iOS

Upcoming tweak puts customizable app shortcuts to your iOS lock screen

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 31, 2017

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9MuVquYUUA

The iPhone's lock screen has got to be the source of endless inspiration for jailbreak developers and conceptual artists who are constantly coming up with new ways to broaden functionality of your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. UI designer @Sentry_NC of the Auxo fame thought long and hard about juicing up the iPhone's lock screen and came up with this concept showing how the iOS lock screen pulley grabber could be for more than just the camera app.

What's best, we heard that jailbreak developer Rudolf Lichtner is already working on turning his idea into a reality. As always, our own Jeff Benjamin will be monitoring the progress of this tweak and sharing his hands-on impressions as soon as the finished code hits Cydia...

No New Year greetings? Blame your iPhone’s Do Not Disturb mode

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 1, 2013

No, it's not the post-party hangover - your friends' New Year greetings and best wishes sent via SMS, email and iMessage to your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad may have been silenced despite your iOS Do Not Disturb setting being outside its scheduled time. In what appears to be a repeat of the old iPhone clock bug, some people reported their devices misbehaving on January 1, 2013, leading to muted alerts for incoming calls, messages and more.

Depending on your settings, the Do Not Disturb feature should have probably been automatically disabled on New Year Day's morning. The problematic behavior hasn't been observed by everyone, though it is surprising Apple hasn't sorted out time-related bugs in iOS fully yet...

Google invites iOS devs to ‘do cool things that matter’

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 28, 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG2Wn2dm5-4

Google is determined to become the top iOS developer in terms of quality and presence. Already the company's Gmail, YouTube, Google+, Maps, Search and other products are found on many people's home screens. In fact, YouTube and Maps topped the list of most downloaded apps on Christmas Day. And now, the Mountain View, California-headquartered Internet giant has launched a web ad campaign to promote its presence on the Apple platform and invite developers to 'do cool things that matter' on iOS. It's a nice vote of confidence and a sign that Google in no way intends to leave iOS users behind and lose a a treasure trove of data it collects on use through its iOS apps...

Microsoft woos iOS devs to write Windows apps

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

Android and iOS may have been all the rage in 2012 - and especially on Christmas Day when App Store downloads surged 87 percent versus the December 2012 average - but what about Microsoft?

While sales of Windows 8 tablets and Windows Phones have yet to reach a critical mass, the Redmond firm understands it needs more quality apps to lure users.

Quite an interesting get-together recently happened at Microsoft's headquarters as the firm met with a cherry-picked group of iOS developers in an attempt to encourage them to produce versions of their apps for the Windows Phone platform. Is Microsoft throwing money at iOS devs' feet? This reminds us of how the firm spent millions in the gaming space to steal PlayStation exclusives, much to its advantage...

WSJ joins Apple’s Newsstand

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 21, 2012

News Corp.-owned Dow Jones' The Wall Street Journal newspaper has finally signed up for Apple's Newsstand, a service that brings subscription-based digital newspapers and magazines to your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. This means you can now subscribe to WSJ in-app, via iTunes billing, and get daily issues delivered straight to your iOS devices each morning.

You will also get alerts for breaking news and avoid sharing detailed information about yourself with the publisher. The move wasn't entirely unexpected knowing that rival Time Inc., which had been the most prominent holdout, also signed on earlier this year...

Google Play grows, App Store still cash king

Ed Sutherland ∙ December 20, 2012

What's better: to be taller or wealthier? Carry that debate to Apple versus Google and you have the latest on the battle between Apple's App Store and Google Play. While Google's revenue is growing, Apple's application store for iOS devices simply overwhelms the Mountain View, California firm in terms of cash, even if there's another, much darker side to app economy.

During the last four months, Google Play's combined daily revenue grew at 43 percent compared to the App Store's 21 percent, according to research firm Distimo. However, over the entire year, App Store revenue rose by 51 percent.

But wait, there's more. In November, the App Store rang up $15 million in average daily revenue. That compares to $3.5 million for Google Play during the same time...

Redbox Instant, Verizon’s Netflix-killer, launches as private beta on iOS and Android

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4X2FUQLuG8

Redbox Instant is a joint venture between Verizon Communications and Redbox, a subsidiary of Coinstar that specializes in the rental of DVDs, Blu-ray discs and video games via automated retail kiosks. Today, they started gradually rolling out their service, accompanied by the iOS and Android client which lets you stream unlimited movies from their catalogue for eight bucks per month.

There's a free trial available, too, and you also get four DVD credits to boot from. The partners do not specify how many Hollywood movies are available for streaming. What we do know is that titles from Warner Bros and EPIX are included and that Redbox Instant won't stream television shows, at least not initially. Something tells me that Netflix should be worried. Isn't competition good for all?

Samsung passes Nokia as the world’s top phone brand in 2012

Ed Sutherland ∙ December 18, 2012

The cellphone industry has a new king. South Korea's Samsung is #1 in the market, unseating the Finnish-based Nokia after fourteen years. As 2012 wraps up, Samsung is responsible for 29 percent of all cell phone shipments, up from last year's 24 percent.

Conversely, Nokia slips to #2, dropping to 24 percent of the market, a fall from 30 percent posted in 2011. Nokia's departure from a top spot it held since 1998 is largely due to the predominance of smartphones, an area where Samsung thrived and Nokia faltered, according to the hardware research firm iSuppli...

Surprise, Google Maps app boosts iOS 6 adoption rate

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 28, 2016

According to MoPub, which tracks over a billion ad impressions each day across over 12,000 apps and a dozen ad networks, the release of Google's Maps iOS app last Wednesday has benefited the iPhone maker in many regards, not least of which is a healthy boost to iOS 6 adoption rates.

The firm saw a 29 increase in unique iOS 6 users in the five days after Google Maps for iOS was released and a thirteen percent increase from Monday to Wednesday.

The reason: those who held off upgrading to iOS 6 because it removed Google's mapping software are making the jump now that the standalone Google Maps app is on the App Store...

Apple fixes iPad mini, iPhone 5 Wi-Fi bug with iOS 6.0.2 software update

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 18, 2012

Apple has just released an incremental iOS 6.0.2 update fixing issues with wireless network connections on the iPad mini and iPhone 5. According to Apple, the software “fixes a bug that could impact Wi-Fi”. Previous reports have suggested that these devices suffer from a carrier-agnostic Wi-Fi issue that could result in unwarranted cellular data usage while on a Wi-Fi network. Unfortunately, Apple does not name the exact Wi-Fi bug that has been fixed with this update...

2012: a year in App Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 17, 2012

With 750,000+ apps in the App Store and iTunes approaching half a billion accounts with credit cards enabled for one-click shopping, little wonder iOS, by and large, has remained the platform of choice for mobile developers, in spite of Android's lead in sales volume. While only a small number devs earn millions writing apps, the race to the bottom is taking its toll as most bedtime devs opt to keep their day jobs.

Appsfire, a website devoted to App Store discovery, has analyzed key app trends in 2012, creating an illustrative infographic that highlights today's App Store app ecosystem...

Google dropping Exchange ActiveSync support for Gmail next month

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 21, 2013

Brace yourselves, Gmail account syncing is about to get a lot less convenient for iOS and other non-Android devices. The Mountain View company just announced that as part of its 'Winter Cleaning' initiative, it will be ditching support for the Exchange ActiveSync protocol next month.

What's Exchange ActiveSync? Well it's an XML-based protocol, developed by Microsoft, that allows the synchronization of email, calendar, contacts, and other data between servers and mobile devices. And at this point, it's the only way to get native Gmail push notifications on your iPhone...