Apple

All iCloud services currently down for some users [updated]

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

If you're having issues with some, or all, of your iCloud services you're not alone. It appears that several of Apple's iCloud services are down for a number of users. We've seen numerous complaints of it on Twitter, and Apple has updated its System Status page to reflect the outages.

A few of us here at iDB are experiencing iCloud issues—I specifically am receiving pop up warnings on both my Mac and iPhone saying that my iCloud password is incorrect for various applications. Others have reported that they are unable to access iCloud.com, or iCloud backups.

Apple releases first beta of iOS 8.1 to developers

Cody Lee ∙ Updated June 11, 2018

Apple has seeded the first beta of iOS 8.1 to developers this afternoon, with build number 12B401. The release comes just a few days after the company posted iOS 8.0.2, and just a few hours after reports surfaced claiming that multiple iOS 8 updates were in the works.

We’re currently installing the beta and will be updating this post with any changes we find. If you find any changes from previous versions, be sure to email us at tips@idownloadblog.com or leave a comment below, preferably with a screenshot of the change or addition.

Facebook Messenger and Amazon Kindle apps updated for iPhone 6

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

Although Apple's new iPhones have been in stores for more than a week now and developers are scrambling to update their apps with native display support for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

And while users are still waiting for an iPhone 6 optimized edition of WhatsApp, the social networking giant Facebook has now updated the Messenger iOS app with native iPhone 6 support.

Another important piece of software has also received its iPhone 6-focused refresh today, Amazon's Kindle for the iPhone and iPad. Both Facebook Messenger and Amazon Kindle are available free of charge in the App Store.

Jawbone launches all-new HealthKit-enabled Up software, no fitness band required

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 17, 2019

San Francisco, California headquartered wearable products company Jawbone on Monday released a brand new Up software for the iPhone in the App Store (not to be confused with the firm's existing Up app).

Announced earlier in the month, the app features iOS 8 HealthKit integration, personalized fitness advice and other features, but without requiring Jawbone's UP or UP24 fitness band.

The app lets you share Up's food, fitness and sleep tracking data with iOS 8’s Health app, and vice versa. Jawbone has opened up its platform to third-party development so more than a hundred health and fitness applications and accessories for the iPhone and iPad now integrate with Up, with or without HealthKit, including Strava Running & Cycling, Wello, IFTTT, RunKeeper and MyFitnessPal.

Microsoft takes on Apple TV and Chromecast with $60 HDMI streaming stick

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Although dated last week, it's relevant so I thought I should share it with you guys. Windows maker Microsoft has introduced an interesting dongle which connects to an external display, projector, monitor or other HDMI-driven display device so you can stream content wirelessly from your phone, tablet or PC.

Much like Apple's AirPlay technology and the $99 Apple TV media-streaming box, Microsoft's $60 HDMI dongle makes it easy to enjoy games and media on your big screen HD TV, no cables needed.

The $59.99 accessory goes on sale next month at Best Buy locations in the U. S.

Apple poaches NFC and mobile payments expert away from Visa to expand Apple Pay in Europe

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

Apple has hired Mary Carol Harris, former Director of Mobile at Visa Europe to help bring the NFC-based Apple Pay mobile payments system to Europe, PaymentEye reported Monday.

She's been with Visa since 2008 and previously headed up NFC at Telefónica, Spain's leading multinational by market cap and one of the largest private telecommunications company in the world.

Introduced alongside new iPhones earlier this month, Apple's mobile payments solution is scheduled to debut in the United States on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in October, and on the Apple Watch early next year, extending the service to over 200 million owners of the iPhone 5, iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s devices worldwide.

Harris has fourteen year experience in digital and mobile payments, including NFC technology utilized by the Apple Pay. Harris's LinkedIn profile lists her an employee of Apple Europe.

Apple Watch is headed to Paris for Fashion Week

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

Apple has teamed up with Colette, the famous Parisian boutique, on a promotional event involving a “one day only experience” on September 30 from 11:00am to 7:00pm local time at the at fashion retailer's gallery on rue Saint-Honoré in Paris, French blog Macplus reported Monday [Google Translate].

At the same time, members of the company's industrial design team are headed to Paris Fashion Week, vaguely indicating that the company's wearable device, the Apple Watch, could play a role at the semi-annual clothing trade show.

iOS 8.1, iOS 8.2 and iOS 8.3 allegedly coming across 2015

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 29, 2014

Not one, not two, but three major updates to iOS 8 — iOS 8.1, iOS 8.2 and iOS 8.3 — are in tow for 2015, perhaps signaling that Apple is speeding up its iOS development process, Mark Gurman of 9to5Mac reported Monday.

This would represent a break from Apple's practice of releasing a major new iOS version each Fall, followed-up by a substantial update early in the following year.

Gurman was able to confirm the three upcoming iOS 8 releases via “a developer of a major hardware-connected iOS application” who shared with him their analytics, in addition to traces of iOS 8.1, iOS 8.2 and iOS 8.3 spotted in Google Analytics for 9to5Mac.com.

O2 customers can now purchase iTunes credit and have it charged to their wireless bill

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 29, 2014

Telefónica-owned UK carrier O2 announced via a press release on Monday that its customers can now buy iTunes credit and have the purchase charged directly to their monthly wireless bill. Furthermore, customers can also purchase iTunes credit by taking it out of their Pay & Go phone credit.

The development is part of Charge to Mobile, an alternative method of payment already used by over a hundred merchants in the United Kingdom through O2’s online and mobile channels. Folks can use Charge to Mobile to pay for digital content, with O2 claiming that its customers have made over ten million transactions to date.

Rumor: Retina iMac in late testing, could launch next month

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 24, 2018

A rumored 27-inch iMac with a Retina screen featuring a “5K” resolution of 5,120-by-2,880 pixels is reportedly in late testing stages within Apple, as first reported Monday morning by Jack March and corroborated by 9to5Mac.

The reported “5K” resolution would quadruple pixel count versus the 2,560-by-1,440 resolution panel on the current 27-inch iMac model. To drive all those pixels, Apple is said to outfit the forthcoming all-in-one desktop with AMD's pro-grade graphics utilized on the late-2013 Mac Pro, as opposed to Nvidia GPU’s powering the current iMac lineup.

Waze gains car-parking features and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 29, 2014

Waze, the popular GPS-based maps and traffic app that Google purchased for undisclosed sum in June of 2013, has received an update Monday bringing out half a dozen new features and improvements, including enhancements related to remembering where you parked your car.

A free update, Waze 3.9 lets you add driving related information if a place has a parking lot or drive-thru. The app also saves your parking location so it's now a lot easier to find your vehicle in the parking lot.

Safari on iOS 8 found to support animated PNGs

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 29, 2014

Safari on iOS 8 has been found to support animated PNG images (APNG), a standard conceived as a replacement for animated GIF, as discovered by MacRumors on Monday.

The Animated Portable Network Graphics file format was proposed in 2004, but failed to take off as a replacement for the animated GIF file format widely used to embed short animations online.

Unlike animated GIFs, APNG files support 24-bit images and 8-bit transparency not available for GIFs.