Using pre-release software? You beta be sure

Oliver Haslam ∙ March 25, 2015

So there I was, two days into my carrier's billing cycle looking at a text message saying I had used 80% of my 2GB data allowance. I'd used 1.6GB of 4G data in a couple of days, and I have Wi-Fi at home and at work. In fact, the only place I don't have Wi-Fi in my day-to-day life is my car.

I'd used 1.6GB of 4G data in my car. How?

The answer came after much toggling of iOS option switches, browsing of websites and general trial and error. It turned out the 'Documents and Sync' portion of the inner workings of iOS was eating data like there was no tomorrow, which, once it reached that 2GB cap, wasn't far from the truth. I had to buy more data just to give me wiggle room to do some more testing and once I knew where in iOS I could specifically track the usage that was causing me problems, I had somewhere to start.

Now believe it or not this post isn't about hunting for strange iOS bugs and squashing them with the contempt that they deserve. It's not even to point out that the culprit, after it was first thought to be iCloud Drive and in particular my favorite text editor, was actually iCloud Photo Library. It's to remind everyone that betas aren't as fun as you may think.

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Facebook turns Messenger into a platform, opens API to third-party developers

Jake Smith ∙ March 25, 2015

Facebook unveiled at its F8 Developer Conference on Wednesday it will make its Messenger API available to third-party developers, making Messenger a platform, like previously reported.

Developers will not only be able to hook their apps into the service, but Messenger users will also be able to install apps and make purchases inside Messenger. Facebook says 40 apps are launching within Facebook Messenger right away. 

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2K’s best iOS games are on sale, starting with BioShock at $3 and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 30, 2018

Publisher 2K Games is having a killer Spring Sale deal on its premium 2014 releases in the App Store, reports TouchArcade. Avid gamers can now grab triple-As at a sharp discount, for a limited time. iPhone and iPad titles like BioShock, NBA 2K15, NHL 2K and others are now available starting at just three bucks each.

BioShock for iOS, for example, can be now yours in exchange for $2.99, down sharply from its usual asking price of $10.99. This is actually the first time BioShock has been discounted below five bucks since its release on the App Store.

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Google to take on Twitch with own game streaming video service

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 2, 2018

Google is going to announce a new YouTube-branded live video streaming service with an emphasis on gaming, according to the British newspaper The Guardian on Wednesday citing a scoop by tech blog The Daily Dot.

The Internet giant is reportedly prepping to introduce its live-streaming service under the YouTube Live moniker. YouTube Live will apparently relaunch later this year, re-focused on game streaming and e-sports.

Such turn of events wasn't entirely unexpected. A year ago, Google wanted to buy Twitch but has failed to seal the deal and got outbid by Amazon, which paid a cool $1 billion for the popular game-streaming service.

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Users reporting problems accessing App Store and iTunes (update: back up again)

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 25, 2015

A growing number of users are taking to Twitter this morning to complain of yet another outage affecting Apple's App Store and the iTunes Store. Several folks around the world have reported problems purchasing new applications, with the App Store and iTunes returning a "The item you've requested is not currently available” error message.

Others complain about not being able to conduct searches for content on the iTunes Store and App Store and download apps and other content.

UPDATE 11:35am ET: all systems seem to have become operational again following a brief outage that lasted about an hour or so.

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Google working to let you pay bills from directly within Gmail

Jake Smith ∙ March 25, 2015

Google is working on a new service that will allow you to pay your bills from directly within your Gmail email inbox, ridding of the need to visit multiple websites every time you pay your bills each month.

Recode was able to get its hands on all the details for the secret project, dubbed "Pony Express". Internally, it's being called "the future of paper mail" and is expected to roll out in the fourth quarter of 2015.

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Apple’s iSpaceship campus will use recycled water

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 30, 2017

Apple's upcoming Campus 2 building, nicknamed by the press iSpaceship due to its appearance resembling a flying saucer that has just landed in a field, will be more environmentally friendly than initially thought with news Wednesday that the facility will take full advantage of recycled water.

As reported by The San Jose Mercury News, the Santa Clara Valley Water District board last night approved a $17.5 million project that will deepen the use of recycled water in the parched South Bay “and make Apple's futuristic new campus a little bit greener.”

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Apple building futuristic looking technology center in Yokohama, Japan

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2016

Apple is building a futuristic looking, large-scale technology development center in Yokohama, Japan, home to nearly four million people, reports the NHK News website. The city of Yokohama held a press conference today to announce the project.

City officials have even provided renderings depicting the scope of the project and Apple's unusual design for a massive, environment friendly R&D building.

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AKMessages can make using the stock Messages app faster

Jeff Benjamin ∙ March 25, 2015

Wouldn’t it be nice if the keyboard interface opened automatically when tapping on a conversation thread in the stock Messages app? The developer of AKMessages must have thought so, because that’s the exact premise behind his new jailbreak tweak.

Like TypeTab, another tweak that we recently reviewed, AKMessages reduces the amount of friction in your day-to-day app activities. Have a look at our video walkthrough to see how it eliminates the need for you to perform a tap before you start typing within the Messages app.

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Review: Fantastical 2 for Mac

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 25, 2015

The sequel to the popular language-parsing calendar utility for the Mac has arrived and it's everything you've been hoping for! Much more than a major new update, Fantastical 2 for Mac is a whole new app that feels instantly familiar while offering productivity-boosting improvements.

In addition to the revamped appearance optimized for OS X Yosemite's look and feel, Fantastical 2 is now a proper replacement for Apple's stock Calendar and Reminders apps.

Fantastical 2 has its own full-blown window and gorgeous full-screen mode while its menu bar thing can now be detached and dragged anywhere on the screen. The software is packed to the gills with a bevy of new features like iCloud Reminders and time zone support, light/dark theme, birthday reminders, a more powerful and friendlier natural language parser and more.

As a whole, the app feels tighter and more streamlined. Developer Flexibits was kind enough to put me on its limited list of beta testers, this is what I was able to gather from my weeklong hands-on time with the software.

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