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9 ways 3D Touch can make you more productive in Safari

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 23, 2019

Safari, one of the most popular stock applications on your iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, has gotten some sweet 3D Touch love in iOS.

If you own an iPhone 7 or later, you can Peek and Pop web links, bookmarks, Shared Links and Reading List items, enter Safari's private-browsing mode or open new tabs right from the Home screen, and then some more.

In this post, we'll take you through the nine ways you can use 3D Touch in Safari to browse the web faster and access popular features with fewer taps than without it.

Controller review: a mini player for Mac that doesn’t get in the way

Lory Gil ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

When you are blasting beats on your Mac, sometimes it is helpful to have easy access to playback features right on your desktop without having to open the root music player. It is also nice to be able to see the name of the song and artist that is currently playing at a glance.

Controller is a mini player for Mac that works with iTunes and Spotify to display the current track and provide playback controls. We've got a hands-on app review of Controller for you below.

How to stop Messages from recording audio when you lift iPhone to your ear

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 10, 2018

Apple's Messages app and iMessage service form one of the most versatile messaging platforms available on mobile devices. With Messages, you can send texts, iMessages, photos and audio/video messages on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

By using a combination of a twisting motion and the proximity sensor, Messages lets you respond to an audio message by lifting the device to your ear, as if you were talking on the phone.

This even works on the Lock screen. Upon playing a soft chime, Messages starts recording your audio response. It's very convenient but sometimes doesn't work as intended. As a result, Messages may randomly start recording audio in certain situations.

Thankfully, you can prevent this from happening by flipping a switch. In this post, you will learn how to disable this feature, which Apple refers to as Raise to Listen.

Apple reportedly buys artificial intelligence startup Emotient

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 16, 2018

Apple has reportedly purchased Emotient, Inc., a privately held San Diego-based artificial intelligence startup, according to Dow Jones. No price was given for the deal. Emotient, according to its website, is the leader in emotion detection and sentiment analysis.

The company's products are used for gauging emotional response by way of measuring facial expressions, allowing it to basically read people’s emotions from live video.

Check out Pavilion, a high-performance, gorgeously designed wireless speaker

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 7, 2016

If you're in the market for a great-looking wireless speaker for your desktop that packs some rather advanced audio technology in a sleek frame, look no further than the Pavilion, a new project that recently launched on Kickstarter and has already raised almost $50,000 funding out of the $70,000 target.

The Pavilion is a high-performance wireless speaker that looks gorgeous. It has a unique D-spiral acoustic system and definitely feels luxurious thanks to the clever use of different materials.

Remix OS will bring Android to your Mac

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 7, 2016

Are you itching to see for yourself what life is like on the “other” mobile platform, Google's Android, but the very thought of switching sends shivers up your spine? Enter Remix OS, a software platform founded by three ex-Google employees that lets you boot straight to Android on your Mac or Windows PC.

Unlike similar solutions that let you run Android apps in a windowed mode, Remix OS has a dedicated desktop user interface, runs a custom engineered version of Android Lollipop with Google Play services, meaning you can download and run just about any Android app no your desktop, including Microsoft Office, YouTube, Google Maps and many more.

iPhone 6s Smart Battery Case: One month later

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

It's been about a month since I purchased Apple's highly-polarizing Smart Battery Case for the iPhone 6s. During this period of time, I've been using the case almost non-stop. I did remove the Smart Battery Case for a few days during the past month to see what life was like without the extra battery life, but I was happy to return to it not long after my experiment.

Most, if not all, of my initial impressions still hold up a month later. The Smart Battery Case might not be the best looking design to come out of Cupertino, but in real world usage, this thing is a winner.

Facebook Messenger reaches the milestone of 800 million monthly users

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 7, 2016

Facebook Messenger has reached a new milestone as the service now claims 800 million monthly users, according to an announcement from Facebook itself on Thursday. “I’m happy to report that we’ve made a good step in that direction, and toward the end of 2015, we crossed the milestone of 800 million people using Messenger each month,” according to David Marcus, Facebook's Vice President of Messaging Products.

The new milestone, according to latest Nielsen data, makes Messenger the fastest growing app of 2015.

Moment Lens takes iPhone photography to the next level

Lory Gil ∙ January 7, 2016

We've introduced you to a number of different lens accessories in the past for our spotlight series. There are plenty out there to cover your iPhone photography needs, from dedicated cases specific to the iPhone 6s to clip on lenses that can be used with any device.

Some of our readers have asked about the Moment Lens. While this particular product hasn't been around long enough to generate a solid consumer review base, we checked out the Moment Lens line and think it looks amazing. We haven't had a chance to test these products in the wild. So, if you own the Moment Lens kit, tell us what you think of it in the comments section.

The Moment Lens kit takes iPhone photography a step further with high-quality ED glass with multi-layer anti-reflection coating that is specially designed to provide a sharp picture across the screen.

How to delete comments on Vine

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 9, 2019

I don't know about you, but I've adopted a habit of diligently going through the comments other people publish on my social media posts. I do it on a regular basis because there's nothing I hate more than seeing NSFW language or insults by other people on my posts.

Vine, a short-form video sharing service owned by Twitter, is especially notorious for attracting all sorts of commenters, many of whom just spew hate.

But worry not, ladies and gents, this quick tutorial will show you how easy it actually is to remove any offending comments from your post.

Well-known hacker teases iOS 9.2.1 jailbreak

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

iOS 9.2.1 isn't even out of beta yet, but a well-known iOS hacker is already flaunting a purported jailbreak for the unreleased software. Luca Todesco, better known as @qwertyoruiop, teased an iPhone 6 screenshot of Cydia running on iOS 9.2.1 beta.

Whether the jailbreak is legit is still up for debate, but he's no slouch when it comes to security research involving iOS. In fact, Todesco was recently credited by Apple in one of its iOS security fix acknowledgements for iOS 9.2.

Will this jailbreak ever see the light of day as a public release?

Vidyo: iOS screen recording, no jailbreak required [updated]

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Vidyo is a new screen recorder app that recently appeared in the App Store. First discovered by MacStories, the $4.99 app is not cheap, but it works.

By simulating an AirPlay Mirroring connection to itself, Vidyo is able to capture any screen displayed on your iPhone. Once recording is completed, users have the option of doing additional post processing and saving the video to the Photos app.

If you want the ability to record your iPhone's screen natively without relying on jailbreaks or external hardware, then you better act fast and purchase and backup Vidyo. This app will likely be removed soon, as it features functionality that Apple's reviewers have previously rejected apps for once discovered.