Heads up all of you designers and concept artists. The entire GUI (graphical user interface) for iOS 7 has just been uploaded to the web.
That’s right, all of the buttons, menus, icons and anything else you can think of graphic-wise in the developer beta are now available for download…
I'm sure technophiles by now are aware that Apple restricts beta code to registered developers, but that didn't stop iOS 7 Beta 1 from popping up in a lot of places on the web.
You can't blame the curious types for wanting to get a taste of Apple's most important software upgrade since the iPhone's inception.
But as a side-effect, those unfamiliar with Apple's betas are taking to blogs to write about crashes, UI inconsistencies and allegedly missing features. To be fair, teething issues are the norm for major software releases, let alone betas.
But tell that to concerned citizens who are blogging about iOS 7 "issues". We've scourged the web for top complaints in order to lay out Apple's thought process and explain why some features are "missing" in the first beta and what can be expected from upcoming beta releases...
Despite CEO Tim Cook's management shakeup last year, Apple's marketing and website departments don't seem to collaborate closely enough. In what could only be attributed to a human error, image files discovered on Apple's website earlier today offered a glimpse into iOS 7 icons different from the current iOS 7 Beta 1.
Another find involves graphics outlining device compatibility, with an image depicting iOS 7 running on the iPad and iPad mini...
This is kind of interesting. New versions of some of the stock app icons in iOS 7 have been spotted on Apple's website. The reason for the changes is not yet known, but the app icons have received the blunt of the criticism thus far regarding Apple's new mobile OS.
Some of the new icons are starkly different than the ones seen in the first developer beta of iOS 7, while others appear to only feature subtle differences. And it's not clear if this was a mistake on Apple's part, or these will be the new app icons in iOS going forward...
Messaging is arguably one of the most oft-used features of mobile devices. And with folks overwhelmingly embracing services like WhatsApp, little wonder instant messaging has overtaken traditional SMS by volume. The October 2011 iMessage unveiling signaled an era of frictionless communication between Apple device owners, made convenient by blurring the line between SMS and IM.
iOS 7 elevates that experience by making it prettier while implementing a few evolutionary improvements. That said, the iOS 7 Messages app is nonetheless a pretty big departure from iOS 6. But don't worry - iDB has you covered...
From a distance, the horse race between Apple's iOS and Google's Android appears as if the open-source mobile operating system is a clear winner. However, a closer look reveals other levels of competition not so clearly defined.
Android unmistakably is the leader when it comes to the share of mobile devices being shipped. The inexpensive operating system is also ahead in attracting developing nations, such as India and China. But don't cry for Apple, according to mobile advertising network Flurry. The iPhone maker tops Android for app usage, as well as profits...
One of the annoyances about notifications in today's multi-platform world is the alert conundrum. We've all been there: an alert comes in, you act on it on one device and yet it doesn't clear on the other. And with apps constantly producing all sorts of notifications, managing these things across our gadgets is tricky, to put it mildly.
Matter of fact, you'd be right to argue that notifications tend to get a little out of hand, up to the point where they turn your daily computing into a nightmare.
Apple feels your pain: that's why it gave iOS 7 a new Notification Sync feature where reading a notification on your iPad automatically marks it as read on your iPhone, and vice versa, courtesy of iCloud. Google isn't standing still either: today, the search monster started rolling Google+ notification sync across the web, Android and iOS...
Apple's 'rubber banding' patent has been under heavy scrutiny in recent months, invalidated twice by the US Patent Office. It used the patent, which pertains to a software feature that allows content to 'bounce back' during scrolling, in its big $1 billion victory over Samsung.
But good news today for the Cupertino company. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (or USPTO) has said it will issue a re-examination certificate that confirms the formerly invalidated invention, clearing up any doubts of the patent's weight or validity...
As we continue to discover both the big features and smaller nice-to-haves in iOS 7 on an ongoing basis, it has just come to our knowledge that you can access the Camera's zoom controls while shooting video.
Think twice before dismissing this feature because real-time zooming during video capture allows for some interesting possibilities normally associated with camcorders.
I can easily imagine this being even more useful on a 12-megapixel camera with improved night shooting rumored to make its way inside the iPhone 5S...
While its no case of Elliot Ness against Chicago's rum runners of Prohibition days, prosecutors in two major U.S. cities are teaming up with local police to fight a wave of violent smartphone thefts. Law enforcers Thursday issued an SOS of sorts, or 'Save Our Smartphones'.
The announcement comes as Apple and other smartphone makers meet with the New York State Attorney General and San Francisco's District Attorney. It's unknown whether Apple's new Activation Lock feature unveiled during Monday's WWDC keynote as part of iOS 7 will be enough to satisfy calls for handset makers to create a kill switch to disable stolen smartphones...
Last November's release of iTunes 11 has brought out a handy new feature which lets you redeem a code found on iTunes Gift Cards by scanning the printed card with your Mac's FaceTime camera. In iOS 7, Apple is taking iTunes card scanning to any compatible iOS device outfitted with a back camera.
Not only that, Apple states that new iOS 7 APIs for developers include barcode scanning as standard...
Apple appears to have quietly made a subtle yet significant change to iTunes backend in an effort to make it easier to comb through your Purchased App Store items.
As observed by an iDB reader, the iPad storefront now includes a brand new lefthand bar which makes it easy to sort your Purchased apps alphabetically.
The tweak certainly helps find a needle in the haystack, especially when compared to having to scroll through a long list of Purchased items that used to be sorted chronologically. Coupled with the handy search field, this enhancement lets you zero in on a previously purchased item in no time...