Apps

Apple lists top 25 apps infected by XcodeGhost

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 18, 2017

Apple today refreshed its official XcodeGhost FAQ webpage, listing the top 25 iPhone and iPad apps on the App Store that contain the widely reported though mostly harmless XcodeGhost malware.

In addition to WeChat, one of the top messaging apps in the world, Rovio's Angry Birds 2 and China Unicom’s Customer Service app, most of the listed apps are distributed on the Chinese App Store only.

“If users have one of these apps, they should update the affected app which will fix the issue on the user’s device,” writes the company. “If the app is available on App Store, it has been updated, if it isn’t available it should be updated very soon.”

Apple has pulled many of the infected apps and said it's working closely with developers to get impacted apps back on the App Store.

Twitterrific update with iOS 9 and iPad multitasking support, new features and improvements

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 23, 2015

Twitterrific 5, The Iconfactory's freemium Twitter client for iOS and OS X platforms, has received its iOS 9-focused update this morning.

The app is now fully optimized for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices running iOS 9 and supports new Slide Over and Split View multitasking modes on compatible iPads. If you own an iPad Air 2 or an iPad mini 4, you can now run Twitterrific and another app side-by-side in iOS 9's new Split View mode.

This is a great feature as you can now pin Twitterrific on the right and configure it to use Safari as your browser instead of in-app. In addition to iOS 9-specific support, this edition of Twitterrific includes other changes and improvements listed further below.

Spark email app gains iOS 9 support, default From: account, customizable quick replies and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 23, 2015

Spark, Readdle's excellent iPhone app for Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, iCloud and other email services, is now compatible with iOS 9 features, including 3D Touch on new iPhones.

Spark 1.2 for iPhone also includes the ability to select any email account or alias as default FROM: address for new emails. The app now lets you customize canned replies to your liking and includes a host of other improvements.

Pixelmator gains 8K resolution and iOS 9 support, including iPad multitasking features

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 23, 2015

Pixelmator, the tremendously popular Photoshop replacement available for both iOS and OS X platforms, today gained an update which adds several new features on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices.

For starters, Pixelmator 2.1 for iOS is now fully compatible with iOS 9 (in fact, it's now an iOS 9-only app) and supports Slide Over and Split View iPad multitasking modes.

With Split View on compatible iPads, customers can use Pixelmator and any other app at the same time. More importantly, the app now opening and editing images in 8K resolution.

Apple to offer local Xcode downloads in China, posts official XcodeGhost malware FAQ

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 23, 2015

The XcodeGhost malware couldn't have arrived at worst time for Apple as the company prepares to launch its iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus tomorrow. The company has already removed the App Store apps infected by the malware, which has been found to inject its payload into apps compiled with compromised copies of Xcode that were distributed on non-Apple servers in China.

Wednesday, the Cupertino firm has confirmed plans to mitigate the threat by hosting local Xcode downloads within China. In addition, Apple has posted an XcodeGhost FAQ webpage on its Chinese website detailing the XcodeGhost malware and how customers might be affected by it.

Review: iTranslate 9.0 is the closest thing yet to the killer Apple Watch app

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 22, 2015

Now that the watchOS 2 software update has released to the general public, a healthy debate is developing amongst my techie friends about the benefits that native apps are supposed to enable.

The long story short, native apps run directly on the device and talk to its underlying hardware and sensors so most tasks should feel faster and smoother than before.

For instance, apps can now play sounds through the Apple Watch's speakerphone and take voice input from its built-in mic. To test how this works in the real world, I've spent a few hours with iTranslate by Sonico Mobile GmbH, arguably the best translator app you can put on your wrist to overcome language barriers, Star Trek-style.

Twitter adds Quick Reply to iOS app (this time for real!) and other enhancements

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 22, 2015

A Twitter update last week was supposed to make the mobile iPhone and iPad app play nice with iOS 9's new text-based replies that are now available to third-party apps directly from notification banners, except it didn't.

Tuesday, the micro-blogging startup issued a new version of the iOS client which fixes last week's botched update.

Now iOS 9 users of Twitter's mobile app can take advantage of full support for the Quick Reply feature from push notifications, the ability to access muted and blocked accounts in Settings and more.

Apple educates developers on validating Xcode downloads following XcodeGhost malware attack

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 22, 2015

A new type of attack called XcodeGhost is wreaking something of a mini-havoc in the App Store, injecting its malware payload into popular iPhone and iPad apps and prompting Apple to pull the infected apps.

The malware itself is pretty harmful—it collects and sends information about your device—but the method of spreading is cunning. Rather than target the App Store itself, attackers have distributed hacked versions of Xcode, Apple's tool required for iOS and OS X development.

As Xcode is a multi-gigabyte download, developers in countries like China where Internet speeds are slow have downloaded these modified Xcode builds from non-Apple sources without realizing a hacked Xcode injects malware when compiling apps.

This morning, Apple issued an email to developers providing an update on the XcodeGhost situation while laying out easy-to-follow instructions for checking if their Xcode copy has been tampered with.

Shazam update brings support for iOS 9’s enhanced Spotlight Search and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 21, 2015

Shazam, the popular music and media identification software, has rolled out a brand new 9.0 update to its iPhone and iPad application in the App Store, bringing out support for Spotlight Search on iOS 9, improved Bluetooth listening and other tidbits.

Shazam songs and artists can now be searched from the Home screen on iOS 9 and tapping a Shazam result takes you directly into that content within Shazam's mobile app.

Some Skype users experiencing issues with calling and messaging, Microsoft working on a fix

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 21, 2015

Are you plagued with various Skype issues, such as the inability to place VoIP calls, update your status or send instant messages? Are all of your Skype contacts showing as offline? Don't worry, you're not alone.

According to a support document published Monday morning, many people are reporting issues with Skype status and calling and Microsoft is working on a fix.

“We're doing everything we can to fix this issue and hope to have another update for you soon,” the company wrote. “Thank you for your patience as we work to get this incident resolved.”

How to upload HD photos and videos on Facebook

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 9, 2016

One of the more annoying things about Facebook has got to be the diminished quality of photos and videos you upload to the service, be it via iOS's Facebook integration integration or through the official mobile app for the iPhone and iPad, a free download in the App Store.

For whatever reason, Facebook's mobile app defaults to low-resolution photo and video uploads, likely in an effort to minimize bandwidth usage in this digital age of capped cellular data.

Fortunately, there is an easy yet not immediately obvious way to configure Facebook for iPhone and iPad to record and upload videos and photos in glorious high-definition.

Popular 3D puzzler Shadowmatic goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Cody Lee ∙ September 17, 2015

Apple has named Triada Studio's Shadowmatic its App of the Week for this week. This means that from now through next Thursday, you'll be able to download the popular 3D puzzler for free, for both iPhone and iPad, saving yourself a solid $3.

For those unfamiliar with it, Shadowmatic is an imagination-stirring experience in which you are tasked with solving a series of 3D silhouette puzzles. The title has received high praise for its stunning visuals and relaxing, captivating gameplay.