iPhone News

The Augment offers a new take on the iPhone battery case

Cody Lee ∙ May 19, 2014

If you're in the market for an iPhone battery case, you really only have one option. Well, actually you have hundreds of options, but for the most part they all look the same. Don't believe me? Do a Google Image search for the term 'iPhone battery case.'

Enter the new Augment iPhone case, by Rubix. It features a square design, with a detachable battery pack, so that you can get extra power when you need, and none of the added bulk when you don't. This is definitely not your typical mophie juice pack...

Bulb: add a status bar indicator for the iPhone’s LED flashlight

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 18, 2014

The flashlight toggle in Control Center was a great addition to iOS 7, but it always baffled me why Apple didn't place some sort of indicator in the status bar to tell you when the flash was active. Obviously, most people can see when the flash is on, but there are certain circumstances that one can encounter, which would make such an indicator useful.

What about when you sit your phone down on a table with the LED flash covered? It's possible that the iPhone's battery could die due to the flash being on for a long period of time. I know that may seem far-fetched, but it has happened to the developer of this tweak, and it has happened to me on a few occasions.

Bulb is a jailbreak tweak that will help make users more aware of the status of the LED flash. It places a lightbulb indicator in the status bar whenever the flash is active. Have a look at our video walkthrough for more info.

How to easily search the contents of the stock Settings app

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 18, 2014

As a recent Galaxy S5 adopter, one of the features that I immediately appreciated was the ability to perform a search within the phone's Settings. Granted, Samsung is notorious for packing its phones with so many settings that a search is almost a requirement, but it's still a nice feature to have.

Needless to say, ever since I laid my hands on the GS5, I've been wanting for a similar feature on iOS. Well, that feature arrived just a few minutes ago, and it's, unsurprisingly, brought to us by the prolific developer Ryan Petrich.

SearchSettings is a new jailbreak tweak available on Ryan's beta repo, and like on the GS5, you can perform searches within the settings app. Have a look at our video demo of the tweak in action after the fold.

WallCycler: get fresh wallpaper every time you unlock your device

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 18, 2014

WallCycler is a new jailbreak tweak that recently appeared on Ryan Petrich's beta repo. It's a tweak that allows you to cycle wallpaper each time you unlock your device, or cycle manually using an Activator gesture.

There is no preference panel for WallCycler, but the tweak can be enabled by visiting Settings > Wallpaper & Brightness > Choose Wallpaper, and selecting an album. After doing so, you'll receive a pop-up box asking you if you'd like to cycle the photos in the chosen album.

We've take WallCycler for a spin on video. Have a look at our demonstration after the jump.

SlideCut: an innovative keyboard shortcut tweak for jailbroken iPhones

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 18, 2014

SlideCut is a brand new jailbreak tweak from developer r_plus. Whenever I see this developer's name behind a tweak, it piques my interest, because they're usually innovative and fun to use. SlideCut is no different.

SlideCut allows you to slide from your spacebar key to any shortcut key to execute an action. For example, you can slide from the spacebar to the 'A' key to select all, or slide from the keyboard to the 'C' key to copy the highlighted text.

We've got a full video walkthrough of SlideCut in action. Have a look inside to see how it works.

Supercharge Safari with Canopy for iOS 7

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 18, 2014

Where do I start? That's the first thing that you'll probably think to yourself after installing Canopy for iOS 7. The original Canopy succeeded in supercharging Safari, filling it with tons of practical new features, and this new version of Canopy for iOS 7 does likewise.

How does adding open in Chrome support sound? Or what about a quick paste and go option like Chrome for the desktop? How about adding quick translation features or accessing recently closed pages? You can do all of that with Canopy for iOS 7 and more.

Facebook reportedly working on Snapchat competitor codenamed ‘Slingshot’

Cody Lee ∙ May 18, 2014

Facebook is working on a new mobile application for video and ephemeral messaging, according to a report from the Financial Times. The outlet says the app is being referred to as 'Slingshot' internally, and is intended to go head-to-head with Snapchat.

Snapchat rejected an acquisition offer from Facebook last year worth some $3 billion, explaining that it wanted to hold out for more money. The social network has since bought messaging giant WhatsApp, but it obviously still feels that something's missing...

AT&T announces acquisition of DirecTV for close to $50 billion

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

As expected, AT&T has announced today that it has reached a deal to acquire satellite TV heavyweight DirecTV. The buyout will come in the form of a stock-and-cash transaction—$95 per share based on AT&T's Friday closing price—worth in upwards of $50 billion.

Between DirecTV’s satellite business and AT&T’s U-verse arm, the move results in a combined 26 million TV subscribers. That essentially makes AT&T the number one pay-TV provider, second if the long-rumored Comcast/Time Warner Cable deal ever goes through...

Italian regulators investigating Apple over ‘freemium’ app pricing model

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Apple is one of a handful of tech companies being investigated by Italian regulators over the popular 'freemium' app pricing model. On Friday, Italy's Antitrust and Competition Authority said it's investigating Apple, Google, Amazon and Gameloft over apps that offer in-app purchases.

The agency wants to determine whether or not the companies offer sufficient information in their respective apps and app stores regarding pay-for in-app content. It feels consumers may be confused by the idea of downloading a game for free, and then receiving charges after the fact...

Calendars 5 goes free for 48 hours: get it while you can!

Sébastien Page ∙ May 18, 2014

When Calendars 5 came out back in September of last year, we called it one of the best calendar apps for iOS. At the regular price of $6.99, it was a no-brainer for people looking for a powerful alternative to the stock calendar app, but it was a purchase hard to justify to people who don't necessarily need a better calendar.

As of today, price will not be an issue as Calendars 5 is going free for the next 48 hours or so. Our advice, you might have figured it out by now, is to grab this app while you can...

Winocm teases an iOS 7.1.1 jailbreak of her own

Sébastien Page ∙ May 18, 2014

Hot on the heels of i0n1c's proofs that he had jailbroken an iPhone 5c running iOS 7.1.1, iOS hacker winocm has come up with her own untethered jailbreak successfully running on an iPhone 4 with iOS 7.1.1.

While not as impressive as i0n1c's proof, winocm claims that her jailbreak could be brought to newer devices if someone was willing to "put in the effort."

I0n1c posts photo of jailbroken iPhone 5c running iOS 7.1.1

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 11, 2016

When we did our 'state of the iOS 7.1 jailbreak' post earlier this month, we noted that there is currently no public jailbreak available for iOS 7.1 and newer firmwares. Apple patched the exploits used by evasi0n7 in 7.1, thus ending the jailbreak tool's impressive 4-month long run.

That doesn't mean that iOS 7.1 isn't jailbreakable though. In fact, we've seen proof from winocm and others that it is. And this afternoon, we're adding more evidence to the pile, as infamous hacker i0n1c has just tweeted a screenshot of his jailbroken iPhone 5c running iOS 7.1.1...