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Leaked screenies show off VoIP calling in WhatsApp’s upcoming iPhone update

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 9, 2016

As you know, the world's most popular mobile messaging software, WhatsApp, is being purchased by the social networking giant Facebook for a staggering $16 billion.

WhatsApp previously promised to introduce VoIP calling in the second quarter of this year, a move poised to turn the tables on competition like Viber, now owned by Rakuten.

While Viber last December unveiled a new Skype-like Viber Out feature for making low-cost outgoing calls to international mobile and landline numbers, a set of screenshots leaked on Friday purportedly depicting what WhatsApp's VoIP calling will look like in its iPhone application, a free download from the App Store...

‘Badger’ attempts to bring notification enhancements to iOS 7

Jeff Benjamin ∙ March 14, 2014

Badger—the tweak that allows you to swipe up on app icons to view a list of related notifications—has been updated to work with iOS 7. It's a jailbreak release focused solely on notifications, and it features the ability to display a roll-up of all notifications from a variety of apps.

Badger is one of those tweaks that seems extremely useful when you see it in action. Unfortunately, that usefulness doesn't always translate well into real-world day-to-day usage. Like the previous version of Badger, the iOS 7 version lacks the practicality to make it more than your average technical demonstration.

It's frustrating to me, because the developer of Badger is extremely nice, and an overall good-guy. I really want to like his tweak, but of course, I can't just outright recommend a tweak because I happen to like its developer. I've always striven to be a straight-shooting person when it comes to spending your hard-earned money, and that's the case here.

iOS 8: better inter-app sharing, improvements to Messages, Notification Center, CarPlay and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 14, 2014

Continuing on his series of iOS 8 scoops, the usually reliable Apple blogger Mark Gurman is out with a new story offering alleged new findings pertaining to iOS 8's Notification Center, Messages, Game Center, Voice Memos, CarPlay and inter-app communication.

The latter is obviously the highlight of the report because unlike Android, iOS has been plagued with very limited inter-app sharing. As a result, operations that are normally trivial on Android are virtually impossible on iOS.

For instance, there's no way to edit a photo in one app and send it, say, to the Instagram app without having to go through the cumbersome process of exporting the image to your Camera roll first and then manually importing it into Instagram.

According to the report, iOS 8 could finally fix this problem. Jump past the fold for the full reveal...

Flipboard update brings direct sharing

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 14, 2014

A new update to the magazine-style social news reading app, Flipboard, has expanded sharing features with a new ability to share articles directly with other Flipboard users.

You've always been able to share stories on social networks like Facebook, Twitter and more, but you can now send an article over to a friend on Flipboard directly.

Your friends will receive the message both inside the Flipboard app and in an email message.

Additionally, you'll receive handy notifications when other people on Flipboard share stories with you. This update is now live and available free of charge right in the App Store so go ahead and grab it now while it's hot...

Apple launches new ‘Sharing Selfies’ section in the App Store

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 5, 2018

Oxford Dictionary named 'selfie' its Word of the Year for 2013, and it's not hard to see why. The act of taking a selfie—a photo taken of you, by you—has moved on from bathroom mirrors and is now at the Oscars and the red carpet of the Prince's Trust Awards—you name it.

Perhaps looking to capitalize on the hype, Apple has launched a new section in its App Store specifically for apps that specialize in taking self portraits. Aptly named 'Sharing Selfies,' the section highlights various apps like Snapchat, Frontback, FaceTune and Selfie Cam...

FCC approves AT&T’s $1.3 billion acquisition of Leap Wireless

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Last summer, AT&T announced that it had reached an acquisition deal with Leap Wireless. The company said that it would be buying out the provider, which owns and operates the popular prepaid carrier Cricket, for $15 per share—equal to $1.3 billion. All it needed was approval from the FCC.

And it just got it. Yesterday the Federal Communications Commission gave AT&T's acquisition proposal a thumbs up, ruling that "the public interest benefits of the proposed transaction outweigh the likelihood of significant public interest harms." So what does this mean for everybody involved?

Apple pushing iPhone 5c with new animated web ads

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Apple has been having a little more trouble selling the iPhone 5c than it anticipated. We've known this for a long time, and Tim Cook himself confirmed it during the company's last earnings call, essentially telling analysts that the handset has not been as popular as they expected.

But instead of throwing in the towel, Apple appears to be experimenting with a new advertising campaign to push the device. Animated ads, like the one you see in the screenshot above, have begun popping up on high profile websites like Tumblr, Yahoo and The New York Times...

How to get iDownloadBlog headlines in Notification Center or Control Center

Jeff Benjamin ∙ March 13, 2014

If you're an avid iDB reader, and let's face it—you should be—then I suggest you check out two recently released jailbreak tweaks that allow you to add our headlines to Control Center or Notification Center in iOS 7. Aptly entitled iDownloadBlog for Control Center and iDownloadBlog for Notification Center, these new jailbreak tweaks make it easy to stay up to date with all of the latest Apple news.

We've taken both tweaks for a spin on video, and while we weren't blown away by the presentation, we did find them to be pretty handy additions for iDB fiends. Have a look inside as we step through the features.

Theme Thursday: Newport for iOS 7, Trima HD and Lucid

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

We're back with the seventh edition of Theme Thursday, a weekly column that promotes some of the best Winterboard theme releases for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. This column has mostly been experimental up until this point, as we continue to gauge the feedback from our readers. What we heard last week was that many of the themes looked very similar to each other, so this week we've tried to make things more unique…

Apple seeds second OS X 10.9.3 beta to developers

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Apple has seeded the second OS X 10.9.3 to registered Mac developers this afternoon. The release comes one week after Apple released the first beta of 10.9.3, which added enhanced 4K display support.

The new beta build is available to registered Mac developers through the Software Update tab in the Mac App Store, or as a complete download via the Mac section of Apple’s online developer portal…

Twelve South unveils Rutledge BookBook case that gives your MacBook unique look

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 13, 2014

It's all too easy to get lost in a dizzying array of accessories for Apple devices, especially with too many companies rehashing same old ideas and doing the exact same thing. That's why my initial experience with Twelve South instantly made me a believer.

They've been crafting gorgeous, functional accessories exclusively for Apple products since 2009, prompting big media like Forbes to suggest that Apple should just buy them outright.

And not because of the profits, but due to Twelve South's thoughtful design which is often reminiscent of the utmost care that can be observed in every aspect of Apple's industrial design.

On Thursday, the Charleston, South Carolina firm launched the Rutledge BookBook, a new edition of its popular BookBook case for MacBooks, hand-distressed to give each one a slightly different appearance, so no two look exactly alike...

Plex update adds free Chromecast support, automatic photo uploads and more

Cody Lee ∙ March 13, 2014

Good news for Plex users this afternoon. The popular streaming media platform has updated its iOS client, bringing the app to version 3.4. The update brings about a number of changes, including free Chromecast support, as well as support for play queues & shuffle support.

While the Plex app previously supported Google's Chromecast digital media player, the feature required a [paid] Plex Pass subscription. But now, it's available to everyone for free, allowing all users to stream videos, photos and music from their iOS devices to their television sets...