Alongside the release of iOS 8.1.3, Apple has also rolled out OS X Yosemite 10.10.2 to the public this morning. The firmware, which has been in testing for several weeks now, includes fixes and improvements for Wi-Fi, Safari, Bluetooth headphone syncing and more, and can be downloaded through the Software Update tab in the Mac App Store.
Apple has released iOS 8.1.3 this morning, after weeks of extensive testing. The release notes say that the update includes increased stability and performance improvements, as well as various major bug fixes. It also reduces the amount of storage required to perform updates.
You can access the new firmware over the air via Settings > General > Software Update, or via iTunes by connecting your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to a computer. But as usual, we recommend that users who are jailbroken, or plan to jailbreak, avoid the update for now.
Popular streaming music service Rdio posted an update for its iOS client today, bringing the app to version 3.1. The update brings about a new station for hot, just-released music, enhanced sharing capabilities and various other new features and improvements.
The New Music Weekly Station is a handpicked selection of the week’s hottest tracks from Rdio's New Releases section. And as for the enhanced sharing, users can now quickly share music with a press-and-hold while listening to any track, album, playlist or station.
Apple has seeded a new beta of its upcoming OS X Yosemite 10.10.2 this evening. The update, labeled build 14C99d, is available through the Update tab in the Mac App Store and the Dev Center for all registered Mac developers.
Today’s release comes just a week after the previous OS X 10.10.2 beta, and Apple has again asked developers to focus their testing efforts on Wi-Fi connectivity—a long-standing Yosemite issue—as well as Mail and VoiceOver.
For the last six years Apple has been running its "12 Days of Christmas" promotion in the UK, and did so last year in both the UK and US "12 Days of Gifts". It joyed customers by giving away iOS apps, music, films and books over the twelve days following Christmas Day. However as noticed first by MacWorld, it appears Apple is discontinuing its holiday tradition in 2014/2015.
We're now three days out of Christmas, and any type of promotion can't be found. MacWorld reports from a reliable source that we're definitely not seeing the "12 Days of Christmas" app this year.
Tempo Smart Calendar for iOS just received a big update, bringing the app to version 1.6. The update allows the app to take full advantage of the new functionality in iOS 8, adding a new Notification Center widget and support for interactive notifications.
With the new Tempo Widget, users can see their upcoming events, as well as information about their next immediate meeting. And with interactive notifications, users can get directions, dial-in to conference calls, and check on things like their flight status.
Amazon updated its Instant Video streaming app today, bringing it to version 2.9.5. As the build number indicates, it's a fairly small update, but it should make users happy with its improved support for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
This means that streaming videos should look better on the larger, higher resolution displays of Apple's newer handsets, as should the app's menu system. You can now see more content in a single glance, making navigation easier.
Popular photo sharing service 500px has posted a monster update for its iOS client today, bringing the app to version 2.9. The update brings about a number of significant improvements, including support for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus and the 1Password iOS 8 login extension.
Perhaps most noteworthy, though, is that 500px has added a built-in camera to the app, with the option to control focus and exposure manually. So the app once only served as a browser/manager tool for the service, it now competes directly with Instagram, Flickr and others.
The Google-owned Waze updated its iOS app today, bringing the crowdsourced mapping software to version 3.9.2. Don't let that build number fool you, however, as the update brings about some significant changes.
Perhaps the most notable addition is the new Waze Today Widget for iOS 8 devices. The widget allows you to quickly view your ETA for Home or Work, navigate with one tap, and easily send your current drive & ETA.
I'm not sure about you but this week wasn't as exciting to me in terms of jailbreak tweak releases as it was the last few weeks. But maybe it's just me, because looking at the numbers, there are no less than 18 new tweaks, some of them more "full-featured" than others.
Maybe the most interesting thing about this week was the preview we got of CarPlay Activator, an upcoming jailbreak tweak that brings CarPlay directly to your iPhone screen.
But I'm digressing. This column is mostly about new and updated tweaks, and we have 22 of them in this post today.
After releasing then pulling a update for the desktop Safari browser on OS X last week, Apple on Thursday posted Safari 8.0.2 for Yosemite.
In addition to allowing Yosemite users to import username and passwords from Mozilla's Firefox browser, Safari 8.0.2 fixes a few annoying issues, among them history not syncing across devices if iCloud Drive is disabled and another one prevent a saved password from being autofilled after two devices are added to iCloud Keychain.
The update is available through the Mac App Store's Updates tab. A standalone installer should be available shortly from the Apple Support website. Safari 7.1.2 for OS X Mavericks and Safari 6.2.2 for OS X Mountain Lion were also released on Thursday.
Popular photo messaging app Snapchat was updated tonight with a few features, the most important one probably being support for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. This update, which brings Snapchat to version 8.1.0, also brings about improved captions and the ability to stack filters on top of each other.