News

Facebook launching group audio calling on Messenger with support for up to 50 participants

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 21, 2016

A year after it rolled out the ability to place and receive VoIP audio calls on Messenger, Facebook is now introducing a new VoIP calling feature with support for up to fifty people on a single group call. Group calling currently supports standard VoIP audio calls, but Facebook did tell TechCrunch that “group video calling is definitely a use case that a lot of our people might be interested in at some point”.

Revisit the places you’ve been with Foursquare’s new history feature (bonus: Photos extension)

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 21, 2016

Since launching in 2009, there have been over nine billion check-ins on Foursquare across the globe. Celebrating its seventh anniversary, the startup pushed an update to its mobile application on the App Store which includes a handy new history features.

Similar to location history on Google, the updated Foursquare app makes it simple for users to browse any place they've been and checked into via a new History tab.

In addition, Foursquare now has its own Photos extension which makes it super easy to share a photo as a tip, right within the context of the Photos app.

Readdle’s Calendars 5 slashed to $0 as Apple’s new Free App of the Week

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 21, 2016

Calendars 5, one of the best iOS calendar applications out there with a built-in event and task manager and native Google Calendar sync, has been slashed to zero bucks as Apple's new Free App of the Week. The $6.99 universal productivity app is now available at no charge on the App Store until next Thursday. This marks the first time Calendars 5 has gone free in years following Readdle's two-day promotion back in May 2014.

Stunning iOS 10 concept imagines dark mode, customizable Control Center, Siri in apps and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 21, 2016

MacStories founder and editor Federico Viticci has joined forces with user interface designer Sam Beckett on giving us their take on some of the features that Apple may or may not implement in iOS 10, the next major revision of the mobile operating system powering the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

The stunning renderings and an accompanying video imagine many features that Apple fans have been craving for, such as a brand new dark mode for iOS 10, an updated Control Center which lets you move around and customize the icons, an official Siri app for implementing voice-activated features in third-party apps and more.

German carmakers Daimler and BMW won’t be collaborating with Apple on electric car project

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 5, 2018

German newspaper Handelsblatt is reporting that German carmakers Daimler and BMW won't be collaborating with Apple on its rumored electric car, code-named Project Titan.

According to sources in the know, talks with Daimler and BMW over a cooperation deal on an electric car have ended. The talks with BMW collapsed last yea.

Those with Daimler have ended more recently, reportedly over the key questions like would lead the project and which company would have ownership of the data. Neither of the three companies would even confirm that negotiations had taken place.

iOS 9.3.2 beta 2 brings back ability to use Night Shift and Lower Power Mode at the same time

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 20, 2016

The ability to use iOS 9.3's headlining Night Shift feature when an iPhone is in Low Power Mode has been reinstated in a second beta of iOS 9.3.2 that was seeded to Apple's registered developers this morning, as noted by eagle-eyed users on Twitter and first reported on by MacRumors.

Night Shift and Low Power Mode worked simultaneously on prior iOS 9.3 betas, but that feature was later removed without explanation in iOS 9.3 beta 4.

New watchOS 2.2.1 and OS X 10.11.5 betas have dropped, too

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 20, 2016

After seeding iOS 9.3.2 beta 2 to its registered developers this morning, Apple has also released new betas for its other forthcoming operating system updates: watchOS 2.2.1 and OS X 10.11.5 El Capitan. You can download watchOS 2.2.1 beta 2 (build 13V420) and OS X 10.11.5 beta 2 (build 15F24b) through Apple's Developer Center, which requires a paid account for full access, or apply them on the devices themselves through the Software Update mechanism on devices running a beta OS.

Apple seeds iOS 9.3.2 beta 2 to developers

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 7, 2017

Two weeks after Apple released the first beta of iOS 9.3.2 to its registered developers, the company today released iOS 9.3.2 beta 2 to members of the Apple Developer Program. The new beta has a build number and can be applied over-the-air on devices running an iOS 9 beta in Settings → General → Software Update or you can download the full installer from the Apple Developer Center, which requires a paid membership in the Apple Developer Program for full access.

Samsung to re-enter Apple’s supply chain for NAND flash memory chips in 2017

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 20, 2016

Following a five-year hiatus, Apple's frenemy Samsung is set to supply NAND flash memory chips to Apple for its devices beginning with 2017, ETNews reported Wednesday. NAND flash memory is extensively used across Apple's many products, including the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch and Mac notebooks.

Apple dropped Samsung as a NAND flash supplier following the iPhone 5 introduction in 2012 because the South Korean conglomerate was stuck with ball grid array (BGA) packaging and refused to invest in land grid array (LGA) package contacts that allow the flash memory chips to sit flush with the printed circuit board and were required to comply with Apple's electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding requirements.

Use Apple Maps and plan trips on the big screen with TV Maps for Apple TV

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 20, 2016

Since learning that Apple's software development kit now includes a new MapKit framework for tvOS, I've been eagerly awaiting to see what Apple TV developers are going to do with it. I salivated at the prospect of Apple Maps on a big screen telly because it sounded too good to be true.

Even better, Apple's SDK supports advanced features like map annotations, adding overlays and performing reverse-geocoding lookups to determine placemark information for map coordinates, among other features.

With TV Maps by Arno Appenzeller—to my knowledge, this is one of the first of MapsKit-enabled apps for the new Apple TV—you can browse Apple Maps from the comfort of your couch. At long last, planning trips on the big screen has become a reality for those of us who're invested into the Apple ecosystem. The experience of using maps on a television is much cooler than you could imagine: this is the first tvOS app that has made me wish that the Apple TV supported hand gestures so that I could explore maps Minority Report-style.

84 percent of devices are now using iOS 9

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 20, 2016

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.

Apple Pay launches in Singapore with support from Amex, Visa and MasterCard due soon

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 16, 2018

Through launch partnership with American Express, customers in Singapore can now take advantage of Apple's mobile payment system to pay for goods and services in stores with a touch of their finger. Adding Singapore to the list of countries that support Apple Pay was advertised earlier today on the local Apple Pay website in Singapore.

Local retailers like FairPrice, Starbucks, TopShop, TopMan, StarHub, Shaw Theaters and several others will now take Apple Pay as a form of payment. In the coming months, outlets like 7 Eleven, The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Food Republic and Toast Box will roll out support for Apple Pay in the 5.4 million people country.