iDownloadBlog.com

Chinese scalpers now selling Genius Bar appointments online

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

Scalpers stop at nothing to make a few bucks off Apple's popularity around the world, and especially in the 1.33 billion people market that is China. As you know, large-scale buyers are known for paying scalpers to stand overnight in snaking queues and buy Apple devices in bulk to resell at a premium.

According to a report Monday, scalpers now have a new innovative technique: they are booking up all available Genius Bar appointments in Apple's retail stores in China for the purposes of selling these slots online...

Apple trims Android’s U.S. smartphone lead as Verizon sells most iPhones

Ed Sutherland ∙ July 29, 2013

Apple is making a slight dent in Android's lead among U.S. smartphone owners, picking up more than three percentage points of market share at the end of the June 2013 quarter. By comparison, Google's mobile software slipped a bit, giving up almost one percent, according to new research.

By the end of the June quarter, Apple's iOS had 42.5 percent of the U.S. smartphone market, up from 39.2 percent a year earlier. By contrast, Android fell to 51.5 percent from 52.6 percent during the same period, according to research firm Kantar Monday...

FindIt: a simple iPhone app for searching Gmail, Dropbox and more

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 27, 2018

Folks with Gmail, Dropbox and/or Google Drive accounts will be happy to hear that there is a new app available that allows you to search through them with a single tap. It's called FindIt, and it can locate emails and files for you on all three services.

Need to pull up an old email? No problem. Just type in the name of the person who sent it to you, or part of its subject line, and FindIt will track it down. And the same goes with media and other file types. Think Spotlight search for your cloud apps...

Apple to distribute free iBooks to employees ahead of Mavericks, iOS 7 Launch

Cody Lee ∙ July 29, 2013

Apple will begin providing its Apple Store employees with free iBooks titles next week as part of a new 'iBooks Discovery' program. According to a new report, the company announced the initiative at its quarterly retail meetings, which took place over the weekend.

The move is said to be part of an effort to get retail staffers more familiar with both the iBookstore and the iBooks app ahead of the arrival of iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks this fall. Apple is reportedly looking to make a heavy retail push for both operating systems...

Apple investigating claims of ‘serious’ labor rights violations at Pegatron

Cody Lee ∙ July 29, 2013

New York-based China Labor Watch has accused Apple manufacturing partner Pegatron of 'serious' labor violations this morning. In a new report out today, the organization claims the device-maker is committing of 86 labor rights violations in three of its factories.

Among the infractions listed in the filing are the employment of underage workers, insufficient employee wages, and poor working conditions. In all, the watchdog group says that it found Pegatron to be guilty of 36 legal infringements and 50 ethical infringements...

SVP of Technologies Bob Mansfield no longer on Leadership team, Apple confirms

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Bob Mansifeld, Apple's Senior Vice President of Technologies, has been removed from the company's Leadership web page without explanation.

This is newsworthy because rarely does it slip Apple to pull corporate description of a high-ranked executive without announcing a leadership change beforehand.

Hopefully, Apple wouldn’t just take his description page down without an announcement so this could be some sort of a slip up, though the chances of that are very slim.

Update: a Reuters reporter has an official statement from Apple...

HopStop adds real-time incident reporting and more in first update since Apple acquisition

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

Earlier this month, Apple confirmed that it had acquired yet another mapping software company. Its name is HopStop, and it's behind the highly popular smartphone app of the same name that provides subway schedules, maps, and a slew of other useful transit data.

And this weekend, the app gets even better with its first update since word got out about Apple's acquisition. The update brings the app to version 2.6, and includes a handful of new features and improvements such as real time delay and incident reporting, and more...

Huge collection of forgotten 80s Apple ads surface on YouTube

Cody Lee ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

If you're looking for a way to kill your Sunday afternoon, you might try checking out the YouTube channel EveryAppleAds. The channel, as the name implies, hosts a massive collection of TV commercials for Apple products from the past few decades.

These guys have been steadily posting ads over the last several months. But just within the past week or so, they've started adding vintage Apple television spots from the 1980s that you've either forgotten about, or more likely, never knew existed...

Wallpapers of the Week: pastel purity perfect for iOS 7

Jim Gresham ∙ Updated September 26, 2016

As we are now posting the fourth wallpaper article in the new Wallpapers of the Week, I dare continue to proclaim it is a new post. One month in, we are going strong with the series, which has become a popular weekly installment on the site. Thanks to those of you that are participating by sending over your suggestions and personal work.

If you will allow, another brief explanation of the posts. I am curating two wallpapers each week for iOS devices. Many of you have questioned why we cannot provide multiple versions of the wallpapers we are posting. The easy answer, artists do not necessarily create multiple versions of their graphics. Our goal is to provide you with at least two options each week. If the artists provide multiple versions, rest assured, they will be available in the post and I'm certain you will enjoy this week's additions...

Sketchy photos claim to show budget ‘iPhone 5C’ packaging

Cody Lee ∙ July 28, 2013

A new set of photos hit the web this morning, showing a number of boxes with the label 'iPhone 5C' on the side. Our first instinct is, of course, that these boxes belong to one of the many iPhone clones circulating about Asia. But on the off chance that there's more to it than that, we've posted them.

The images come courtesy of Nowhereelse.fr, who has posted accurate photos of leaked parts in the past, and their theory on them is actually quite interesting. The site suggests that it's possible that these plastic boxes are the packaging for Apple's rumored budget iPhone, expected to debut this fall...

The iDownloadBlog top news stories of the week

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated April 25, 2017

Like every Sunday, we bring you the stories that were the most popular on iDB during this past week. Whether it is a news piece, an editorial, a tutorial, a new jailbreak tweak, or an accessory review, we sum it all up in one convenient place.

If you like what you're reading, please make sure to spread the love by sharing our posts on your favorite social network.

We're usually hanging out a lot on Twitter and Facebook, more rarely on Google+.

Dev Center is back! New in iOS 7: smart ‘send from’ in Mail Apple makes its blockbuster Fall kind of official Beat Jony Ive at his own game using this interactive iOS 7 design tool Rumor: Apple to discontinue iPhone 5 alongside budget, 5S launch Plastic iPhone shell compared to 3GS, iPod touch in new hi-res video ‘UnthreadedJB’ untethered jailbreak released for CDMA iPhone 4 on iOS 5.1 New Nexus 7 vs iPad mini comparison [Video] Over 700 million phones could be vulnerable to SIM card flaw Would you pay again for iOS 7 versions of apps you already own? Instagram users hacked by smoothie spammer Apps of the week: djay 2, Iron Force, rithm, and more Wallpapers of last week: flat toned and brilliant wallpapers

Of course, don't forget to listen to the latest episode of our podcast, Let's Talk Jailbreak:

We’re social! Find iDB on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, App.net, YouTube, and in your RSS reader. Also make sure to subscribe to our new podcast!

Viber attack may have been more broad than initially thought [updated]

Cody Lee ∙ Updated August 24, 2016

Internet companies beware, hackers are out in full force this month. In the past two weeks, we've seen Apple's Dev Center hacked, several Instagram accounts hacked, and the popular voice and messaging service Viber attacked.

Viber claims, though, that the damage it suffered from its breach was minimal, saying the attacker only gained access to two minor support systems. But a quick glance at its App Store description suggests that wasn't the case...