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Why I love the 11-inch MacBook Air

Jeff Benjamin ∙ November 30, 2013

If you follow my rants on Let’s Talk iOS then you know that there’s a running joke about how many times I change my mind. In the last 2 years, I’ve switched from an iMac, MacBook Pro, another iMac, a MacBook Air, a Retina MacBook Pro and another MacBook Air. I don’t have to tell you that that’s insane, and probably not a healthy way to go about living your life.

But I’ve settled. I’ve settled on the machine for me. That machine is the 11" MacBook Air. It’s the MacBook with the exceptionally long battery life due to its Haswell processor. This — and trust me I would know — is the perfect computer for me. It’s probably the perfect computer for you as well; you just don’t realize it yet.

We Play: Super Hexagon

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated December 4, 2013

The iPhone and iPad are serious gaming devices. If you ask me, games are one of the best perks about owning an iOS device. The problem is that, just like with virtually every other genre of app on the App Store, there's an abundance of games available and many of them can be quite terrible.

With that in mind, I've decided to start a new series showcasing some of the games available on iOS. Unlike a normal post, I'll actually add video along with commentary of myself playing the game. By doing this, you'll be able to better gauge whether or not the game is right for you.

I'll be doing this a lot with new releases, but I'll also dig back in my stash of previous gems that everyone should know about. The first game in this series is a game that's been available for quite some time now—the legendary Terry Cavanagh's Super Hexagon. This is far and away one of my favorite games for iOS, because it has the perfect mix of drama and replay-ability. Watch me play Super Hexagon after the break.

Yoink is an awesome drag and drop utility for the Mac

Jeff Benjamin ∙ November 29, 2013

Sometimes dragging and dropping items between multiple windows and full screen apps and folders can be challenging. But dragging and dropping doesn’t have to be a tedious or perplexing task. One of my favorite utilities for the Mac is called Yoink, and it allows you to simplify the process of dragging and dropping on OS X.

Its description in the Mac App Store states that Yoink simplifies drag and drop between windows, apps, spaces and fullscreen apps. As a long time user of the tool, I can vouch for developer Matthias Gansringler’s description. As you’ll see in the video walkthrough that follows, Yoink is one of those apps that you don’t realize you need until you see it in action. Have a look inside for the full walkthrough.

ScreenFlow 4.5 released with new transitions, asynchronous uploads, and more

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

ScreenFlow is, in my opinion, the best screen recording software available for the Mac. It's what I use each and every day to create a lot of the video content that you see on iDB. Its developer, Telestream Inc., has made the app available on both the Mac App Store and via direct download from its website.

Unfortunately, as with a lot of the apps that feature Mac App Store versions and direct download versions, the Mac App Store release lags behind. ScreenFlow is stuck at version 4.0.4 on the Mac App Store, while the direct download version recently got updated to version 4.5. For that reason, I recommend buying the direct download version, because that version gets updates much faster than the Mac App Store version.

It’s also a great time to buy the direct download version, because Telestream is having a 30% off sale. This means you can snag ScreenFlow 4.5 for under $70 bucks. That’s a steal for this type of powerful software, as it's usually $100 bucks.

Version 4.5 of ScreenFlow is a huge update, which brings numerous new features, improvements and bug fixes to the table. Have a look inside to see what all has changed.

Apple files complaint over exorbitant lawyer fees in e-book antitrust suit

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 30, 2016

If you were a lawyer and Apple hired you on legal matters, what would your charge Tim Cook & Co. for services rendered? A hundred bucks per hour? Three hundred bucks?

How about a whopping $1,150 per hour fee plus a fifteen percent "administrative fee" on top? That's what one Michael Bromwich attempted to bill Apple for a fortnight's worth of work on overseeing the electronic books price-fixing antitrust case.

But having a deep-pocketed client such as Apple is by no means a guarantee of the hefty payout, as court-appointed Bromwich discovered after the iPhone maker filed a formal objection over the exorbitant fees...

iPhone tops Yahoo UK’s 2013 tech searches

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 29, 2013

Rivals often point to Apple's sub-20 percent share of the global smartphone market as a proof of sorts that the iPhone has run its course. In reality, the device remains the most sought-after item in technology which people searched for most on the web throughout the year, at least among the British.

According to Yahoo UK's annual roundup of trends and stories gleaned from the billions of online searches throughout the year 2013, the iPhone was the most searched-for technology item this year. After the Apple handset, Yahoo's UK users were most interested in Amazon's second-ranked Kindle e-reader and Samsung's third-placed Galaxy brand.

Apple's iPad and Sony's new PlayStation 4 round up the top five most searched-for tech items on Yahoo UK (the Xbox One ranked sixth)...

Boxie goes free: everyone can now prettify their Dropbox

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 13, 2018

As a Dropbox power user on a daily basis, I am very dissatisfied with their mobile app because it leaves a lot to be desired in terms of advanced capabilities, so much so that I've recently become a Boxie convert and never looked back.

This awesome Dropbox client for the iPhone and iPad used to cost two bucks so I imagine the price tag must have put off a lot of would-be users, especially give Dropbox’s own official iPhone and iPad client is free in the App Store and good enough for most of casual Dropbox users.

Those who depend on Dropbox will be happy learning that developer Tapwings has now completely removed barrier to entry because starting today, you can download Boxie free from the App Store (the price cut is permanent).

Dropbox fans would be wise to immediately treat themselves to this awesome app which will soup up your Dropbox experience with the elegant user interface while allowing for some advanced features not supported by Dropbox’s own app.

I'm talking stuff like moving an item in a folder via drag-and-drop, per-folder sorting, ZIP archive extraction, direct Dropbox-to-Dropbox transfer and lots more...

Spotify update brings Browse mode to iPad, lets you follow friends/artists and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 26, 2016

The Swedish streaming music startup Spotify has pushed a new update to its free iPhone and iPad client today. The new Spotify 0.9.1 enables the Browse mode on iPads, while bringing the ability to follow friends and artists, enabling the search/public toggle for playlists on the iPhone and introducing more responsive searching and revamped playlists, along with the usual bug fixes and performance improvements.

Spotify, which received its major iOS 7 update on October 22, two months ago brought out the completely revamped Browse tab. Basically a new way to search for music, Browse taps a simplified interface for finding your favorite artists and albums or discovering new ones with just a few taps.

Browse used to be iPhone-only, but today's update brings the feature to iPad devices as well while replacing the old What’s New view...

Apple’s gift card-only Black Friday deals now live in North America, cash discounts in Europe

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 29, 2016

Following Apple's Black Friday deals that went live yesterday on the Australian web store, the company this morning refreshed its United States and Canadian outlets with 2013 Black Friday promotion.

Just as we suspected, this year the iPhone maker has rather disappointedly opted not to offer actual discounts on products and instead is luring shoppers with Apple Store Gift Cards, redeemable against purchases solely at a later date.

Apple has never offered deep Black Friday discounts and this year's gift card-only promotion will no doubt disappoint bargain hunters who'll be better served shopping elsewhere (iDownloadBlog has you covered with a comprehensive roundup of Black Friday deals)...

iTranslate goes universal, adds native iOS 7 iPad UI

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 19, 2018

I generally dig software by German developer Sonico Mobile. As I'm not a native English speaker, you could imagine Sonico's free translator and dictionary program called iTranslate is one of the apps I always keep on my Home screen no matter what. I'm happy to report that the team has now produced a universal binary which perfectly adopts to iOS 7 by functionality and design.

The new iTranslate for iPhone and iPad is now available free in the App Store, bringing with it the native iPad interface featuring revamped appearance for iOS 7 aesthetics. Check out the screenshots and additional tidbits right after the break...

iTV Shows 3 lets you track your favorite TV shows in style

Lory Gil ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

For some people, watching television is a ritual that cannot be disrupted. I have a few friends that won’t even go out on certain nights because they don’t want to miss their shows. Keeping track of past and future episodes can be a daunting task if you are an avid TV viewer.

iTV Shows 3 is a powerful TV tracker that uses multiple comprehensive databases to help you keep a schedule of shows you want to watch. Plus, TV tracking has never looked so good with this interface…

Pebble Smartwatch: some thoughts on why the smart watch is here to stay

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Believe it or not, but Monday marked my first hands-on experience with the Pebble Smartwatch. I’ve striven to avoid the product all of these months, because I figured that Apple would eventually get around to making a “real” smart watch.

Apple still might do that, but its time table hasn’t aligned with the expectations of the tech blogging industry, mine included. Apple never said that it was working on a wearable, so it’s really our fault for creating such expectations.

In the meantime, the Pebble Smartwatch and its SDK have had plenty of time to marinate and mature. The latest update to Pebble’s software brings with it systemwide notifications, and there’s no hacking or jailbreaking needed to do that. In the eyes of many, that’s enough to make the Pebble Smartwatch worthy of serious consideration, and I tend to agree.