iPhone News

Path Uploads Your Entire Address Book to Its Servers

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

Blogger Arun Thampi accidentally discovered that Path uploads your entire address book to its servers. Path CEO quickly explained why the company chose to take this path (pun intended):

We actually think this is an important conversation and take this very seriously. We upload the address book to our servers in order to help the user find and connect to their friends and family on Path quickly and effeciently as well as to notify them when friends and family join Path. Nothing more.

We believe that this type of friend finding & matching is important to the industry and that it is important that users clearly understand it, so we proactively rolled out an opt-in for this on our Android client a few weeks ago and are rolling out the opt-in for this in 2.0.6 of our iOS Client, pending App Store approval.

The app that everybody loved a few months ago is now the app that everybody loves to hate. I'm sure it won't last long though. Path will fix "the glitch" and get praised by everyone for how quickly they came through. But that's only assuming MG Siegler or Gruber don't put them on the gallows first.

Change Your iPhone’s Keyboard Layout From Qwerty to Dvorak

Cody Lee ∙ February 7, 2012

The Dvorak keyboard layout was patented in 1936 by Dr. August Dvorak (thanks Wikipedia). Proponents of the layout believe that it requires less finger motion than the traditional QWERTY style, allowing you to type faster with fewer errors.

If you happen to be a fan of the Dvorak layout, or would just like to see what it looks like, a new jailbreak tweak has just surfaced in Cydia that will install the keyboard on your iOS 5 device...

Simplexity: A Simple Yet Complex Method for Viewing the App Switcher

Jeff Benjamin ∙ February 7, 2012

Looking for yet another alternative to the stock App Switcher? I know, there's no shortage of alternate app switchers, but there's always room for one more, right?

Well, on second thought, maybe not. Simplexity is a recently released jailbreak tweak on Cydia that wholeheartedly lives up to its name. While it's simple in some aspects, it can make what should otherwise be a no-brainer function overly complex...

Do You Want to Win One of These Custom Made Cleaning Clothes for Your iDevice?

Sébastien Page ∙ February 7, 2012

We're big fans of the Mobile Cloth here at iDB. I remember the very first time I used one of their microfiber clothes to clean my iPhone screen. I didn't expect much at all but I was blown away by the results.

In a matter of seconds the Mobile Cloth removes fingerprints and smudges, but it also removes up to 98% of germs, without the need of any chemical...

How to Check Where Jailbreak Tweaks Are Installed

Jeff Benjamin ∙ February 7, 2012

Have you ever wondered what files a specific jailbreak tweak places on your device? Have you ever wondered where the files are stored?

If so, you could always fire up iFile or use an FTP utility to go digging around in your file system. Or, you could just head to Cydia and utilize a provision that's available for every package you have installed on your device...

How to Use Activator Actions Via Terminal

Jeff Benjamin ∙ February 7, 2012

Let's just chalk TerminalActivator into the "I do it just because I can" category.

TerminalActivator, as its name might suggest, allows you to execute Activator actions via a terminal emulator.

It works well, but the developer is obviously targeting a very small audience. Full video demonstration inside...

Alter Your App Switching Animations With ‘Jepit’

Jeff Benjamin ∙ February 7, 2012

Jepit is a jailbreak tweak that attempts to add new app switching animations to your iDevice.

Along with animations, Jepit also includes the ability to change the speed of said animations.

Sadly, its lack of polish hinders what could otherwise be an eye catching tweak. Take a look as we go one-on-one with Jepit inside...

Developers Caught Manipulating App Store Rankings

Cody Lee ∙ February 7, 2012

An interesting thread sprouted up in TouchArcade's forums over the weekend entitled the "Biggest FRAUD in the Top 25 Free Ranking." The thread spotlights a recently discovered problem with some app developers using seedy marketing services to move their apps up in the App Store rankings.

Walterkaman, who started the thread, said, "I came across this ad network which guaranteed to get my app into the Top 25 in the App Store for $5000." The service uses bot farms to automatically download their clients' apps to drive up their rankings. And not only does this work, but it works well...

Halliburton to Switch Entire Company From BlackBerry to iOS This Year

Cody Lee ∙ February 6, 2012

Halliburton, based out of Houston, Texas, is one of the largest energy services companies in the world. It has operations in more than 70 countries and employs over 60,000 people.

Given that information, you can see why it's such a big deal that the company has recently announced its intentions to ditch RIM's BlackBerry platform in favor of the iPhone and iOS...

The Best Looking Siri Theme Yet

Jeff Benjamin ∙ February 6, 2012

Neurotech Siri is an absolutely amazing looking theme for Siri, and really, the pictures and video don't totally do it justice.

This is a WinterBoard theme that features almost 300 frames of animation on the Siri logo, and you can tell from the fluidity and smoothness when invoking Siri.

Other Siri themes have changed the mic color, or added an Apple logo, but those all pale in comparison to this...

EFF Attorney Talks About The Legality of Jailbreaking

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

Last month, we told you about the danger of jailbreaking becoming a "legal violation" again this year. Two years ago, the US government ruled that the act of jailbreaking was legal. But that ruling could expire this year if it isn't renewed.

Leading the fight to keep jailbreaking legal is the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation). And Gizmodo recently had a chance to sit down and talk with one of the foundation's staff lawyers, Mitch Stolz, about the whole matter...

First Time Smartphone Buyers Prefer Android Over iPhone

Guest Author ∙ February 6, 2012

According to research firm NPD Group, Apple has passed up Samsung and LG to become the #1 selling US handset brand in the fourth quarter of 2011. Between the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, the iPhone accounted for 43% of the US smartphone market, even though Android's market share increased to 48%.

Combined, iOS and Android devices accounted for over 90% of US sales, leaving Blackberry, Windows Phone and other mobile OSs under 10%.

The NPD went on to say that 57% of first time US smartphone buyers go with an Android device, while only 34% of first time buyers purchased iPhones...