Apps

Closer Look at iPhone’s Location-Tracking Database

Alex Heath ∙ Updated November 13, 2019

A couple days ago, we told you about a discovery made by two researchers concerning location data collection on the iPhone. Apparently, the iPhone logs your GPS coordinates for an unspecified amount of time and saves that data to a system-level consolidated.db file that is then synced over to iTunes upon backup.

This finding was demonstrated at the Where 2.0 conference by British programmers Pete Warden and Alasdair Allen. They claimed the discovery as their own, when in fact it has actually been a known issue in the security community since last year.

NFL Finally Releases Official iPad Application

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

While an NFL season is questionable, the draft seems to be right on schedule. On April 28th, last year's top college football players will participate in the NFL Draft where players are selected by professional teams.

The NFL iPad app will allow you to watch live video of the draft, along with several other great features. You can check which positions your favorite team needs help in and view a detailed breakdown of each player that gets drafted. You can even set the application to alert you when your favorite team is up for selection.

Outside of the exclusive draft coverage, the application is pretty bare. There is a section where you can read general news and view the entire NFL schedule, but that's pretty much it.

If a 2011 season does go on as planned, the NFL has mentioned that there will be a lot more content pushed out to users via an update. You'll most likely get the usual cocktail of features like in-game highlights and up to the minute league scoreboards.

I would be interested to see Fantasy Football get integrated into the application. Maybe even throw in some audio clips of popular players that are wearing microphones throughout the game.

Although it's kind of on the light side right now, if you're planning on watching the draft next week, this application would make a nice accessory. NFL 2011 for iPad is free to download from the App Store.

What do you think?

Time Warner Channels Back on iPad App

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

We told you about all of the fire Time Warner Cable was under after releasing its new iPad application. The popular software saw tremendous success until networks starting interfering.

Discovery and Fox networks pressured TWC into removing their channels from the app. Viacom forced Time Warner to remove 11 of their channels from the application, and is currently in litigation with the cable giant.

Today we bring you an update on the situation, as several media outlets are reporting that some of the pulled channels are starting to reappear in the iPad app.

The returning channels include Discovery Channel, TLC, and Animal Planet from Discovery networks, and National Geographic, FX, and Fox News from Fox. Obviously due to their legal dispute, Viacom channels still remain excluded.

What's really interesting is that competing cable company, Cablevision, has recently rolled out its own iPad application that allows customers access to close to 300 channels. TWC is currently offering around 50 channels, depending on the subscriber package.

The difference might be in the technology used to stream the content. While TWC broadcasts the video over the internet, Cablevision streams the media via Wi-Fi from their digital cable boxes. However, both methods require the user of the iPad app to be in their home to view the content.

The good news is that major cable networks are starting to realize that we are in the 21st century. Times are a changing, and only the companies that figure out how to adapt will survive. We'll keep you updated on future news regarding the iPad app lawsuit.

What do you think?

[Tuaw]

Wiimote and iPhone Make Beautiful Music Together

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 16, 2016

It seems like you can never get enough high-tech innovation, especially when it involves using ordinary products to accomplish extraordinary things. We've shown you 3D graphics on the iPhone 4 in the past and even lenses that give the iPhone 360-degree video capturing abilities. What could they possibly come up with next?

Let me introduce you to Tim Soo. On top of being a medical student, he also happens to be a hacker/musician. His Kickstarter video asking for donations to fund an interesting project has really been making its rounds on the internet recently...

An iPhone User’s Experience with Android

Alex Heath ∙ Updated June 25, 2016

Things can get a little heated when iPhone and Android users start arguing over who has the better phone. The Android/iPhone debate is king of the smartphone rivalries, and iPhone fanatics swear by their platform just as much as Android users.

Few people actually use both an Android and iPhone device for any extended period of time. Usually, the fights occur between people that are sitting on opposite sides of the smartphone fence. It's always interesting to hear the experience of someone that's thoroughly used both platforms...

New AutoAnswer App Now Available in Cydia

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

Ever wanted the ability to set your iPhone to automatically answer incoming calls? Auto answer is a feature I've seen requested several times, across multiple iPhone message boards. If your iPhone is jailbroken, you have a handful of options.

Applications like CallControl are nice, but have limited auto answering capabilities. If you have been looking for an auto answer app with more features, you need to check out AutoAnswer. The new Cydia app promises to handle all of your auto answering needs for your iPhone...

New Nimbus Web Browser is Free for a Limited Time

Cody Lee ∙ April 12, 2011

Let's face it, Apple's default Safari web browser on the iPhone could use an upgrade. It's not bad by any means, but it could certainly stand to add some much needed features. Maybe that's why 3rd party web browsers in the App Store are so popular.

If apps like Opera Mini and Skyfire don't quench your thirst for alternative browsing options, allow me to introduce you to something different. As of today jailbroken iPhone users can download Nimbus, a new web browsing application in Cydia...

qTweeter Allows You to Update Your Twitter and Facebook Status by Sliding Your Finger

Cody Lee ∙ April 9, 2011

qTweeter by Efiko has been around for quite some time. Sebastien even mentioned it in his list of some of the best jailbreak apps last year. The funny thing is, I hadn't really feigned interest in trying it out until I came across it in my Cydia Changes log yesterday.

While I had heard about qTweeter before, for one reason or another I never downloaded it. I guess I never considered myself the kind of social networking power user that would need something like that. Well I'm still not a social networking king but I gotta say my curiosity got the better of me and I just had to try out this popular Twitter app...

Comparison of the Android and iOS UI

Alex Heath ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

Have you ever used an Android device and iPhone side by side? If you compare the same app that's been ported to both platforms, you should notice some differences.

There are plenty of cross-platform apps that now exist on the Android OS and iOS. Larger brands now offer their apps on multiple mobile operating systems, but the user experience usually ranges for the same app from platform to platform.

Android Gripes has posted a brief comparison of some popular iOS and Android apps...

The State of App Piracy and What Can Be Done to Fix It

Alex Heath ∙ Updated November 13, 2019

[iDB does not condone app piracy.]

Have you ever been inside a peddler's mall? It's basically a huge consignment shop where different vendors come and sell their knick knacks under one roof.

People who have items to sell in a peddler's mall pay the mall's owner a percentage of their sales for the rights to sell in the store. People will come to the peddler's mall to see what kind of deals they can find and to barter with the sellers.

In a way, the peddler's mall is a lot like the App Store. And folks, people are shoplifting.

Time Warner iPad App Controversy

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

The app has already been out for a few weeks, but Time Warner's iPad software is still making headlines. Although at first it offered most of the content available to their TV customers, they have recently been forced to pull several channels due to complaints.

Broadcasters Viacom and News Corp. have led the charge against Time Warner's new streaming application, Viacom even has a pending lawsuit with TWC, seeking damages.

"Viacom has made clear that it is willing to discuss extension of similar rights to others - including TWC. What Viacom cannot do, however, is permit one of its contracting partners, TWC, to unilaterally change the terms of its contractual relationship."

Viacom intends to block Time Warner Cable from distributing its content on new devices, from tablets to Smart TV apps, until additional payments have been negotiated. Time Warner Cable recently posted on their blog regarding their disagreement.

They claim that the networks are simply imposing new "artificial limits" on the screens its subscribers use. Apple Insider quotes the TWC blog as saying:

"Instead of rowing down the river of history and into the future, Viacom, FOX, and Discovery have chose to sit on the bank and kick rocks."

But TWC seems to have brushed off the quarrel. Shortly after removing programming, they added new channels including ABC, Disney, and A&E.

Time Warner Cable's free app has seen over 300,000 downloads since it was introduced in late March. It allows TWC subscribers to watch TV inside their homes and requires Wi-Fi.

It seems like the iPad would just be considered another TV in a household. If the app only works in subscriber's households, why are networks like Discovery and Fox so upset about it?

What do you think?

iKeyGuard – The First and Only Key Logger for Your iPhone

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 2, 2018

The purpose of key loggers has always been kind of cloudy to me. I suppose if you wanted to monitor your computer covertly while you were away, a key logger would make sense.

If you were a parent wanting to keep tabs on your kid's online activities, you could certainly use a key logger to record their ventures. I've even heard of people using key loggers on their spouses.

While, key logging on a computer still doesn't seem useful to me, key logging on a smartphone does.

You could have archives of text messages and emails you've sent from your device. If you have been looking for something similar, the application iKeyGuard makes key logging easy on your iPhone or other iDevice...