Apple

Dring – Beautiful Ringtone Creation On The iPhone [Review and Giveaway]

Alex Heath ∙ Updated February 16, 2018

Apple has been allowing ringtone creators on the App Store for several months now, but there has yet to be an app that stands out from the rest. We've talked about creating ringtones for the iPhone before, but there has yet to be a really elegant and simple way to create ringtones straight on the iPhone.

Dring, by Wake Apps, is the newest addition to the ringtone creator catalog. Dring is "cream of the crop" caliber when it comes to quality of design. The app is truly gorgeous. Every pixel is fine-tuned and perfectly placed; everything feels smooth and responsive.

Besides good looks, Dring has all of the features that a good ringtone app should have. Creating ringtones is a beautiful breeze with Dring...

Apple Patent Indicates Plans For A Social Network iPhone App, With A Focus On Shopping

Alex Heath ∙ January 3, 2011

More and more shopping is happening online these days, but plenty of people still prefer brick and mortar stores to buy their jeggings in. On December 30th, 2010, Apple's latest patent was published. This patent hints at a native social networking app that Apple may implement in a future version of iOS. Such an app would merge social networking into a shopping experience.

This Ping-like, social-shopping network would allow users to have an enhanced shopping experience with participating merchants. Apple's patent is titled "Social Networking in Shopping Environments."

Sophone is the Best iPhone 4 Knockoff of 2010

Alex Heath ∙ Updated May 11, 2018

There are plenty of fake iPhone knockoffs, like the HiPhone 4G. Apple has sued many manufacturers around the world for clearly cloning the iPhone or stealing some of its key features.

China has always been the largest hub of fake, knockoff gadgets. If you visit China, chances are you will find all the recent models of mobile phones cloned and selling at less than half their original prices. Because the iPhone's appeal is at a global level, it is becoming increasingly difficult for Apple to crack down on all of these little companies overseas that are creating knockoff iPhone models.

The Sophone is by far the best iPhone 4 knockoff of 2010. It didn't receive American coverage until late December, but the device has been a huge hit in China. It copies the iPhone 4 in almost every way imaginable. The way that the Sophone identically mirrors the iPhone 4 is unbelievable. You really have to see it to believe it...

The 10 Best App Store Apps of 2010

Alex Heath ∙ Updated February 21, 2018

The App Store has never been a very quiet place. 2010 was no exception; thousands upon thousands of new apps were submitted to the App Store. Most of them aren't worth mentioning, but there have been some exceptional apps that have risen to the forefront of what the App Store has had to offer throughout the year 2010.

We've covered a lot of App Store apps this year on iDB, with the goal of keeping our readers in the know.

Now, we’d like to take some time to reflect on our favorite App Store apps of 2010. Being included on this list doesn’t necessarily mean the app was released in 2010, it just means that it was amongst our most utilized of this year. Drumroll, please…

Apple is Rumored to Ship 21 Million iPhones Next Quarter, 5 Million of Which Will Be CDMA

Alex Heath ∙ December 29, 2010

Digitimes reports that 21 million iPhones will be shipped in Q1 of 2011. In case you didn't know, "Q1" is an industry term for "quarter one;" each business year is composed of four quarters, with each quarter representing three months out of the year.

This scoop from Digitimes indicates that Apple will most likely be doing some sort of revamp to the iPhone before March of 2011. It's not that much of a stretch to think that Apple could have a fantastic first quarter and pull off selling 14-15 million regular iPhone 4 units, but what really makes this rumor interesting is that Digitimes says that 5-6 million of these devices will be CDMA iPhones.

Contacts with Taiwan-based component suppliers say that the CDMA iPhone will be launched in North America and Asia Pacific in the first quarter of 2011. Digitimes says, "Currently, Foxconn is the only maker of WCDMA iPhones, while Foxconn and Pegatron Technology have equally shared the production volume for the CDMA version, the sources noted..."

A Closer Look At The Life Of The Foxconn Worker

Alex Heath ∙ Updated September 17, 2017

Foxconn, the Chinese industrial giant, has been under the spotlight recently due to a string of suicides supposedly linked to the factory's awful working conditions. Foxconn is Apple's main supplier for product manufacturing; it's the place where our iPhones get made.

A french journalist and photographer, Jordan Pouille, recently revisited a large Foxconn facorty in Longhua, China. His visit was in tandem with a highly publicized pay raise for the factory's 300,000+ Chinese workers.

While it seems that the living conditions of these young workers (mostly teenagers or young 20-somethings) has improved since Foxconn's dehumanizing treatment of its employees was brought into the light, something still doesn't feel right about the way that our gadgets are being made...

Apple Sued Amidst Privacy Concerns Regarding App Tracking

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

A little over a week ago, we reported on a Wall Street Journal article that revealed an eye-opening investigation into how apps share your personal data; without your consent.

Needless to say it was bit shocking to us, our readers, and apparently a lot of other people concerned over their personal privacy, or lack thereof.

Now the fallout from the privacy scandal is beginning to rear its head, and it ain't pretty...

A Look Back at Apple in 2010 [Video]

Sébastien Page ∙ December 24, 2010

I don't know about you but 2010 has been a great year for me. I spent months traveling overseas with my fiancee, iDB tripled its readership, only good stuff. 2010 wasn't bad for Apple either.

The company sold zillions of iPads, iPhone 4 and iPod Touch 4G. The stock rose about 50%. Really Apple had a pretty good year. To illustrate this, YouTuber tszheichoi has made a short video that sums up major Apple news in 2010...

Apple Is Denying In-App Donations To Developers

Alex Heath ∙ Updated October 10, 2018

Apple has never been known as an easy company to get along with. While it has always made some of the greatest products on the market, it is also notorious for being overly censored and stubborn with its decisions.

We recently reported that an unofficial WikiLeaks app had been pulled from the App Store. It was thought that Apple could have justified the pull based on their charitable donation policy. As it turns out, that policy has been plaguing app developers for some time, and they're starting to get frustrated.

The Huffington Post recently published an article on Apple's denial of in-app donations for charity. Many developers run non-profit, or support non-profit, organizations and would like to allow their app's users to make philanthropic donations in the same way that other in-app purchases function. For some reason, Apple has been denying these requests from developers, and it's making Apple look like the bad guy...

Camera+ is Back in The App Store

Alex Heath ∙ Updated February 16, 2018

The Camera+ fiasco has been an interesting one to follow. The popular photography app was a sensation when it was first released in the App Store. Then, it was pulled. Just like that. The app was updated with a backdoor to allow a volume button camera shutter, which apparently Apple didn't like.

At the time of it being pulled, Camera+ was considered the crème de la crème of photography apps. Most felt as though Apple should have lightened up on Camera+ by not pulling the app for simply adding a cool and innovative feature. The problem was that Camera+ violated Apple's guidelines on how an app can interface with the iPhone's controls.

We recently reported that Camera+ had announced that its return to the App Store would be very soon. After many months of silence, Camera+ is back and better than ever...

WikiLeaks App Has Been Pulled From the App Store

Alex Heath ∙ December 21, 2010

It seems that we spoke too soon. A couple days ago, we reported that there was an unofficial WikiLeaks app in the App Store. The app allowed you to view Twitter updates and leaked documents from WikiLeaks.

Igor Barinov, the app's developer, recently tweeted that Apple had his app "removed from sale." At the time of the app being pulled, downloads of the app had nearly approached 4,500 with almost $6,000 in profit.

There is no clear reason why Apple would have pulled such an app, but it's not a shocker that a sensitive app about WikiLeaks was pulled...

How An iPhone App Can See Your Location Without Asking

Alex Heath ∙ Updated February 16, 2018

Lately, there have been some serious privacy concerns about how apps are tracking user's location and personal information. The Wall Street Journal performed a survey of multiple, various applications on both Android and iOS and discovered that many apps are sending information (like the device's location) without explicit permission from the user.

In particular, an app called "Pumpkin Maker" traced the general location of a device without requesting any type of permission from its user. The Journal contacted the app's develepor and gained some valuable knowledge on how, and why, the stealthy tracking of app users is taking place...