As noted by MacStories, Apple just released the Find My Friends social network for iOS 5. Find My Friends was introduced at Apple's "Let's Talk iPhone" last week.
Find My Friends runs on iCloud and enables users to share their location with friends while also seeing the location of other friends. The app integrates with the Maps and Contacts app in iOS 5.
Every week, iDB picks interesting iPhone and iPad apps to show you. While we tend to choose apps from the App Store, we occasionally throw in a web or jailbreak app as well.
This week, we've got two awesome App Store apps and one web app for you to check out. We hope you enjoy this week's picks!
SBPhoto is a recently released jailbreak app, that lends you the convenience of adding a photo bookmark directly to your Home screen. Maybe there's one photo that you're always showing off, and you need to access it quickly? SBPhoto can hook you up.
By processing the snapshot through SBPhoto, you'll end up with an miniaturized representation of your photo on your Home screen as an app icon. Upon tapping that icon, it'll open a Safari instance, and then link you to that awesome photo of your cat doing the four legged splits, or whatever other bizarre behavior your cat likes to engage in...
It seems Locationgate just won't go away, with Apple being fined 3 million Won, or $2,855, by the country's communications regulator.
The fine relates to the infamous storage of iOS device's location in an unencrypted file on the computer they were synced to. Using this data, it was possible to plot people's movements on a map, causing mass hysteria, panic and general confusion. This file was discovered back in April, with seemingly the whole planet baying for Apple's collective blood.
Apple later released an update to its iOS software that addressed the issue, but the damage was done...
Our iPhones collect all kinds of data, much to the dismay of many a security nut enthusiast. The iPhone stores location data by using cellular masts and Wi-Fi hotspots as a means of pinpointing just where you have been.
When it was discovered that our iPhones were dumping this data into an unencrypted file on our computers, there was public outcry. There were also, as always, even some who thought it was a good idea to go after Apple in the courts.
But what if that location information could be used for something useful, interesting, or even just downright cool to look at?
I present to you, Fireflies HD....
We all remember the infamous "Apple's tracking my movements and is going to follow me around town with a camera" fiasco, don't we?
Assuming you've not been living under a rock for the last few months - and Apple's GPS data tells me you haven't - then you'll remember that Apple's iOS devices were accused of keeping tabs on users' locations and storing the information in an unencrypted file on said users' computers.
Well, as it turns out, one South Korean iPhone user has forced Apple to cough up a spot of compensation, though we aren't exactly talking mega-bucks...
In reading through my RSS feeds this morning, I came across a jailbreak app that I couldn't believe hadn't ever covered on iDB. Though FakeLocation has been around for quite some time, it is a useful utility worth reminding folks about.
The package certainly lives up to its name, as it allows you to fake your GPS location for inquiring applications. This means that you can trick apps like Google Latitude into thinking you are located somewhere else...
I have such a conflicting relationship with Google. On one hand, I despise the search giant for being what I believe to be the most evil company in Silicon Valley. On the other hand, I love their idea that the web should be accessable via the browser, not through an application like Apple believes.
This being said, Google updated the way their mobile website looks on iOS devices. If you go to m.google.com from your iPhone, you will now be presented with a landing page similar to the one above. You can obviously search like you normally do, but you can also easily search for restaurants, coffee shops, bars, and more near places you. I gave it a quick try and I have to admit that it is absolutely brilliant...
Yesterday I got an email from my cousin Jeremy asking me what the little arrow showing up in his iPhone status bar was. Jeremy is not the most knowledgeable guy about the iPhone so I figured that if he didn't know what this arrow is, maybe other people would want to find it as well.
The little arrow sometimes showing up indication that Location Services on your iPhone are currently active. According to Apple, "Location Services allows applications such as Maps, Camera, and Compass to use information from cellular, Wi-Fi, and Global Positioning System (GPS) networks to determine your approximate location. This information is collected anonymously and in a form that does not personally identify you."