Apple

Will Apple Kill App Store Apps by Stealing Their Ideas?

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

Steve Jobs famously said that great artists steal, and the company has often taken that mantra to the extreme over the years. Some would say that much of Apple's current software bears more than a passing resemblance to some of its competitors' products.

Take iOS 5's Notification Center, for example. You'd need to be blind to say that it does not look eerily similar to the same notification system that Android has packed since day one. Some would argue that there are only so many ways you can handle something like a pull-down notification window. Some would call it stealing.

Apple has even taken some cues from its own App Store. Mobile Safari now sports a "Reading List" feature that offers a similar service to that of Instapaper, the famous web app that also has a popular iOS app in the App Store. Instapaper's developer, Marco Arment, doesn't seem too concerned, but others were not so happy...

Apple’s Upcoming New York Event to Focus on Education and Textbooks

Alex Heath ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

Following yesterday's report that Apple is planning a relatively low-key media event in New York this month, more sources have weighed in on what the company has planned for its upcoming announcement.

Last night TechCrunch said that Apple's event will focus on publishing and iBooks. Four more sources have corroborated that report this morning, and it looks like Apple is about to enter the textbook space.

iOS Finishes 2011 With 52% Share of Mobile Web Browsing

Oliver Haslam ∙ January 2, 2012

Apple's iOS platform finished 2011 with a strong showing in the mobile web browsing department, with iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches combining to capture 52.1% of mobile devices accessing the web.

Apple was top of the list in 2011 with over half of all devices. Jave ME came second with 21.3% share, while Google's Android took third, coming in with a respectable 16.2% share.

The numbers, courtesy of Net Applications, show iOS actually dropping in share when compared to November (54%) and October (61.5%), although December's result was not Apple's lowest of the year...

Apple Planning Media Event in New York This Month

Sébastien Page ∙ January 2, 2012

AllThingsD reports that Apple is planning a media event sometimes this month in New York. Apparently, this event will not be related to the upcoming iPad 3 or even the rumored Apple television.

That leaves some kind of advertising or even publishing announcement, which might be the case, since Apple SVP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue is reportedly involved.

Cue is in charge of a large swath of Apple’s media units, including the iTunes Store, App Store, iBookstore, as well as iAd and its iCloud services.

What do you think it's going to be about?

Google Pulls Fake Siri Android App from Android Market

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated July 10, 2017

It seems that someone at Google has been pretty busy. You may remember how we told you about "Siri for Android," an app on Google's Android Market which claimed to be just what the name suggested.

Siri has obviously has not been ported to Android, as the app was discovered to merely be a shortcut with a Siri-like icon that pointed to Google's own built-in voice recognition engine. The app's developer also called itself "Official App," which was clearly designed to confuse people into thinking the app was, well, official.

Google has since taken note, and the offending app is now gone from the Android Market...

Apple TV Now Running iOS Apps in Fullscreen 720p Resolution

Oliver Haslam ∙ January 1, 2012

As if there was ever any doubt that clever people do clever things, Steve Troughton-Smith and fellow coder TheMudKip have taken things one step further than making iOS apps run on an Apple TV.

Because simply making the apps run on the Apple TV wasn't awesome enough, the pair has now found a way to make iOS applications run at the full 720p resolution of the Apple TV. The original news was that the Apple TV was being forced to run iOS apps in windows, which was great in itself. Making apps run fullscreen is the next logical step, and it seems that it has already been taken.

The images shared by 9to5Mac show iPad apps running at 720p, which makes a great deal of sense considering the iPad's own resolution of 1024x768...

Rumor: More Claimed iPad 3 Parts Shown, Possible New Internals

Oliver Haslam ∙ December 31, 2011

More supposed iPad 3 parts have surfaced that appear to show differences between existing iPad 2 hardware and an unknown device. Published by Macotakara, the new photos show an existing iPad 2 dock connector cable alongside the new part, which it is speculated belongs to Apple's third generation iPad.

Just as any sane person would predict, Apple appears to be sticking to its classic 30-pin dock connector as a source of power and a way of syncing, rather than moving to the industry standard USB solution that is preferred by much of the competition...

Steve Jobs Tribute Calendar Rejected by Apple’s App Store Police

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated March 18, 2019

When Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs passed away in October, people around the world felt like they had lost someone they knew, if only through the devices they own that bear the Apple brand. Many took to Apple Stores as a way of paying their respects, leaving messages and Apple products when they left.

One iOS app developer decided that the best way to honor Jobs was to release a free calendar app on Apple's App Store honoring the late industry titan, but according to MacNN, Apple was not so keen on the idea. Apple's App Store review team decided to reject the app, meaning we will never get to see the tribute ourselves...

iPhone Made Up 66% of AT&T’s December Smartphone Sales

Cody Lee ∙ December 31, 2011

The iPhone has without a doubt been one of the (if not the) year's most popular handsets. The iPhone 4 led smartphone sales at Verizon for the better part of 2011, and both the 3GS and 4 have done the same at AT&T. But is the device still on top?

According to a recent report from The Mac Observer, it is. At least with AT&T anyway. The site claims that it has spoken to a source within the company that says that Apple's smartphone dominated its handset sales during the month of December...

Siri Upsets UK Kid With $#%&ing Rant

Oliver Haslam ∙ December 31, 2011

We all thought Siri was our friend, but it turns out that Apple's digital assistant has a mean streak, especially if you happen to be 12 years-old and frequent one particular supermarket in the UK.

When shopping at a Tesco store in Coventry, UK, one unsuspecting kid decided to have a play with Apple's latest and greatest. Unfortunately, he got more than he bargained for.

According to the report by the ethically-questionable The Sun, little Charlie Le Quense found himself on the wrong end of a four-letter tirade, which understandably took everyone aback...

Rumor: A Photo of iPad 3 Retina Display?

Oliver Haslam ∙ December 30, 2011

If there is one thing that is guaranteed every year, it's that MacRumors will get its hands on some photos of what appear to be parts from a new iPhone or iPad. This year is proving to be no different, with the latest part to show up supposedly being an iPad 3 screen, complete with Retina display pixel density.

Unfortunately, the screen is not attached to anything, and thus not functioning, which is a shame.

While the screen was not powered up, that does not mean there isn't at least one portion of the photo that should get the pulse racing – the screen pictured possess three, count 'em, three ribbon cables. Exciting...

Apple Starts Fighting App Store Piracy

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

It seems like Apple has taken its fight with app piracy to a new level. Apptrackr, the web portal known for harboring hundreds of thousands of pirated apps, has published a blog post today about its recent troubles with the folks in Cupertino.

Apple has been serving Apptrackr and its many file hosts a number of takedown notices over the past several months. While the legal action hasn't disrupted Apptrackr's service, it has provoked the site to make a number of costly changes.