Apple

Law firm moving forward with class action lawsuit over ‘Error 53’ iPhone bricking

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 12, 2016

Seattle-based law firm Pfau Cochran Vertexes Amala (PCVA) has decided to follow through with plans to drag Apple to court over software safeguards in iOS which have been specifically designed to render iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus handsets inoperable after unauthorized Touch ID and Home button repairs.

As first noted by AppleInsider yesterday, the pending class action lawsuit was filed with with the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging the Cupertino firm has “gone too far” in employing the extreme measure of bricking users' handsets without any advance warning.

How to view, search and edit Safari passwords

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 12, 2023

If you're tired of always having to log in, Safari will happily save web passwords in your keychain. Even better, the browser can automatically fill in your user names and passwords the next time you visit your favorite websites.

And with the iCloud Keychain feature, your saved passwords can be synchronized across devices in a safe, secure manner. In this tutorial, you're going to learn how to search saved Safari passwords without needing to visit their websites, view your saved logins, as well as add, delete and manage saved passwords.

Don’t try this at home: iPhones apparently getting bricked after date is set back to a specific time

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 5, 2018

According to a post on Reddit and reports out of China, it is possible to brick an iPhone by setting the date back to a specific time.

I wasn't brave enough to test it myself, but the post claims the bug only affects 64-bit iOS devices.

It would seem that changing the device's Date & Time values to a specific point in time would cause it to fail to boot properly.

Basically, it gets bricked and stuck at the Apple logo boot image. Neither DFU mode nor restoring from a backup would bring a bricked device back to life as a physical repair is required to put it back into working order.

Review: boost your sleep analysis with much improved Sleep++ 2.0

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 4, 2018

David Smith’s excellent Sleep++ app is my killer app when it comes to sleep analysis, a glaring omission from the Apple Watch. It's become second nature for me to open Sleep++ as I tuck myself in bed for the evening.

This native watchOS 2 app collects data from watch sensors to measure sleep quality and duration, which can then be reviewed in greater detail in a companion iPhone app and synced with your Health database.

The updated Sleep++ 2.0, now available as a free download in the App Store, takes sleep analysis to the next level with major improvements to its sleep analysis engine and new features such as better Health integration, an improved Night Detail view, night trimming and timezone support.

Apple patent would use Apple Watch to intelligently adjust iPhone alert volume on the fly

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 11, 2016

Apple has been researching software solutions that would tap into a user's Apple Watch to intelligently adjust an iPhone's alert volume on the fly, by monitoring and comparing ambient sound samples.

Filed for with the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) back in 2014 and published on Thursday, the patent application titled “Volume control for mobile device using a wireless device” outlines volume control adjustments by having a Watch's built-in microphone sample an alert generated on an iPhone to “detect a distinct contribution corresponding to the audible alert.”

Vevo’s beautiful new Apple TV app brings 150,000 HD music videos

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 11, 2016

Vevo today began shipping a refreshed Apple TV app. Redesigned from top to bottom, it provides access to more than 150,000 music videos in high-definition and exclusive original programming. The revamped software upgrades the experience for users over the old app in many respects.

According to CEO Erik Huggers, Vevo wants to become the MTV for the digital age. “We continue to invest in what we believe is the premium platform for music videos and related original content,” he said in a media release.

‘Other’ storage on your iPhone and iPad explained

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 16, 2018

For most users, the ‘Other’ iOS storage category—reported after connecting an iOS device to desktop iTunes—is something of a mystery. ‘Other’ storage starts at one to five percent of total device capacity but can quickly creep in to a few gigabytes.

This post will unravel the mysteries behind 'Other' iOS storage, explain what it's used for, how iOS manages it and what you can do to decrease it.

Twitter rolls out a new timeline feature

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 18, 2016

The pressure mounts on Twitter to re-ignite growth, which has virtually come to a halt as average users increasingly find the service too confusing and difficult to use. Today, the micro-blogging service unveiled yet another refinement designed to adjust how the timeline surfaces interesting content.

Similar to the “While you were away” timeline feature which released a year ago, Twitter will now put recommended, not the newest, tweets at the top of your timeline so that you never miss important updates from people you follow.

iOS 9 adoption keeps chugging along, now standing at 77 percent

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 4, 2017

According to the latest stats published today on Apple's App Store dashboard for developers, 77 percent of devices are now using iOS 9.0 or later.

The new data point, captured by the App Store on February 8, 2016, represents a one-point increase over the adoption rate of 76 percent recorded two weeks ago and a two-point gain versus the 75 percent figure that was captured a month ago.

Latest El Capitan beta has fixed Safari’s mishandling of shortened Twitter “t.co” links

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 10, 2016

An annoying issue pertaining to broken Twitter links, which has persisted in Safari for Mac since November 2015, has been fixed in the third beta of the forthcoming OS X 10.11.4 El Capitan software update, according to user reports on the Apple Support Communities forums.

The “Safari can’t open the page because the server where this page is located is not responding” error page no longer appears when clicking shortened “t.co” Twitter links with the secure HTTPS protocol in Safari and third-party apps like Tweetbot.

Apple hiring engineers to join its Clock Face Team

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 6, 2017

Apple is seeking software engineer to join its 'Clock Face Team' to work on yet-to-be-released faces and complications for the Apple Watch.

As originally discovered by AppleInsider yesterday, an Apple job ad describes the position as helping build the watch faces and complications.

“You’ll work closely with the UI design, iOS Frameworks and QA teams to develop interactions of superior quality that will ship to millions of users,” reads the job ad.

Apple Music now available on Sonos wireless speakers worldwide

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 16, 2018

As of today, owners of Sonos systems around the world can stream Apple Music directly through their wireless speaker hardware, the company announced. Anyone with an Apple Music subscription, or even a free trial, can stream any song from Apple's catalog to their Sonos speakers.

Just choose Add Music Service in Sonos's companion iPhone app, scroll down to the Apple Music icon and log into your account.