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.

84 percent of devices are now using iOS 9

iOS 9, Apple's latest and greatest edition of the mobile operating system powering the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, is currently installed on 84 percent of device, according to the freshest stats posted on Apple's official App Store dashboard for developers.

In less than a month, iOS 9 adoption rate has climbed from the eighty percent mark, a figure Apple officially shared during its March 21 'Let us loop you in' media event, to 84 percent—a cool four-point gain.

SwitchHUD makes it easy to toggle between iPhone volume modes

The two most commonly-used volume modes in iOS are the ringer volume and media volume. The ringer volume controls the volume of text tones, ring tones, and notification sounds, while the media volume controls the volume of your music and videos.

The only problem is, iOS likes to default to the ringer volume all the time, unless you have media playing. If you do, that's the only time the volume buttons will actually change the media volume level.

If you don't like that solution, then hold on to your seats, because we're going to be showing you a new free jailbreak tweak called SwitchHUD, which takes volume switching to the next level by letting you manually toggle between the two at any time with an Activator action.

Marquee lets you have long, scrolling folder names in iOS

If you've ever had a folder name that was too long for iOS to display, then you probably had an atrocious-looking folder title like the one above; cut off, and ended with an ellipsis.

Unfortunately, the way stock iOS handles longer folder names makes it nearly impossible to tell what the entire folder title is.

That's why a new free jailbreak tweak called Marquee is going to appeal to those of you with the desire to have longer folder names on your Home screen.

Privacy-enhanced Viber for iPhone lands with end-to-end encryption, hidden chats and more

Two weeks after rival WhatsApp announced that chats on its platform are protected from eavesdropping with end-to-end encryption, the popular messaging app Viber on Tuesday released a privacy-enhanced edition of its iPhone and iPad app.

Bumped to version 6.0, messages you send and receive through Viber are now protected with end-to-end encryption, as indicated by the new padlock icon, and you can also hide away specific chats.

Have you seen Pinterest’s new-look iOS app yet?

Pinterest today announced a completely overhauled iPhone and iPad application—“our fastest, cleanest app yet”—that lets you focus on more Pins than ever before. The app, used by more than a hundred million people around the world, is a lot faster than the previous version it replaced, with your Home feed now loading up to three times faster.

The refreshed application is now rolling in the App Store so check back later if the new version isn't immediately available where you live. The Android edition of Pinterest and its web-based counterpart are next on Pinterest's list to tackle, though they wouldn't commit to a firm release dates for these.

Use text replacement in iOS to input email addresses faster

Email addresses can be long and annoying to type, especially when you're one of those goofballs out there with the weird emails like iph0n3_fan_09325@emailaddress.com, or something else with a bunch of wonky characters you don't care to remember or spend the time typing.

This is why when I came across this tip on how to make email address entry simple and fast from a friendly iDB reader, I wanted to share it with the rest of you.

Downgrades no longer possible as Apple stops signing iOS 9.3 for some devices

On Monday, Apple has pulled the signing plug on its iOS 9.3 firmware for its lineup of iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads.

As a result, downgrades through iTunes to iOS 9.3 are no longer possible, and there's no way to upgrade specifically to iOS 9.3 from an earlier firmware.

Instead, users will be directed to install iOS 9.3.1 when restoring or updating their devices through iTunes.

Update: It seems that not all versions of iOS 9.3 have stopped being signed. It appears that iOS 9.3 is not being any longer for newer devices (i.e. iPhone 6s, iPad Air 2), but it is still being signed for older devices (ie. iPhone 5s).

How to increase your privacy by removing location from Diagnostic & Usage Data logs

Apple collects anonymous information about how you use your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and other devices so that it can improve its products in future releases. End users can easily opt in and out of diagnostic collection in the Settings → Privacy → Diagnostics & Usage section.

I have this enabled to help Apple improve their products, but privacy-minded people might opt out of diagnostic collection on the grounds that the logs include their approximate location.

In this tutorial, we'll explore increasing your privacy on iOS by having your location excluded from diagnostic data that iOS creates.

Pod Pro review: the portable Apple Watch & iPhone battery dock

Those who need a portable battery pack for the Apple Watch that aren't so keen on just plugging the USB end into the receiver of a battery pack and letting the magnetic end dangle around everywhere are going to be hard-pressed to find a good portable battery pack made specifically for the Apple Watch's proprietary charging platform.

Fortunately, Nomad has the Pod Pro, which can be had on Amazon for $85, and is a great solution for on-the-go Apple Watch charging, and even includes a built-in Lightning cable for charging your device, whether it's an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. We'll show you what the Pod Pro is all about in this review.

KGI: major iPhone redesign due in 2017 with all-glass enclosure, AMOLED Retina screen and more

An iPhone 7, which we expect will launch this fall, won't differ much from the existing iPhone 6/6s design style because Apple is saving a major visual refresh of its smartphone for 2017, according to a research note Sunday by well-informed KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

The note, a copy of which was obtained by MacRumors, quotes the analyst as saying that a 2107 iPhone refresh will bring not only the rumored jump to the superior AMOLED display technology but a whole new design language for the iconic smartphone that will ditch the all-metal appearance in favor of an all-glass enclosure.

Quickly and easily record animated GIFs with Giphy Cam

Animated GIFs are fun, the only thing is, creating them generally requires a computer and either some fancy GIF-making software, or a website that can convert video files to animated GIFs.

Fortunately, for those of you that spend most of your time mobile, rather than at a computer, the free GiphyCam app from the App Store provides an all-in-one experience for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad users.

We'll talk about GiphyCam in this piece and show you how you can use it to record your own animated GIFs right from your mobile device.