iOS

iOS 8.4 with Apple Music, Beats 1 and revamped Music app hits iPhone, iPod touch and iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 30, 2015

As promised, Tuesday morning Apple released the free iOS 8.4 software update which introduces an all-new Music app with Apple Music and Beats 1 built-in. The over-the-air update is now available for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices. As these things take some time to propagate, the software update may not show up in your region yet.

“This update introduces Apple Music—a revolutionary music service, 24/7 global radio, and a way for fans to connect with their favorite artists—all included in the redesigned Music app,” release notes accompanying the update explain. “iOS 8.4 also includes improvements for iBooks and bug fixes,” Apple states.

To apply the update over-the-air, open the Settings app on your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad and choose Software Update in the General section. Alternatively, connect your device via USB cable to a Mac or Windows PC running the latest version of iTunes and an update prompt should pop up automatically.

If you enjoy jailbreaking as much as we do, you're wholeheartedly advised to read this first in order to prepare for iOS 8.4 properly.

iOS 8.4 launching at 8am Tuesday, iTunes Match song limit increasing to 100,000 with iOS 9

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 28, 2015

Former Beats Music CEO Ian Rogers wrote in a blog post yesterday that iOS 8.4 with Apple Music will release for public consumption on Tuesday, June 30, at 8am Pacific / 11am Eastern. A few hours later, however, Rogers has updated his post removing mention of the specific timing.

“Tuesday morning we’ll be unveiling the next chapter,” reads the post. “Please make a note to upgrade to iOS 8.4 Tuesday, June 30 and listen to our first day of broadcasting.”

Rogers is now a Senior Director of Apple Music.

iOS 9’s Low Power mode throttles down CPU performance to preserve iPhone’s battery life

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 9, 2018

With iOS 9, Apple has brought out a brand new Low Power mode which kicks in when you're nearly out of juice. It was designed to help extend your iPhone's battery life, providing up to three hours of additional time before charging.

After using Geekbench's iPhone application to measure an iPhone 6's processor performance in Low Power, MacRumors was able to determine that this mode reduces processor performance by about forty percent. As a result, an iPhone 6 in Low Power mode would be roughly on par with an iPhone 5s or iPhone 5 in terms of sheer CPU performance.

Kenwood’s aftermarket CarPlay receivers now shipping

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 24, 2015

Kenwood, a Japanese manufacturer of amateur radio,Hi-Fi and portable audio equipment, on Tuesday started shipping its new in-car receivers with CarPlay to car dealers. The new accessories support both Apple's CarPlay and Google's Android Auto platform, depending on your preference and connected smartphone.

The Japanese company owned by JVC-Kenwood said in a media release that both the DDX9702S and DDX9902S units are available now starting at $900 and $950, respectively.

New in iOS 9: App Deletion—temporarily delete apps to make room for software updates

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 23, 2015

Unable to apply the latest iOS software update because you've run out of storage space on your iPhone or iPad? It's a common theme amongst owners of devices with just sixteen or, worse, eight gigabytes of storage.

If your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad is packed to the gills with apps and media, chances are you don't have enough free storage to download and install an iOS software update.

As discovered by iOS developer Kaleb Butt, to ensure those people can still deploy iOS software updates without being greeted with an 'insufficient space for download' message, Apple has created an interesting new feature in iOS 9.

Called App Deletion, it offers to temporarily delete apps on the device in order to clear the necessary storage space. Any deleted app gets automatically reinstalled right after the software update completes, leaving all app data and settings intact so you can pick up right where you left off.

84 percent of devices are now using iOS 8

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 27, 2018

According to Apple’s dashboard for developers which monitors iOS devices that are accessing the App Store, iOS 8 is now powering 84 percent of active iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices in the wild.

The most recent data point was measured by the App Store on June 22, 2015 and represents a single percentage point increase over the 83 percent milestone from two weeks ago.

A month ago, iOS 8 adoption rate stood at 82 percent.

Apple seeds watchOS 2 beta 2 and iOS 9 beta 2 to developers, here’s what’s new

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 23, 2015

Tuesday, Apple has released a second beta of the forthcoming WatchOS 2 software update to its registered developers. Alongside the new beta firmware for the 38mm and 42mm Apple Watch models, Apple has also released an updated version of iOS 9 Developer Preview which now carries a build number of 13A4280e.

Apple issues Mac App Store patch for XARA exploits as additional fixes are ‘in progress’

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 22, 2015

A cross application resource attack (XARA) that researchers at Indiana University, Georgia Tech and China’s Peking University publicized last week seems to have been partially addressed as Apple issued a server-side fix on the Mac App Store to block malicious apps and secure app data.

Additional fixes are in the works for the XARA exploits on both iOS and OS X, a company spokesperson told iMore. XARA exploits allow malicious apps to steal iCloud credentials of a user, access private data in apps like 1Password and Evernote, hijack their iCloud Keychain passwords and more.

Beats 1, Apple’s 24/7 Internet radio, makes an appearance in iOS betas ahead of June 30 rollout

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 18, 2015

Beats 1, Apple's non-stop Internet radio station hosted by celebrity DJs, has made its first appearance in latest betas of iOS 8.4 and iOS 9 which are available to developers.

The Beats 1 interface appears unfinished with many features not active yet or performing erratically. Still, I was able to use the Music app on my iPad running iOS 9 Developer Preview to access a new Radio tab and get to Beats 1. I also browsed a list of stations and even streamed select ones and heard the promotional Beats 1 broadcast.

Here are my screenshots.

Major security flaws leave iOS and OS X vulnerable to wide ranging password theft

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 17, 2015

Your confidential information ranging from web passwords in Chrome and other browsers to app passwords to banking credentials stored and synced between devices though Apple's iCloud Keychain service—even data you thought was stored safely in password managers like 1Password and LastPass—can be easily compromised due to a trio of major vulnerabilities discovered in Apple's desktop and mobile operating systems.

As discovered by a team of researchers at Indiana University, Georgia Tech and China's Peking University and reported by The Register, Keychain's access control lists, URL schemes and OS X's app containers contain flaws creating serious attack vectors.

Apple hiring a team of professional journalists to run Apple News service and curate content

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 16, 2015

Apple News, a brand new Flipboard-like app set to debut when iOS 9 launches this fall, will be run by a team of professional journalists who are currently being hired by Apple, The Financial Times learned Tuesday.

It's part of a broader push by the company to personalize the content it delivers to users of its devices, according to a recent job ad seeking successful candidates that would “identify and deliver the best in breaking national, global and local news”.

More importantly, the move indicates Apple is more interested in doing curated distribution for the News service than rely on algorithms like Google News does.

Hidden ‘iPad Pro’ like keyboard in iOS 9 scales to larger screen sizes with additional keys

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 15, 2015

In addition to an all-new predictive touch technology and two times better touch-to-display latency in iOS 9, another clue of a rumored 'iPad Pro' comes in the form of a hidden software keyboard in iOS 9.

As discovered by iOS developer Steve Troughton Smith, it was designed to cater to bigger screen sizes with a wider key appearance, some new keys and a brand new row of symbols that are normally invoked with specific keystroke combinations.