iOS

Apple Pay coming to UK in July, loyalty and rewards program in tow

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 8, 2015

Apple Pay, Apple's wireless payment system, will be coming to the United Kingdom next mont with 250,000 UK merchant locations. Commuters using London transportation system will be able to use Apple Pay, too.

Furthermore, the system will be available to Discover's 50 million card members this fall, said Apple during the WWDC keynote today.

Trader Joe's, J.C. Penneys and many other retailers will be joining Apple Pay soon. Small businesses will be supported on Apple Pay through Square via a brand new reader compatible with Apple Pay that will be available in Apple Stores soon.

How to change your email display name

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated August 10, 2022

When you send someone an email, it usually shows the name you set while creating the account. Suppose you made a typo while setting up your email, or used your nickname or a fake name, and now every email you send has this name you no longer like.

In this tutorial, we show you how to change the name that's displayed in the email you send to someone from your iPhone, iPad, Mac, and iCloud.

Unsurprisingly, iPhone Messages bug crashes iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, WhatsApp, Twitter and Snapchat

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 29, 2015

An odd software bug which causes the iPhone's Messages application to crash and sends the handset into a respring after a certain text is received affects the iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch, too. In addition, the text bug apparently affects third-party social and messaging apps that deal with text, including WhatsApp, Twitter and Snapchat, The Guardian newspaper learned today.

That's hardly surprising. The issue can be traced back to a specific series of Unicode characters, suggesting a bug in the text engine framework called CoreText that exists in iOS and OS X.

That would explain why third-party apps that deal with messages, like Twitter and Snapchat, were affected as they tap into Apple's CoreText engine to manage strings of text and layouts.

IneffectivePower and Unicode Suppressor will protect jailbroken devices from the “effective power” Messages bug

Josh Pasholk ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

There is a new bug in iOS that resprings most peoples phones due to a low memory crash. It is caused by iOS's inability to render certain strings of Arabic characters which overloads the memory, causing resprings and reboots or safe mode on a jailbroken device. Simply explained, when someone messages you those characters and you get a banner notification, your phone starts kicking the bucket.

A few developers have stepped in and saved the day for jailbreakers. This isn't the first or second time the jailbreak community receives a security fix quicker than Apple is able to push one to stock devices. It's a great example of the argument that jailbroken iOS, in the right hands, can be more secure than stock.

This tweak lets you customize your third-party notification sounds

Josh Pasholk ∙ May 28, 2015

iOS isn't known for its ability to be customized, so it's no surprise that you can't change the sound for third-party notifications without a jailbreak tweak. CustomNotificationSound by snakeninny, the developer who brought us LowPowerBanner, does exactly that.

SwishSwitcher plays a sound when you kill an app from the App Switcher

Josh Pasholk ∙ May 28, 2015

SwishSwitcher by Metion is one of those 'why not' tweaks that are released here and there in Cydia that just add a little fun thing to a small part of iOS. They seem to be mostly projects that developers undertake in order to learn more about developing.

They can practice working with certain frameworks and passing information around by using Substrate to hook into Apple's private API's. There is also a lot more to learn about making a tweak than just coding it, and it's a great accomplishment to set everything up and create a deb file.

In this case the developer uses the 'whoosh' sound you hear when you hit Send from the stock Mail app, and calls it to play after a user has swiped up on a card in the App Switcher.

You’ll soon be able to open iOS app content straight from Google Search

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 27, 2015

Google will soon start indexing iOS apps, allowing you to open content in your favorite apps straight from Google Search, the company announced Wednesday.

Google has been indexing content from Android apps for a while and now it's about to help Apple fans discover relevant content from iPhone and iPad applications, right inside search.

“Starting today, we’re bringing App Indexing to iOS apps as well,” the company announced. “This means users on both Android and iOS will be able to open mobile app content straight from Google Search.”

How to get around strange Messages bug that crashes your iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 27, 2015

An odd bug that lets ill-minded folk send you a message which causes your iPhone to respring has been making rounds.

In case you missed it, a very specific string of symbols and Arabic characters sent through iMessage or SMS sends an iPhone in an immediate respring, causing the device to crash and quickly reboot, as first noticed on Reddit.

It's a serious issue which in some instances can break the Messages app on your iPhone so here are a few possible workaround solutions until Apple delivers a proper fix.

Fleksy Keyboard introduces Imoji stickers, smart suggestions for GIFs and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 9, 2018

Fleksy, the powerful iOS 8 keyboard which lets you use gestures, GIFs and emoji, has increased its functionality in the latest update issued today.

Now the app features an integrated Sticker keyboard in partnership with Imoji, taking visual communication beyond animated GIFs. You can easily browse, search and send Imoji stickers directly in Fleksy: just tap a sticker to copy it, then paste it in a message.

To add a sticker to your favorites, double tap it from the keyboard. You can access your recently used stickers, browse endless collections of reactions, check out what's trending and more.

Apple Maps Transit service to offer limited support for US, Canada, Europe and China at launch

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 26, 2015

Transit directions, along with a trip-planning feature and indoor maps, is rumored to be a cornerstone feature of Apple Maps in iOS 9. According to 9to5Mac on Tuesday, transit directions in Apple Maps are set to launch in approximately a half-dozen cities across the United States, Canada and Europe, with more to be added at a later stage.

In fact, as AppleInsider first reported three days ago, Apple's mapping service in China is better than Apple Maps in Europe or the United States.

iOS 8 adoption rate stays flat, iOS 7 continues to lose ground

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 27, 2018

According to Apple's dashboard for developers based on App Store access data, iOS 8 adoption rate has remained flat at 82 percent of iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices. By comparison, two weeks ago iOS 8 was found to power 82 percent of iOS gadgets.

As iOS 7 continues to lose ground, it's lost a single percentage point compared with the seventeen percent mark two weeks ago. The latest stats arrive ahead of Apple's iOS 9 preview due next month at the annual summer conference for developers in San Francisco.

iOS 9 tidbits: Force Touch support, updated keyboard designs, iMessage enhancements & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 26, 2015

iOS 9, the next major iteration of Apple's mobile operating system powering the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, reportedly has built-in support for Force Touch technology which debuted on the Apple Watch, suggesting the possibility of pressure-sensitive screens on the next iPhone and iPad.

According to a new report by 9to5Mac, the operating system also features support for Apple Pay in Canada, has improved software keyboard with new designs and enhances iMessage by enabling read receipts for group chat threads and on a per-contact basis.