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Video: possible app switcher changes coming to iPhone 8

You may have noticed a pair of curious videos, recently uncovered from the iOS 11 beta, that show off what looks like a possible new gesture on iPhone that could serve as a viable replacement for the now defunct 3D Touch-ing the left screen edge for app switching.

The feature shown on the videos hasn't yet been announced, meaning it could be exclusive to the upcoming iPhone 8. If not, Apple has probably decided to save it for its iPhone event.

The polished tutorial videos are from May.

In other words, it's entirely possible that Apple has since abandoned this app switcher. Watch Andrew's video in which he discusses UI navigation changes headed to iPhone 8.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjyL_UPqNqk

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This is precisely how app switching in iOS 11 works on iPad—a quick upwards swipe brings up the Dock and if you continue swiping you get to a much improved app switcher containing Control Center along with the horizontally scrollable thumbnails of your recent apps.

From a user experience standpoint, any app switcher should be form factor-independent and behave the same on iPads and iPhones, so this could be the real deal.

https://twitter.com/stroughtonsmith/status/899793840495763456

Although the device depicted in the hidden tutorial videos appears to resemble an iPhone 7 sans a Home button, it's almost certainly a placeholder for a real iPhone 8 chrome photo.

I think this is precisely what we're going to see on iPhone 8.

https://twitter.com/stroughtonsmith/status/899788217112825856

What I'd like to know is if this gesture will work on existing iPhones. If not, 3D Touch-ing the left edge for app switching could make a comeback in one of the subsequent iOS betas.

What do you think?

iPhone 8 mockup via industrial designer Quinton Theron

The best voice recording apps for Apple Watch

The potential of voice recording from your wrist is huge, as it certainly has been for years on iPhone and iPad. For that reason, Apple itself has equipped their iPhones with a stock memo app years ago, and here at iDB we have showcased the most compelling alternatives for iOS back in 2016. Alas, the Apple gods haven’t graced us with a similar stock app for Apple Watch yet and that’s in spite of the fact that for the longest time quality third party apps to fill the gap were few and far between.

How to preview Mac apps in App Store on iPhone and iPad

Before iOS 11, following a Mac app link in Safari on your iPhone or iPad yielded a warning message saying you could only download macOS apps using Mac App Store on your computer.

Thankfully, iOS 11's much-improved App Store changes that behavior.

At long last, now it's at the very least possible to bring up Mac app previews on your iOS devices. Yes, no longer do you have to switch to your Mac just to glance at basic information for a Mac app that interests you, such as its price, description, screenshots and so forth.

This tweak lets you customize your iPhone’s locking animation

One of the things that always keeps jailbreaking interesting, at least for me, is being able to modify the stock system animations with something more exciting. Tweaks of this nature have been harder to come by as of late, but that doesn't mean development has ceased entirely.

A new jailbreak tweak dubbed Vespera (iOS 10) by iOS developer muris keeps this part of the jailbreak experience alive by letting you customize your iPhone or iPad's locking animation.