folks need more control over Lux, Instagram has updated its free iPhone app with a custom Lux slider...

Poll: does iOS 7.1 crash less on you?

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 11, 2014

If you're a proud iPhone 5s owner, I'm sure you'll agree that the experience of using iOS 7 on a daily basis is less stellar than what we've normally come to expect from our favorite fruity company. If anything, iOS 7.0.x has taught iPhone owners, especially iPhone 5s ones, to get used to random crashes at least a couple times a day.

It's not just that Safari crashed a lot on me, I crashed while listening to music, reading books and taking pictures - I even crashed on the iOS app switcher. It was almost as if my iPhone 5s would restart if I looked at it the wrong way.

I'm pleased to report that iOS 7 crashes far less on my iPhone 5s versus any prior iOS 7.0.x version, including the recently released iOS 7.0.6. Of course, your mileage may vary and with less than a day's worth of running newly-released iOS 7.1 not everyone's had a chance to experience just how stabler and snappier the new version is.

Having said that, I'd like you to vote in this non-scientific poll about iOS 7.1 stability and learn about your experience thus far. Go ahead, cast a vote and join the civil discussion down in the comments....

New in iOS 7.1: Maps navigation prompts through your car’s stereo over Bluetooth

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 11, 2014

Apple has delivered iOS 7.1 yesterday, its first major iOS update since the software's launch nearly six months ago. We've already detailed some of the noteworthy enhancements like Touch ID reliability improvements, new Siri features, CarPlay support, a bunch of bug fixes - some of which have been credited to prominent iOS hackers like the evad3rs team - and more.

According to developer Mike Piontek, Maps in iOS 7.1 includes a poorly labeled new feature called HFP Prompts which allows the app to play navigation prompts over your car’s speakers, via Bluetooth, even when the iPhone is not selected as the audio source. It's a great addition to Apple's in-car initiative because no longer do you have to fiddle with audio settings as HFP Prompts automatically does the right thing for you.

Jump past the fold for the full breakdown...

Report sheds light on public transit directions in iOS 8’s Maps and other new features

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 11, 2014

A new report by the reliable blogger Mark Gurman of 9to5Mac has offered new details concerning Apple's Maps service in iOS 8, the next major iteration of Apple's mobile operating system for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices, which is expected to be released later this year.

Gurman learned from sources briefed on Apple's plans that CEO Tim Cook, SVP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue, SVP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi and Maps head Patrice Gautier have been leading teams of Apple engineers since former iOS chief Scot Forstall’s departure in order to polish and enhance the service so it lives up to the “incredibly high standard” of Apple’s customers.

Here's what you should expect from Apple Maps in iOS 8...

Yahoo Search app updated with new iOS 7 design

Cody Lee ∙ March 11, 2014

Yahoo has updated its official Search client for iOS this morning, bringing the app to version 3.1. The update doesn't include much, but is instantly noticeable thanks to the all new design. Yahoo calls it 'minimalist,' but we often refer to this as iOS 7-style.

For those who aren't familiar with it, the app is pretty much your standard web engine with a built-in browser, but of course with Yahoo's services. So for folks invested in the ecosystem with either Mail or Tumblr, it could offer more than Google or Bing...

Rovio teases yet another new Angry Birds game

Cody Lee ∙ March 11, 2014

It hasn't even been a month yet since Rovio unveiled its new game 'Angry Birds Stella,' and the studio has already begun to tease a new title for its hit franchise. A 30-second clip showing a bird wearing a suit of armor popped up on Rovio's YouTube channel over the weekend.

The trailer instructs users to prepare for the most 'epic soft launch ever,' suggesting that the new game will be launching in the near future. It also tells us that the game will be arriving in Australia and Canada first, with other countries to follow shortly after. View the clip below...

TwitkaFly brings Twitter quick reply and quick compose to iOS 7

Jeff Benjamin ∙ March 10, 2014

If you've been around the jailbreak scene for any considerable amount of time, then you probably recognize the name TwitkaFly. It's a jailbreak tweak that's been around since the iOS 4 days, and it allows you to use quick reply and quick compose features with Twitter.

TwitkaFly was just recently updated for iOS 7, and it brings with it a fresh coat of paint and compatibility with Apple's latest OS release. As you'll see from our video walkthrough, TwitkaFly isn't perfect, but it's a tweak that you should definitely consider if you're a big time user of the official Twitter app or Tweetbot