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Stay up-to-date on the latest iPhone news and learn new tips and tricks with our comprehensive tutorials. From software updates to new features, we’ve got you covered.

New ‘Homescreen’ app shares your iPhone Home screen with others

Cody Lee ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

Betaworks, the team behind the popular game Dots, and later versions of Digg and Instapaper, has released a new app today called #Homescreen. The goal of the app, as its name suggests, is to allow users to share screenshots of their iPhone Home screens.

This in and of itself is a rather interesting concept, as people seem to be genuinely intrigued with others' Home screens—I've caught myself on more than one occasion peering at stranger's devices—but Betaworks takes it a step further with app identification.

Apple offering free Product (RED) gift cards with select purchases on Black Friday

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple today announced its plans for Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when all retailers will be hosting flash sales on many of their products. As usual, the deals aren't as good as other major stores are offering, but they are worth mentioning.

As part of its RED campaign for World AIDS Day, Apple will be giving away free gift cards with the purchase of select products on Friday. The cards can be used on apps, books and other iTunes content, and their values will depend on what you buy.

Five reasons the iPhone 6’s ability to handle 4K video is a big deal

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 24, 2014

While some photography apps in the App Store — such as the $49.99 Vizzywig 8xHD — make shooting film-like 4K footage on an iPhone a reality by taking a series of individual eight-megapixel images in rapid succession, the general public and techies alike are totally unaware that the latest iPhones are actually capable of rendering 4K 3,840-by-2,160 pixel video.

And who could blame them? After all, Apple's been conspicuously mum about it. But as it turns out, the A8 chip ticking inside the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus provides enough oomph to seamlessly handle 4K content playback.

The surprising discovery was made public last week by Softorino (via TUAW), the developers of WALTR, a new Mac app which makes it easy to upload and convert any video or audio file to an iOS-friendly format for native playback on iPhones, iPads, iPods and Apple TVs.

While it makes little sense to render massive 4K videos on the 1,334-by-750 and 1,920-by-1,080 pixel resolution screens of the respective iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus smartphones due to inevitable downsampling, the very fact that the A8 processor can handle 4K content is important on many levels.

$99 iPhone 6 case with VR headset announced

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 16, 2016

Toronto-based Cordon Development Labs is making rounds Monday with the Pinć, a $99 iPhone case which doubles as a Minority Report style virtual headset with spatial interaction, multi-touch hand gestures via a pair of finger tacks and more, effectively expanding your device into an immersive computing experience.

Data from the wireless rings on each hand is combined with camera input from your iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus to track hand motion. Cordon Development Labs is working on a software development kit built on the Unity engine so third-party developers will be able to customize and create various types of experiences for the Pinć.

What's it like to interact with the Pinć? Check out promo vids included after the break.

Apple expected to sell 71M iPhones during the holiday quarter

Cody Lee ∙ November 23, 2014

KGI Securities' Ming-Chi Kuo issued a new report to investors today with some adjusted predictions for iPhone sales during the all-important holiday quarter. Buoyed by the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, the prominent Apple analyst sees the company selling 71.5 million during the 3-month period.

For some context, Apple sold 51 million iPhones during the year-ago holiday quarter. Kuo believes the iPhone 6 will be the leading cause for the dramatic jump, accounting for 41.6 million iPhone sales—nearly 60%. The 6 Plus, he says, is in a distant second due in large part to supply shortages.

Apple updates GarageBand for iOS with new RED Loop Pack

Cody Lee ∙ November 23, 2014

Apple pushed out an update for the iOS version of GarageBand on Sunday, bringing the popular music-making app to version 2.0.5. The update adds the option to purchase the RED Loop Pack, a limited-time in-app purchase that features an exclusive collection of 300 guitar, bass, synth and drum loops in a variety of genres.

The pack will only be available until December 7, via a $0.99 in-app purchase, but of course once paid for it will be permanently accessible from the GarageBand loop browser. Apple says 100% of the proceeds will go to the RED foundation, a charity that raises money for a global fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

New Microsoft ad says iPhone 6 Plus only makes Siri bigger, not smarter

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 6, 2017

Friday, Windows giant Microsoft published a new Apple-bashing ad on its YouTube channel.

The 30-second television commercial shows off the latest version of Cortana, Microsoft's Siri-like personal assistant, running on the Lumia 830 and interacting with a bunch of built-in applications.

Cortana amusingly brags to Siri about being able to perform functions Apple's personal assistant can't, like alert users to leave early for an appointment using traffic alerts, remind them of things based on who calls or texts and more.

Certify your English proficiency using Duolingo Test Center for iOS

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 30, 2018

The language certification industry commands some surprisingly insane fees so how about fair language certification for all?

Your prayers have been heard: the free learning platform Duolingo on Friday released an iOS app which allows anyone to certify their English proficiency right on their iPhone, iPod touch or iPad.

Not only can Duolingo Test Center certify your language skills right on an iOS device, but does so at a significant lower price, too.

And because there's no need to travel long distances to examination facilities available only in select major cities, you can get certified in the comfort of your home, in under half an hour.

Disney Store app updated with support for Apple Pay

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

The Disney Store app has received an update, bringing it to version 3.2.1. Just in time for the holidays, the update includes support for Apple Pay, allowing iPhone 6 and 6 Plus users to pay for their purchases using Apple's new payment method.

While in-app Apple Pay is supported by the new iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3, it doesn't appear the iPad version of the Disney Store app takes advantage of it yet. It also looks like folks utilizing Apple Pay will still have to enter all of their shipping info.

EA Mobile teases upcoming game “Need for Speed No Limits”

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

EA Mobile has posted a new teaser trailer for its upcoming game "Need for Speed No Limits." The game is being built by Firemonkeys, the combined teams of Firemint and IronMonkey Studios, who both have racing backgrounds.

The video features professional rally driver Ken Block, of the Hoonigan Racing Division, playing the new Need for Speed on his iPhone 6. The gameplay footage shown is fairly impressive, flaunting sharp graphics and intense gameplay.

Vimeo gains finely graded notification settings, more informative layouts

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 20, 2014

Following up on its August update which brought out uploading functionality in addition to some interesting private sharing options, Vimeo on Thursday issued a brand new version of its iPhone and iPad client.

Now at version 5.1.1, Vimeo's video pages have gained more informative layouts with the title, creator, play count and other information.

Active Vimeo users often complained about an avalanche of notifications from the site. Feeling their pain, the video sharing site has finally made it possible to cherry-pick notifications to receive in the Vimeo app.

Jump past the fold for other Vimeo 5.1.1 highlights.

Telltale posts first trailer of upcoming ‘Game of Thrones’ game

Cody Lee ∙ November 20, 2014

After dropping some details regarding its upcoming 'Game of Thrones' game last week, Telltale Games today released its first trailer. The video sets the stage for what could be Telltale's biggest releases, given how popular HBO's GOT franchise has become.

The game will tell the story of the House Forrester, a noble family from the north of Westerns, loyal to the Starks Winterfell. Players will take on the role of different members of the Forrester household, and determine their fates. Here's the new trailer.