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Is Apple boosting rankings of its own apps on App Store’s Top Free charts?

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 16, 2015

A sneaking suspicion that Apple could be taking advantage of the App Store's charts to promote its own apps at the expense of others has received a prominent, though inconclusive, confirmation in today's TechCrunch report.

The publication noticed that multiple Apple apps such as Pages, Keynote and Numbers are being listed on the App Store's Top Free charts on some iOS 9.1 devices in higher positions than they would normally rank.

These same apps are ranked differently in the App Store within desktop iTunes and on other iOS devices. So, what's going on here?

Facebook deep links will begin to soon surface in Google search results

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 16, 2015

As reported by The Wall Street Journal this morning, your Google search results will soon start to serve deep links based on content from Facebook's mobile app which, when clicked, will take you straight to the relevant part of the Facebook app.

A spokeswoman for Google parent Alphabet has confirmed the feature will begin to roll out soon.

Last month, the Internet giant announced integration between its search engine and iOS 9 apps via so-called App Indexing feature and today's announcement delivers on that promise.

Many iPad Pro owners are complaining about unresponsiveness after long charge

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 11, 2016

A couple of threads are currently growing on Reddit and the Apple Support Communities forums, with a significant number of lucky owners of the iPad Pro complaining that their device becomes unresponsive after being charged for a lengthy period. This typically occurs during overnight charging.

The annoying issues causes the device to require a hard restart to restore functionality. Apple had not commented on the hiccup publicly at the time of this writing, and almost certainly will not.

Waze gains 3D Touch shortcuts on iPhone 6s

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 16, 2015

Google-owned social-mapping and traffic service Waze today pushed an update to its iPhone application in the App Store, adding handy shortcuts available upon pressing its Home screen icon on the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.

Waze's 3D Touch shortcuts provide access to popular features like address search, location sharing and turn-by-turn navigation based on your work and home address on file.

Tim Cook on why making converged Mac and iPad doesn’t make sense

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 16, 2015

Apple CEO Tim Cook sat down with The Independent to talk the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, Apple's latest addition to the iPad lineup.

Asked to shed more light on his statement to The Daily Telegraph last week that most mainstream consumers might no longer be interested in buying a PC, Cook reiterated that “We don’t regard Macs and PCs to be the same” and argued that people “are not really looking for a converged Mac and iPad”.

Another analyst calls for 4″ iPhone 6c in mid-2016

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 30, 2016

Apple's rumored refresh of the four-inch iPhone lineup is yet again being pegged for a summer 2016 launch in another analyst note.

Kevin Wang, IHS’s Technology Research Director in China, wrote in a post on Chinese microblogging service Sina Weibo that the new handset, reportedly branded as 'iPhone 6c,' is expected to be released in mid-2016 featuring the same four-inch form factor as the iPhone 5c.

WhatsApp picks up 3D Touch Peek and Pop, redesigned settings and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 16, 2015

Facebook-owned WhatsApp today issued a new update to its iPhone application in the App Store which brings extended support for 3D Touch on the iPhone6s and iPhone 6s Plus with Peek and Pop gestures for previewing chats without actually opening them.

The app's also gained a redesigned settings interface, the ability to browse your starred messages in one place and optionally include rich previews when sharing links.

The Room Three review: same great puzzle solving, but with more room to move

Lory Gil ∙ Updated April 19, 2018

Fireproof Games has made a name for itself on iOS with one series of games. The Room won Apple's Game of the Year in 2012. The sequel, The Room Two, came out in late 2013 and transported players to a new location with plenty of new and intricate puzzles. It was also named as one of Apples Best Of games in 2013.

The Room Three is already proving to be of the same stellar quality as its predecessors. After two similar titles, will players get tired of the same thing again? We have a full game review of The Room Three for you today.

Get in the shot with the Accmor Rhythm tripod/selfie stick combo

Lory Gil ∙ November 16, 2015

Selfie sticks may be getting banned all over the place these days, but they are still a useful addition to an iPhone photographer's accessory kit. How else are you going to make sure you are in the shot?

The Accmor Rhythm is more than just a selfie stick. It is also a tabletop tripod and comes with a Bluetooth-connected remote so you don't even have to worry about setting a timer before getting in the picture.

James Bond Spectre wallpapers

Jim Gresham ∙ Updated April 19, 2018

The recently released James Bond film Spectre has been showing good numbers in the box office. A harkening back to the good old days of Bond, Spectre is full of gadgets, cars, and explosions. It puts Casino Royal's only gadget, the heart defibrillator, to shame, but Spectre doesn't quite hang with Skyfall.

My personal movie commentary aside, it was a bang up James Bond film and a few iOS device wallpapers will show your support. Inside, there are Spectre wallpapers for iPhone, iPad, and desktop. Although today's Wallpapers of the Week post is a mixed bag of devices, there is something for everyone.

Tweaks of the week: BackupAZ, Eclipse, Lylac, NCCards, and more

Sébastien Page ∙ November 15, 2015

Another week, another steady flow of new tweaks. We're still waiting for that one tweak that could potentially take the crown of best tweak of the year, but in the meantime, we'll remain grateful for what we have.

Slightly off topic, if you haven't yet, you should listen to this week's episode of Let's Talk Jailbreak where I talk to Kevin Bradley (aka nitoTV) about the history of Apple TV jailbreaking.

Lylac jailbreak tweak lets you customize your iPhone’s App Switcher

Jeff Benjamin ∙ November 15, 2015

Lylac is a recently released jailbreak tweak that functions as an infusion of Control Center and the iOS App Switcher. Like many tweaks before it, Lylac aims to merge both interfaces together for the sake of convenience.

Along with the merged App Switcher interface, Lylac brings additional menus to the App Switcher for performing resprings, reboots, killing apps, and other similar tasks. The tweak also allows users to change the App Switcher layout, and alter the look of the interface using tint and blur value changes.