iPhone

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.

Rovio soft-launches Flappy Bird-inspired ‘Retry’ in Canada, Finland and Poland

Flappy Bird by Vietnamese developer Dong Nguyen, I'm sure you'll agree, has set the gaming world on fire with its addictive concept, simple mechanics and charming characters.

Realizing it's been high time to think beyond bird-slinging - and not being content with independent developers like Nguyen stealing its thunder - Finish mobile games maker Rovio has reckoned to branch out into this territory with a brand new iOS game, Retry.

Unlike Nguyen's game that has you controlling a bird, Retry challenges you to guide a loop-de-loop plane through a bunch of levels without crashing into anything. Now, the suggestive name could have you thinking that Retry has been designed to bank on the Flappy Bird success, but you'd be making a mistake to dismiss it as a blatant Flappy Bird rip-off.

Created by the guys "sitting in the room next to the guys who made Angry Birds", the old-school Retry is apparently so hard and addictive that you'll think "you've stepped into an 8-bit time machine and gone back to 1986".

A freemium release with optional in-app purchases, Retry is available early on the iPhone and iPad to players in Finland, Canada and Poland. The game should launch in other markets sooner than later so keep your eyes peeled. In the meantime, go past the jump to check out the in-game video and a few screenshots...

Tumblr’s iOS app now supports theming

Yahoo-owned Tumblr has an excellent iOS app available in the App Store and they have been consistently adding new features to it.

In today's update, Tumblr for iOS has picked up long-expected support for blog themes so you can now easily change the look and feel of your posts right from your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad.

The new Tumblr version 3.6, a 16.4MB download in the App Store, supports themes on both the iPhone and iPad.

Of course, you've had the ability to customize your Tumblr blogs with themes for quite some time, but on desktop only - this is the first time that theme customization has been implemented in Thumblr's mobile apps...

ESPN releases official 2014 Soccer World Cup app

If you're looking to follow the 2014 Soccer World Cup on your iPhone, there's now an app for that. The U.S.-based global cable and satellite television channel, ESPN, has released an iPhone application called ESPN FC Soccer & World Cup that wants to be your one-stop shop for everything related to the upcoming games.

Available free in the App Store, it allows soccer fans to follow full-time and exclusive in-game highlights, breaking news and analysis, as well as ESPN's comprehensive coverage of all the major club leagues with videos, highlights, news, opinion and personalized reports...

iPhablet to be pricey due to costly sapphire screen?

SEC filings have confirmed that Apple partnered recently with a company called GT Advanced which operates a manufacturing facility in Mesa, Arizona that makes sapphire components. We also know for a fact that Apple prepaid more than half a billion dollars to buy sophisticated furnaces and equipment for the plant, securing multi-year output of sapphire parts on an exclusive basis.

Manufacture of sapphire components commenced recently, according to sources. Now, industrial-scale production like this points beyond sapphire components for the Touch ID sensor and the iSight camera lens protection.

Watchers speculate that Apple's phablet - an iPhone 6, if you will - has a massive sapphire-hardened 5.5-inch screen. But, a new post on China's micro-blogging platform cautions that the rising cost of sapphire display production may hinder Apple's ability to roll out the technology across its entire iOS device lineup...

Warner Bros releases Godzilla: Strike Zone for iOS

Warner Bros has unleashed its Godzilla movie tie-in unto the App Store. Titled Godzilla: Strike Zone, this iOS game invites you to join a squadron of military heroes who must face the mighty Godzilla, a kaiju-class monster that has become something of an international pop culture icon starring in nearly three dozen feature films.

The game implements a few memorable scenes from the upcoming movie that premiers in theaters on May 16, like a high-altitude sky jump where you air-drop into a devastated San Francisco.

The iPhone and iPad title is available free of charge in the App Store, no in-app purchases required whatsoever...

Apple to host iPhone upgrade event this week

Folks looking to purchase a new handset soon may be interested to hear that Apple is expected to host an iPhone upgrade event this week at its retail stores. The news comes from 9to5Mac, who says the company will begin emailing owners of older iPhones tomorrow, notifying them of the program.

According to the report, the move is part of a larger effort to boost handset sales and the promotion will kick-off on May 8th. The deal will be offered in a number of states across the US, and will 'blend nicely' with Apple’s retail store-based iPhone trade-in program it introduced in August of last year...

How to turn an iPod touch into an iPhone

While the iPod touch might be dwindling in sales, it remains one of the best and cheapest portable media players on the market. I like to think of it as a gateway product to the iPhone nowadays, which is exactly what it was for me. I received the original iPod touch as a Christmas gift over six years ago, upgraded to the second- and fourth-generation models, and eventually moved on to an iPhone.

I haven't looked back since, but I know there are quite a few users that rely on the iPod touch as their day-to-day device. That inspired me to write this guide on how to turn an iPod touch into an iPhone, something that is more possible than you might think. For the purposes of this article, I am assuming that you have at least a fourth-generation iPod touch running iOS 6 or later. Some of the apps and accessories listed work with older devices and iOS versions… 

Apogee MiC review: the mic for people serious about audio on the go

Have you ever tried to record audio from your MacBook on your iPhone or iPad's built-in microphone? The result is audio that's serviceable—you can hear it—but the sound is pitiful. Built-in microphones on pretty much every hardware device, whether it be computers, tablets, or even cameras, are sorely lacking from a sound quality perspective. With a minimal investment, you can significantly upgrade the quality of your sound with a decent external microphone.

There are some awesome external microphones for a variety of applications out there, but if you're primarily concerned with recording on your Mac or iOS device while on the go, there is one mic that should be squarely at the top of your consideration list.

The Apogee MiC is an extremely minuscule external microphone that can make your recordings sound great while traveling. Have a look at our Apogee MiC review and video walkthrough + sound test.

IGN names ‘The Wolf Among Us′ its Free Game of the Month

Great news gamers, IGN has named Telltale Game's 'The Wolf Among Us' its Free Game of the Month. We named the game one of our 'Apps of the Week' for the iPhone and iPad back in February, and it normally retails for $4.99.

For those unfamiliar with the title, The Wolf Among Us is a violent, mature thriller based on the award-winning Fables comic books. It's made by the same team behind The Walking Dead, and features similar gameplay mechanics...

Images of alleged white and silver iPhone 6 dummy unit surface

We're adding to the stockpile of alleged 'iPhone 6' evidence this morning with a handful of new photos that purportedly show a white and silver dummy unit of the upcoming handset. The device looks very similar to the slate black unit that surfaced online earlier this week.

While the images don't really offer up much in the way of new details on the smartphone, they do help us continue to paint a picture of what it's believed to look like. Most everything we've seen thus far—from schematic drawings to case leaks—points to a homogenous design...

T-Mobile looking to add iPhone to MetroPCS lineup

T-Mobile is looking to bring the iPhone to its MetroPCS brand in the near future, according to a report from Recode. The outlet recently spoke with the carrier's Chief Marketing Officer Mike Sievert, who said that they are "very interested in that," and they think that customers would be as well.

It took T-Mobile several years to officially carry Apple's flagship smartphone, due to its higher-priced subsidy and other stringent requirements. And that may prove to be even more of a challenge with Metro, as many of its subscribers many not have the money or credit to finance the device...

Sunrise Calendar updated with Interesting Calendars, improved Exchange support

Sunrise Calendar, which made our list of best calendar apps for iOS back in March, was updated today. The new release brings the app to version 2.3, and includes a handful of improvements as well as a new feature called 'Interesting Calendars.'

As the name suggests, Interesting Calendars allows you to add various types of pre-made calendars with a few simple taps. Sunrise now offers over 25,000 calendars to help you keep track of holidays, sport team schedules and more within the app...