iDownloadBlog.com

Foxconn showcases its own smartwatch ahead of Apple’s iWatch

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Could Apple's largest contract manufacturer also become a competitor? Foxconn's parent company, Hon Hai, unveiled a smartwatch that connects to your iPhone, displaying phone calls and Facebook messages. The news comes as the Taiwan-based assembler of iPhones seeks ways to diversify income as the industry undergoes some uncertain times.

The watch, unveiled by Hon Hai Chairman Terry Gou Wednesday, appears to compete against the iWatch, a rumored device that Apple may introduce. Despite not being an actual iWatch, Foxconn reportedly received 1,000 orders for its product...

TimeForAlarm: show how much time remains before your alarm sounds

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

TimeForAlarm is a recently released jailbreak tweak, and it provides you with a readout of the remaining amount of time before your alarm is scheduled to sound. The tweak, which is free on Cydia's ModMyi repo, displays a real time readout of the time remaining for all of your configured alarms in the stock Clock app.

Take a look inside for our hands-on video synopsis of TimeForAlarm...

‘Designed by Apple’ ads fail to impress viewers

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 24, 2016

Apple's new mission-statement ad campaign is epitomized in a television commercial which highlights Apple's California roots and celebrates the firm's famous 'Designed by Apple in California' tagline etched on the back of its products. It's unfortunately not testing very well with viewers.

Ad effectiveness firm Ace Metrix polled at least 500 television viewers who gave the latest commercial a score of 489 on its scale. That's below an industry average of 542 and the lowest score of more than two dozen Apple TV ads in the past year.

By comparison, Apple's past ads often topped 700, so the new campaign isn't as effective as Apple's ad shop TBWA/Worldwide thought it would be...

‘HomeDisplay’ adds a secondary status bar to the Home screen

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

HomeDisplay is a brand new jailbreak tweak that places a second status bar beneath the stock iOS status bar on your Home screen. The secondary status bar includes the current date on the left-hand side of the bar, with the current temperature on the opposite side.

HomeDisplay also features the ability to showcase the now playing track, and it works with streaming services like Spotify. We have a full video walkthrough of HomeDisplay in action. Take a look inside to see how it works...

Apple: ITC ban has ‘much broader ramifications’ than iPhone 4 and iPad 2 sales

Ed Sutherland ∙ June 27, 2013

A limited import ban by the ITC on some Apple devices is under scrutiny and Apple believes the order could have far-reaching consequences, according to papers filed with reviewers. At issue is whether the courtroom win by Samsung may prompt other governments to limit imports of American made electronics and other goods.

In papers filed with the United States Trade Representative (USTR) - which can overturn ITC decisions - Apple argues that the limited ban on iPhone 4 and iPad 2 imports hinges on a Samsung patent the Korean company had declared standard essential...

BannerSwipe: dismiss banner notifications with a simple swipe gesture

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

BannerSwipe is an extremely simple jailbreak tweak that allows you to quickly dismiss banner notifications using a swipe gesture. The tweak includes a fluid banner dismiss animation to go along with its gesture.

While it's true that you don't necessarily need a tweak like this to quickly dismiss banner notifications with a swipe gesture, BannerSwipe's main draw is the included dismissal animation. Want to see how the animation looks in action? Check our our video walkthrough...

How to use a ‘pull to refresh’ gesture to disable your alarms

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 12, 2018

Looking for a quick method to disable all of your iPhone's alarms in one fell swoop? If so, then look no further than Pull To Disable Alarms, a recently released jailbreak tweak.

As you have probably gathered by now, Pull To Disable Alarms is a tweak that allows you to perform a pull to refresh like gesture to quickly disable all of the alarms configured in the stock Clock app's alarm tab. Want more details? Check inside for our full video hands-on...

Slide2Kill Pro: kill apps with swipe gestures

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 12, 2018

Slide2Kill Pro is a recently released tweak that allows you to perform swipe gestures on the apps running in the app switcher. Slide2Kill serves as a way to remove apps from the app switcher in one fluid motion, instead of the stock iOS method of tapping and holding to enable wiggle mode, etc.

Obviously, iOS 7 will eliminate the need for tweaks like this, but until it goes public, Slide2Kill Pro is a decent alternative to the stock method of killing apps. Check out our brief video demonstration after the break...

Skype iOS apps updated with free and unlimited Video Messages

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 27, 2013

Microsoft-owned Skype was testing a new Video Messages feature since mid-February, but it wasn't until mid-June that they opened video messaging to everyone.

Today, the software maker has finally updated Skype for iPhone and iPad with free and unlimited Video Messages, basically short videos Skype users can send to each other, even when offline.

Previously, you could only send 20 free messages up to three-minute long each before being prompted to sign up for a $4.99 premium Skype account...

Reeder for iPhone goes free, support for Google Reader alternatives coming soon

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 21, 2018

Whenever I feel like skimming through my RSS feeds, I turn to Reeder, Silvio Rizzi's excellent RSS client for the iPhone and iPad. I've been using it for years now and with the impending July 1 Google Reader shutdown, Silvio figured he could kick his value proposition up a notch by making Reeder for iPhone free. In addition, he's busy working on the next update which will enable a number of Google Reader alternatives such as Feedly, Wrangler and others...

Rich iTunes iRadio playlist customization in the works, patent suggests

Ed Sutherland ∙ June 27, 2013

When Apple announced plans to offer iTunes Radio, observers quickly compared the service to Spotify, and other streaming music offerings.

However, a new patent application reveals the iPhone maker wants to go far beyond a simple 'like' or 'dislike' to customize a user's playlist.

Apple's vision of a playlist connects a user's musical preferences already part of iTunes, while offering the ability to tweak a song list on the fly. The application, published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Thursday, also outlines playlist customization based on such ephemeral factors as how a certain song makes you feel...

Yahoo! News modernizes design

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 27, 2013

There's no denying that the Internet giant Yahoo has been on quite a roll lately.

Over the course of just two months, the company has managed to roll out the awesome Weather app (that Apple seemingly copied quite slavishly in iOS 7), launch the Mail app on iPad, update its Search iOS app with Summly summaries and acquire the blogging platform Tumblr for $1.1 billion.

Today, the company announced it is revamping its popular News portal on the web and mobile devices with a new design aimed at creating a more consistent feel across all of Yahoo. The all-new Yahoo News look is also available when browsing the website on your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Android devices...