iOS

ICS Paper Cuts, Critiquing Android, and Attacks on Fanboyism

Alex Heath ∙ Updated October 16, 2017

Most jailbreakers will recognize the hacker known as chpwn. Grant Paul is responsible for many of the most popular iOS jailbreak tweaks in Cydia, including Infinidock and Gridlock. He also helps manage sites like JailbreakQA and works on jailbreaks with the Dev Team.

Grant has started a new blog called "ICS Paper Cuts." His site is dedicated to critiquing the Android platform, particularly the recent 4.0 version, Ice Cream Sandwich. Needless to say, he's been dealing with plenty of hate for his critiques of the operating system's design and usability.

How to Add Game ROMS to iMAME on Your iOS Device

Cody Lee ∙ December 23, 2011

Yesterday we told you about iMAME, the free iOS emulator that somehow managed to sneak its way into the App Store. The app allows users to play classic arcade games by loading ROM [read only memory] files onto an iOS device.

iMAME comes with 10 classic arcade games, but is compatible with thousands more if you can figure out how to transfer ROMs onto your handset (or iPad). We put together this easy tutorial to show you how to do sideload retro game ROMs for iMAME.

How to Protect Your iMessages on a Stolen iPhone

Oliver Haslam ∙ December 22, 2011

Apple's iMessage may be a fine SMS/MMS tool, but as we recently reported, it isn't without its problems.

If you are unlucky enough to find your iPhone stolen or lost, then under some circumstances it is possible that the iPhone can continue receiving iMessages. Even moving your phone number to another handset, changing your Apple ID password, and remote wiping the handset may not stop the problem.

There are two possible fixes, and they are as simple as turning on your iPhone's SIM card PIN and calling your phone carrier...

Amazon Updates Kindle iOS App With New iPad Interface, Textbooks, and More

Oliver Haslam ∙ December 21, 2011

Amazon has pushed out a major update to its universal iOS Kindle app, with the most interesting changes coming to the iPad version.

A new design has been rolled out for magazines on the iPad, with access to the same 400+ magazines and newspapers that the Kindle Fire has now available on Apple's tablet.

Users can now also "read print replica textbooks," which will have rich formatting and the same layout as the print editions...

HTC Already Working to Remove Patent-Infringing Apple Feature From Its Devices

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated January 27, 2017

Apple's recent court victory that saw the International Trade Commission ban HTC smartphones from sale in the United States may not be as useful as we originally thought.

HTC's Chief Executive Peter Chou shared today that his company is already hard at work removing or altering the functionality that the ITC deemed as violating one of Apple's patents. The patent was in relation to technology which allows software to recognise data such as phone numbers or addresses and then format them as tappable links.

HTC, for its part, believes that the technology is rarely used in their software, and that its removal will have little impact on the overall experience of using its products...

A Brief History of the iOS App Store and the Rise of the Mobile App

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated April 3, 2018

One of the biggest things to come out of the smartphone revolution is the rise of the mobile app. Before Apple, Google and the rest all set about creating their own on-device app stores. Users were left to live a life of boring apps that needed installing via a memory stick or, in the case of some smartphone operating systems, the downloading of executables that needed to be installed manually after fighting through a selection of security issues. Windows Mobile, I'm looking at you.

Apple, along with Research in Motion, began to change all that with a little help from Google. Nokia also got in on the act, before Microsoft finally began to get things right with Windows Phone 7. Apps, as we have all learned over the last few years, sell smartphones. Now, they also sell tablets.

This is all a far cry from Apple's early stance on an 'app store' when it released the iPhone along with its little brother, the original iPod touch...

Apple Working on Smart Kiosks for iOS Devices

Cody Lee ∙ December 20, 2011

The innovative minds of Apple's R&D (Research and Development) team never cease to amaze us. They've come up with all kinds of cool stuff — most of which never makes it into consumer products.

And the latest patent application from the folks in Cupertino is proof of that. Judging by the filing, Apple appears to be experimenting with self-serve "smart kiosks" that can interact with iOS devices...

Apple Seeds Updates for the Apple TV and iPhone 4S

Cody Lee ∙ December 15, 2011

Apple has been on a roll this week with software updates, seeding iOS 5.1 beta 2 to developers and iTunes 10.5.2 to the masses. Now the company has just released two more software updates for iOS devices.

The first is for the Apple TV 2, bringing the device to iOS 4.4.4. The update appears to just contain minor improvements, as no new features have been discovered yet. And the second is for the iPhone 4S.

A Visual History of iOS

Alex Heath ∙ December 14, 2011

Dieter Bohn of The Verge has an amazing walkthrough of how iOS has evolved since its release in 2007. The post takes a detailed look at the key iOS features and releases that Apple introduced throughout the years.

During the original iPhone announcement, Apple touted that it ran on the same Unix core as Mac OS X and that it used many of the same tools. However, it was clear even then that while there may be some shared elements between OS X and this new phone OS, it was a different-enough beast to warrant its own branding. When the original iPhone launched, the OS was called "iPhone OS" and it kept that name for four years, only changing to iOS with the release of iOS 4 in June of 2010. For the sake of simplicity (and because it's a much-less awkward phrase), I'm going to indulge in a little revisionist history here and refer to all versions of the operating system as "iOS" in this piece.

Head on over to The Verge to read about the history of iOS. It's amazing to see how far the platform has come.

Over 60% of Developers Prefer iOS Over Android

Cody Lee ∙ Updated July 24, 2016

Google's CEO Eric Schmidt made some waves at the recent Paris-hosted Le Web conference with comments regarding Android and its iOS competitor. Schmidt was at the conference to talk about Android's big update, Ice Cream Sandwich.

During his speech, the CEO made a pretty big 6-month prediction for Google's mobile platform, saying things like "developers will soon start choosing Android over iOS." But a recent research report from Flurry Analytics suggests otherwise.

StyleTap Wrapper Brings Palm OS Apps to iOS

Oliver Haslam ∙ December 12, 2011

Palm fans haven't been the only ones to mourn the demise of the aged platform. Now the few developers who made it their job to create Palm OS apps have a lifeline, and it's a lifeline that could open up a brave new world of mobile app development for those who have been left behind.

StyleTap's new iOS Wrapper SDK allows developers to take their old Palm OS apps and make them ready for submission to Apple's App Store. Whether Apple sees fit to accept the submissions, though, is anybody's guess.

Apple Looking to Expand Bluetooth Support in iOS

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

Other than a handful of stereo receivers and standalone speakers, there aren't many AirPlay-compatible accessories on the market. Manufacturers haven't really adopted Apple's wireless technology like the company had hoped it would.

So it's no surprise that Macotakara, a Japanese blog known for leaking Apple information, is reporting that the company is looking to rethink wireless connectivity in iOS. The company is now apparently showing a deep interest in Bluetooth.