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.

This minimalist case turns your iPhone jet black (or jet white)

Besides a redesigned camera bump, one of the main differentiator between the iPhone 7 and its predecessor was the new jet black colorway. It’s beautiful and sexy, but as Apple was quick to point out, it’s also incredibly prone to micro abrasions.

The solution offered is to put it in a case, which clearly defeats the purpose of having a jet black iPhone to begin with. And that's where the folks at Totallee come in with the Scarf, their incredibly light and thin case, now available in jet black and jet white.

AppleCare+ can now be bought up to 12 months after purchasing your iPhone

As first noted by MacRumors, Apple now lets you buy extended warranty coverage for your iPhone up to twelve months after your device purchase.

Previously, customers had up to 60 days following an iPhone purchase to buy an extended AppleCare+ coverage for their phone. This information, originally provided by “multiple people familiar with the matter”, has been subsequently confirmed by a senior AppleCare advisor and other sources.

Netflix ditching stars for thumbs-up/down system, planning to stream mobile content in HDR quality

Netflix is abandoning star ratings in favor of a binary thumbs-up/down system set to start rolling out in a few weeks, Fast Company reported Friday. Variety says Netflix is also planning to stream content in High Dynamic Range (HDR) quality on supported mobile devices. HDR video offers a more dynamic and richer range of colors, brighter whites and deeper blacks. Lastly, they're experimenting with mobile-specific cuts of movies and TV shows tailored to viewing on smartphone screens.

FiLMiC Pro 6.0 hits with overhauled UI, iPhone 7 exclusive features and other improvements

Anyone who's serious about taking videos on their iOS device would agree that FiLMiC Pro for iPhone and iPad leaves Apple's stock Camera app in the dust.

The filmmakers' go-to app, this ultimate video recording and editing software has become even better thanks to yesterday's update which brought out a redesigned user interface along with a number of new features.

The update includes iPhone 7-exclusive capabilities such as gamma curve controls for Natural, Dynamic, Flat and LOG (a first for mobile video), live adjustments for Shadow, Highlight, RGB, Saturation and Vibrance curves, temporal noise reduction up to 1080p resolution and more.

SleekNotifications makes notification banners more compact

One of the ongoing pain points of notification banners circa iOS 7 is their large size. Banners were originally introduced to keep notifications out the way, but Apple eventually made them taller, causing them to get in the way of more of what you’re doing.

A new free jailbreak tweak called SleekNotifications by Rishanan is now available to help quell the misery in this department, as it shirnks down the size of your notification banners so they take up less vertical space on your screen.

WiFi Top Toggle moves the location of the Wi-Fi toggle switch in Settings

If you ever want to change Wi-Fi-related settings on your device, you typically go into the Wi-Fi section of the Settings app where you can then toggle the feature on or off on demand and/or pick the network you want to connect to.

A new free jailbreak tweak called WiFi Top Toggle by Mohamed Marbouh does a little bit of rearranging in your Settings → Wi-Fi preferences pane, yielding an end result that feels tidier.

BouncyNC10 makes the Notification Center launch animation bouncier

When you drag Notification Center down from the top of your screen, the interface normally just falls into place. The stock animation is a little boring, and some might argue that it could do with some additional creativity.

That’s the idea behind a new free jailbreak tweak called BouncyNC10 by CydiaGeek, which adds an enhanced bounce animation to Notification Center as it strikes the bottom of the screen.

Alexa comes to the iPhone

Siri competitor Alexa has come to the world's most popular smartphone via an incoming update for Amazon's shopping app for iPhone and iPad. The release marks the first time Amazon's personal assistant has supported non-Alexa hardware.

Just tap the mic in the app's search bar to ask Alexa questions, get weather updates, shop and search items, order and track products, play music, use Alexa Skills and Smart Home features, and much more.

By sneaking Alexa into its iPhone app, Amazon's made it possible for Apple customers to experience its Siri rival in full glory without needing to buy an Echo speaker.

Seventh betas of iOS 10.3 and macOS Sierra 10.12.4 now available

Apple on Thursday seeded seventh betas of what would become the third major software update to iOS 10 and the fourth major update to macOS Sierra 10.12.4. Members of the Apple Developer Program can now install iOS 10.3 beta 7 (build 14E5277a) and macOS Sierra 10.12.4 beta 7 (build 16E191a) over the air, via the Software Update mechanism, on devices with a special configuration profile that's available through Apple's portal for developers.

St. Patrick’s Day stickers launch on Instagram

Yesterday was the Saint Patrick’s Day, a cultural and religious celebration held on the traditional death date of Saint Patrick who was the foremost patron saint of Ireland. To celebrate the festivities, Instagram has added a handful of themed stickers which you can plaster all over the photos and videos in your Stories. They’re available in the United States, Ireland, Australia and the United Kingdom through the weekend so go ahead and dazzle your followers with St. Patrick’s Day-themed Stories.

New report says iPhone 8 has a slightly curved display at the edges below 2.5D cover glass

Nikkei Asian Review yesterday shot down predictions by IHS Markit analyst Wayne Lam and DisplayMate expert Dr. Raymond Soneira who said Apple's 5.8-inch iPhone 8 will use a flat rather than a curved display. However, MacRumors has allegedly confirmed with multiple people familiar with the matter that the phone will indeed come outfitted with a mostly flat AMOLED display.

The device's display will reportedly feature slightly curved left and right edges in order to conform with the layer of 2.5D glass that covers the screen.