The recent Path scandal has once again put user privacy at the forefront of mobile news. The social network was caught secretly uploading entire address books from its users' cell phones without their authorization.
This has prompted further research into other App Store apps, and yes even jailbreak ones, to see how many other developers are guilty of these actions. And what folks are finding is, jailbreak apps actually leak much less private data than Apple-approved ones...
Israeli startup Waze has released an update for its iOS GPS navigation app, adding hands-free crowd sourcing to its arsenal.
There are already plenty of GPS navigation apps on the App Store with TomTom being one of our favorites, but Waze is a little bit different in that it uses crowd sourcing as a means of measuring traffic congestion and accidents. The reliance on humans reporting such issues is both its strong and its weak point.
While the use of real people to build a map of what is really going on should make for a more accurate navigational experience, it also means that the service just plain fails to work if people don't take the time to check in. This latest update should help alleviate that particular issue...
Vonage has come out fighting in its ongoing battle with the king of VoIP, Skype. The company has just released a new iOS app along with a low calling rate that is sure to put the frighteners on Skype.
Available to download for free right now, the Vonage app allows VoIP calls between Vonage users across iOS and Android as well as cheap calls to traditional landlines, too.
Vonage claims to be 70% cheaper than traditional telcos, and 30% cheaper than Skype...
An interesting thread sprouted up in TouchArcade's forums over the weekend entitled the "Biggest FRAUD in the Top 25 Free Ranking." The thread spotlights a recently discovered problem with some app developers using seedy marketing services to move their apps up in the App Store rankings.
Walterkaman, who started the thread, said, "I came across this ad network which guaranteed to get my app into the Top 25 in the App Store for $5000." The service uses bot farms to automatically download their clients' apps to drive up their rankings. And not only does this work, but it works well...
Over half of the US population is expected to be in front of a TV set today watching the Super Bowl. But for those of you that for one reason or another can't get in front of a television this afternoon, there's other ways to catch the game.
If you happen to have access to a computer, you can watch it there. The game will be streamed live via NBCSports.com and NFL.com. No computer access? That's ok, we've come up with a few ways to follow all of the action on your iPhone...
Nearly 170 million viewers tuned in to watch the Super Bowl last year, meaning over half of America's 308 million residents caught at least part of the the big game.
If you plan on being a part of that statistic today, you're definitely going to want to download the new Chevy Game Time application for iOS. GM will be using the app to give away thousands of prizes, including several new vehicles...
Even with Apple's notoriously strict approval process, misleading applications constantly make their way into the App Store. We've covered a number of these titles on iDB — most recently Craft-Build Terrain, a fake MineCraft game.
These fraudulent applications have been making some serious waves in the developer community over the last few weeks. Developers believe these apps give their titles, and the App Store in general, a bad name. And Apple has responded...
This Sunday, much of the United States will shut down as millions of people tune into this year's Super Bowl. The annual event, which determines who is the best of the best in the NFL, is one of the most-watched TV broadcasts in America.
And for those of you lucky enough to be attending the game in person (ticket prices average around $3800), or if you just want to see what all of the fuss is about, the NFL just released the official Super Bowl app for iOS...
How often do you find yourself watching TV with your iPhone either in your hand or within reach? If you're like me, the answer is most of (if not all of) the time. And that's exactly what the folks over at Viggle are counting on.
Introducing the new Viggle iPhone app. It allows you to earn points, which can be used to redeem prizes, by doing the same things that you're probably already doing daily, like playing on your iPhone and watching television...
You might remember a few weeks ago when we told you about Tribute Calendar, an application that paid tribute to Steve Jobs in the form of a calendar application that had been rejected by Apple.
The developers of the app didn't want to take "no" for an answer and did exactly what more developers should do: they turned to Cydia to release their app without the need of Apple's benediction...
App piracy is something which is a real problem for many iOS developers, especially the smaller, independent ones. Things don't get much easier for the big guys, either.
Rovio, the people behind Angry Birds, also suffer from a spot of piracy, and not just of the app variety, either. All sorts of merchandise is being made and sold in Asia, with Rovio getting nothing by way of monetary compensation. But that doesn't seem to bother Rovio's CEO Mikael Hed.
In fact, he seems to be surprisingly happy about it...
Everyone needs to be able to keep tabs on their smartphone account. Even Sprint customers – we love you really! – should be able to take their iPhone and keep up to date on just what is going on with their Sprint accounts. Now they can.
Sprint has today launched its own iPhone app called "Sprint Mobile Zone" and it's actually a rather nice looking affair.
More importantly, the app actually has some useful features, with the ability to access your Sprint account not the only thing you'll be using Sprint Mobile Zone for...