iOS

Over 50% of Developers Prefer iOS, but Android is Closing Fast

Alex Heath ∙ November 6, 2010

A recent study has shown that over 50% of mobile developers prefer the iOS platform. Millennial Media surveyed over 500 mobile developers and advertisers and asked them what their current and future plans were in terms of mobile application development. The survey complied a pie chart of the responses, and iOS is still on top.

Factoring iPhone and iPad, iOS made up 51% of the current development support. Android is currently being supported by less than half of the respondents. However, when asked about their development plans in 2011, mobile developers favored the Google Android platform...

Laser Tag, It’s Coming to the iPhone

Alex Heath ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

Apple has filed another interesting patent detailing some extremely interesting multi-player gaming possibilities. Patently Apple has referred to the patent as an "Interactive Laser Gaming Application and/or Framework." Essentially, the new framework would allow iPhones to recreate what amounts to a game of laser tag.

Most people are familiar with laser tag, a game in which players wear light-sensitive vests that register a "hit" when shot by an infrared laser from another player's gun. This new Apple patent describes a similar environment, in which the iPhone would act as the vest and gun...

Apple Reportedly Hosting a Secret iOS Developer Conference This Week

Alex Heath ∙ Updated May 11, 2018

Apple is rumored to be hosting a top secret iOS developer conference in California this week. The event is supposed to start on Tuesday and run through Thursday.

Could this meeting of the minds be Apple's attempt to counteract the rise of Google's Android platform in the smartphone market? There's plenty to speculate about...

Google Adds App Store Search to the iPhone

Alex Heath ∙ October 28, 2010

You can now search the App Store through Google search on the iPhone. Google recently added an "iPhone apps" category to its search options. This new option is available within the official Google Mobile app and the Google web interface on mobile Safari.

Google indexes the App Store to bring you only iPhone apps when you are searching on your iPhone or iPod touch. You are given a list of results with the price, average star rating and a brief description for your viewing pleasure. Nothing too fancy though.

When you click the app you want to go to, Google merely takes you to the iTunes web preview page. And the preview page doesn't even prompt the App Store app to open, which is odd...

VLC for iPhone Released

Alex Heath ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

VLC media player was just updated as a universal app for iPhone and iPad in the App Store. The popular, open source, cross platform media player has been a favorite on Windows, OS X and Linux for years.

Awhile back, VLC released an iPad app in the App Store, and surprisingly the app was approved. VLC for iPhone allows you to play nearly every kind of video format known to man. The app clearly duplicates (and in my opinion, makes better) the video playback functionality of the the native iPod app. So, it's interesting that Apple has finally approved it.

The developers of the VideoLAN player just got the VLC 1.1.0 update approved, which lets VLC run on the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and recent iPod touch models. I downloaded the app, and I was impressed.

How to Change Your iPhone App Icons Without Jailbreaking

Alex Heath ∙ Updated February 6, 2016

We Apple users are picky about our aesthetics. Some of us try to pretend that we aren't, but we are. Things like app icons matter to us. Apple doesn't make it easy to customize your iPhone's look on a system mod level, but luckily there are still jailbreak-free hacks out there to taunt Apple's need for aesthetic control.

I'm going to walk you through how to manually change app icons on your iPhone without jailbreaking. There are multiple reasons you may want to change an app icon; you think the developer's icon is ugly, you want a retina display-compatible icon, or you just want to mess with your friend while he's away from his phone. Here's how you do it:

Angry Birds Halloween Edition Arrives, Pumpkins Run For Their Lives

Guest Author ∙ Updated May 26, 2017

Who doesn't enjoy smashing pumpkins? I'm not talking about that alt-rock band from the 90s, no, this is more Angry Birds fun! That's right, Angry Birds Halloween edition is here, boasting 45 new levels of pig-squashing, pumpkin-smashing fun. It's .99 cents in the app store, and exclusive to iOS devices. So you know we're special.

I can't help but wonder now... will the holiday season bring us the chance to smash Santas into smithereens?

[Boy Genius Report]

TouchPad – A Seamless Extension of Your Mac on Your iPhone

Alex Heath ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

There are plenty of apps in the App Store for using your iPhone to remotely control your Mac. I've tested plenty of remote apps for the iPhone. Some of them are ok. Some of them are unbearable.

Recently, I stumbled across Edovia Software's TouchPad app. TouchPad is by far the best, all-in-one remote app for the iPhone...

LockInfo: iOS LockScreen and Notification Panel

Guest Author ∙ October 17, 2010

One of the pitfalls of Apple iOS is the lack of a good notification system. By notification system, I mean a panel where one can view all their notifications in a consolidated panel, much like the notification panel of Android OS.

Instead, we have a system that, with every pushed notification, you get a popup alert, a sound and a badge on the application icon which presents itself as a useless system once you dismiss the popup alert. Once the popup is gone, the risk of forgetting the notification opens up.

LockInfo, by David Ashman, picks up where Apple slacks by providing us with a very useful notification panel that can be set as your lockscreen, your first Springboard page and/or a panel activated by Activator (known as InfoShade). The latter provides Android-like functionality with a panel available from any screen, whether from within an open app or not...

Wi-Fi Sync 2.0 Coming Soon, Promises Syncing Over 3G

Alex Heath ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

Wi-Fi Sync is a $9.99 app in Cydia that syncs your iOS device over wi-fi with iTunes. You can read more about the app here. A couple of months ago the developer of Wi-Fi sync tweeted that he was working on Wi-Fi Sync 2.0, which would include wireless syncing over 3G and VPN. Yesterday he announced the beta signup for Wi-Fi Sync 2.0. I can't wait to get my hands on it...

5 of the Best SBSettings Themes

Alex Heath ∙ Updated August 7, 2017

If you have jailbroken your iOS device, chances are you've heard of SBSettings. For years, it has remained one of the staple applications of the BigBoss repo in the Cydia store. If you aren't familiar with SBSettings, go read our original review of the app.

In my opinion, SBSettings is enough reason to jailbreak. The app is that useful. I'm not sure why Apple hasn't implemented the idea into iOS yet. I love being able to quickly toggle my iPhone's resources and settings on and off.

The two things I love in an app are functionality and aesthetics. And in most cases, I won't use an app if it doesn't have both. The functionality of SBSettings is undeniable, but I've found that finding an aesthetically pleasing theme for the app is somewhat tedious. So, I have done my best to comb the far reaches of Cydia to bring you five of the best SBSettings themes...

Apple Patents MagSafe Power Connector for iOS Devices

Alex Heath ∙ October 8, 2010

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published an interesting continuation patent application from Apple yesterday. Apple's patent says, "the connector 62 may be a power connector such as the MagSafe power connector manufactured by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. The MagSafe power connector utilizes a magnetic attraction to help retain a corresponding connector thereto."

Plenty of speculation could be made about what MagSafe charging means for iOS devices...