Apps

Customize and add new functions to Control Center with Onizuka

Although Control Center is useful on any stock iPhone or iPad right out of the box, Apple doesn’t give you a whole lot of options for customizing it with the toggles and aesthetics you want to have. Fortunately, that’s where having a jailbreak can come in handy.

With a new jailbreak tweak called Onizuka by maximehip, you can customize your Control Center layout through the help of various options that can give it a different aesthetic or change its functional usefulness.

Facebook launches Video app for Apple TV

After previously announcing its ambitions to launch a video-focused app for the small screen, Facebook has officially released an application for Apple TV on Tuesday night.

After logging in via the Facebook app on your iPhone or via a dedicated web page, users are presented with a carousel of videos shared by some of the people and pages they follow, as well as some of the top live videos being currently watched.

Mozilla acquires popular read-later service Pocket

Mozilla, the non-profit organization behind the Firefox browser, has acquired the read-later service Pocket for an undisclosed sum. The deal files as Mozilla's first acquisition and was confirmed by both Mozilla and Pocket.

I've been a longtime Pocket user because their elegantly designed cross-platform apps let me easily save stripped down versions of articles from online publications for reading later, even without an Internet connection.

Pocket will continue on as a wholly-owned, independent subsidiary of Mozilla. Pocket has native apps on App Store and Mac App Store, plus a browser extension.

All YouTube links now open in mobile app instead of browser

Google's mobile YouTube app takes advantage of iOS's deep linking capability to automatically launch itself when a user taps a video URL in their browser. That useful feature doesn't always work as intended, however, prompting Google to push an update to YouTube for iPhone and iPad to rectify this. If clicking a YouTube link in Safari or Chrome doesn't launch the app and iOS doesn't display the “Open this page in YouTube?” pop-up, be sure to update your copy of YouTube for iOS to version 12.07.

This tweak lets you use a 3D Touch gesture to clear app icons badges

Anyone looking for a quicker way of dismissing unwanted notification badges from their app icons without having to open the app in question might want to turn their attention to a new free jailbreak tweak release called ClearBadges3DTouch10 by HiDaN.

As the self-explanatory name implies, this tweak is intended to give you a way to remove notification badges from your apps with a 3D Touch gesture.

Google Maps gains 3D Touch place previews

Last week, I whined about Google dragging its feet when it comes to implementing support for important iOS features, like 3D Touch, in apps such as Gmail. Other iPhone and iPad apps from Google have been more aggressive in adopting 3D Touch features, including Maps. In the latest update, Google Maps was bumped to version 4.28 and now allows users who have an iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus to press places on the map to get quicker access to popular actions.

Nest10 lets you have folders within folders in iOS 10

There are those who like to stay organized, and then there are those who take organization to an extreme level that most people would recognize as some kind of OCD.

Anyone who considers themselves as a part of the latter group and goes to extreme lengths to stay organized might be able to benefit from a jailbreak tweak called Nest10 by Tony Kraft, which enables you to have nested folders (folder inside of folders) on your iOS 10 device.

App Center displays your recently used apps in Control Center

If you’ve ever wanted to make access to your favorite apps even easier, and improve the efficiency of multitasking between apps, then you’re going to love a new jailbreak tweak called App Center by Evan Swick and Conath.

This tweak integrates up to nine of your recently used apps into different pages in Control Center, allowing you to quickly swipe between them and interact with them within windowed views.

Gboard gains voice typing, Google Doodles, new languages & iOS 10 emoji in latest update

Gboard, Google's iPhone keyboard that comes with Google Search, glide typing, GIFs, emojis and other advanced features built in, received a notable refresh on App Store. Bumped to version 1.3, Gboard includes support for fifteen new languages and brings a useful dictation feature that Google is calling Voice Typing. Additionally, you can now see a day’s Google Doodle right from the keyboard and enjoy Apple's latest iOS 10 emoji.

17 months later, Gmail gains a single 3D Touch shortcut

Google today refreshed its mobile Gmail app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch on App Store, adding very limited 3D Touch support nearly a year and a half after Apple first brought pressure sensing to iPhone's display with the September 2015 release of iPhone 6s.

Owners of the iPhone 6s/7 series can now press Gmail's icon to quickly compose a message, but that's about it. Thank you, Google, but seriously?

In my view, Google doesn't really have a clue how to properly build 3D Touch gestures into Gmail in a manner that would save users time and boost their productivity.

The app still lacks Peek and Pop gestures., but we'll get those next year, right?