iPod Touch

Google Maps gains 3D Touch place previews

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 27, 2017

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.

EnableCCMute enables the hidden mute toggle in Control Center

Anthony Bouchard ∙ February 24, 2017

It seems like Apple is hiding some pretty useful functionality from us in the iOS 10 Control Center that might remain hidden until a future release of iOS, such as a toggle for recording your screen and a toggle for Low Power Mode, but from the looks of things, it doesn’t end there.

If you have an iPad, then you're probably familiar with the Mute toggle that appears in Control Center, which it's not present on other iOS devices despite still existing in the system. A new free jailbreak tweak called EnableCCMute by iKilledAppl3 enables this hidden toggle on all jailbroken iOS 10 devices.

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

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 23, 2017

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.

Vidicast lets you broadcast live videos to your friends in iMessage

Steffen Reich ∙ Updated October 17, 2018

Sometimes you cannot help but feel the iMessage App Store still owes us a couple of unique entrants to wholly justify its establishment last year. Games and stickers aside, the depth and breadth of the store leaves a lot to be desired and must-have iMessage extensions are few and far between. With that, it is always refreshing to welcome a new aspirant to the ranks that sets out to shake things up a little by bringing genuinely new functionalities to your keyboard. Vidicast, a video broadcasting app operating autonomously inside iMessage, does just that.

The iMessage application is best synthesised as a cross of any video broadcasting feature on the most popular social networks today (Instagram, Facebook, etc) and FaceTime. When hooked up, it provides the recipient of the iMessage invitation with a one-way live video stream, which then can be responded to in real time. The ambition of Vidicast is bold, bold enough in fact that one should be willing to give it some rope in regard to early days hiccups. Before you whizz to your iMessage App Store, here’s what you need to know about Vidicast’s attempt to break the mould of iMessage app extensions.

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

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 22, 2017

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?

You can now share multiple photos and videos in one Instagram post

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 22, 2017

Photo-sharing service Instagram announced today that users are now able to share up to ten photos and videos in a single post and swipe through to see them all. Such multi-item posts are presented inline in your feed in a carousel format that displays only the first item of the post.

The first photo or video shows a new icon, denoting there’s more to see. Simply swipe to reveal additional media.

You can adjust the order in which your photos and videos appear, edit them one by one or apply a filter to everything at once. Instagram 10.9 for iOS is required for this functionality.

iOS 10 now powers 79% of active devices, Android Nougat’s adoption barely 1%

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 22, 2017

iOS 10 now powers nearly eight out of ten active devices—less than six months since officially releasing to the public in September of last year, as measured by App Store on February 20, 2017.

To be precise—iOS 10 now powers 79 percent of active iPhone, iPad and iPod touch device out there, representing a three-point increase over iOS 10's adoption rate of 76 percent recorded 48 days ago on January 5, 2017.

Contrast the rapid pace of iOS adoption to Google, whose latest and greatest version of Android is currently found on less than one percent of active devices. Over and over again, Google's lack of control over hardware and other factors are hurting its ability to deploy the latest Android features to its customers.

Alto’s Odyssey is coming this summer, here’s your teaser trailer

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 21, 2017

The award-winning endless snowboard odyssey, Alto's Adventure, turned two yesterday. Today, Alto's developer Snowman gave us a first look at the game's official sequel, Alto's Odyssey. In Odyssey, players are challenged to discover the secrets of the endless desert.

By the way, they're commemorating the Alto's Adventure anniversary by bringing the game's price down from $4.99 to just $1.99, ending today. Alto's Odyssey is coming in summer 2017 and we'll be sure to update you as more information becomes available.

In the meantime, be sure to watch a teaser trailer for subtle hints about game mechanics, crisp graphics and flawless execution.

Beta 3 of iOS 10.3 and macOS Sierra 10.12.4 released for public beta testing

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 21, 2017

iOS 10.3 beta 3 with Find My AirPods and other enhancements and macOS Sierra 10.12.4 beta 3 with Night Shift Mode and other perks are both now available for public beta-testing, assuming you've enrolled in Apple's Beta Software Program. After signing up on the web at beta.apple.com, deploy a special configuration profile on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Mac and you'll be able to install the latest beta over-the-air via Apple's standard Software Update mechanism.

See how Alexa compares to Siri with Reverb

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 20, 2017

If you missed our post nearly a year ago about a web app at Echoism.io that lets you try out Alexa in a web browser, you're going to like a new app, called Reverb, that brings Amazon's personal assistant to your Mac desktop, as well as iPhone and iPad.

The brain child of developers at digital consultancy agency Rain, Reverb is available at no charge from App Store and Mac App Store or in your favorite web browser.

Reverb takes advantage of the fact that Amazon’s Alexa Voice Service is now available as a web service to access through a web browser and other thin clients, with the recent API 2.0 update having enabled a richer set of features.

iOS 10.3 beta 3 seeded to developers

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 20, 2017

Apple this morning seeded to members of the Apple Developer Program a third beta of what would become the iOS 10.3 software update with Find My AirPods and a bunch of other new features. iOS 10.3 beta 3 (build 14E5249d) is available over the air via Software Update on devices with an appropriate configuration profile installed. We'll update the article with possible new changes discovered in beta 3 if we encounter them. New betas of macOS Sierra, watchOS 3.2 and tvOS 10.2 are available for developer testing, too.

Google’s dedicated search app gains filters for local results, Gboard & enhanced AMP support

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 17, 2017

Google's dedicated search app was updated this morning on App Store with a trio of nice-to-haves. For starters, you can now easily filter your local search results for museums, coffee shops, restaurants and other places of interest. With an expanded support for Google's Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP), more webpages will now load instantly within the app. AMP-optimized webpages are denoted on search results with a lightning bolt icon. Lastly, you can now use Google's gesture-driven Gboard keyboard in the mobile search app.