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Nervous Wall Street expects flat June quarter on lack of major product launches

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

Tuesday is either report card day or judgement day for Apple, depending on your particular doom-and-gloom scenario. The iPhone maker is expected to report a flat mid-summer quarter as investors question whether the best days of the company are behind it.

At the same time, observers see the third quarter as peculiar, given that no new iPhone or iPad has been announced, opening up CEO Tim Cook's leadership to speculation and questions whether the iPhone maker can come back from two consecutive quarters of disappointment...

‘SmartSearch’ places Google results directly within Spotlight

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

What would it be like to receive instant query results from Google directly from within iOS's stock Spotlight search? A new tweak entitled SmartSearch provides a few clues as to what that might be like. It's far from a perfect execution of the idea, but it's an interesting idea nonetheless. Have a look at our video walkthrough, which shows SmartSearch in action.

How to blur wallpaper when opening a folder

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Looking for a way to blur your iPhone's Home screen wallpaper whenever a folder is opened? If so, then check out this brand new tweak from Hashbang Productions. FolderBlur, available on its development repo, is a new release from Hashbang Productions that fills what is obviously a very niche requirement. If you want to take it for a spin, then check out our video walkthrough inside, along with details on adding the development beta repo to your Cydia sources.

Add album art to your iPhone’s wallpaper with ‘HomeArtwork’

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

HomeArtwork is a newly released jailbreak tweak, which takes the "now playing" album artwork and uses it as wallpaper for the Home screen background. The tweak works with the stock Music app, but I'm also happy to report that it plays nice with streaming services like Spotify. HomeArtwork is a great tweak that allows you to constantly switch up the look of your Home screen wallpaper. Check out our video coverage inside...

High-end smartphone market gone, warns analyst

Ed Sutherland ∙ July 22, 2013

Welcome to the commoditization of smartphones, or the Emachining of the iPhone. As the handsets move from only the hands of first-adopters to something even your grandma owns, prices are plummeting. It is to the point where one analyst declares the end of the high-end smartphone gold rush.

The average price of a smartphone has fallen nearly $100 in the past year as consumers dismiss talk of 4G and other technical debates, concentrating on just one question: is it good enough and within reach of their wallet...

Apple: dev portal breach hasn’t compromised iTunes accounts or credit cards

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 22, 2013

You're probably aware by now Apple's portal for its registered developers has been down since noon on Thursday, July 18. The firm on Sunday updated the standard "we'll be back soon" message at the service's landing page to warn the "maintenance will take longer than expected".

Adding fuel to fire, Apple soon after emailed developers with details on what they revealed as a nasty security breach that may have left some private information exposed. Unfortunately, the company stopped short of detailing precisely what information might have been compromised and how.

Be that as it may, the seeming privacy scare has left many scratching their head over the potential unpleasantries that might transpire next. Apple on its part did confirm the breach won't affect consumer iTunes account and said no credit card data had been compromised...

Beat Jony Ive at his own game using this interactive iOS 7 design tool

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 22, 2013

After June's iOS 7 announcement us bloggers have gotten to become premium design experts. So much ink has been spilt on the new look of Apple's mobile operating system, with observations of armchair analyst, resident critics, the quotidian and alike touching on such topics as Apple's golden ratio, the icons, the flatness, the colors and just about every aspect of the software overhaul one could think of.

And that's perfectly okay. And now, those who insist they could do a better job at revamping iOS 7 can take a crack at it. An amusing tool by Usvsth3m lets you create your own iOS 7 design masterpiece by customizing the iOS 7 icons, wallpapers, fonts (good-bye Helvetica Neue, no?), color scheme, corners, shadows - and even put in their own slogan. Will you give it a go and let your inner designer shine through?

Researcher claims he alerted Apple of developer center vulnerability

Cody Lee ∙ July 22, 2013

As you've probably heard by now, Apple's developer center was hacked. The portal has been down for over 4 days now, as the company says it is completely overhauling its systems, updating its server software, and rebuilding its entire database.

A statement from Apple claims ‘an intruder’ attempted to secure personal information about developers from the site, but it provided no further details about the incident. Now, a security researcher is claiming responsibility for the attack...

WSJ: Apple testing 13-inch iPad, larger iPhones

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Apple and its suppliers are testing larger screens for iPhones and tablets, according to a new report by The Wall Street Journal. The outlet claims the Cupertino company has asked its Asian partners for a wide range of screen sizes for prototype devices.

In recent months, Apple has requested smartphone screens larger than 4 inches—the size of the displays on its current iPhone and iPod, as well as screen designs for a new tablet device that is said to measure slightly less than 13 inches diagonally...

Would you pay again for iOS 7 versions of apps you already own?

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

In a few months, Apple will release the largest update to its mobile operating system since the original iPhone debuted in 2007: iOS 7. The software has been virtually rebuilt from the ground-up, with new features and an all-new user interface.

Because this new version of iOS is so different than its predecessor, developers will have to spend a serious amount of time bringing their app code and UI elements up to speed. The question is, should they charge users for these major updates?

Apple developer site hacked, some info may have been exposed

Cody Lee ∙ July 21, 2013

On Friday, we noted that Apple's developer center—where it hosts downloads, documentation and other resources—had been down for a record 48 hours. Well here it is Sunday, and the dev portal appears to still be out of commission.

At first, the company was mum on the outage, saying only that it was sorry that "maintenance was taking longer than expected," and that it would make up for the lost time. But today, it broke the silence, announcing it has been hacked...

Saurik posts exploit and fix for ‘Master Key’ Android vulnerability

Cody Lee ∙ Updated September 26, 2016

Jay Freeman, also known as Saurik, is well known by iOS users for his work in the jailbreak community. Not only does he run Cydia, the definitive jailbreak store, but he also develops tweaks and handles a number of other aspects.

But Saurik is also making a name for himself among Android users as well. Back in May, he released a working form of his Cydia substrate for Google's platform, and this weekend he's posted a fix for a major security vulnerability...