iOS

Apple reportedly launching iOS Public Beta program next month

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 20, 2015

“Multiple people briefed on the plans” told 9to5Mac's well-connected Mark Gurman that Apple could soon launch the first-ever public beta program for its mobile operating system in an effort to help eradicate bugs that have traditionally plagued major iOS releases, especially iOS 8.

Tim Cook & Co. are said to release upcoming iOS 8.3 code-named Stowe as a public beta through the existing AppleSeed program in mid-March, matching the third iOS 8.3 beta for developers expected to release the same week.

10 great ways to put Workflow to work

Timothy Reavis ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

If you're a fan of automation in iOS and continuously strive to make common tasks easier, you've probably already been introduced to Workflow, an incredible app that enables users to create workflows, or recipes of tasks for the app to perform when invoked. The potential of this tool is incredibly far-reaching, and this article explores a few ways in which Workflow can be a must-have app.

Can you tell the difference between Siri’s voice in iOS 8.1.1 and iOS 8.3?

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 18, 2015

Improved Siri voice is reportedly among the under-the-hood improvements in Apple's upcoming iOS 8.3 software update. Though a better-sounding Siri may not always be apparent to an untrained ear, Apple should be credited for consistently improving the voice assistant's speech synthesis capabilities.

Quick comparison of today's more natural-sounding Siri versus the original Siri from 2011 gives you a good indication of Apple's advances in this area.

And now with iOS 8.3 in tow, Apple's bound to boost Siri's speech synthesis further. Listen to the new and improved Siri voice in iOS 8.3 relative to iOS 8.1.1 and let us know what you think.

Foursquare gains iOS 8 widget, can now serve recommendations without logging in

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 13, 2015

After adding a widget to its check-in app called Swarm back in December, Foursquare's main iPhone application today finally received a brand new Today widget for iOS 8's Notification Center of its own.

Moreover, the latest 8.7 update added personalized recommendations while logged out, so you don't need to even have an account with Foursquare to receive tips and recommendations about nearby places.

Just open the app to get started.

Fleksy’s Valentine’s Day update brings Hotkey extensions, animated themes and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 1, 2017

Yesterday, Fleksy announced a major Valentine's Day themed update to its record-smashing software keyboard for the iPhone and iPad.

Fleksy Keboard 5.2, a free update for existing users, brings out a myriad of new features, including animated themes through an Energy Theme Pack, a slew of customizable Extensions, Valentine hearts animations upon each key press, custom phrases or email addresses and much more.

Apple could bring new music service to iOS in coming months thanks to iOS 8.4

Jake Smith ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

Apple plans to release iOS 8.4 in the coming months, and it could include Apple's new music streaming service, 9to5mac wrote in a report on Monday.

While iOS 8.3 hasn't even hit the public scene, iOS 8.4 is currently in development at Apple, and is codenamed Copper after a popular ski resort in Colorado.

Apple seeds iOS 8.3 Beta 1: wireless CarPlay, 2-factor Google Accounts, new emoji layout, more

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 9, 2015

Monday morning, Apple somewhat unexpectedly seeded the first beta of iOS 8.3 to developers. Registered iOS developers can download the software through Apple's Dev Center portal.

The first beta of iOS 8.3 arrives just a week after seeding the fifth beta of iOS 8.2, which is also currently in testing and due for release soon.

BGR said recently that iOS 8.2 will arrive ahead of the Apple Watch launch in April so it's unclear what new features iOS 8.3 brings to iOS.

New report says iOS 9 to focus on stability and performance improvements

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 14, 2018

A new report by 9to5Mac's Mark Gurman alleges that iOS 9 will mark a Snow Leopard-style release, one said to pause on innovation in order to focus on stability and reliability improvements.

A “huge” focus of iOS 9 is on fixing bugs, maintaining stability and boosting performance “rather than solely focusing on delivering major new feature additions,” writes the author.

iOS 9 is reportedly codenamed Stowe after a ski resort in Vermont. Selling stability as a tentpole feature isn't that peculiar in light of Apple's recent software woes that have culminated with a botched iOS 8.0.1 release, a plethora of bugs and various user complaints about iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite feeling unfinished and rough around the edges.

How to remove unwanted books and PDF from iPhone or iPad to make space

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 9, 2025

Learn how to remove books, PDFs, and audiobooks from the iPhone or iPad Books app to free local space and clean up your library.

Emojis to get more diverse in OS X 10.10.3

Jake Smith ∙ February 6, 2015

Apple is bringing several enhancements to emojis in OS X 10.10.3, as placeholder emojis indicate we may see more diverse characters when the update is released to the public in the coming months.

Following word from the Unicode Consortium in March of 2014 that more diverse emojis are coming, there are now multiple versions of the same emoji character under a sub-menu.

Given the beta state of OS X 10.10.3, the menu is currently non-functional, but it does show the selected emoji followed by five instances of the emoji paired with a number one inside a black box, MacRumors first noted. This indicates we may see different skin tones for the "man" emoji and others.

SwiftKey gains iPad gesture typing, 800+ predictive emojis, key click sounds and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 5, 2015

SwiftKey, the popular third-party keyboard for the iPhone and iPad, has received a nice refresh today. The new version brings out support for eleven more languages, enables gesture typing on iPads, implements a new picker which provides access to more than 800 emoticons along with emoji predictions, adds the option to accompany each tap of a key with a click sound and other goodies.

With UXKit, Apple has devs jumping with joy

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 3, 2016

Photos for OS X, releasing this Spring, could quietly signal a much welcomed change in direction for Mac development. That is, if Apple decides to let programmers access the same private framework it tapped in constructing the clean and elegant user interface seen in a developer beta of Photos for Mac.

As SixColors pointed out, several prominent developers took to Twitter to share their excitement about the framework Photos for Mac uses, currently available only to Apple. It's called UXKit and appears to be an OS X version of the UIKit framework on iOS.

What does this have to do with you? Read on...