Apple

Apple releases iBooks version of its ‘iOS Human Interface Guidelines’

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

Last night, Apple published an iBooks version of its 'iOS Human Interface Guidelines.' The move is notable because until now you could only access the user interface guidelines for iOS 7 via the developer portal, which required a $99-per-year membership.

For those unfamiliar with the document, the guidelines are essentially Apple's suggestions to developers for designing their iOS applications. The goal is to ensure that all 3rd party apps share similar UI principles, so that they're both cohesive and intuitive...

Tim Cook charity lunch auction sells for over $330K

Cody Lee ∙ May 13, 2014

Last month we told you about Tim Cook's CharityBuzz auction. Folks were given the opportunity to bid on a one hour luncheon with Cook, the CEO of the world's largest company, with proceeds going to benefit the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights.

The lunch, which was donated by Cook himself, will take place at Apple's Cupertino headquarters and had an estimated value of $100,000. But as expected, bidders blew well past that amount. The auction ended this afternoon with a final bid of $330,001...

Castro podcast app gains better audio, continuous play, sleep timer, crisper UI and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2018

The high-fidelity Castro podcast player for the iPhone and iPod touch debuted last December and today got bumped to version 1.1. Despite the incremental change in version number, developers have added numerous new capabilities and refinements that will improve upon your already top-notch Castro experience.

There's now a new continuous play feature for episodic listening, a sleep timer, vastly improved audio quality of slow-speed playback, rich new options inside in-app settings, a cleaner user interface with nicer typography and much more.

From before, the app supports non-iTunes subscriptions. Today's update is free to existing owners of the software. For newcomers, Castro is a $3.99 download from the App Store...

Sonos revamps iOS app, adds tons of new features

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 2, 2016

Sonos has introduced a major new version of its app which allows you to control your Sonos hardware using an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad.

Following the release of a redesigned Android app earlier in the year, Sonos has now refreshed its iOS counterpart with a revamped user interface, while adding dozens of new features, refinements and enhancements.

The all-new Sonos 5.0, in addition to the flattened interface, now supports VoiceOver (on iOS 7 devices only), lets you use the included Universal Search feature to search multiple music services at once (Google Play Music, MLB, Beats Music, Shuffler.fm and others) and more.

The new version is now available in the App Store...

Report: Apple building split-screen multitasking into iOS 8

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

Soon there may be no need to gnash your teeth at Microsoft whose anti-iPad television commercials always highlight the Surface's split-screen multitasking, a feature iOS currently does not support. But Microsoft will want to rethink those ads as an exclusive report by a reliable blogger claimed Tuesday that Apple is building split-screen multitasking functionality into iOS 8.

If the report is anything to go by, it should be akin to the iPad jailbreak tweak called OS Experience that our own Jeff Benjamin highlighted recently. Details are right after the break so read on for the full reveal...

Rumor: Apple will tap Beats to introduce high-res iTunes music, improve In-Ear Headphones

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 13, 2014

Apple's purported acquisition of Beats Electronics, LCC has set the tongues wagging as pundits race to offer their armchair analysis of the grand strategy behind Apple's alleged $3.2 billion deal.

The latest in the Apple-Beats saga comes via the rather reliable Japanese blog Macotakara which earlier this morning asserted that Apple will use Beats to introduce support for high-resolution audio files in iTunes and the iOS Music app and also improve sound quality of its pricey pricey $79 In-Ear Headphones with Remote and Mic...

New report says iPhone 6 likely to feature NFC for future mobile payment service

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

According to a new report, the incoming iPhone 6 is going to feature support for NFC technology (or near field communications). Citing sources 'close to the matter,' New York news outlet Brightwire says Apple is planning to utilize the wireless tech in a future mobile payment system.

In fact, Brightwire claims that Tim Cook and company have already inked a deal with China UnionPay service. And under that deal, users will be able to make mobile payments on over 3 million China UnionPay 'QuickPass' POS machines in the country using Passbook on their iPhones...

Design comparison: final iPhone 6 mockup vs iPhone 5s vs fifth-gen iPod touch

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 12, 2014

With everyone and their brother 3D printing iPhone 6 mockups, virtually every single day brings another iPhone 6 "leak" that wants to go viral. There's just too much stuff proliferating out there so iDownloadBlog usually only covers the material we specifically deem newsworthy.

This would typically entail photos and footage that bring something new to the conversation, be it a never-before-seen angle, an interesting design choice or other curious detail.

Today's video is no different.

Created by an Italian enthusiast blog, it pits an unusually detailed physical iPhone 6 mockup against the iPhone 5s and the fifth-generation iPod touch, showing the supposed design differences from various angles...

Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre could see grand introductions as Apple executives at WWDC

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 12, 2014

Should Apple's rumored $3.2 billion deal to buy Beats Electronics, LCC come through, its most visible co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre could show up on the Moscone West stage to be introduced as Apple executives, as per Billboard. An annual pilgrimage for programmers, Apple's 5-day Worldwide Developers Conference, or WWDC, kicks off on June 2.

If history is an indication, Tim Cook will share the stage with other senior executives to tell us what's next for Apple's mobile and desktop operating systems. Given the amount of coverage WWDC typically enjoys, it would be the perfect venue to make such a high-profile announcement...

Flat iPad sales are the new normal, cautions analyst

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 12, 2014

In announcing financial results for the March 2014 quarter, Apple surprised analysts by reporting basically flat iPad growth.

Compared to the same quarter in 2013, sales of the Apple tablet hit the 16.35 million unit mark versus analyst consensus of 19.7 million units. More worryingly, it's a 16 percent annual drop from the 19.5 million iPads moved in the year-ago quarter.

Slowing growth is the new normal rather than an anomaly because the tablet market as a whole has seen little innovation lately, cautions Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty...

Apple to accelerate Safari’s JavaScript engine

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 12, 2014

Nitro, WebKit's JavaScript interpreter used in Apple's Safari, is about to get a lot speedier as Apple is seemingly looking to close a speed gap between its browser and both Google Chrome's V8 and Mozilla Firefox's SpiderMonkey engines.

The vast majority of today's web applications use JavaScript for interactivity and other purposes so any improvements in a browser's JavaScript performance would normally trickle down to the end-user level, resulting in snappier web browsing...

AT&T introduces in-store pickup for online orders

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 12, 2014

If you plan on buying a smartphone or a tablet from AT&T anytime soon, you'll love the carrier's new in-store pickup option. Introduced Monday, the service allows you to order your mobile gear online - be it a smartphone/tablet, a piece of network equipment such as routers and 4G MiFi hotspots or various wireless accessories - and have it delivered to a nearby brick-and-mortar store.

Verizon for quite some time has been offering in-store pickups for online orders - as has been Apple - so this new service will improve AT&T's ability to compete and potentially help increase foot traffic at its own stores...