iOS

Seventh betas of iOS 10.3 and macOS Sierra 10.12.4 now available

Apple on Thursday seeded seventh betas of what would become the third major software update to iOS 10 and the fourth major update to macOS Sierra 10.12.4. Members of the Apple Developer Program can now install iOS 10.3 beta 7 (build 14E5277a) and macOS Sierra 10.12.4 beta 7 (build 16E191a) over the air, via the Software Update mechanism, on devices with a special configuration profile that's available through Apple's portal for developers.

This cool iOS 11 concept would bring more power to your iPhone’s Lock screen

Various iPhone 8 and iOS 11 concepts have been proliferating lately, with app developer Matt Birchler jumping on the bandwagon with mockups of his own. We're liking some of the smart ideas presented in his batch of thoughtfully done renderings that envision a much more useful Lock screen on iOS 11.

Going beyond simple things like checking the date and time, launching the camera, accessing your favorite widgets and seeing notifications that have arrived since your last unlock, Birchler is proposing a Lock screen with Apple Watch-like complications, user-selectable app shortcuts, alert bundles, smart notifications that could be augmented further with optional location information and so forth.

BiggieSmallcc makes the album artwork more more prominent in Control Center

One of the great things about Control Center is how it offers access to Music controls anywhere you might need them. Part of the music control interface shows an album artwork illustration for whatever media is playing. Of course, some jailbreak developers would argue that it needs improvement.

A new free jailbreak tweak called BiggieSmallcc by candoizo aims to make the album artwork more proportionately appropriate by enlarging it to better fit the size of the interface, especially on larger-screened devices.

This tweak removes the background mask effect from Spotlight search results

We recently showed you a tweak that can remove Spotlight search from your device entirely. On the other hand, if you do use Spotlight, but just wish there was more you could do with it to make the interface look better, then try this on for size…

A new free jailbreak tweak called No Spotlight BG Mask by Justin Petkovic is a minor aesthetic mod that simplifies the way your Spotlight search results look. It removes the background masks that normally appear out of the box, resulting in a new look.

Apple hires iOS security researcher and former jailbreak developer Jonathan Zdziarski

Forensic data analysis expert, iOS security researcher and former jailbreak developer Jonathan Zdziarski has officially joined Apple. Zdziarski announced today he accepted a position with Apple's Security Engineering and Architecture team, but it's unclear when he might be starting work at Apple. Zdziarski, who at times could be critical of Apple's security efforts, says he's joined the iPhone maker because he's so passionate about protecting the security and privacy of others.

Apple wants to zero in on ‘Pro’ segment, but what about the large majority?

In a statement warmly welcomed by us internet folk, Tim Cook recently proclaimed "you will see us do more in the pro area." In our circles, this is unquestionably good news, as we all foster an insatiable appetite for new innovations, be that on a hardware or software level. More pro is great, however I invariably had to spare a thought for the average, not-so techy Apple customer.

I’m talking about the type of customer that after owning their iPhone 6S for more than a year, still has little concept of what 3D Touch does. Or how about the one that loves their new MacBook, but will gaze at you with a stunned expression when you introduce them to Force Touch on their trackpad. This is by no means meant to sound snarky or patronizing, because as a matter of fact, I don’t blame them for not knowing - I blame Apple for failing to take everyone along for the ride due to poor communication.

Shifting up the ‘Pro’ a notch in the future sounds great, that said how do you straddle the line between pleasing us tech-warriors and not entirely overwhelming a large majority of users, a majority already only privity to roughly half of the juicy features on their devices? Apple needs to find some cogent answers to this issue, and rather than creating a two-tier system in their hardware sold (labelling only some products 'Pro'), I contend that software could be the key.

BorderIcon+ adds colorized borders to various parts of your Home screen

For the folks who like tinkering with the way their iPhone looks and feels, a new free jailbreak tweak release called BorderIcon+ by Pax Cex lets you deck out various parts of your Home screen with customizable borders.

The tweak is fully configurable and can be applied to a number of things including: app icons, notification badges, folder backgrounds, and even 3D Touch menus.

NoSpot10 removes Spotlight search from your iPhone

If you never really use Spotlight, and it always ends up in your face when you don’t want it to be, then you might want to take a look a new free jailbreak tweak called NoSpot10 by CydiaGeek.

Installing this tweak lets you disable Spotlight in a system-wide manner, leaving you with simpler widget pages on the Home screen, Lock screen, and Notification Center.

Latest iPhone 7 ad is all about iMessage stickers

Apple on Monday via its YouTube channel shared a brand new television commercial for iPhone 7, titled “Sticker Fight”. Much like its September 2016 “Balloons” ad, the most recent 60-second video takes another iOS 10 iMessage feature to the real-world: sticker packs. “Say it with stickers on iPhone 7,” reads the tagline. Apple also created a new App Store section where you can download all of the stickers featured in the ad.

Concept: bezel-less iPhone 8 with wraparound AMOLED screen and Dark Mode

Following a concept video from Polish blog My Apple imagining what a system-wide Dark Mode in iOS 11 (along with a few other sought-after rumored features) might look like, user interface designer Vianney le Masne has taken it upon himself to put together some great-looking mockups depicting how iPhone 8's rumored OLED screen and the handset's bezel-less design could be leveraged to implement Dark Mode across iOS and in apps.

“With Dark Mode in iOS for the next iPhone, 2017 could be all about killing the four sides of your screen and making it all about your thumb,” said le Masne.

PulseHUD displays a pulse animation when changing your iPhone volume

When it comes to iOS volume HUDs, opinions are all over the place in terms of what it should look like. Apple puts it right in the middle of the screen, while much of the jailbreak community tries to relocate it to the Status Bar, where it’s out of the way of everything.

On the other hand, a new free jailbreak tweak called PulseHUD by Ziph0n takes everything into a completely new realm by displaying a smooth pulse animation in the middle of the screen as you adjust your volume.