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.

Quickly clear your Messages text field with Triple Tap To Clear

Inputting text on the iPhone can be a tedious task. It's not so much the typing. But due to limited display space, editing can be irksome. It seems like doing things such as copying or deleting text are more complicated than they need to be.

Case in point, try typing a lengthy message in your Messages app. Now delete the whole thing. As it stands, the fastest way to do this is to tap on your text, 'Select All' and then delete it. But as with most things in iOS, it could always be faster....

Customize the look of your Home screen icons with Athena

Folks who enjoy customizing their iOS devices, but hate overweight theming apps like WinterBoard, might want to check out Athena. The new jailbreak tweak, developed by SuperDev, allows you to completely change the look of your Home screen icons.

Want dark icons? No problem. Want pink icons? No problem. Athena has a wide array of settings that enable you to change nearly everything about the color attributes of your app icons, providing you with seemingly endless customization options...

How the iPhone camera has improved over the years

The iPhone may be one of the most popular cameras in the world today, but it hasn't always been like that. The original iPhone (and the iPhone 3G) had just a 2MP camera, with no flash, putting the handset well behind the competition in terms of photo-taking.

Since the 3G, however, Apple has made sure to update the phone's camera with ever iteration. It went from a 3.2MP sensor to a 5, and then to 8. And wouldn't you know it, someone has created an image showing its improvement in picture quality over the years...

T-Mobile offering iPhone 5 for $0 down with trade-in this weekend

If you're still looking for that perfect Mother's Day gift, you might be interested to know that T-Mobile is going to be hosting a nice little sale this weekend in honor of the holiday. And it looks like the iPhone 5 is going to be one of its featured bargains.

According to a new report, the fourth largest US carrier is going to be offering the handset as part of a special trade-in deal. Customers will be able to score Apple's flagship smartphone for $0 down, a savings of $100, with the trade-in of a valid mobile device...

iPhone passcode security prompts law enforcement requests

Apparently, the law enforcement community needs to hire a few 13-year-olds able to crack the passcode on Apple's iPhone. There is such demand to help unlocking iPhones that one federal agency had to wait nearly two months for Apple, which even manages a waiting list, to unlock the smartphone. One "flaw" in Apple's otherwise tight mobile security could worry privacy advocates: the company reportedly does not inform iPhone owners when it bypasses the device's security measures...

PayPal hopes the next iPhone will obsolete passwords, once and for all

In a tell-tale sign that passwords had had their day in the sun, PayPal CISO Michael Barrett took the stage at Interpo today to spell doom for existing verification methods, predicting that more robust authentication protocols based on an open standard will replace passwords. While two-step verification can bolster account security - Apple recently enabled it for Apple ID accounts - PayPal alludes that secure authentication technologies said to make their way into Apple's next iPhone may announce the impending end of passwords...

New bill introduced that legalizes cellphone unlocking and more

Back in January, the mobile homebrew community suffered a major blow when several DMCA exemptions expired. Among them was a rule that made unlocking cellphones legal, effectively making the practice illegal here in the United States.

But it may not be that way for long. A new bill just landed in the House of Representatives called The Unlocking Technology Act of 2013, which, among other things, would make the process of unlocking your cellphone unequivocally legal...

AT&T announces Aio Wireless prepaid brand with $35-$70 tiers

While its fierce rival Verizon has chosen to sit on the sidelines and watch T-Mobile regain consumer trust with its newly found 'Uncarrier' business model and no-contract plans, AT&T has jumped on the prepaid bus with a new Aio Wireless brand rounding on T-Mobile’s offering. Just like Sprint’s Boost and Virgin, Aio Wireless is a MVNO wholly owned by AT&T and marketed as a standalone brand.

As we explained last week, Aio (as in 'All In One') is aimed at those eager to avoid committing their soul to AT&T at all cost by opting for a month-to-month service instead. The offering includes $40/$55/$70 tiers (pricing varies by market) with unlimited talk/text and 250MB/2GB/7GB of data.

Aio Wireless also offers Apple's iPhone 5 and a few popular Android and Windows Phone handsets. Go past the fold for more information...

Canalys: one in five smart devices are Apple

Research firm Canalys Thursday offered data on first-quarter smart mobile device shipments, with an estimated 300+ million new units for a 37.4 percent year-over-year growth. Google's Android powered 59 percent and Apple's iOS powered a little over nineteen percent of these devices, according to researchers. Key takeaways: Android leads the smartphone race, Apple is holding onto the tablet market and laptop demand continues falling.

Pay attention to Canalys's parlance because 'smart mobile devices' include smartphones, tablets and laptops. Another important caveat: Canalys stats don’t divulge shipped vs sold units. This is an important distinction as a device shipped into a channel does not automatically result in a device sold to a consumer...

USPTO publishes Apple’s extensive Lightning connector patent

Much has been written about Apple's new Lightning connector, introduced with the iPhone 5 to supercede the aging 30-pin Dock connection. Thursday, the United States Patent and Trademark Office published three Apple patent filings from 2012 detailing how the Lightning connector is built. Among the questions addressed: how did Apple create an "orientation agnostic" connector design while also ensuring stability and proper alignment?

Alleged next-gen iPhone circuitboard part suggests optimized camera design

As WWDC 2013 draws near - and with supply chain increasingly pointing to Apple's procurement of components for production of a next-generation iPhone - small wonder various parts are now cropping up on the web. It's the very nature of the game: Apple just can't control each and every one of its suppliers in Taiwan and China, let alone their individual employees.

A Japanese parts retailer, which recently leaked a next-gen iPhone components, is back at it, having published Thursday an image believed to depict a motherboard component, presumably belonging to an upcoming iPhone refresh...

Samsung’s cash pile triples, but still no match for Apple’s $145B hoard

Much is being made of Samsung's hoard of cash, estimated at $28.5 billion once the South Korean conglomerate's debt is taken into consideration. At any rate, the Galaxy maker has watched its net cash almost triple in the past year, thanks to double-digit profits fueled by the rising sales of its mobile division which makes smartphones and tablets.

In just three years, mobile phones have grown to be 74 percent of Samsung's profits, overshadowing sales of LCD TVs and memory chips. On other words, three out of every four dollars Samsung earns come from mobile devices.

However, Apple remains the industry's most-profitable player, retaining a $145 billion cash pile while offering anxious investors a $100 billion stock buyback. Is Samsung destined to follow Apple's footsteps, or repeat the errors of other Asian giants, such as Panasonic, drowning in debt?