iPhone

Stay up-to-date on the latest iPhone news and learn new tips and tricks with our comprehensive tutorials. From software updates to new features, we’ve got you covered.

Google Maps for iOS now lets you add pit stops to your trips without leaving navigation mode

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 29, 2016

Internet giant Google on Monday announced that an upcoming update to its native, free of charge Maps application in the App Store has a brand new feature that will let you add pit stops onto your trips without leaving navigation mode. The feature was added to Google Maps for Android last October and starting today will begin rolling out on iOS in more than a hundred countries worldwide where Google Maps offer navigation.

Samsung’s celebrity-studded Galaxy S7 ad is smart and subtle with anti-Apple digs

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 29, 2016

Samsung's Galaxy advertising campaigns typically are not the subtlest of digs at Apple, but the new star-studded commercial for the latest Galaxy S7 smartphones is different.

Featuring actors William Macy and Wesley Snipes, hip-hop artist Lil Wayne and other celebrities, the commercial focuses on the features that differentiate the Galaxy S7 from the iPhone 6s.

The highlighted features that the ad poses as the Galaxy S7's competitive advantage over Apple's smartphone include waterproofing, two times better lowlight performance, a longer-lasting battery, support for Samsung's virtual reality headset, Samsung's mobile payment system that works anywhere credit cards are accepted, the phone's expandable memory and more.

WhatsApp now lets you share media from other apps like Dropbox and Google Drive

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 29, 2016

The popular mobile messaging service WhatsApp today received a pretty cool update in the App Store which adds the ability to share photos or videos from other apps installed on your iPhone via a new option exposed after tapping the Photo/Video Library button.

In addition, WhatsApp has gained a pair of new shortcuts in the 3D Touch menu on the Home screen and now supports solid colors as chat backgrounds.

Oh, and you can now zoom in on videos while they're playing.

iOS 10 concept imagines a customizable Control Center with 3D Touch support, dark mode and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 7, 2016

How will Apple improve upon Control Center in the next major iteration of iOS? Sam Beckett has attempted to imagine tight 3D Touch integration for Control Center in iOS 10, and his concept video does a very fine job at that. It shows off some ideas that Apple could take advantage of in order to allow for greater customization of hardware toggles and app shortcuts in Control Center.

A user could press on toggles to enter the edit mode to rearrange the icons, turn off the toggles they use rarely, add new switches for things such as Low Power Mode and Cellular Data and so forth. In addition, Control Center could benefit from 3D Touch by allowing users to quickly access additional options from the contextual menu for a specific toggle.

The best 3D Touch gestures in Music app

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 2, 2017

The stock Music app in iOS 10 supports 3D Touch Peek and Pop gestures within the app and various Quick Actions on the Home screen.

With 3D Touch, the Music app speeds up common user actions, from tuning in to Beats 1 radio to running a search on your music, previewing the contents of albums and playlists, adding For You playlists (for those who are subscribed to Apple Music) and more.

With 3D Touch, owners of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will have an easier time navigating the Music app's somewhat overwhelming interface while discovering they can accomplish more with fewer taps.

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to use 3D Touch in the Music app like a pro.

Apple to hold iPhone SE media event during the week of March 21?

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 27, 2016

Kara Swisher of Re/code shot down the March 18 date for an Apple media event which was originally reported by Mark Gurman of 9to5Mac. According to Swisher, Apple's next product event is going to be held during the week of March 21, not on March 15.

Gurman originally claimed the event would be held on March 15, a Tuesday, ahead of the iPhone SE and iPad Air 3 launch on Friday, March 18.

“Or to put it another way, it’s not going to be on March 15, the time frame that other outlets previously reported,” she wrote, citing several sources familiar with the plans.

Leaked iPhone SE screen assembly lacks 3D Touch

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 27, 2016

Just as so-called 'iPhone SE' is about to enter mass production, we have become exposed to its very first claimed component leak. Saturday, the reliable French blog NowhereElse.fr posted a purported image of the iPhone SE's screen assembly which supports the thesis that 3D Touch will remain exclusive to the iPhone 6s as a differentiating feature.

3D Touch on the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus uses an additional layer with 96 pressure-sensing sensors and is found between the display itself and the backlight module. No such layer could be identified in the leaked image.

KGI: iPhone SE will have 12MP iSight camera, iPhone 5s to go half price

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 27, 2016

Apple's upcoming four-inch 'iPhone SE' will cost between $300 and $400 in the United States, it will have a twelve-megapixel camera on the back rather than an eight-megapixel shooter, as previously rumored, and is entering mass production soon. Moreover, the existing iPhone 5s is slated to be discounted by fifty percent.

That's the gist of a note KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo sent to clients, a copy of which was obtained by AppleInsider.

EasyClear: the only 3D Touch notification clearing tweak you’ll ever need

Anthony Bouchard ∙ February 27, 2016

Those rocking a jailbreak that have been looking for the perfect all-in-one 3D Touch notification-clearing tweak for their iOS device(s) need not look any further than a new jailbreak tweak release called EasyClear, which is now available in Cydia's BigBoss repository for $1.49.

This tweak makes use of the 3D Touch display on the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus to let you dismiss notifications universally throughout iOS. Whether it be a badge on an app icon from the Home screen, or one or more notifications from Notification Center.

Firefly, Infuse and other apps to check out this weekend

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 1, 2018

It's the weekend! And you know what that means: we've once again put together a list of awesome new apps and games for you to check out. There's a new social networking app, a new video editing app, and even one that lets you play with tornadoes! So enough stalling, let's get to it!

A compilation of iPhone 7 concept renderings

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 26, 2016

We're still more than six months away from the official introduction of Apple's next iPhone, meaning substantial leaks probably won't appear until late summer. That's not stopping 3D artists from imagining the iPhone 7 and its features.

We are being tipped about iPhone 7 concepts almost on a daily basis, but most of the concepts we review are too outrageous or futuristic to showcase on iDB.

Some of them are, however, quite plausible, if not intriguing. My colleague Andrew has put together a nice video compilation of the top five iPhone 7 concept renderings that we think you might like.

Apple’s 4-inch iPhone refresh to be named ‘iPhone SE’?

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 26, 2016

Forget about the rumored 'iPhone 5SE' name that has been floating around for weeks now, it seems that Apple will call its upcoming four-inch iPhone refresh an 'iPhone SE,' according to 9to5Mac's reliable Mark Gurman (we called it, actually). If true, the planned name change will mark the first iPhone upgrade without a number in its name.

The iPhone SE is expected to replace the existing iPhone 5s and will take its price points, claim Gurman's unnamed sources. These sources also say that “the dropping of the '5' from the name simplifies the iPhone lineup as bringing back an iPhone '5' variant amid the iPhone '6' lifecycle could potentially confuse customers,” reads the report.