iPhone News

BlackBerry diehards pan T-Mobile over iPhone offer

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 17, 2014

After T-Mobile CEO John Legere recently advised BlackBerry fans to switch to Apple's iPhone 5s, all hell broke loose as diehard fans deemed the offer insulting and took to social media to express their distaste for T-Mobile's sleezy direct marketing tactics.

The carrier invited customers via email to switch to an iPhone 5s for $0 down as a “great offer for BlackBerry customers” because the Apple handset has the right tools "to do more".

Judging by the amount and the intensity of backlash, it wasn't T-Mobile's finest moment: after all, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the struggling Canadian smartphone maker owns one of the most loyal and ardent following out there, the types of people who are especially sensitive to anything related to Apple...

Jony Ive’s brief removal from Apple’s Leadership page blamed on a technical glitch

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

After being promoted to Apple's Senior Vice President of all Design, London-born industrial designer Jony Ive's prominence both internally and externally has raised tremendously as a result. Ive's become arguably the most important Apple exec as he now gets to control and oversee key aspects of the company's product development efforts.

According to Walter Isaacson's bio book on Steve Jobs, the Apple co-founder ensured there was no one at the company to boss Jony around. Small wonder then that the blogosphere went into overdrive as Ive's bio photo disappeared from Apple's corporate Leadership web page earlier this morning, albeit only briefly.

The page wouldn't show Ive among the high-ranked Apple executives, such as CEO Tim Cook and SVP of Worldwide Marketing, Phil Schiller. Making matter even more peculiar, the URL never stopped working and would continue to take visitors to Ive's bio page.

Shortly after Ive's photo was back up again, an Apple spokesperson said in a written statement that the brief removal was the work of a technical glitch and cautioned bloggers not to read too much into it...

Rumor: Samsung not churning out Apple’s A8 chip for the next iPhone and iPad due to low yields

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 17, 2014

Apple's upcoming A8 mobile processor is of course expected to power the next wave of iPhone and iPad devices, but the advanced chip apparently won't be manufactured by Samsung, which fabbed all of A-series processors since the iPhone 4's 2010 A4 chip.

According to a new report out of China, Samsung is experiencing yield issues and in turn has dropped out of Apple's A8 chip production...

Apple’s first Latin America retail outlet opens in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

Brazil is the most expensive place to buy an iPhone 5s: the entry-level 16GB model is selling for 2,799 Brazilian reals, or about $1,175, compared to $649 in the United States. But that didn't stop large crowds from gathering for the opening of the company's first retail outlet in the region.

The new store, located in the popular Village Mall in Barra de Tijuaca, Rio de Janeiro's popular suburb, has attracted about 1,700 people Sunday, according to media reports. Apple's official presence in the region conveniently comes in advance of the FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympics...

Apple now rejecting apps with ‘flappy’ in their title

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 17, 2014

Following Flappy Bird’s removal from the App Store, Apple is now reportedly rejecting third-party applications that have 'flappy' in their title. One developer has found his app rejected during the iTunes authorisation process because it's attempted to "leverage a popular app”.

Apple is obviously referring to Flappy Bird, which raked in $50,000 in daily ad revenue and got removed by its developer Dong Nguyen after the game, in his own words, has "become an addictive product". Other developers are reporting their apps are being removed over branding issues as well...

Twitterrific update adds streaming searches, conversation views and more

Cody Lee ∙ February 17, 2014

Twitterrific users will be happy to hear that the iOS Twitter client has been updated this morning, bringing the app to version 5.6.1. The update brings about a handful of new features, as well as several improvements and bug fixes.

On the new feature front, The Iconfactory has added both streaming searches and conversation views (over wi-fi), as well as the ability to customize navigation tabs by tapping and holding. Keep reading for the full release notes...

Apple among companies interested in buying health tracker maker Basis

Cody Lee ∙ Updated November 22, 2017

TechCrunch is reporting this evening that Basis, the company behind the Basis Health fitness tracker, has put itself up on the auction block. And, as usual, there are a number of high-profile tech companies interested in buying it including Microsoft, Google, Samsung and yes, Apple.

To be more specific, Basis makes a smartwatch-like device that it calls the "world's most advanced health tracker." It has built-in sensors capable of capturing heart rate patterns, tracking multiple sleep stages and calorie expenditure by activity, and even monitoring skin temperature...

Apple said to have considered buying Tesla, working on tech to predict heart attacks

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

As Apple continues to seek growth outside of smartphone and tablet markets, we've heard various rumors speculating on what areas the company could enter next. Automotive and medical industries have been popular answers as of late, and today a report added weight to those theories.

The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting today that Apple has been exploring both cars and medical devices to reignite growth, and the scoop is filled with interesting tidbits. For example, the outlet claims Apple execs met with Tesla CEO Elon Musk last year to discuss a potential buyout...

This week on iDB: the million dollar iPhone

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+.

Apps of the Week: realMyst, R-Type II, The Wolf Among Us – Ep. 2, and more… Themes to check out this weekend: Enkelt Neue, Laguna 3, Zanilla and more Wallpapers of last week: starred night sky This nicely done concept video depicts just how thin a bigger iPhone could get The million dollar iPhone Apple Store app offering Tetris for free, grab it now Cylinder: a promising Barrel clone that makes your icons dance How to add a circular battery indicator to the iPhone’s status bar How to enable Guest Mode on iPhone How to add infinite scrolling to the Home screen and folders in iOS 7 iPhone 6 to feature ‘bezel-free’ display, rumor has it Here’s what happens if your phone number shows up on news after iPhone unveiling

Of course, 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!

T-Mobile making changes to its ‘Jump’ upgrade program this month

Cody Lee ∙ February 16, 2014

TmoNews is reporting that T-Mobile plans to make some changes to its early upgrade program 'Jump' in the near future. The site says that the carrier will soon get rid of the 6 month waiting period, essentially allowing customers to upgrade their devices as often as they want.

But don't get too excited yet. In addition to eliminating its equipment upgrade waiting periods, T-Mobile is also going to raise the amount that customers have to pay off before they can trade in their device for a new one to 50%, or half of their old handset's full retail price...

How to play Nintendo games via mobile Safari no jailbreak required

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

This is downright amazing. Somebody has put together a website that allows you to play NES ROMs directly from Mobile Safari, no jailbreak required. The website, which is called webNES, allows users to link a Dropbox account to load their favorite NES ROMs and play them right from the browser.

I've tested webNES with a handful of ROMs, and most of them play decently, but there is some definite choppiness and slowdown. The emulator features a built in soft-controller, and the games can be played in either portrait or landscape mode.

The great thing about webNES is that it runs totally in your browser. This means that there's really no way for Apple to shut it down, since it doesn't require any apps or downloads from a jailbreak source like Cydia. Check out our full video walkthrough inside as I show you how I play a few of my favorite NES games directly in Safari.

AppETA: an awesome way to check the progress of app downloads

Jeff Benjamin ∙ February 14, 2014

iOS 7 makes it difficult to gauge where you are with App Store downloads. With very large downloads, it's a frustrating experience to watch the progress circle slowly inch around at a snail's pace.

Wouldn't it be nice if you could get a more informational view of your App Store download progress? What about bringing back the classing download status indicators? With AppETA, a new jailbreak tweak available on Cydia's BigBoss repo, you can do all of that and more.