Apple

1Password news: iOS and Mac apps discounted, free iOS 8 update

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

If you're an avid user of 1Password, an excellent password-management application for the iPhone, iPad and Mac, a forthcoming iOS 8 edition will be supplied to you free of charge, developer AgileBits has confirmed.

And those who've been sitting on the sidelines waiting for a not-to-be-missed opportunity to get in on the action, now's the time to get a move on as AgileBits has 1Password for Mac on sale for 30 percent off.

As a bonus, the iPhone and iPad edition down by a cool 40 percent! So there you have it: now you can download the app in the Mac App Store for just $34.99 (regularly $49.99) and get 1Password for the iPhone and iPad for $9.99 (regularly $17.99)...

Use a Mac running OS X 10.5.8 and below? You can no longer run Skype

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 8, 2014

If you own a legacy Mac with OS X Leopard 10.5.8 and earlier, you can no longer run Skype, the Microsoft-owned company has confirmed today.

Following a string of complaints from disgruntled users who took to the Skype forum last week reporting they were being locked out from accessing the VoIP service, a Skype team member penned a note confirming that the program was no longer supported on Macs running OS X Leopard 10.5.8 and older.

People running Skype on OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, 10.7 Lion and 10.8 Mountain Lion are unaffected so "there is no need to upgrade to Mavericks or Yosemite if you don't want to" reads the message...

Fantastical 2 for iPad gains Dolphin browser integration, list/reminder improvements and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 29, 2018

Flexibits has issued an update to its Fantastical for iPad today, bringing our a few new useful features and enhancements.

In addition to half a dozen bug fixes and various other fixes and improvements, Fantastical 2.1.1 includes support for Dolphin Browser [free download] and comes with improvements to the app's handling of lists and reminders.

Specifically, your list will finally show reminders that have an alert time but not a due date.

And if you use iOS automation via URL schemes, you can tell other apps to open reminders directly in Fantastical by taking advantage of a new URL handler 'fantastical2://show?view=reminders'...

Movie-inspired Run Forrest Run hits iOS

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 8, 2014

Forrest Gump is one of my favorite movies of all time, not just due to Tom Hanks' career-defining performance as one of the most likable film characters — I particularly fell in love with the epic romantic storyline involving an athletically prodigious native of Alabama.

Those who've watched the movie (and if you haven't, you're missing out — big time) surely haven't forgotten the scene of Gump running across the country.

Well, the scene has been conveniently turned into an endless-runner game for the iPhone and iPad. A free-to-play download contains optional bonuses and power-ups in the form of In-App Purchases, but despite the dreaded APIs and nagging Facebook prompts, I'd highly recommended Run Forrest Run to those who can't get enough of endless runners, as well as to anyone who enjoyed the 1994 Robert Zemeckis movie...

The Sims 2: Super Collection is available now in the Mac App Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2017

As Electronic Arts is gearing up to release the PC version of Sims 4 on September 2 , the latest installment in its iconic life simulation game, Aspyr Media has now released the ultimate Sims 2 collection pack on the App Store.

Featuring all of the content from the original game, in addition to six expansion packs and three 'Stuff Packs' never before packaged together, The Sims 2: Super Collection can be exclusively purchased through the Mac App Store as a $29.99 digital download.

The game has been rewritten from the ground up with modern hardware in mind, featuring a new renderer and support for native resolutions. As a cherry on top, you can import a neighborhood from SimCity 4 Deluxe, play around with custom content via the 'Body Shop' and much more...

U.S. Patent Office rejects Apple patent Samsung was found to infringe

Cody Lee ∙ August 8, 2014

Apple and Samsung may have called a truce in patent litigation overseas, but here in the United States, they're still locked in a heated battle. The two firms are wrapping up post-trial hearings from their 2012 meeting, and they've just begun post-trial activities for this year's lawsuit.

This week a significant development has occurred, which could have a major impact in the ongoing fight. The US Patent Office has rejected several claims of one of the patents Apple asserted against Samsung in their most recent infringement trial, saying certain parts aren't valid...

Several productivity apps on sale for a limited time

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 17, 2019

Apple is highlighting a number of popular productivity apps in its App Store right now, which have recently seen significant discounts. The promo can be found in the iTunes Store, under a special new section entitled "Amazing Productivity Apps Limited-Time Prices."

Here you'll find several top tier apps like Fantastical 2,which has made our Top Calendar Apps list multiple times, for bottom tier prices. There's also Clear To Do List, Notablity, 1Password and many more. We've put together a list of the apps and their discounts below...

Apple releases iTunes 11.3.1 with podcast-related bug fixes

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple has this afternoon pushed out a new version of its iTunes app, bringing the music management software to version 11.3.1. The update is more of a maintenance release, and doesn't include any major new features or changes.

It does however, offer up a fix for a persistent problem where subscribed podcasts may have stopped updating with new episodes, as well as an issue where iTunes would become unresponsive while browsing through podcast episodes...

Apple researching Siri for Mac, patent filing hints

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 7, 2014

Rumors of Apple's supposed intent to port its iOS digital personal assistant, Siri, over to the Mac have persisted for years, and intensified lately. Back in November 2012, for example, 9to5Mac claimed that Siri would be baked into OS X Mavericks.

Mavericks is here without Siri and the feature is nowhere to be seen in Yosemite, which looms on the horizon. Of course, the Mac's Dictation feature, powered by Nuance, doesn't count as it's simply speech-to-text with no real intelligence.

That being said, it would seem that the Cupertino firm has been quietly researching ways of enabling Siri on the Mac. Case in point: a newly discovered patent application filed back in February of this year which details how Siri for Mac might function, what features it could include and how it should improve your desktop productivity...

Beats by Dr. Dre products get featured on Online Apple Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

After officially welcoming Beats to the family last week, Apple has now given the Beats by Dr. Dre range its own dedicated section on the Online Apple Store.

Found under the new 'Beats by Dr. Dre' section found under the Accessories link, the Beats sub-section has even gotten a prominent placement on the navigation bar at the top, joining other sections such as 'All Accessories,' 'Apple Accessories,' 'Exclusives,' 'Now Trending,' and 'Gift Cards'.

The online store seems to be carrying the complete range of the popular Beats by Dr. Dre line of accessories and headphones...

Peter Molyneux’s newest God game is now available for iOS

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 7, 2014

Arguably the most famous game designer of all time, Peter Molyneux left Bullfrog to form Lionhead Studios in 1997. Ever since, he's been (mostly) churning out one hit game after another. His latest project: a God sim called Godus.

After a recent soft-launch, it's now available worldwide as a free-to-play download for the iPhone and iPad. Designed by Molyneux himself and developed for mobile by DeNA Corp., Godus started as a Kickstarter project.

The game can be considered an unofficial sequel to Curiosity, an experimental Molyneux-designed game which forced people to frantically tap away at a cube in order to discover what's inside. Godus takes a different route. Featuring cartoonish graphics, it invites you to rule over a living, breathing world and lets you shape, mold and sculpt every inch of the landscape to your liking, among other features...

Yosemite’s QuickTime cleans up iOS status bar when screencasting so you don’t have to

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 7, 2014

The vast majority of Apple bloggers who grab screenshots of iPhone and iPad applications don't seem to be ashamed by the low or no cellular signal strength showing right in their status bar, or incomplete Wi-Fi or - worse of all - low battery.

And who could blame them?

Touching up the images to have the status bar show full cellular/Wi-Fi signal and 100 percent battery takes time and a great deal of effort to get it right.

I've seen folks like MacStories editor Federico Viticci obsess over the issue and even write scripts and devise complex workflows in order to correct the messed up status bar on their iOS screenshots. Having been constantly pressed for time, I'm not that particular about my screenshots.

Luckily, QuickTime in Yosemite includes a nifty little feature which automatically cleans up the status bar when capturing an iOS device's screen, so your screencasts look professional...