Apple

Can your Mac run OS X Yosemite? Find out here

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

With Monday's announcement of OS X Yosemite now off our backs, many people are wondering whether the next major revision to Apple's desktop operating system will run on their Macs. There's some good news and bad news.

The good news is, Yosemite doesn't impose steeper requirements in terms of the minimum hardware needed for a productive and hassle-free experience, simply because Yosemite is much like Mavericks in this regard. The bad news is, some older Mac models will inevitably be left behind, call it the price of progress.

Will your Mac be able to run Yosemite? Read on...

The New York Times releases NYT Opinion app

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 5, 2018

After launching its NYT Now app back in March with more affordable subscriptions, The New York Times newspaper this morning released another iPhone application in the App Store, as part of its doubling down on mobile and digital.

It's called NYT Opinion and focuses solely on the paper's opinion pieces, edited by former Reuters and Fortune editor Paul Smalera. The app is free to download in the App Store and comes with a $6 per month subscription...

Fleksy teases its upcoming iOS 8 keyboard

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 28, 2016

Aside from customizable Share sheets and support for third-party Share Extensions, downloadable soft-keyboards is yet another feature making iOS 8 more flexible and way more customizable than ever.

As we explained yesterday, registered iOS developers can now use Apple's iOS 8 SDK to write software keyboards and distribute them in the App Store. And users will be permitted to download any third-party keyboard they like.

This will make it dead simple to finally use new input methods system-wide. I bet you didn't see downloadable iOS 8 keyboards coming! Apple's promotional graphics shown at Monday's keynote and used on the iOS 8 webpage has already hinted at a downloadable Swype keyboard.

And just this morning, an image tweeted out by its developer has confirmed that the popular Fleksy Android keyboard will be available when iOS 8 launches this Fall...

Find My iPhone in iOS 8 introduces ‘Send Last Location’ feature

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 4, 2014

Find My iPhone is a great way to locate your lost or misplaced device - that is, unless a thief was smart enough to find a way to disable it right after you've been mugged and your device has been taken from you.

Additionally, if the person has shut down your device or it has run out of battery charge, Apple's free Find My iPhone app will only display its last known location for up to 24 hours.

The same goes for the web interface over at iCloud.com. After the 24 hour cut-off period, you're basically unable to locate the device on a world map until it has been restarted and has established a network connection...

Apple introduces MFi specifications for Lightning cable headphones

Cody Lee ∙ June 4, 2014

According to a report tonight from 9to5Mac, Apple has quietly introduced a new specification for accessory manufacturers in its MFi program. The spec allows them to create headphones that connect to devices using a Lightning cable instead of 3.5mm.

The change will allow for a new breed of headphones that are capable of handling lossless stereo 48 kHz digital audio output, and have access to headphone remote controls. And Apple plans to activate support in newer iOS devices in a future update...

Yahoo replaced by The Weather Channel for weather data in iOS 8

Cody Lee ∙ June 3, 2014

Last year, The Wall Street Journal reported that Yahoo was in talks with Apple over increasing its presence on the iPhone. The company wanted more of its content pre-loaded onto Apple's devices, and was after the default search spot in Safari.

But its quest to expand its reach in iOS isn't going so well. Apple released the first beta of iOS 8 to developers yesterday, and it's been discovered that the Weather app, which used to pull info from Yahoo, now uses data from The Weather Channel...

You can now download the entire WWDC 2014 keynote

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 3, 2014

Shortly after wrapping up Monday's two-hour keynote talk, Apple made the entire presentation available for streaming through its WWDC iOS app, via the Apple TV and on its website on any Mac or Windows PC with QuickTime installed.

If you want to keep the keynote video, plan on watching it on multiple devices or just have a lousy Internet connection to stream in high-definition, you can now download the entire presentation to your computer for later watching...

New in iOS 8 Accessibility: better zoom, Grayscale

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 3, 2014

Over the years, both iOS and OS X platforms have adopted a number of great accessibility features to help tailor how Apple's mobile and desktop devices work for people with disabilities.

If you're color blind or have low vision, a brand new Accessibility option in iOS 8 replaces the colors with a range of gray shades from white to black, as used in a monochrome display or printout.

That's not all, as iOS 8 includes additional screen zoom options and more. I've detailed this changes for you right after the break...

Survey shows Beats deal is increasing Apple’s ‘cool’ among students

Cody Lee ∙ Updated August 30, 2017

Apple didn't make much mention of its $3 billion Beats acquisition at WWDC yesterday, but it didn't really have to. Since the news broke in early May, the storyline has pretty much dominated much of the tech-related news cycle.

And it seems to be having a positive impact on Apple's image. According to a new survey by education technology company Chegg, which involved the polling of 10,000 students, the acquisition will make the iPad-maker more 'cool.'

iOS 8 puts app shortcuts on the Lock screen based on your location

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 3, 2014

Another handy improvement we've discovered in iOS 8 deals with location tracking improvements.

Apparently, Apple's upcoming mobile operating system puts an app icon right on the Lock screen whenever in a vicinity of a location that has a corresponding app in the App Store. Just walk up to a nearby Apple Store and an app icon appears on the Lock screen. Same for places like Tesco and Vons.

"When Location Services is turned on, the device's current location is used to recommend relevant apps on the lock screen," as per iOS 8 release notes. Again, you don't even need to have the app installed on your device. It's important to note that this feature is unrelated to iBeacons, here are full details...

Instagram 6.0 rolls out with 10 new photo editing tools and other features

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 3, 2014

iPhone photography buffs, pay notice: Facebook-owned Instagram is rolling out a major version 6.0 update to its mobile apps. Available free in the App Store, Instagram's iPhone app now comes with ten new tools making photo editing before posting a lot easier.

There are also other features in this update, including more efficient video sharing, an improved design and bug fixes. Jump past the fold for details...