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.

SwiftKey gains iPad gesture typing, 800+ predictive emojis, key click sounds and more

SwiftKey, the popular third-party keyboard for the iPhone and iPad, has received a nice refresh today. The new version brings out support for eleven more languages, enables gesture typing on iPads, implements a new picker which provides access to more than 800 emoticons along with emoji predictions, adds the option to accompany each tap of a key with a click sound and other goodies.

‘Angry Birds Seasons’ goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Apple has just named "Angry Birds Seasons" its App of the Week for this week. This means that from now through next Thursday, you’ll be able to download the popular game, which normally retails for $0.99, for free.

The Angry Birds franchise needs no introduction—Rovio's slingshotting fowls have been downloaded over 2 billion times—and this seasonal version has proven to be a fan favorite. The current episode is NBA All-Star.

Paper by FiftyThree makes all tools free in iPad app

App and accessory maker FiftyThree on Thursday announced a big change in their business model. All the creative tools in Paper for iPad that used to be locked behind In-App Purchases are now available at no cost, including Sketch, Outline, Write, Color and Mixer.

These essential tools used to cost four bucks when purchased together, or $0.99 each when bought individually.

“By making Paper accessible to all, we hope to see more great ideas come to life – on Mix and everywhere,” developers said.

More word Samsung will manufacture Apple’s next-gen A9 processor

Apple is moving away from TSMC and back to Samsung to manufacture the chip that is the power house behind the iPhone, reports Recode.

The report notes that Apple had "hoped" to rely more heavily on TSMC for the next-generation A9 processor - probably, you know, because Samsung is a huge rival - but things didn't work out that way because of TSMC's limits in manufacturing.

Samsung will be building the A9 chip using the 14nm process, which allows the chip to run cooler and draw less power from the iPhone's battery. TSMC is unable to manufacture anything smaller than the 20nm process that is currently used in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. 

Poll: your next computer — iPad Pro or Retina Air?

If the rumors pan out, we could see both an iPad Pro and a Retina upgrade to the MacBook Air some time in the following months, possibly as soon as April.

Both are thought to include an ultra high-resolution screen measuring about twelve inches diagonally, run quietly thanks to fanless design and the latest power-savvy chips and redefine portability with an even lighter and thinner appearance. True, you'd be hard-pressed to call a twelve-inch tablet ultra portable.

But given Apple's obsession with thinness and lightness, I suspect a larger iPad could be easier to carry around than you'd think. And assuming that rumored creative stylus accessory is indeed in the works, Apple would be wise to create a vastly improved iOS version with true multitasking, side-by-side apps and other productivity features.

With a proper OS, powerful chips, a screen to die for and an optional accessory, the iPad Pro could be the ultimate productivity tablet you've been waiting for.

On the other hand, the twelve-inch Air is said to be almost as light and thin as the iPad. It's poised to blur the line between the notebook and the tablet even further. Therefore, why bother struggling with an oversized tablet if the new Air will be just as light and thin, while offering a built-in keyboard and OS X?

iOS 8 adoption jumps to 72 percent of devices

According to the official App Store Distribution data as of yesterday, iOS 8 is now running on 72 percent of iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices in the wild.

That's up notably over the 69 percent figure recorded just two weeks ago, when iOS 8 adoption rates were slowing in the post-holiday season.

By comparison, Google’s own Developer Dashboards webpage was refreshed yesterday and now shows Android 5.0 Lollipop as finally making a blip on the radar, with the operating system recording a tiny 1.6 percent share of the current Android install base.

How to reclaim ‘Other’ storage on your iOS device

If your iPhone or iPad is running out of space, manually removing unwanted photos, videos, songs, apps and stuff like Safari's Reading List is a good way of freeing up some store space. But more often than not, this isn't enough.

The devil, as they say, is in the detail — in this case, the mysterious ‘Other’ category that iTunes displays after connecting your iOS device to a computer.

‘Other’ storage is a section iOS uses to store temporary data, cache files inside apps and items retrieved through the iOS Background Refresh feature to make apps load faster. ‘Other’ storage balloons over time and can quickly add up to anywhere between a few hundred megabytes to a couple gigabytes of wasted on-device storage.

Aside from performing a clean install of iOS or restoring your device as new, there's no easy way of manually reclaiming your ‘Other’ storage. But thanks to a brilliant new Mac app in town, created by Nice Mohawk, anyone — even novice users — can free up storage space on their iPhone and iPad in minutes. Not only does the app let you reclaim your ‘Other’ storage, but also delete caches, back up your photos and videos, as well as remove large apps and music.

Slow Shutter! available for free within the Apple Store app

Those of you who enjoy app deals may be interested to know that Slow Shutter! has gone free for a limited time. Apple is currently offering promo codes for the popular camera app, which typically costs $1.99, within its Apple Store app.

Slow Shutter's flagship feature is its ability to capture long-exposure photographs. This means that you can create the kind of beautiful photos of moving objects (think moving cars at night) typically reserved for more expensive cameras.

Review: PlugBug World by Twelve South, the versatile little charger Apple should have made

Aren't you sick and tired of those unsightly, clunky wall chargers lying underneath your desk? I'm all for simplification so solutions that cut down the number of power adapters needed to juice up my devices are bound to win my attention.

Twelve South's PlugBug World is a cute hybrid charger which connects to any MacBook brick or Apple USB wall charger.

By integrating an additional 2.1-Amp USB port, this compact accessory can quickly recharge any iOS device, or a lower-powered USB device, while feeding power to a MacBook at the same time.

Continue reading as I let you in on the PlugBug's little secrets, such as its cunning adaptability, versatility and smart design choices that make it stand out from other products and turn it into an indispensable companion in your mobile arsenal.

Apple airs its first advertisement targeted specifically at China

No, not a Super Bowl advertisement.

The China arm of Apple has debuted its first television advertisement in the region on Sunday, during a time when China has been crucial to Apple's quarterly profits.

The one minute and a half advertisement, shown on the Apple China website and titled "Start Something New", is geared towards the Chinese New Year. It's similar to the US Apple advertisement called "The Song".

New Adobe apps: Digital Editions e-book reader and PaintCan for turning photos into paintings

Adobe has published a pair of new applications on the App Store, Adobe Digital Editions and PaintCan. The former allows you to access and manage e-reading material in Adobe's DRM-protected format on your iPad, with editions for Windows and Mac PCs also available for achieving cross-platform nirvana.

The latter, as the name suggest, is an easy-to-use painting software for creating nice-looking artworks from your favorite photos using either one of the preset brushes with different textures or your own brushes customized to your liking.