iOS 8

iOS 8.3 brings useful enhancements to Quick Reply

Apple today released the iOS 8.3 software update for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. The software contains dozens of fixes and brings out a handful of feature enhancements related to Messages, Siri, the much enhanced emoji keyboard and more. Oddly, a subtle change to how Quick Reply and Notification Center handle messages with previews disabled aren't mentioned in release notes.

That's something I was alerted to by Twitter user @ericcamazin. Without a doubt, you'll find these changes much welcomed.

Apple reminds developers of upcoming 64-bit requirement for app updates

As a reminder to developer, Apple published on its developer portal today that starting June 1, 2015, all app updates submitted to the App Store will have to include 64-bit support and be built with the iOS 8 SDK. While the move probably won't affect active developers who are already in compliance, smaller developer who haven't updated their apps for iOS 8 or 64-bit devices yet will have some catching up to do, and it's only good for us users.

Apple releases iOS 8.3 with new Siri languages, diverse emojis and more

In addition to releasing OS X 10.10.3 to the public this morning, Apple has also rolled out iOS 8.3. The update, which developers and members of Apple's public beta program have been testing since February, includes a number of new features and improvements.

Among those new features is support for Wireless CarPlay, which allows folks with vehicles or head units that support the feature to use CarPlay without dealing with cables. There is also new, more diverse emojis, additional language support in Siri, Safari fixes and more.

78 percent of devices are now using iOS 8

Having been tracking iOS 8 adoption rates on a regular basis, it's clear now that the pace of user adoption of the latests and greatest iOS version has been slowing down since its peak in the holiday quarter of 2014.

According to the most recent numbers provided by Apple itself on the App Store Distribution webpage, iOS 8 is now installed on 78 percent of iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices in the wild, a marginal increase over the 77 percent adoption rate from two weeks ago.

‘Cask’ brings slick animations to iOS table views

Now that his work on Auxo seems to be finished, perhaps this means that we will begin seeing more frequent releases from Ryan Petrich? It doesn’t appear that he’s wasting any time, as Cask, a new jailbreak tweak, just recently appeared on his beta repo.

Cask is a tweak that brings animated table scrolling, inspired by Google Plus, to iOS. Although it may sound like a small thing, when you see Cask in action, you’ll realize that it causes a significant visual change. Be sure to watch our full video walkthrough of Cask in action.

Native Twitter sharing disappears from latest iOS beta if Twitter’s mobile app is installed

iOS 8.3 beta 4 that was seeded to Apple's registered iOS developers last week has removed the long-standing option to share content to Twitter, according to our own findings a couple days ago that have since been confirmed by other users.

We've noticed something was afoot as the option to share to Twitter has gone missing from the Share sheet in iOS 8's stock Photos and Safari app.

Technically, the feature has not been removed entirely because it only disappears after installing Twitter's official iOS app in iOS 8.3 beta 4, as evidenced on the screenshots provided by our own Oliver Haslam.

Uninstall Twitter and it comes back.

Auxo Legacy Edition: nothing beats an original

The wait is over; Auxo Legacy Edition has just touched down on Cydia. For those of you that purchased Auxo 2 or Auxo 3, Auxo Legacy Edition will cost $0.99. Everyone else is asked to pay $1.99 to join in on the fun.

And fun it is.

While I liked the sequels to the original Auxo, neither of them felt as cool to me as the original version—a tweak that arguably laid the groundwork for the modern App Switcher that we enjoy today on iOS. Auxo Legacy Edition, Auxo LE hereafter, brings the well-liked card preview interface back to iOS 8 with a modern look and new features.

Android Wear meets the iPhone

Over the past few days, I've been working with developer MohammadAG to test his in-progress iOS-to-Android Wear application on the LG G Watch. This application, which has a ton of potential for both jailbreakers and non-jailbreakers, allows iOS to forward notifications to Android Wear devices. In the video that follows, I showcase some of the features that are in the current version of Mohammad's new Android Wear APK.

DockWare for iOS 8 brings enhanced dock features to the iPhone

Looking to add special enhancements to the dock on your iPhone? If so, then look no further than DockWare for iOS 8. The follow up to the original DockWare for iOS 7 devices, the sequel brings the ability to access the dock while within apps, hide the dock while on the Home screen, and invoke the dock using a handy Activator gesture.

New in iOS 8.3: placing phone calls through speakerphone via ‘Hey Siri’ command

Users who upgrade their iPhone to iOS 8.3 when it's released next month will be finally able to tell Siri to make a phone call through the device's speakerphone when the 'Hey Siri' option is enabled, reports 9to5Mac.

You can say, for example, 'Hey Siri, call my Mom on speaker' and the call will be automatically transferred to the iPhone's speaker, like it should have always been, may I add.

Again, provided the 'Allow Hey Siri' option is enabled in Settings > General > Siri and the phone is plugged into power.