iPad

From the latest news to the most comprehensive tutorials, learn how to get the most out of your iPad with our step-by-step guides and expert tips.

Hey Siri, make some room for Google Assistant on my iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 17, 2017

The rumors were true: the search giant Google today released a standalone Assistant app for iPhone to take on Siri. Available at no charge on App Store, it features a blend of the chat style functionality found in in the Google Allo version of Assistant and the voice-controlled version found on Android.

It even lets you call friends on Google Home or out on the town with your iPhone.

“Whether you need a reminder to pick up milk, help finding your travel photos or need to make a dinner reservation, your Assistant is ready to help,” says the company.

To get started with Assistant, press the microphone icon or start typing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ9MBYfu_0A

“And for when you want to see what you’ve previously asked, we’ll also soon add history within your conversation,” notes Google. And with an upcoming firmware update for Google Home, customers will be able to put responses to queries from Home's Assistant on a supported display, including your iPhone and even your TV (with Chromecast).

Apple users can use Assistant's chatbot-like capabilities as well as all of its interactive features without having to purchase Google's Pixel smartphone or another Android smartphone.

Here are a few things Assistant can help you with:

Make quick phone calls (“Call Mom”) Send text messages (“Text my bestie”) Send emails (“Email my boss the latest TPS report”) Set reminders (“Remind me to buy a birthday gift for Sarah”) Set calendar events (“Set a calendar event for dinner with Charlie tomorrow from 7-9”) Play music (“Play Jazz music on YouTube”) Navigate to places (“Get me directions home”) Ask it anything (“Will I need an umbrella today?”)

Google has promised to enhance Assistant with new features, including:

New chatbot abilities Integration with Google Lens technology

Google Lens will give Assistant for iPhone and Android some pretty cool camera capabilities with a little help from advanced artificial intelligence features. You'll be able to, for example, easily identify an object by pointing your phone's camera at it.

The company even demonstrated how Lens technology will permit Assistant users to snap up a photograph of a business's sign to quickly pull up useful information such as reviews, menu items, friend check-ins and other relevant data.

And in yet another example, Google demoed how Assistant could help Android users connect to a Wi-Fi network simply by taking a picture of a sticker on a router.

“If you see a marquee for your favorite band, you can hold up your Assistant, tap the Lens icon and get information on the band, tickets and more,“ said the firm.

Plus, starting today developers can build conversational apps for the Google Assistant on phones. In other words, soon you’ll be able to not only get help and answers from Google, but also from third party services.

The AI-powered helper will be rolling out to eligible Android phones in Brazilian Portuguese, French, German and Japanese, Google said. By the end of the year, Assistant will include additional language support for Italian, Korean and Spanish.

The company has more than 70 smart home partners supporting Assistant across Google Home, Android phones and iPhone, including August locks, TP-Link, Honeywell, Logitech and LG.

Assistant is already available on more than 100 million devices, said Google.

Grab Google Assistant for iOS for free via App Store.

The app requires an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch with iOS 9.1 or later.

Todoist gains 2-way Google Calendar integration, Dynamic Type support & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 17, 2017

Todoist, the popular cross-platform app for organizing work and errands, is launching a deep two-way integration between it and Google Calendar that lets the app directly pull information from Google Calendar and vice versa. In addition, the app now supports iOS's system-wide Dynamic Type feature and you can now mark individual notifications as read or unread.

Todoist + Google Calendar = winning combo

With a two-way sync between Todoist and Google Calendar, you can visualize, organize and prioritize your tasks from inside your calendar, with any changes made in Google Calendar being instantly reflected back in Todoist and vice versa.

To connect Todoist with Google Calendar, sign into the Todoist web app, click on the gear icon in the upper-right corner and choose Settings from the popup menu. Navigate to the Integrations tab and click Connect next to Google Calendar.

After signing into your Google Account, you’ll be asked which calendar you want your tasks added to, whether you'd like to sync your entire Todoist account or just a specific project, which Todoist project you want new Google Calendar tasks added to, a default event duration for new Todoist tasks in Google Calendar and whether or not you want to sync tasks with a due date but no time.

Once you authorize the integration, any tasks with a due date and/or time in Todoist will automatically be added to a Google calendar of your choosing (recurring tasks will create multiple events) The two-way sync allows you to create events in Google Calendar within Todoist, knowing they'll be automatically added to the Todoist project of your choosing.

All tasks created from Google Calendar have a default @gcal label, but you can change the label by editing the integration after you’ve connected the apps. You can even choose to only sync tasks from a specific project, if you'd like.

On the iPhone and iPad side, Todoist now supports Dynamic Type, a feature that makes it easy to adjust the font size in apps that support this feature. To make words in Todoist bigger or smaller, simply update to the latest version of the app on App Store and set your preferred text size but dragging the slider in Settings → Display & Brightness → Text Size.

To make sure you don’t miss any important updates in shared projects, Todoist for iOS now allows collaborators to mark individual notifications as read or unread.

As for Todoist for Mac, the app's design was refreshed yesterday to make it feel more at home on your Mac, including extending the theme color all the way to the top.

The smart-task Quick Add action has been overhauled as well. Faster than ever before, it now includes a shortcut to assign a task to someone else (just type “+” into the task name field to pull up a list of collaborators).

Todoist for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch is a free download from App Store.

Todoist for Mac is available free via Mac App Store.

Viber for iPhone gains chat pinning and adjustable notification sounds

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 17, 2017

Rakuten-owned messaging app Viber is launching a pair of interesting enhancements in its mobile app for iPhone and iPad. The first improvement comes in the form of handy new options for adjusting Viber's default notification sound on a per-chat basis. The other enhancement lets you easily pin your favorite conversations to the top of the chat screen.

Aside from these improvements, Viber 6.8.8 for iPhone and iPad, a free download from App Store, includes unspecified bug fixes and performance improvements.

Chat pinning

With this feature, you can pin your favorite conversations to the top of the chat list where they're easier to spot. To pin a chat, swipe the conversations in the chat list, then select Pin to pin it to the top of the screen or Unpin if it's already pinned and you'd like to unpin it, as shown on the screenshots top of post.

Rival WhatsApp from Facebook is said to be working on chat pinning, too.

Custom notification sounds

Viber now allows you to override its default notification sound and replace it with the sounds listed in Settings → Sounds. You can choose a new default sound for all Viber notifications or select a different notification sound on a per-chat basis to make it easier to audibly distinguish between notifications for new messages from, say, your Mom and a co-worker.

Download Viber 6.8.8 for iOS via App Store.

This tweak makes Control Center default to the Now Playing card when music is playing

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 17, 2017

Whenever you listen to music on your iPhone, the Now Playing interface in Control Center is just a few swipes away. From here, you can see information about your song and control your music playback.

As convenient as the Now Playing page is, a new free jailbreak tweak called AMP by iOS developer CP Digital Darkroom makes the interface even easier to get to by making it the default Control Center card whenever media is playing.

First gameplay video of Oceanhorn 2 looks fantastic

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 16, 2017

The official sequel to Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas is in the works and we already showed you a few screenshots taken from an early build of the game. Tuesday, developer Cornfox & Bros. shared the official gameplay video of the Oceanhorn sequel, titled Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm.

While still work in progress, the new gameplay footage clearly demonstrates that Oceanhorn 2 is shaping up to become one of the best-looking iPhone and iPad games on the market.

That's hardly a surprise given it's based on Epic's fantastic Unreal Engine 4.

“With Unreal Engine 4, we have hundreds of man years of video game development backing us up,” developers said. The gameplay video, embedded below, is actual unedited footage of Oceanhorn 2 captured on iPhone 7 Plus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRp5_TvU3oI

Your hero's journey will take him around the world.

The game sports a vast world map littered with fields, forests, mountains, water, towns and dungeons. An updated battle system consists of sword fighting, utilizing powerful spells and finding creative ways to use various items that you discover along the way.

Oceanhorn 2's main protagonist lives near an ancient structure, called Beacon, located in Arne Village, which is the starting location of his adventures.

To help players solve complex puzzles, lure enemies into traps or cast directed spells at them, Oceanhorn 2 introduces a cool gun that shoots magical projectiles. As a bonus, your character can carry and throw all sorts of objects.

Developers will be demoing Oceanhorn 2 at Epic's booth at the Nordic Game conference in Malmö, Sweden.

Although Oceanhorn released in September 2016 on PS4 and Xbox One as Cornfox's very first console game, it was ported over to iOS and Android. Just recently, the original Oceanhorn game has been confirmed as coming to the PS Vita handheld console on May 17.

The sequel is still in development, but we'll be making sure to keep you in the loop.

Apple to soon require app-specific passwords to access your iCloud data

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

According to an Apple Support email sent out today, all native third-party apps for iPhone, iPad, Mac and other platforms will be required to use app-specific passwords to access user data stored in iCloud, not Apple ID credentials.

App-specific passwords went into effect in October 2014.

Back then, enabling two-step verification for Apple ID would turn on app-specific passwords for web-based apps and services. Starting on June 15, app-specific passwords will become a mandatory requirement for any native app that wishes to access user data in iCloud.

You can generate app passwords in the Password & Security section of the Apple ID website.

A password created for one app, like Outlook, doesn't work in another app like Spark.

Come June 15, you'll be automatically signed out of all apps that use your Apple ID credentials. As an example, if you set up Fantastical for Mac with your Apple ID to access your iCloud calendars, you'll need to generate an app-specific password to continue accessing your iCloud calendars from within the app on and after June 15.

In simpler terms, you'll be required to enable two-factor authentication for your Apple ID and generate individual passwords for each app after the cutoff date.

The change is platform-agnostic: if you use Windows 10's Mail app to receive your iCloud data like contacts and calendars, you'll need to create an app-specific password for it. This is for the sake of everyone's security because signing into third-party apps with your primary Apple ID password may expose you to various attacks and hacking attempts.

To be clear, this only affects apps which access iCloud in a non-native way, which includes email clients like Outlook, Thunderbird and others. If an app has been updated to use iCloud Drive, it won't need an app-specific password to access user data in iCloud.

Bottom line: Apple still lets you grant apps access to your iCloud data, but soon you'll be able to do so in such a way that keeps your primary Apple ID password safe and secure.

Apple's first-party apps are not affected by this change.

Apple rumored to discontinue iPad mini

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 16, 2017

First introduced in 2012, Apple’s 7.9-inch iPad mini won't be updated going forward because the company is phasing out the device due to decreasing sales. A source close to the iPhone maker told BGR there’s “fierce cannibalism of Apple's own products” and that the iPad mini lineup has just been “sized out of its own category.”

The report does not detail when the device might be discontinued.

“We’re also told that the numbers are 'very clear' as far as sales are concerned, which is most likely the biggest reason the company plans to eliminate the littlest iPad,” reads the article.

Following the introduction of the new 9.7-inch iPad model in March 2017, Apple phased out both the original iPad mini and iPad Air 2 models.

Apple could unveil a new 10.5-inch iPad Pro at its annual developers conference next month. It's perfectly plausible that iPad mini won't be featured on Tim Cook's “2017 iPad lineup” slide.

The Cupertino company currently offers iPad mini 4 with Wi-Fi and 128 gigabytes of storage for $399. An LTE-enabled model goes for $529. Apple killed the 32-gigabyte iPad mini 4 edition after debuting the new 9.7-inch iPad model.

Japanese blog Mac Otakara claimed last October that Apple could release a fifth-generation iPad mini and market it as the 7.9-inch “iPad mini Pro.”

At any rate, iPad mini made a great choice for budget shoppers.

But with the September 2014 introduction of larger-screened iPhones, iPad mini has slowly but surely been losing its allure as a device that's perfectly suited for light tasks such as reading, checking email, browsing the web, gaming, messaging and so forth.

Should Apple discontinue iPad mini?

Instagram rolls out selfie filters, rewind option for videos, hashtag sticker & eraser brush

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 16, 2017

Instagram today announced several new capabilities for its mobile app, including selfie filters via the front-facing camera in what appears to be yet another effort to copy the last big Snapchat feature. Aside from face filters, Instagram 10.21 also includes a rewind playback option for videos, a new hashtag sticker an an eraser brush tool.

Face filters

With all-new face filters in the Instagram camera, you can turn an ordinary selfie into something fun and entertaining. A total of eight different face filters are included at launch, with more to be added at a later stage via future updates. To get started with this feature, tap the new face icon in the bottom-right corner of the Instagram camera.

Simply tap a filter to try it on.

The filters include effects ranging from math equations swirling around your head to furry koala ears that move and twitch. “Whether you're sitting on the couch at home or out and about, face filters help you express yourself and have playful conversations with friends,” noted the Facebook-owned company.

https://vimeo.com/217551217

Some of the filters work with a friend.

Moreover, all the face filters included in this edition of Instagram work with Boomerang, meaning you can now add an unexpected twist to the videos you share.

Rewind option for videos

Instagram also provides a new Rewind playback option for videos.

A new camera format next to “Boomerang” and “Hands-Free”, “Rewind” lets you share a rewind of your video. This mode captures your video normally, then makes it play in reverse.

Hashtag stickers

A new hashtag sticker joins Instagram's existing stickers and geofilters. To get started with it, tap the sticker icon in the top-right corner, then choose and customize the new hashtag sticker before adding it to your own Story.

Like with mentions, you can add hashtags using regular text as well.

Hashtag stickers are interactive: folks watching your Story can tap the hashtag sticker or text to visit the hashtag page and explore related posts.

Eraser tool

With the new eraser brush, you can remove parts of drawings or color.

Instagram advises selecting the fill tool after you’ve taken a photo or video to fill the entire screen with color. Then, using the new Eraser tool, you can easily and quite creatively reveal parts of your photo or video underneath.

These new features are available as part of Instagram 10.21 for iOS.

To learn more about these updates, check out Instagram's Help Center.

Instagram is available at no charge from App Store.

Masq lets you customize the Now Playing interface

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 16, 2017

The Now Playing interface found both on the Lock screen and in Control Center when you're listening to music is the main focus of a new jailbreak tweak dubbed Masq by iOS developer candoizo.

The tweak lets you spice up the look of each interface independently with themes and a trough of aesthetic options. Tailored for the creative mind, Masq is a great addition to themed devices and stock-looking devices alike.

Apple releases iOS 10.3.2, watchOS 3.2.2, tvOS 10.2.1 and macOS Sierra 10.12.5

Cody Lee ∙ May 15, 2017

Apple on Monday released iOS 10.3.2, watchOS 3.2.2, tvOS 10.2.1, and macOS Sierra 10.12.5 to the public. The updates feature various security patches, bug fixes and performance improvements, and come after more than a month of beta testing.

As you can see in the screenshot above, iOS 10.3.2 includes bug fixes and improves the security for iPhone and iPad. We know from beta release notes that it also features a small fix for SiriKit, meaning in-car commands should now work as intended.

There have been no major changes or features spotted in tvOS 10.2.1 or watchOS 3.2.2 either. However, Apple says that macOS Sierra 10.12.5 fixes an audio issue with USB headphones, enhances Mac App Store compatibility, and adds support for media-free installation of Windows 10 Creators Update using Boot Camp.

These will probably be the last public updates released before we get a preview of the next major versions of each platform at WWDC next month. The software can be installed either via the OTA mechanism, or directly from our Downloads page.

Google could launch Assistant for iOS soon as a standalone app

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 15, 2017

After unveiling Assistant at Google I/O a year ago, the search giant is now expected to bring its AI conversational helper to iPhone and iPad in the form of a standalone app, AndroidPolice reported Monday. The app should be announced at Google's annual developers conference, which kicks off on Wednesday, May 17, at Shoreline Amphitheatre Mountain View in California.

Assistant for iOS will only be available in the US at launch, said a trusted source cited in the report. Assistant's SDK was just made available to developers so bringing the app to Apple's mobile platform could encourage more developers to integrate with its functionality.

Here's an excerpt from the article:

The app would likely feature a blend of the "chat" style functionality in the Google Allo version of Assistant and the voice-controlled version found on Android, but again, details are scant.

Rather than roll out Assistant as a standalone app, Google could fold its functionality into the existing search app for iOS, which supports Google Now cards but not Assistant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wsic12MXlsc

A company executive hinted two months ago that Google's general philosophy is that “we would like to have the Assistant available to as many people as possible.”

After debuting exclusively on Google's Pixel line of smartphones in October of last year, Google Assistant soon after made its way into into Google’s voice-activated speaker, called Home, the latest version of Android Wear and a few devices from third-party vendors.

It powers AI features in Google's messaging app Allo and will be at the heart of the new Android operating system for touchscreen car consoles and in-car infotainment systems.

You can expect the feature to become integrated over time into virtually every major device Google makes, as well as into its most important consumer-facing services and mobile apps.

Fully functional original iPad prototype shown on leaked photos

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 15, 2017

Australian leakster Sonny Dickson today shared claimed photographs that allegedly show a fully functional engineering prototype of Apple's original iPad model. You may remember Dickson as he was behind other leaks and in the past provided us with photographs of an early iPhone prototype with a click-wheel.

Dating back to six months before launch, the prototype unit shown on the images runs Apple's internal diagnostics software, called SwitchBoard. It was allegedly manufactured in January 2010, approximately six months prior to the launch of the device, Dickson told 9to5Mac.

“According to the owner, the unit was discovered several years ago in the Bay Area, enclosed in a thick metal case to disguise its appearance,” he said.

As you can see for yourself, the Apple logo on the prototype's rear side features some sort of etching.

Other things we can glean from the images include the prototype serial numbers, Apple Development Team prototype identification stickers, engineering asset tags identifying the manufacturer of each part, cutouts revealing the Wi-Fi antenna connections and more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knJNtkRyO9E

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“On the front side of the iPad, the corresponding Development Team ID number is laser engraved into the glass in three places,” Dickson noted.

Seven years since debuting the original iPad, Apple is poised to launch a brand new 10.5-inch model at its upcoming annual developers conference in June. The device is expected to have a similar form factor to the 9.7-inch iPad model, but with a larger 10.5-inch display thanks to the narrower side bezels.