Apple

How to stop Background App Refresh for a single app until it’s reopened

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

Introduced with iOS 7, Background App Refresh lets suspended apps (those that you quit or run in the background) check for new data so that they always present you with up-to-date content.

As useful as Background App Refresh is, it strains your battery due to periodical data fetching, which sometimes occurs even when your device is locked.

You can enable or disable this feature on a per-app basis in Settings → General → Background App Refresh. You can also save yourself a few taps by quickly disabling Background App Refresh for a single app without launching Settings, and here's how.

Remote Buddy review: control your Mac from Apple TV via Siri Remote

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 16, 2018

Don't you wish there was a hassle-free way to bring your Mac apps, documents, media, games and more to the big screen—and control them? Enter Remote Buddy, a sweet little app by Roth, Germany based developer Felix Schwarz.

This high-performance screen sharing software—along with its tvOS, watchOS and iOS apps—streams your Mac's screen to the new Apple TV and turns the Siri Remote into a trackpad, a full virtual keyboard and an advanced remote so you can control Mac apps with gestures and shortcuts, without getting off that couch of yours.

Building on the latest GPU and CPU technologies, Remote Buddy uses a proprietary engine to deliver up to 60 frames per second with a latency of around 0.1 seconds so you really get a smooth, high-speed screen sharing experience.

Having taken Remote Buddy for a quick spin, I'm happy to report that it works incredibly well and really comes in handy when you want to do simple tasks on your desktop-bound Mac without actually sitting in front of your computer.

Confidential Google documents reveal that Android has generated $31 billion revenue in its lifetime

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 18, 2019

Since its inception in 2008, Android has generated revenue of $31 billion and $22 billion in profit, a lawyer for Oracle said in a federal court, marking the first time Android's financial performance was publicly revealed.

As a quick refresher, Oracle, the database maker, is suing Google's parent Alphabet over using its Java software without paying for it to develop Android. The figure is based on information Oracle derived from Google's confidential internal financial documents.

Google promptly asked a San Francisco federal judge to redact and seal portions of the public transcript of last week’s hearing because improperly disclosed data contains “extremely sensitive information” from documents that were marked “Attorney’s Eyes Only.”

Apple hires top virtual reality researcher

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Apple has hired Doug Bowman, one of the top US researches in virtual reality, reports the Financial Times. Mr. Bowman recently joined the Cupertino firm after taking a brief sabbatical from his position as computer science professor at Virginia Tech. He also served as the director of the university's human-computer interaction centre.

According to the FT, Bowman's experience spans both fully-immersive VR and augmented reality, and he is well respected by his peers. He has received several industry awards and other recognitions for his work, including a $100,000 grant from Microsoft for a HoloLens study, and he's consulted for Walt Disney's Imagineering unit.

Google paid Apple $1 billion in 2014 to be the default search engine on iOS

Cody Lee ∙ January 21, 2016

Google paid Apple $1 billion in 2014 to remain the default search engine on iOS, reports Bloomberg. The staggering number comes directly from a transcript of court proceedings in Oracle's ongoing copyright lawsuit against Google, which stated that the search giant has an agreement with Apple that gives it a percentage of search revenue generated through iPhones and iPads.

Apple posts new Apple TV ad ‘The Future of TV is Apps’

Cody Lee ∙ January 21, 2016

Apple on Thursday shared a new video advertisement for the Apple TV on its YouTube page. Aptly named "The Future of TV is Apps," the spot highlights a number of popular games and applications that are available through the tvOS App Store.

Titles mentioned include WatchESPN, Asphalt 8, and HBO Now, and instead of showing them in action in a normal Apple TV interface, the ad illustrates them using 3D animations. It's a bit hard to explain, so you should probably just watch it.

Duet Display, Things and other great productivity apps are 50% off right now

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 16, 2018

Folks in the market for a good productivity app will want to head over to the App Store as soon as possible. Apple kicked off a new "Get Productive" promotion on Thursday that takes 50% off some of the most popular titles in the category.

Among the apps included in the sale are Duet Display, which allows you to use an iPhone or iPad as an extra display, the highly respected PCalc calculator, Readdle's PDF Expert 5, and the celebrated task, reminder and to-do list app Clear.

MarcoPolo Ocean goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Cody Lee ∙ January 21, 2016

Apple on Thursday updated its App of the Week promotion in iTunes, and this week's selection is MarcoPolo Ocean. This means that the game, which is highly rated in the kids-education-puzzler category, is going to be free from now through next Thursday—a handsome savings of $3.

The concept of MarcoPolo Ocean is pretty simple. It's a digital sandbox of sorts, where kids are encouraged to do things like explore the deep sea, build a coral reef, and much more. Plus, its animations and playful narration help reinforce vocabulary, ocean concepts and other attributes.

Microsoft updates Office for iOS with 3D Touch features, Apple Pencil support and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 21, 2016

Microsoft today rolled out updates to its mobile Office suite in the App Store: Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. Across the board these apps have gained support for 3D Touch shortcuts on the iPhone 6s/Plus.

In addition, the new 'Annotate with Ink' feature puts a set of cool tools on the new Draw tab for drawing, writing and highlighting things using touch, pen or Apple Pencil on the iPad Pro.

Facebook launches sports section

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 21, 2016

Yesterday, Facebook announced a brand new section on the service dedicated to sports fans and it gets its first big test during this weekend’s NFL playoffs.

The Facebook Sports Stadium, as they're calling it because Facebook is “the world’s largest stadium,” is basically a dedicated place to experience sports in real-time with your friends and the world.

It brings all your game-related content on Facebook in one place, sorted chronologically and updated in real-time, including posts from your friends and their comments on plays, play-by-play information like where to find the game on TV, curated posts and commentary from experts, such as teams, leagues and journalists, and much more.

Apple fine tunes patent that outlines a possible future iPhone with a wraparound display

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 21, 2016

Samsung has popularized and mainstreamed so-called phablets, then Apple followed suit by making its iPhones bigger. And with last year's release of the Galaxy S6 with a curved screen, legitimate questions arose as to whether Apple should engineer an iPhone with a wraparound display.

Before you jump straight to the comments, consider Apple's patent applications for an “Electronic device with wrapped display,” which surfaced Thursday in the United States Patent and Trademark Office's database.

Bring iOS 9.3’s new Night Shift mode to your computer with f.lux for Mac

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 10, 2023

Yesterday, Anthony blogged about a cool app that lets you dim your Mac's display brightness even further and beyond the minimum allowed by OS X.

Today, we discuss an app for adjusting the brightness and colors of your Mac's display, called f.lux, which essentially replicates functionality provided by Apple's new Night Shift mode on iOS 9.3.

Like Night Shift mode, f.lux helps prevent eyestrain when using your Mac at night (it's also available on jailbroken and non-jailbroken iOS devices)