Google updates Chrome for iOS with 70% fewer crashes, Spotlight integration and more

Google's mobile Chrome browser was updated this morning in the App Store and the new release promises a whopping 70 percent fewer crashes along with a few other goodies, such as Spotlight Search integration.

Google said that the dramatically reduced crash rate is due to Chrome's adoption of WKWebView, a rendering engine from Apple which was first introduced with the release of iOS 8 back in 2014.

In addition, this release of Chrome for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad should be faster overall, with JavaScript execution now “dramatically faster.”

Dictate notes on the fly and display them on your watch face with WatchNotes

Yesterday, developer Michael Bischoff refreshed its nicely done iPhone application, WatchNotes, with the ability to create, schedule and display notes right on your watch face through a brand new Apple Watch app and a complication.

WatchNotes, which originally made its App Store debut in December 2015 as an iPhone-only app, also lets you dictate a new note directly into your Apple Watch, set up scheduling and travel through time using watchOS's Time Travel feature to look at notes that you've scheduled in the future.

If you've ever wanted to add a note to your Apple Watch face on the fly, you're wholeheartedly recommend to take WatchNotes for a spin, more so considering that watchOS currently lacks a stock Notes app.

How to filter mature language for Siri and Dictation

Sometimes when you use the dictation feature on your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad—or just converse with Siri and it misunderstands you—you might be in for a surprise seeing explicit language that you don't really want others to see, especially if you talk to Siri on your new Apple TV and kids are present.

Fortunately, both iOS and tvOS give you all the controls you need to prevent profanities from showing up when you use speech-to-text or Siri. In this post, you'll learn how to disable explicit language for Siri and Dictation on your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad and filter out explicit language for Siri on your Apple TV.

KGI: iPhone 7 Plus will have dual lenses with optical image stabilization and zoom

Reliable analyst (if there is such a thing) Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities sent an interesting report to clients, a copy of which was obtained by AppleInsider.

In it, he predicts that a new, premium edition of Apple's iPhone 7 Plus will be outfitted with a dual-lens system with optical image stabilization and optical zoom, realized through technology Apple obtained from last year's acquisition of Israeli camera technology company LinX Imaging.

Fingal brings your app icons to life

Take a moment to look at the Home screen on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad; what do you see? Some things that come to my mind are: stillness, simplicity, and boredom.

With a promising new jailbreak tweak release dubbed Fingal, which is now available as a free download in Cydia's ModMyi repository, you can add a touch of motion and liveliness to your Home screen.

This week on Let’s Talk Jailbreak: iOS 9.3 beta chit chat, jailbreak tweaks discussions, and more

Episode 144: Following the release of iOS 9.3 beta 2, the guys discuss how this software version is making it harder and harder to resist updating their devices. They then go through a list of tweaks that were  recently mentioned on iDB, including tweaks to change Low Power Mode behavior, the App Switcher, and more.

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Support Let’s Talk Jailbreak: Get peace of mind knowing your files are backed up securely in the cloud. Backup your Mac or PC for just $5/month. Go to backblaze.com/iDB.

Microsoft launches ‘News Pro’ app for iOS

Microsoft on Tuesday released a new app for iOS called News Pro. The company describes the app as "your work news brief," and says it will help you search for news around your work every day, and fuel your unique interests with over a million topics.

The app comes from Microsoft's experimental project group Microsoft Garage, and it looks pretty much like Flipboard and the slew of other news aggregating apps out there. You login using Facebook or LinkedIn, and pick which topics you want to follow.

Tim Cook: virtual reality is really cool and has some interesting applications

During Apple's Q1 2016 earnings call on Tuesday, Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri discussed the company's performance over the past 3 months. We've put together a nice little roundup of all the interesting stuff, but we thought this particular exchange was worth a separate post.

In the Q&A portion of the call, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster—who made a name for himself through his tireless predictions that Apple was building a TV set—asked Tim Cook what he thought about virtual reality. And in his first public comments on the topic, Cook answered.

15 interesting points from Apple’s Q1 2016 earnings call

Apple announced the financial results for its fiscal first quarter of 2016 this afternoon, and the numbers are pretty solid. The company broke its own records on handset sales, moving 74.8 million iPhones, and revenue, garnering nearly $76 billion during the three-month holiday period.

We’ve just finished up the conference call, where Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri discussed Apple’s performance over the three-month period, and offered up some insights into its future. And as usual, we’ve rounded up the 15 most interesting points from the call below.

Tim Cook: Apple has surpassed 1 billion active devices worldwide

"Our installed base recently crossed a major milestone of one billion active devices," Tim Cook said in a statement for the company's Q1 2016 earnings press release. The news comes on the back of a record-breaking quarter, where Apple sold 74.8M iPhones and garnered nearly $76 billion in revenue during the 3-month holiday period.

Apple’s Q1 2016 earnings: 74.8M iPhones, 16.1M iPads, $75.9B revenue

Apple on Tuesday released its earnings report for the first [fiscal] quarter of 2016. As most of you know, this was the iPhone-maker's holiday quarter, where most consumer electronic companies—particularly Apple—tend to put up monster numbers. And of course Tim Cook and his team did not disappoint.

Once again, Apple has delivered a record-breaking first quarter. The company sold 74.8 million iPhones, up slightly from last year's 74.5 million, and increased its revenue by more than $1 billion. Not all of the numbers are impressive though, as Mac sales are slightly down and iPad sales continue to tumble.