Apple

Eleven 3D Touch shortcuts in Messages for iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 31, 2019

There's no question that 3D Touch really does make the iPhone's Multi-Touch user interface multidimensional. By varying the degree of pressure applied to the screen of your iPhone, you can preview emails, websites, locations, messages and a variety of other items in Apple's stock apps.

We have already covered new 3D Touch shortcuts in iBooks and today we're taking a closer look at arguably the most-oft used iPhone app—Messages. In Messages, you can Peek and Pop most of the file types to your heart's content without needing to jump between multiple apps, which can save a lot of time.

In this tutorial, we're going to lay out 3D Touch basics in Messages before moving on to all of the items you can preview in your conversations.

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Tim Cook says Apple tax avoidance talk is ‘total political crap’

Cody Lee ∙ December 18, 2015

60 Minutes on Friday shared a one minute clip from its upcoming interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook. In the preview, Charlie Rose asks for Cook's thoughts regarding Apple's congressional tax hearing, which found the company to be engaged in a "sophisticated scheme" to avoid taxes on its $74 billion held overseas.

"That is total political crap," Cook says. "There is no truth behind it. Apple pays every tax dollar we owe." He explains that Apple does a lot of business overseas, which is why a lot of its revenues are overseas, and although the company would like to bring that cash back to the United States, it would cost 40% to do so.

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Charlie Rose offering inside look at Jony Ive’s design lab, new store design on Sunday

Cody Lee ∙ December 17, 2015

Noted journalist and television talk show host Charlie Rose will be offering an inside look at Jony Ive's design lab and new store design on Sunday. CBS' TV series 60 Minutes announced Rose's upcoming segment via Twitter late Thursday evening.

According to the tweets, 60 Minutes will be showing footage from inside Jonathan Ive’s secret design studio at Apple's headquarters—an area few outsiders have traveled. In one of the tweets, a photo shows Ive explaining a design process to Rose.

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Apple announces UnionPay deal to bring Apple Pay to China in early 2016

Cody Lee ∙ December 17, 2015

Apple on Thursday announced that it has reached a deal with China UnionPay to bring Apple Pay to China in early 2016. The partnership will allow UnionPay cardholders to take advantage of Apple's mobile payment system on iPhone, Apple Watch and within apps on iPad.

Using Apple Pay in Chinese stores will be as simple as holding your iPhone near a UnionPay QuickPass-enabled POS terminal with your finger on Touch ID. And with Apple Watch, you'll be able to double click the side button and hold the watch face up to the contactless reader.

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The Sims 2: Pet Stories hits Mac App Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2017

Tired of good ol' Sims? How about Sims with pets? Based off of The Sims 2 engine, this classic Sims title returns to the Mac—courtesy of Electronic Arts and Aspyr Media—with updated graphics and several other enhancements and is available for the first time on the Mac exclusively through the Mac App Store.

With native display support for Retina and 4K Macs, gesture support for zoom and rotate, drastically improved performance and other tweaks, you can now care for and train those lovable yet unpredictable pets as you compete for Best in Show at the most important local pet show of the year.

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Facebook Messenger gains Photo Magic feature, per-chat customization and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 17, 2015

Less than twenty-four hours after rolling out Uber integration within Messenger, Facebook today announced a brand new update that enables per-chat customization and other enhancements for the popular messaging platform.

And as promised, the application now provides the Photo Magic feature to users in more countries following its recent soft-launch on Android in Australia.

Billed as an easier way to privately share photos with friends, Photo Magic taps into Facebook's advanced face recognition algorithm to automatically recognize people in your photos, offering to share them via Messenger.

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Badland 2 hits the App Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 9, 2016

A year and a half following the original Badland game's debut in the App Store, Helsinki, Finland-headquartered developer Frogmind Games on Thursday released a sequel to the highly acclaimed side-scrolling platformer and Apple's former 'Game of the Year' award winner.

Badland 2, a $4.99 download for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, improves upon the original concept with levels that extend and scroll to all directions.

In addition, the game introduces new and interesting elements such as liquids, flamethrowers, frost, magma, water and volumetric burning light. To celebrate the launch of the sequel, Frogmind has discounted the original Badland game to $2.99, down from its regular asking price of $4.99.

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Mileage tracker app Jerrycan: learn how your driving impacts your fuel bills and environment

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 17, 2015

Today I want to highlight an interesting new app, Jerrycan for iPhone by Pavlo Grozian which lets you track your fuel consumption and fuel expenses. Unlike most mileage-tracker apps in the App Store, Jerrycan shows you how individual driving impacts the ecology with wealth of information at your fingertips including overconsumption peaks, pollution emission, fuel waste and driving efficiency.

And with individual tips and guides, Jerrycan can teach you to drive wisely, waste less fuel and improve your fuel­ efficiency.

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Jeff Williams becomes Apple’s Chief Operating Officer, Phil Schiller now oversees all App Stores

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2016

Apple today announced that it is promoting Jeff Williams to Chief Operating Officer. Williams has been the company's Vice President of Operations and served as Tim Cook's right-hand man during the latter's multi-year tenure as Apple's op-chief in the Steve Jobs era.

Phil Schiller, Apple's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing and the steward of its relationship with developers, will expand his role to include leadership of the App Stores across all Apple platforms.

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Pixelmator expands Apple Pencil Tilt support to 30 more brushes

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 9, 2016

Hot on the heels of last week's update that brought out official integration with Apple's iPad Pro and support for pressure-drawing with the Apple Pencil and 3D Touch on the iPhone 6s, Pixelmator for iOS today received another update which expands Apple Pencil's Tilt feature to an additional 30 brushes.

Pixelmator 2.2.1 for iOS also sports faster Distort tools and includes several fixes that improve the experience.

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