iPhone 4S

Navatar brings messaging avatars to unsupported devices

Anthony Bouchard ∙ May 23, 2018

If you use the native Messages app to send iMessages or SMS messages from your iPhone, then you may have noticed the avatar that generally appears in the navigation bar. When you have a contact picture configured for the recipient, that picture displays here; otherwise, you’d see the recipient’s first and last initials instead.

Apple stopped supporting this feature on smaller handsets like the iPhone 5s and earlier with some of the latest iterations of iOS, limiting it to larger-displayed devices such as the iPhone 6 and later. On the other hand, a new free jailbreak tweak dubbed Navatar by iOS developer EthanRDoesMC changes that.

Turkish police wants Apple to unlock Russian ambassador killer’s iPhone 4s

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 23, 2016

Andrei Karlov, the ambassador to Turkey, was killed while giving a speech at an art gallery in Ankara three days ago by 22-year-old off-duty police officer Mevlut Mert Altintas. According to MacReports, Turkish police approached Apple about unlocking an iPhone 4s that was recovered from the shooter.

The device is locked with a 4-digit passcode, but it's unclear if it runs iOS 8.0+ or one of the earlier iOS editions that don't enforce full disk encryption.

How to filter and block spam phone calls on iPhone

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 6, 2023

Starting with iOS 10, Apple is allowing a new type of applications in the App Store: apps that can detect and block spam phone calls from telemarketers, debt collectors, scammers, and automated systems. These apps act as an extension of the Phone application, and in theory, they can help you filter out those calls from people you don't want to talk to.

In this post, we will have a look at how these applications work and how to use them.

Apple removes iPhone 4s and iPhone 5c from sale in India as iPhone 5se launch looms

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 17, 2016

In India, Apple has stopped selling the iPhone 4s, which debuted in the fall of 2011, as well as the unapologetically plastic iPhone 5c, The Economic Times reported Tuesday. In withdrawing its most affordable handsets from the 1.25 billion people country—the world’s third market for smartphones and the fastest-growing smartphone market in the world—Apple is looking to boost its average selling price and profitability “which have been under strain in the country lately,” stated the report.

Apple on the hook for $5+ million over hindered performance of older iPhones with iOS 9

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 30, 2015

Apple is under fire over planned obsolescence concerning the iOS 9 software update, with a new class-action lawsuit accusing the company of intentionally slowing older iPhone models with the update, AppleInsider reported Wednesday.

Filed with a New York district court on Tuesday, the lawsuit also accuses Apple of deceptive trade practices and false advertising which assured customers that iOS 9 would run fine on older handsets dating back to four-year-old iPhone 4s models without stating that the upgrade would cripple legacy handsets severely.

Developer creates a way to downgrade the iPad 2 and iPhone 4s to iOS 6.1.3

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Feeling nostalgic? Own an iPad 2 or an iPhone 4s? Then you have the opportunity to travel back down memory lane and downgrade your device from any firmware back to iOS 6.1.3—no SHSH blobs required.

Entitled odysseusOTA, the command line tool takes advantage of the fact that Apple is still signing the OTA (over the air) firmwares for iOS 6.1.3 on the iPad 2 and iPhone 4s. Want to see the downgrade in action? Then watch this detailed step-by-step video.

iOS 8.1.1 is out with bug fixes and performance improvements for iPad 2 and iPhone 4s

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 17, 2014

Apple on Monday started rolling out the latest iOS 8.1.1 software update for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices. If you're jailbroken, stay away from this update as it plugs the Pangu8 jailbreak.

iOS 8.1.1 build 12B435 contains a whole bunch of bug fixes and general performance enhancements aimed at improving the mobile operating system's stability. You can apply the update over the air by going to Settings > General > Software Update.

Video shows side by side speed comparison of all 10 iPhone models

Cody Lee ∙ September 22, 2014

YouTube channel EverythingApplePro posted an interesting video this weekend, showing multiple side by side speed comparison tests of all 10 iPhone models. This includes the iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5, iPhone 4s, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3G and the original iPhone.

The clip, which is about 4 minutes long, shows a wide range of speed tests such as shutdown, startup, webpage loading, and even a GeekBench benchmark test. For the most part everything works out like you'd expect, with the newer devices outpacing their predecessors, but there are a few surprises.

Read this before upgrading your iPhone 4s to iOS 8

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 17, 2014

Think twice before updating your rusty old iPhone 4s to the just-released iOS 8 because Apple's feature-packed upgrade makes its handset run most tasks about two times (or more) slower.

iOS 8 will slow down common tasks on the handset, including approximately two times slower launching of stock apps, almost three seconds longer booting and more, ArsTechnica reported Wednesday.

In addition to the performance hit, the three-year-old handset is incompatible with certain hardware-dependent iOS 8 features such as Handoff, AirDrop, the OpenGL ES 3.0 and Metal graphics run-time and more.

iH8sn0w confirms his iPhone 4s is jailbroken on iOS 7.1

Cody Lee ∙ March 27, 2014

Despite our warnings, a number of folks have updated their devices to iOS 7.1 within the last few weeks, and they've quickly learned that the update kills the iOS 7 jailbreak. Many have asked us if we think evasi0n7 will be updated to work with the new firmware, but it doesn't seem very likely.

That doesn't mean it's impossible though. Last week, winocm posted a video of his fully jailbroken iPhone 4 running iOS 7.1, and yesterday iH8sn0w one-up him. Amidst a flurry of responses to questions regarding the state of the jailbreak, the hacker confirmed his iPhone 4s is jailbroken on 7.1...

New ‘Wello’ iPhone case measures blood pressure, temperature and more

Cody Lee ∙ Updated December 27, 2017

Rumor has it that Apple's so-called iWatch will be capable of reading your blood pressure, heart rate and other vital signs. But you may not have to wait until its release to purchase such a device. Meet the 'Wello,' the all-in-one health-tracking iPhone case.

The Wello has built-in sensors that can give you a picture of your overall health after holding it for just a few seconds. It measures heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, and blood oxygen levels—and can even test your lung function via a small attachment...

In Motorola’s Moto G phone, Apple’s iPhone 4S has more than met its match

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Apple has a problem. It's not a problem that pertains to its high-end iPhone 5s, and it's not even a problem with the mid-range, somewhat superfluous iPhone 5c. It's actually the iPhone 4S that is an issue for Apple. Sitting at the bottom of the company's smartphone range and being offered for peanuts if not free, the iPhone 4S was previously thought of as a rather capable budget handset. And it still is.

The problem that Apple now faces is that all those cheap Android phones that we've all laughed at over the years are starting to get a bit big for their shoes. In fact, some are downright great handsets, with one in particular doing its best to shake up the way we think about smartphones and what we should be paying for them.

I am, of course, talking about the Motorola Moto G...