Apple

Poll: will you be pre-ordering Apple Watch?

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 14, 2018

With less than six hours until Apple Watch pre-orders open, we're curious if you'll be reserving one for yourself. Our January poll asked if you planned on getting the device and nearly half of the respondents said 'yes'. But that was more than three months ago, at a time when details about the gizmo were still scarce.

Since then, Apple's held a second media conference and released more details in the form of videos and various other tidbits. And now that you've read the reviews and watched hands-on videos of the wearable device in action, some of you may have changed your mind while others may still be on the fence about putting a Watch for your wrist. With that in mind, is your wrist ready for the Watch and will you be pre-ordering it come Friday 12:01am PT?

Early MacBook reviews praise its ambition, but criticize its compromises

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

In addition to Apple Watches, Apple gave select members of the press test units of its new ultra-thin MacBook to try out and review. Like the Watch, the new MacBook goes on sale this Friday, so naturally those reviews began hitting the web today.

For the most part it sounds like reviewers agreed with the general consensus back in March, which is that it looks great, but it comes with significant trade-offs. Nevertheless, we've rounded up some of our favorite takes on Apple's new notebook.

You really need to check out the reimagined Product Hunt for iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 9, 2015

Product Hunt, an increasingly popular place for sharing and discovering new products, on Thursday released a major refresh to its somewhat underwhelming iPhone application. Lo and behold, the new Product Hunt 2.0 for iPhone is here.

First and foremost, the app brings out a beautifully revamped interface that's both super clean and useful, with snazzy animations that elevate the experience.

More importantly, new features have been introduced that let like-minded individuals like yourself create curated product collections to share with others, bookmark products for later and more.

Apple releases iTunes 12.1.2 with better support for new Photos app

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Apple on Thursday morning released a new version of iTunes, bringing the media manager to version 12.1.2. The update is a minor one, but important for those who have updated their Macs to the new OS X 10.10.3 software that was seeded yesterday.

More specifically, iTunes 12.1.2 brings about enhanced support for the new Photos app in 10.10.3. The app, which essentially replaces both iPhoto and Aperture, features a new, lighter design and deep integration with Apple's new iCloud Photo Library.

Apple Watch can tap into known Wi-Fi hotspots when your iPhone’s at home

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 9, 2015

From the onset, Apple's been telling us its Watch uses Wi-Fi (along with GPS) in your iPhone, but omitted that the gizmo can also take advantage of known Wi-Fi hotspots for limited functions when the paired iPhone isn't nearby or connected to the cellular network.

This nifty little feature lets the device be used standalone for the basic stuff like sending and receiving messages, drawings and taps. Just to be sure here, it still requires an iPhone to send and receive phone calls, run third-party apps and for much of its functionality, really.

The revelation was published as a side-note in Apple Watch reviews by both The Wall Street Journal and Yahoo Tech yesterday.

Twitter folding Discover and Activity tabs on mobile into enhanced Search

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 28, 2018

Twitter giveth, Twitter taketh away. Twitter first said this morning that iPhone users can now upload and share their gorgeous 120FPS and 240FPS slow-motion videos through its mobile app and now we're receiving word that the startup will soon axe the Discover and Activity tabs from Twitter for iPhone and iPad.

The change, apparently a result of lack of interest, will be rolling out to mobile users over the next few days.

Business owners can now claim POIs as their own via Apple Maps on iOS 8.3 and OS X 10.10.3

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 3, 2016

One of the welcome changes in the iOS 8.3 and OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 software updates, which hit yesterday, includes the ability for business owners to claim any point of interest as their own using an updated Report a Problem tool in Apple Maps for the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Mac, as reported Thursday by AppleMapsMarketing.

The company began allowing local businesses to manage their listing in the service last October, but required them to use its Maps Connect web service.

At the same time, the iPhone maker appears to be removing some TripAdvisor hotel reviews which started showing up in its Maps service last week.

Apple warns of constrained Watch supply at launch

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 9, 2015

With less than 24 hours until Apple Watch pre-orders begin, the Cupertino firm has issued a media release advising customers to reserve their unit online because “we expect that strong customer demand will exceed our supply at launch”.

Moreover, the company will be now taking orders for the device exclusively online “during the initial launch period.”

Touch ID for App Store purchases stops working for many after updating to iOS 8.3

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 9, 2015

A growing number of users are complaining about the inability to use Touch ID fingerprint scanning to authorize purchases in the App Store after updating to iOS 8.3.

As reported on Twitter, Reddit and detailed in a thread on Apple's Support Communities forums, iOS 8.3 appears to be asking for an Apple ID password for each and every purchase made in the App Store.

This is regardless of whether or not the option to use Touch ID in the App Store is enabled in Settings. What gives?

Twitter now supports iPhone’s slow motion videos

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 28, 2018

As of today, it's now possible to share slow-motion videos using Twitter's iPhone and iPad app, the micro-blogging service announced in a tweet. The feature has been enabled via a silent backend update so there's no need to update Twitter's iOS app.

The ability to upload and share slow-motion videos entails both footage captured in 120 frames per second on your iPhone 5s and higher frame-rate videos at 240 frames per second recorded on the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus.

iOS 8.3 patches another jailbreak exploit

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

In addition to a lengthy change log of improvements, today's iOS 8.3 release also includes several security patches. In fact, as MuscleNerd points out, the new firmware features 39 security patches, rivaling the amount found in the jump from iOS 7 to iOS 8.

Among the patches is one of particular interest, to us anyway, that is credited to the TaiG Jailbreak Team. It's labeled CVE-2015-1087, and described as a backup bug that can allow an attacker to use the backup system to access restricted areas of the file system.

Siri website gets prettier and more helpful

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Apple on Wednesday launched a revamped Siri website with a slew of changes, including an all-new design and several other improvements. Atop the new page is a video of Siri in action, followed by a comprehensive page of information on the digital assistant's features.

Users can now sort Siri's abilities into categories, such as 'Staying in Touch, Getting organized, Sports, and Entertainment. There are also dedicated sections for how to get directions and how to find answers to commonly-asked questions, all by talking to your device.