iOS

Apple to reportedly expand iOS beta testing to include retail employees

Timothy Reavis ∙ January 7, 2015

Breaking the long-held tradition of restricting iOS beta releases to developers and select Cupertino campus employees, Apple has plans to expand pre-release mobile software testing to select retail employees, according to a report today by Mark Gurman. The program is set to commence soon with a beta version of iOS and comes nearly half a year after Apple's introduction of public betas for OS X Yosemite, its desktop operating system.

Here’s a look at Apple Japan’s 2015 ‘Lucky Bags’

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple kicked off its 2015 annual "Lucky Bag" promotion in Japan on Thursday, giving customers big discounts on Apple products and accessories. A "Lucky Bag" is a Japanese New Year tradition, also known as a Fukubukuro, that offers a bag for a set price filled with unknown random items, sold for a discount.

iOS again beats out Android in Christmas Day mobile shopping

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 29, 2014

Just like last year, Apple's iPhone and iPad again dominated online shopping traffic and online mobile sales during Christmas Day, according to an IBM survey first shared by VentureBeat.

Based on data from IBM's real-time Digital Analytics Benchmark, which tracked approximately 800 retail websites in the United States, iOS devices were responsible for an average of $97.28 per order spent online versus $67.40 for Android users, a difference of 44.3 percent.

In other words, a commanding 57.1 percent of online shopping via mobile during Christmas Day was carried out using an iPhone or iPad, an increase of 8.3 percent versus the previous year.

Apple Japan sets “Lucky Bag” New Year promotion for January 2nd

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

The Japan arm of Apple announced on Friday that it's once again bringing back its "Lucky Bags" promotion on January 2nd, 2015. A "Lucky Bag" is a Japanese New Year tradition, and also known as a Fukubukuro.

Elcomsoft’s Phone Breaker can now help access iCloud data protected with 2-step verification

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 18, 2014

Moscow-based Elcomsoft, which produces a mobile forensic tool used by law enforcement around the world to gain access to a suspect's iOS devices, has updated its Phone Breaker application which now makes it easier to bypass Apple's two-step verification for Apple ID accounts in order to access underlying iCloud data, Engadget reported Thursday.

Not only does this include iWork documents stored in iCloud, but also data in third-party apps such as WhatsApp communications, 1Password password databases — even user dictionaries that may contain secret words and phrases — provided a user has enabled the app in question to sync data with iCloud.

Although hackers still need both your Apple ID username/password and a two-factor code sent to your trusted device (or a digital token stolen from your computer), once they do gain access to your account Phone Breaker can then create a digital token granting them permanent access to iCloud data, no two-step verification code needed — until you change your Apple ID password, that is.

IBM and Apple launch first batch of enterprise ‘IBM MobileFirst’ iPhone and iPad apps

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

Following their major enterprise mobility partnership which was announced this summer, Apple and IBM this morning launched the first batch of MobileFirst apps for enterprise iOS users. The new suite of business-focused apps are available exclusively for the iPhone and iPad starting today and include apps for insurance, retail, telecom, government, travel, transportation, banking and more.

Apple releases iOS 8.1.2 with fix for missing ringtone bug and more

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 15, 2023

Apple has released iOS 8.1.2 this afternoon with a handful of bug fixes and other improvements. Specifically, the release notes say the update addresses an issue where ringtones purchased through the iTunes Store may have disappeared from users' devices.

You can access the new firmware over the air via Settings > General > Software Update, or via iTunes by connecting your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to a computer. But as usual, we recommend that users who are jailbroken, or plan to jailbreak, avoid the update for now.

Themeboard review: iOS 8 keyboard with gorgeous themes, unique Emoji bar, auto-correct and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

There most certainly is no shortage of downloadable iOS 8 keyboards in the App Store, so much so that the proliferation of soft-keyboards makes it virtually impossible for us to cover each and every one that hits the Apple platform.

On the other hand, themable keyboards like CoolKey, a keyboard for the colorful, are few and far between.

Customization matters to an awful lot of people and there's admittedly a void here than needs filling. That's where Themeboard jumps in.

Created by Germany-based Taphive, the brains behind such apps as TodoMovies that we reviewed back in March, this app is an advanced iPhone and iPad keyboard with a built-in repository of wonderfully designed themes by some of the best designers around.

Theme board sports a unique Emoji/Kaomoji bar and has plenty of features that users have come to expect from Apple's default keyboard like auto-correction, Caps lock, slide-shift to capitalize, quick delete with three speeds, text predictions, custom shortcuts and more.

Read on for the full review of this feature-packed keyboard.

Twitter adds new filters for photos taken on Twitter for iPhone

Jake Smith ∙ December 2, 2014

Twitter announced on Tuesday it has begun rolling out new photo filters for its Twitter for iPhone app, in a continued effort to draw attention away from Facebook-owned Instagram.

Apple threatens removal of another Notification Center widget from App Store, this time Drafts

Jake Smith ∙ December 2, 2014

Apple is about to force the removal of yet another Notification Center widget from the App Store, this time saying the Today view is for information presentation only and not buttons.

The Drafts 4 app, which contains the widget in question, once enabled users of the app to create new documents by simply pressing a button in Notification Center to launch the text editor app. Not anymore, says Tim Cook and Co.

Mozilla planning to develop Firefox for iOS to ‘be where our users are’

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Mozilla has long stayed away from bringing its Firefox web browser to iOS, however it's looking to change its plans to "be where our users are".

The company's release manager, Lukas Bakk, took to Twitter on Tuesday announcing the company will develop Firefox for iOS. He didn't provide word on when it may be released, or if it's even in development yet, but it's definitely comforting words for the Firefox fans out there - which includes our own Sebastien Page.

Report: Yahoo and Microsoft fighting to supplant Google search on iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 25, 2014

According to a report Tuesday by The Information, a technology website started by The Wall Street Journal writer Jessica Lessin, both Microsoft and Google are “fighting” to boot Google search from the iPhone and other Apple devices.

If true, the move wouldn't be unheard of: Apple teams up with alternate search providers in markets like China.

Apple earns a small commission from search ad revenue each time a user performs a Google search from Safari's address bar on the Mac, iPhone, iPod touch or iPad.

With that deal expiring sometime in 2015, Microsoft and Yahoo are now hoping the Cupertino firm won't renew it and will instead make their respective service the default search choice on iOS.