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.

Apple said to be readying 4-inch ‘iPhone 5se’ for spring launch

Apple is preparing to launch a new 4-inch iPhone this spring, reports 9to5Mac. The oft-accurate Mark Gurman claims he has it on good authority that the device, codenamed N69, will publicly be called the "iPhone 5se," and should begin shipping by March or April.

Gurman says the device that made headlines yesterday, which looked identical in design to Apple's current smartphones, is a fake, and the real 4-inch iPhone looks a lot like the iPhone 5s. He also notes that contrary to recent rumors, the handset has a headphone jack.

How to stop Background App Refresh for a single app until it’s reopened

Introduced with iOS 7, Background App Refresh lets suspended apps (those that you quit or run in the background) check for new data so that they always present you with up-to-date content.

As useful as Background App Refresh is, it strains your battery due to periodical data fetching, which sometimes occurs even when your device is locked.

You can enable or disable this feature on a per-app basis in Settings → General → Background App Refresh. You can also save yourself a few taps by quickly disabling Background App Refresh for a single app without launching Settings, and here's how.

Confidential Google documents reveal that Android has generated $31 billion revenue in its lifetime

Since its inception in 2008, Android has generated revenue of $31 billion and $22 billion in profit, a lawyer for Oracle said in a federal court, marking the first time Android's financial performance was publicly revealed.

As a quick refresher, Oracle, the database maker, is suing Google's parent Alphabet over using its Java software without paying for it to develop Android. The figure is based on information Oracle derived from Google's confidential internal financial documents.

Google promptly asked a San Francisco federal judge to redact and seal portions of the public transcript of last week’s hearing because improperly disclosed data contains “extremely sensitive information” from documents that were marked “Attorney’s Eyes Only.”

Facebook rolling out new 3D Touch features in its mobile app

Facebook on Thursday began rolling out new 3D Touch features to iPhone 6s users via its mobile app. The Verge reports that the additions include the ability to peek and pop things like web links, profiles, pages, groups, events and photos.

The Facebook app has supported 3D Touch since October, but until now it has mostly been about the Quick Actions—the shortcut menu for Home screen icons. Facebook has added a new one of these as well, which takes you to your Timeline. 

Duet Display, Things and other great productivity apps are 50% off right now

Folks in the market for a good productivity app will want to head over to the App Store as soon as possible. Apple kicked off a new "Get Productive" promotion on Thursday that takes 50% off some of the most popular titles in the category.

Among the apps included in the sale are Duet Display, which allows you to use an iPhone or iPad as an extra display, the highly respected PCalc calculator, Readdle's PDF Expert 5, and the celebrated task, reminder and to-do list app Clear.

MarcoPolo Ocean goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Apple on Thursday updated its App of the Week promotion in iTunes, and this week's selection is MarcoPolo Ocean. This means that the game, which is highly rated in the kids-education-puzzler category, is going to be free from now through next Thursday—a handsome savings of $3.

The concept of MarcoPolo Ocean is pretty simple. It's a digital sandbox of sorts, where kids are encouraged to do things like explore the deep sea, build a coral reef, and much more. Plus, its animations and playful narration help reinforce vocabulary, ocean concepts and other attributes.

Microsoft updates Office for iOS with 3D Touch features, Apple Pencil support and more

Microsoft today rolled out updates to its mobile Office suite in the App Store: Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. Across the board these apps have gained support for 3D Touch shortcuts on the iPhone 6s/Plus.

In addition, the new 'Annotate with Ink' feature puts a set of cool tools on the new Draw tab for drawing, writing and highlighting things using touch, pen or Apple Pencil on the iPad Pro.

ZCast for iPhone makes live podcasting with real-time feedback a reality

Billed as a new way to create audio podcasts, Zcast by Zula (which was co-founded by Jeff Pulver in 2013) is a sweet new application which allows anyone to produce a high-quality, multi-member podcast on their iPhone without prior technical knowledge.

The app's key advantage over other podcasting solutions is its ability to invite guest co-hosts, take comments and answer questions in real-time.

In taking the pain out of podcasting, Zcast could persuade people who don't normally run a podcast show of their own to start one in a few minutes, no special setup needed, because that's how easy to use and approachable this app is.

Having spent a few months in closed beta, ZCast is now available to everyone completely free of charge.

Facebook launches sports section

Yesterday, Facebook announced a brand new section on the service dedicated to sports fans and it gets its first big test during this weekend’s NFL playoffs.

The Facebook Sports Stadium, as they're calling it because Facebook is “the world’s largest stadium,” is basically a dedicated place to experience sports in real-time with your friends and the world.

It brings all your game-related content on Facebook in one place, sorted chronologically and updated in real-time, including posts from your friends and their comments on plays, play-by-play information like where to find the game on TV, curated posts and commentary from experts, such as teams, leagues and journalists, and much more.

Apple fine tunes patent that outlines a possible future iPhone with a wraparound display

Samsung has popularized and mainstreamed so-called phablets, then Apple followed suit by making its iPhones bigger. And with last year's release of the Galaxy S6 with a curved screen, legitimate questions arose as to whether Apple should engineer an iPhone with a wraparound display.

Before you jump straight to the comments, consider Apple's patent applications for an “Electronic device with wrapped display,” which surfaced Thursday in the United States Patent and Trademark Office's database.

Did this video just show us Apple’s upcoming four-inch iPhone refresh?

M.I.C. Gadget, which in the past supplied genuine pictures and clips of unreleased Apple devices, today published a video which they claim shows off Apple's forthcoming four-inch iPhone obtained from a source at Foxconn.

The clip could be an elaborate hoax, of course, but it looks genuine if you consider that the device appears to resemble a four-inch iPhone with an iPhone 6s-style design, as the rumor-mill's predicted.