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AppRecs: a search engine that filters out apps with fake or questionable reviews

Anthony Bouchard ∙ February 5, 2016

One of the things that can be annoying when using the App Store is when you are trying to find a good app and dozens of fake reviews push junk apps to the top of the search results when all you want is to find the best of the best. Since not all reviews are honest, it can be difficult to filter the good from the bad on your own.

To help combat this problem, a new web app called AppRecs has been created that claims to be able to filter good reviews from the bad. This way, you can skip everyone's junk reviews and junk apps and just see the best apps in the App Store that are truly worth checking out based off of honest reviews.

This tweak displays Siri suggestions in all iOS Spotlight interfaces

Anthony Bouchard ∙ February 5, 2016

Starting in iOS 9, Apple introduced Siri Suggestions in the updated Spotlight interface, which is accessed to the left of the first Home screen page.

Interestingly, despite the new Spotlight interface, Apple kept the original Spotlight interface that you can access by pulling down from the top of the screen, and as you might imagine, it doesn't have all the new bells and whistles the new Spotlight interface does.

A new jailbreak tweak called NearbyNews is now available in Cydia's BigBoss repository for $0.99 that will let you bring these features to the original Spotlight interface in iOS 9.

Browserism review: quickly switch between browsers on Mac

Lory Gil ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

Some people have different needs from different web browsers. One may have a specific function that another does not. But, you may like them both for different purposes.

Browserism is a shortcut app for OS X that makes it possible for you to quickly switch between web browsers with just a click or the stroke of a key. We've got a full app review of Browserism for you below. Find out if it is right for you.

Apple vying for streaming rights of Thursday night NFL games

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 1, 2018

Apple is among a group of tech giants vying for the rights to stream Thursday night NFL games, reports Variety. The NFL said on Monday it has reached a two-year agreement with CBS and NBC for broadcast rights, and it's been in active discussions with potential partners for digital rights.

According to Variety's sources, Apple is among those potential partners, as are Amazon, Google and Verizon Communications. The League is said to be considering a variety of scenarios, including potentially selling the rights to more than one distributor, and mixing in games played overseas.

How to move your iTunes library to an external drive

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 17, 2018

You'd be amazed how much of your Mac's storage is wasted on the iTunes library. All those apps and media you have purchased and downloaded over the years pile and clog up your Mac's precious storage.

But with one-terabyte external hard drives retailing for less than $60 on Amazon, there are no excuses not to spring for external storage to move that humongous iTunes library of yours on.

This post takes you step-by-step through the process of consolidating your iTunes library and moving it to an external drive in a way that will preserve your playlists, ratings and other interactions, so you won't miss a beat.

Design app Over goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Cody Lee ∙ February 4, 2016

Apple on Thursday updated its App of the Week promotion with a new app called Over. This means that from now through next Thursday, you’ll be able to pick up the popular typography and design app for free for both iPhone and iPad—saving you a solid $4.

For those who haven't used the app before, Over allows you to spruce up your photos with a wide variety of tools including text, with more than 300 fonts, 800+ illustrations and more. Plus, the interface is so well done that accessing all these features is a breeze.

Tim Cook holds Town Hall meeting to discuss iPhone sales, Apple TV and more

Cody Lee ∙ February 4, 2016

Following its record Q1 earnings report, Tim Cook and other top Apple executives held a Town Hall meeting, reports 9to5Mac. The meeting took place at the company's Infinite Loop headquarters, and served as an open discussion forum between employees and their leaders.

Citing multiple sources who attended the event, 9to5Mac says Cook and others talked about a wide range of topics. These included everything from information related to new employee benefits, iPad growth, Apple Watch sales, and they even offered teasers for future products.

Instagram rolls out support for multiple accounts to some iOS users

Cody Lee ∙ February 4, 2016

It appears Instagram has begun testing support for multiple accounts on iOS. As noted by the folks at Latergramme, a number of iPhone users began noticing the new option on Thursday, which allows you to add and sign out of more than one account.

To see if you have access to the feature, make sure you have the latest version of the Instagram app, and click the Options icon in the top right-hand corner of your Profile page. Scroll to the bottom of the page, and you'll see the new 'Add Account' option.

How to use bookmark folders in Safari

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 25, 2019

In Safari, you can save websites you visit frequently so you can quickly revisit them later without having to remember their URLs. Saved webpages are accessible in Safari's Bookmarks menu on the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad or Mac.

If you save a lot of bookmarks, they will clutter the Bookmarks menu over time so locating that favorite website of yours will begin to feel like finding a needle in the haystack. You can avoid this by creating themed folders for organizing your bookmarks.

This tutorial provides step by step instructions for creating new Safari bookmark folders for iOS and macOS. You will also learn how to rename, reposition and delete these folders and file websites into them, all of which will help you organize your favorite websites to your liking.

Gravitation: a jailbreak tweak that adds gravity to your Home screen

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated May 1, 2018

Gravitation is a brand new tweak that adds gravity to your Home screen app icons. If you've been around jailbreaking for some time, then it may remind you of 2010's Graviboard, by Conrad Kramer, now of Workflow fame. Activated by means of an Activator gesture or a shake of your iPhone, Gravitation adds fun to an otherwise mundane and regular iOS Home screen experience.

As expected, Gravitation, a $1.99 jailbreak tweak available on Cydia's BigBoss repo, features several settings for adjusting the way the tweak looks and behaves. Watch our video demonstration to see how it works in action.

Apple stops signing iOS 9.2, downgrades no longer possible

Anthony Bouchard ∙ February 4, 2016

Apple stopped signing iOS 9.2 firmware for iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches on Thursday, a move that prevents users from performing downgrades from iOS 9.2.1 to iOS 9.2 via iTunes.

Multiple iCloud services experiencing downtime, App Store/iTunes purchases affected

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 4, 2016

Apple on Thursday morning reported a number of issues with various iCloud services. According to the iCloud Status webpage, these problems are preventing many users around the world from making purchases in Apple's app and content stores.

In addition, “new and recently changed content may not have updated across devices for iCloud Drive, Backup, iCloud Notes, iWork for iCloud and Photos,” reads a notice on the webpage.

UPDATE: As of 9:10am PT, all of the affected iCloud services had been restored.