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.

Which W1 chip-equipped audio device should you get?

Anthony Bouchard ∙ January 31, 2017

Because Apple nixed the 3.5mm headphone jack from the bottom of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, you either have to use the supplied Lightning dongle for backwards compatibility with your 3.5mm audio accessories, or you have to kick it up to the new age with a pair of wireless or Lightning-enabled audio devices instead.

When you don’t want to be bothered with the issue of charging your device at the same time you're listening to audio with headphones or earbuds in, the obvious choice is to go wireless. While there are tons of options, only a few come with Apple’s brand new W1 chip, which supports the slick new Bluetooth pairing process. Among those are AirPods, Beats Solo3, and Powerbeats3.

If you’re in a predicament and can’t decide between the three then you should find this piece helpful, because I'll be comparing the strengths and weaknesses of each from a variety of angles.

“Shot on iPhone” continues with low-light photos taken on iPhone 7/Plus

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 30, 2017

Apple today launched a new iPhone photography showcase, called “One Night on iPhone 7,” that's part of its ongoing “Shot on iPhone” advertising campaign. According to the company's media release issued Monday, “One Night on iPhone 7” launches today in 25 countries globally.

The campaign features night shots snapped by a group of iPhone photographers that are meant to showcase the low-light capabilities of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus cameras. You can download them from the Apple Newsroom website.

OLED for iPhone 8 could add $50 million to Apple’s March quarter expenses

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 30, 2017

iPhone 8, or 10th Anniversary iPhone as affectionately dubbed by the media, is expected to adopt the unrivaled organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display technology as utilized on Apple Watch screens and the new MacBook Pro's Touch Bar.

OLEDs are more difficult and pricier to produce than the traditional LCD panels so the decision to outfit iPhone 8 with an OLED-based screen could cost Apple approximately $50 million in incremental costs in the March quarter, according to an investor memo from Cowen & Company's Timothy Arcuri obtained Monday by AppleInsider.

Oceanhorn 2 confirmed to use Unreal 4 engine, first screenshots look stunning

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 30, 2017

Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas by Cornfox & Bros. is among the best-looking, Zelda-like action adventure games I've ever played on mobile. As we recently reported, the team is now hard at work on a sequel, titled Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm, which will use the praised Unreal 4 graphics engine to make porting to other platforms a lot easier.

The proprietary graphics engine from the original didn't give the team enough flexibility nor has it allowed them to more quickly add new features so they've switched to arguably the most powerful game engine in the industry, developers explained.

How and where to share faster with AirDrop

Steffen Reich ∙ Updated January 25, 2018

In the absence of reliable figures from Apple, it is not much more than conjecture to say that AirDrop is likely a feature often neglected by the average iOS user. The gut feeling persists though, simply based on day to day observations, and it is a tenable position to take until proven wrong by Cupertino or another reputable source. The file transfer protocol is indeed handy for the transfer of heavier media files (e.g. videos, photo albums), but often only becomes relevant to us when we for example have upgraded to a new device.

Next to sheer transmission speed however, there are other notable areas where AirDrop has the clear edge when it comes to sharing all kinds of material from your iPhone. The AirDrop icon has now fully permeated the sharing tab in iOS 10’s user interface and that is for a good reason: it is without fail going to be more nimble than iMessage, Mail or other contenders, often actually skipping steps that would throttle the process elsewhere. Such being the case, here are some unique scenarios where AirDrop excels on your iPhone and why you should try to embrace the feature more regularly.

iPhone 7 Plus accounted for an estimated 40% of all iPhone 7 sales in the holiday quarter

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 30, 2017

People are way more interested in Apple's $769 iPhone 7 Plus than they were in the $649 iPhone 6s Plus, Cowen & Co. analysts told The Wall Street Journal. In other words, many buyers don't mind paying more for features like dual cameras and other extra hardware not available in standard iPhone 7.

Cowen estimated that iPhone 7 Plus accounted for about 40 percent of an estimated 58.5 million iPhone 7 devices Apple sold globally during the December quarter. Contrast that with iPhone 6s Plus, which accounted for an estimated 23 percent of all iPhone 6s sales during the same quarter the previous year.

Noctis9 adds a dark mode to many transparent interfaces in iOS

Anthony Bouchard ∙ January 29, 2017

Many iPhone and iPad users have wanted some kind of dark mode setting for ages, and the energy was even more hyped up after Apple debuted dark mode on macOS for the first time.

That’s where a new jailbreak tweak called Noctis9 comes in, as it brings a system-wide dark mode to various transparent elements of iOS, including, but not limited to Control Center and 3D Touch menus.

The best exercise apps for Apple Watch

Steffen Reich ∙ Updated May 7, 2018

One of the predominant selling points of Apple Watch has always been the notion of having a chummy, yet inspiring fitness pal on your wrist. Since its inception, Apple Watch’s App Store has therefore given rise to a plethora of apps, offering new ways to conduct and manage physical exercise, ranging from running to yoga companions and everything lying in between.

Focussing on one particular branch in the field of exercise - strength training from the comfort of your home or gym - we have put some time aside to cut through the clutter and size up todays’ most prominent apps in the segment. If you are currently on the lookout for a personal trainer on your wrist, here are the best exercise apps for Apple Watch you will want to consider.

Glitch Cam, Fly Cash, Cool Cousin, and other apps to check out this weekend

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 17, 2018

It's time for another episode of our popular Apps of the Week post, where we round up our favorite apps and games for you to check out. This week's list includes a camera app with cool glitch effects, an expense tracker that understands simple text input, and a travel app for getting the most out of your vacations.

Infuse updated with support for DVD videos, NFS streaming, Library and folder search & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 27, 2017

The versatile media player Infuse by aTV Flash Black developer Firecore was updated this week with several new features and enhancements, including the ability to play DVD videos saved as VIDEO_TS, .dvdmedia or ISO/IMG archives.

Other new features in Infuse 5.2 for iOS and tvOS include Library and folder search, the ability to stream media from NFS-formatted network shares, sort your media by release date and more.

ReachBoard lets you peek at your iOS clipboard in the Reachability view

Anthony Bouchard ∙ January 27, 2017

For a lot of people, the space that comes up when you invoke Reachability is considered wasted space. It becomes a giant gaping hole of nothingness on your screen any time you use the feature to one-handedly use your large-screened iPhone.

A new free jailbreak tweak called ReachBoard aims to make good use of that empty space by filling it with anything that may be residing in your clipboard.

HomeKit has about 100 certified devices more than two years since inception

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 27, 2017

HomeKit, Apple's software framework for communicating with and controlling connected accessories in a user's home, currently works with about a hundred certified devices, Reuters said Friday.

By contrast, there are currently about 250 devices that are certified to work with Alexa, thanks to Amazon's open-systems approach and even financial incentives for some partners.

But HomeKit, which debuted alongside iOS 8 in September 2014, now has an agile competitor in Amazon's Alexa voice-controlled digital assistant which can also control smart accessories in the home with a few spoken words. The Reuters report outlines some of the requirements Apple imposes on device makers who wish to become HomeKit-certified.