iOS

iOS 7 brings brand new Control Center with toggles

Now that Apple has formally announced a Jony Ive-ified iOS 7 ("it's like having a new phone, but one you already know how to use," said Tim Cook), executives here on stage at San Francisco's Moscone West are telegraphing the key features of iOS 7. One of such handy additions is an all-new Control Center. So, what does it do?

WSJ: ‘new ways’ to share photos, videos in iOS 7

Throwing its proverbial credibility behind a recent rumor of iOS 7 having native Flickr and Vimeo integration, the credulous Wall Street Journal has just published a write-up which asserts that Apple's upcoming iOS revision will feature photo-sharing enhancements alongside new look. iOS 7 will include "new ways to share photos and videos" with other users, people who are reportedly involved in its development said...

iOS 7 and OS X logos go up at Moscone West

Apple yesterday started dressing up the Moscone West building ahead of Monday's keynote. The banners depicting flat icons hint at the iOS 7 redesign while revealing the conference slogan: "Where a whole new world is developing".

Numerous photographs of both the interior and exterior have arrived since and today we capture a glimpse of what looks like the official iOS 7 logo.

Unlike past graphics-heavy iOS logos, the newly revealed signage outside San Francisco's Moscone West depicts an elegant and very thin "7" against the white background. As you could imagine, it oozes minimalism and stylishness, which are said to be key themes behind the major iOS 7 overhaul.

Yes, 7 could mean anything and yes, we're pretty sure Apple meant iOS 7...

SwiftKey maker hopes iOS 7 will allow third-party keyboards

Unlike iOS, Android from its beginning has had the ability to install third-party keyboard software for on-screen touch typing.

It's actually one of Android's major advantages over iOS: third-party keyboard apps greatly improve upon stock experience with helpful features such as gestures, better voice control, enhanced predictions and even specialized input rules.

There's no other way around the fact that stock iOS keyboard experience hasn’t kept pace with Android in terms of recognition, predictive typing and other capabilities. As much as we'd love Tim Cook & Co. to open up iOS, we'll have to do with the limited stock experience for the time being (unless you're jailbroken, of course).

But that's not stopping folks like TouchType from keeping their fingers crossed. For those unfamiliar with TouchType, they are behind the popular SwiftKey software keyboard for Android phones. Speaking out publicly about the issue, one of TouchType execs clearly has his hopes high on an Apple-sanctioned third-party keyboard development...

American Airlines enhances Passbook support with Lock screen features

Having previously implemented basic Passbook support for boarding passes, American Airlins has today issued an update to its iOS software which enables advanced Lock screen and time and location-based features for Passbook boarding passes. Specifically, travellers now get alerts when their flight is due and see gate and seat changes right on their device's Lock screen...

Facebook friends disappearing from iOS Contacts? It’s a new feature!

If you've ever used Facebook integration in iOS 6, you may have noticed iOS lets you grant the Contact app access your Facebook account in Settings > Facebook. Enabling this feature creates a new 'Facebook' group in Contacts which contains entries for all of the people you're friends with on Facebook. According to a thread over at Apple's support forums, a number of people are experiencing an issue where some of the entries are dissapearing from the Facebook group in iOS Contacts.

If you have noticed similar symptoms, don't panic - it's a feature rather than a bug...

How Google leveraged Apple’s stock YouTube app removal to drive ad sales

Since its inception in 2007, YouTube has been integral to the iPhone experience. While Apple itself, not Google, wrote the built-in program, Cupertino a year ago made the decision to pull it from iOS, citing expired license.

And in doing so, Apple has inadvertently helped triple the Internet giant's mobile ad revenue in the last six months alone, Bloomberg reports. As you know, Google shortly after filled the gap with its own downloadable YouTube software which cleverly incorporates advertising, unlike Apple's ad-free experience...

Kevin Rose: iOS 7 is ‘very different’ and ‘a big change’

If you ask Digg co-founder and Google Ventures partner Kevin Rose, changes in iOS 7 are more than skin deep. Additionally, Rose in the latest episode of The Random Show makes claims - without divulging his sources - that WWDC will bring us updated MacBook Airs.

I approve his message - it's fairly safe to assume Monday's keynote will see a specs upgrade for the Air (Retina, much?) and quite possibly for the Pro, stemming from Intel's just announced fourth-generation Haswell chips.

More importantly, Rose mentions iOS 7 will be "very different" from what we've been accustomed to. The way he phrased it, you may not want to put much faith in iOS 7 renderings and mockups that have been floating around the web...

BlackBerry Messenger reportedly landing on iOS June 27 [updated]

Last month, BlackBerry caused a lot of commotion in the tech word when it announced that BBM would be coming to Android and iOS this summer. The popular messaging app has always been exclusive to BlackBerry.

The Canadian-based handset maker didn't offer up any further details at the time on when the app would be available on the two platforms. But according to T-Mobile UK, it's going to be landing on them later this month...

Interactive iPhone 5S concept lets you play with Jony Ive-sanctioned flat iOS 7

With WWDC 2013 almost upon us (five days left), the future of iOS and OS X is all but revealed. Of course, we can't tell for sure what's in store until Tim Cook takes the stage next Monday, but that's not stopping creative minds from churning out new concepts on a daily basis.

As we've gotten a bit fed up with static images, we were pleased to stumble upon a cool-looking iPhone 5S concept that incorporates a Jony Ive-fied flattened iOS 7 mockups.

What sets this one apart is interactivity. This concept is basically a web app that lets you interact with the handset and check out the revamped stock iOS apps. Per usual, you should take it with a grain of salt as it's based on what the rumor mill thinks it's learned thus far about Apple's major redesign...

Kamcord adds voice narration to iOS games

If you haven't heard about Kamcord yet, it's a startup which provides technology that enables iOS games developers to offer in-game recording functionality. The Y Combinator service is funded by some of the biggest venture capitalists around, including Google's Ventures funding arm, Andreessen Horowitz, Yahoo's boss Marissa Mayer and others.

And with over a hundred iOS games incorporating Kamcord solutions and over 500 million gameplay videos being recorded in the last six months, Kamcord has clearly hit the ground running. Earlier this week, the firm announced several new features to the service, including the ability to narrate gameplay videos, in real-time...

comScore: Apple increases lead as top US smartphone maker

While Wall Street analysts and investors seem pretty content with the 'Apple is doomed' meme, the numbers continue to fall in Apple's favor. The company's mobile devices are still wildly popular and selling out in droves— particularly here in the US.

Market research firm comScore published a new report today regarding the state of the US smartphone market. And not only does it show that Apple is leading in smartphone marketshare in the country, but it's growing faster than the competition...