Apple

watchOS 3 tidbit: adjusting how long apps stay active on wrist raise

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 1, 2016

Before watchOS 3, Apple Watch owners had two options at their disposal when it came to waking the device and using apps. In watchOS 2 and earlier, you could adjust how long the Apple Watch display stayed awake when you tap to wake it (15 or 70 seconds) and what you wanted your device to be awoken to.

Prior watchOS versions defaulted to waking up to the current watch face but could optionally be told to return to where you were before the watch went to sleep. In watchOS 3, options for apps have been expanded.

You can now select how long third-party apps show on the Apple Watch screen when you raise your wrist with three additional options at your disposal.

iOS 10 tidbit: managing read receipts on a per-conversation basis

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 4, 2025

iOS 10 has a new hidden switch, called Emergency Bypass, which permits you to override your global Do Not Disturb setting on a per-contact basis. It's especially handy for those times when you wanna enable Messages notifications for a contact that isn't in your Favorites, even if Do Not Disturb is on.

A similar new feature in iOS 10's Messages app makes it easy to enable or disable read receipts, which tell the other person when you've read an incoming text, on a per-conversation basis.

Say hello to Android Nougat

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 1, 2016

When Google officially announced Android N at its annual Google I/O developers conference in May, they ran a contest asking fans to submit their suggestions for the official name of the next major revision to the world's most-used mobile operating system. Yesterday, Google announced they've chosen “Nougat” as the official code-name of Android 7.0.

Apple said to be in talks to acquire streaming music service Tidal

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 11, 2018

Apple is in talks to acquire the streaming music service Tidal, reports The Wall Street Journal. Citing people familiar with the matter, the outlet says the iPhone-maker is exploring the idea because of the service's strong ties to artists.

Rap mogul Jay-Z bought Tidal in March 2015 for $56 million, and has since given 19 famous artists small stakes in the company. The current talks with Apple may not result in a deal, and it's unknown what terms have been discussed.

Spotify accuses Apple of stifling competition after seeing its iOS update rejected

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 30, 2016

Apple is leveraging the power of its ecosystem to harm competition, as well as the fact that it writes the rules governing third-party development and screens apps submitted to App Store editors, said Spotify.

Re/code is reporting that Apple won’t approve a new version of Spotify's music-streaming iOS client because it doesn’t want competition for Apple Music, its own $9.99 per month subscription music service.

“We cannot stand by as Apple uses the App Store approval process as a weapon,” wrote the Swedish startup in a letter sent this week to Apple’s top lawyer Bruce Sewell.

Samsung could build 240M AMOLEDs for future iPhones in the next 3 years

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 30, 2016

LG Display, Japan Display, AU Optronics, Samsung Display and Foxconn-owned Sharp are all said to share production of AMOLED panels for future iPhones, with Samsung alone providing an estimated 240 million AMOLED units in the next three years beginning in 2017, DigiTimes Research predicted yesterday.

Samsung is the world's top producer of AMOLED panels. When deployed to the iPhone, this technology will result in crisper colors, deeper blacks, increased brightness, high visibility under direct sunlight and reduced power consumption.

Facebook tweaks News Feed to prioritize friends over news sites

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 30, 2016

Adam Mosseri, Facebook's Vice President of Product Management, announced yesterday an upcoming change to the News Feed ranking algorithm on the service.

Soon, your News Feed will prioritize content from friends over news stories from publishers to address missing important updates from friends because content from professional publishers would get preferential treatment.

Long exposure and time-lapse photography made easy with updated Pocket Tripod

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 30, 2016

Pocket Tripod, a credit card sized phone holder that started as a Kickstarter project in 2013, has been updated to accommodate iPhones and Android smartphones of all sizes, with or without a case. Created by Geometrical Inc.‘s Rambod Radmard, this tremendously useful accessory fits in your wallet and unfolds into a phone stand.

More importantly, it doubles as a mini-tripod for times when you need your iPhone's camera to be steady. The updated version is expected to ship in October.

MetroPCS to start selling iPhones on July 1

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 30, 2016

MetroPCS, a prepaid wireless carrier in the United States that is part of T-Mobile USA, will start selling Apple's iPhones on July 1 in a limited number of retail stores in Florida. The program should expand nationwide following the Florida launch.

According to the official announcement from T-Mobile, the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus will be available for $649 and $749, respectively

The iPhone SE and iPhone 5s will be available for $349 and $199, respectively.

Amazon schedules its annual shopping event for Prime members for July 12

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 30, 2016

Online retailer Amazon has scheduled a second annual Prime Day event for July 12. The Prime Day 2016, a one-day shopping event exclusive to Prime members, will be the biggest global Amazon event ever with new deals starting as often as every five minutes throughout the day.

Drawing app Procreate is free right now within the Apple Store app

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Heads up folks, Apple is giving away free copies of the popular Procreate Pocket app. You can find promo codes for the app, which normally retails for $2.99, within the ‘Stores’ section of the Apple Store app on iOS.

For those who aren’t familiar with it, Procreate Pocket is the iPhone version of the award-winning painting app. It uses the same 64-bit Silica engine as its bigger brother, and it includes the same great set of features.

watchOS 3 preview: new watch faces on your wrist & Face Gallery on iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 29, 2016

After telling you about the improved performance and more intuitive navigation in the Apple Watch software, our watchOS 3 Preview series continues with an overview of three new watch faces that have been added to watchOS 3 and a brand new Face Gallery feature found in the companion Watch app on iOS 10.

watchOS 3 also lets you launch more apps from faces like Workout, Music and Messages.

And as a cherry on top, you can now use complications on faces that previously didn't support them, like Photo, Motion and Timelapse.