Apple seeds OS X 10.11.3 El Capitan beta 2 to developers and public beta testers

Three weeks after releasing the first beta of OS X 10.11 El Capitan's third major software update, and 48 hours after seeding iOS 9.2.1 beta 2 to developers and public beta testers, Apple on Wednesday released a second beta of OS X 10.11.3 El Capitan.

It can be installed on machines running a prior beta through the Mac App Store's Updates tab and downloaded through Apple's portal for members of the Apple Developer Program.

The pre-release software is also available to public beta testers who signed up for Apple's Beta Software Program.

iPhone 7 gets its first purported part leak

With a dozen or so rumors published thus far about Apple's next iPhone—let's dub it an 'iPhone 7'—today we finally get our first look at a claimed display backlight module for the device, courtesy of Taiwanese website Apple.club.tw.

Not much can be gleaned from the images except for some minor changes in the location of a flex cable and a chip that controls the 3D Touch sensor array. If Apple sticks to its release schedule, the iPhone 7 should hit the store shelves in early fall.

CES 2016 roundup: day three

It's day three of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, so various gadget announcement keep coming at a faster pace than we can blog. Today's roundup of CES 2016 includes some notable highlights that might interest our Apple-loving audience, including splash-proof speakers, in-ear buds with an integrated heart rate monitor, a new activity tracker from Withings that can last 8 months between charges and more.

Apple website leaks gorgeous new Space Black color option for Apple Watch’s Milanese Loop band

You will soon be able to buy a Milanese Loop band in gorgeous Space Black finish to complement your Space Black stainless steel Apple Watch case. As spotted by 9to5Mac, the company's Czech Online Store briefly published a new page for the Space Black Milanese Loop band, but it's since been pulled indicating the company probably leaked this band option for Apple Watch buyers prematurely.

Misfit debuts stylish new activity tracker and its first wireless in-ear headphones

Wearable devices maker Misfit at CES 2016 announced new products that build on its expertise in health and fitness tracking. A new activity tracker from the company, called the Ray, tracks your movement and sleep and resembles a bracelet with a cylindrical aluminum body.

Another new product from Misfit, a first for the company: the Specter in-ear wireless headphones with dual driver technology and a built-in accelerometer sensor for tracking your activity and sleep when worn.

Apple announces ‘biggest ever’ holiday for App Store with $1.1 billion sales in two weeks

Apple on Wednesday announced that its App Store has had the biggest holiday ever with a record-breaking $1.1 billion revenue in the two weeks ending January 3, as customers increased their spending on apps and In-App Purchases, setting back-to-back weekly records for traffic and purchases.

“January 1, 2016 marked the biggest day in App Store history with customers spending over $144 million,” said Apple. “It broke the previous single-day record set just a week earlier on Christmas Day.”

Flewn review: a whale of a story told with style

In a decade of immediate gratification, where conversations take place 140 characters at a time and games are scored by how fast you complete them, it's nice to come across an app that does nothing but tell a story so you can slow things down, even if it is just for a moment.

Flewn is a highly stylized book with dozens of illustrations that you access with very little effort, but still feels significantly interactive just the same. We've got a full app review of Flewn for you right now.

Samsung says its Gear S2 smartwatch will support iPhone later this year

During its CES keynote on Tuesday, Samsung announced that iOS compatibility is coming soon to its Gear S2 smartwatch. On stage at the Las Vegas event, the company's VP Alanna Cotton said that the popular Tizen-powered accessory is getting iPhone support later this year.

Cotton didn't offer up specific dates or details, but expect S2 functionality to be far more limited on iOS than it is on Android. Apple does not give developers the kind of low-level access its own Watch enjoys—something that has long-hampered Pebble and Android Wear devices.

How to adjust the Home screen dock opacity on iOS [jailbreak]

DockAlpha is a new jailbreak tweak that allows you to adjust the dock alpha settings on iOS 9. The tweak, which is available free of charge on Cydia's BigBoss repo, lends a more transparent look to the dock for jailbroken iOS 9 users. If you're looking to subtly change the look of the iOS Home screen, you may want to give DockAlpha a try.

App Admin: downgrade App Store apps right from your jailbroken iPhone

Late last year, we showed you how to downgrade App Store apps directly from Apple using iTunes. The method was anything but straightforward, but it did indeed work.

Today, I'd like to show you a brand new method for downgrading App Store apps. Not only is it much easier than the old method, but it runs right on your iPhone, so no computer is required. The only "downside" is that you must be jailbroken to use this method, as it relies on a jailbreak tweak that's now in beta. That said, it's way easier than the prior method that doesn't require a jailbreak.

Want to see how easy it is to downgrade virtually any App Store app using only a jailbroken iPhone? Watch our video and see UnlimApp's new jailbreak tweak, App Admin, in action.

CES 2016 roundup: day two

The Consumer Electronics Show is underway this week in Las Vegas, Nevada. Yesterday, we shared a few Apple-related CES announcements on iDownloadBlog before realizing there are too many product unveilings happening at the show for us to be able to cover them without cluttering the homepage with CES stuff.

That's why we've made a decision to run daily roundups of the most important CES announcements you might be interested in, starting with today's round up of CES 2016.