Here at Cult of Mac, we love Mailbox, the third-party Gmail client for iOS. But since it was optimized for iOS 7, it has been plagued by a hugely frustrating bug that causes email accounts to be deleted at random. Fortunately, the app’s latest update — which is available from the App Store now — finally fixes the problem.
But at what cost?
The iPhone 5s is undoubtedly the biggest iPhone ‘S’ upgrade Apple has released to date. Not only does it come with the usual improvements you’d expect from an “incremental” upgrade — a faster processor, better graphics, and an improved camera — but it also boasts Touch ID, a fingerprint scanner built into its home button; the M7 coprocessor, and a new dual-LED flash
Touch ID will change the way we manage security on our iPhones. No longer must we remember 4-digit pass codes that have to be entered dozens of times a day; we can simply scan our fingerprint to quickly gain access to our device. It takes the hassle out of securing our data, and there’s no good reason why you wouldn’t use it.
The iPhone 5s is the biggest iPhone ‘S’ upgrade to date.
As for the M7 coprocessor, that’s “like a sidekick to the A7 chip,” Apple says. It’s specifically designed to measure motion data recorded by your iPhone’s built-in accelerometer, gyroscope, and compass — a task which was previously handled by the processor itself. Why? Well, the M7 chip is more efficient and handling this task, and with little input needed from the main processor, there’s less drain on your iPhone’s battery.
While the iPhone 5s make look identical to its predecessor on the outside, then, there are lots of improvements under the hood. But are those improvements worth your hard-earned cash?
You’ll be blown away by the new Touch ID fingerprint sensor in the iPhone 5s the first time you use it. You’ll be prompted to set it up when you first start up your iPhone, and you’ll have to scan your fingerprint numerous times at different angles before your iPhone is happy with it. Once it’s recorded, you can use the tip of your finger to unlock your device and authorize purchases from iTunes and the App Store.
I just wrote a piece about how difficult it is to obtain the iPhone 5s — particularly if you want the gold model — and Apple has now confirmed that it has completely sold out of certain iPhone 5s models in some stores. Demand for that and the iPhone 5c has been “incredible,” the Cupertino company said, but it’s yet to reveal just how many handsets have been sold so far.
Apple never seems to be able to make enough iPhones to meet launch day demand, but it seems the Cupertino company has found that task particularly difficult this year. The iPhone 5s has proven incredibly difficult to get hold of all over the globe, while that fancy new gold model is near impossible to get hold of.
At Apple’s flagship store in San Francisco, there were just 20 gold iPhone 5s units waiting to go on sale this morning, and they were all claimed before the store even opened its doors.
Jony Ive and the rest of the design team at Apple really pushed the boat out when it came to refreshing the look of its next-generation mobile operating system. Everything from the icons to the menus is dramatically different in iOS 7, and largely unlike anything Apple has ever developed before.
While reactions to the new design have been mixed, you have to commend the Cupertino company for making such significant changes in such a short space of time. Scott Forstall, who was previously in charge of all things iOS, left Apple just eight months ago, and it wasn’t until then that Ive was given the opportunity to make his mark on the platform.
Ive has made it very clear that his idea of software design is very different from Scott Forstall.
One thing’s for sure: Ive has certainly made it very clear that his idea of software design is vastly different than Forstall’s. If Forstall was still at Apple, there’s a good chance iOS 7 would look largely identical to iOS 6… and iOS 5, iOS 4, iOS 3… you get the picture.
iOS 7 doesn’t just boast a new look, either; it also delivers a number of key new features, some of which we’ve been asking for a long time. Those include Control Center, which gives us the ability to control music and toggle certain settings from anywhere; and improved multitasking, with scheduled updates and the ability to preview what’s happening inside your apps before you jump into them.
It’s true. A number of the things we were calling for ahead of iOS 7 — the new look, the ability to change settings from anywhere, automatic app updates — have now been delivered, and we have to appreciate that Apple can only change so much in 12 months.
But there are a number of other important features — maybe more important than the annihilation of skeuomorphism — that are still missing from iOS. These things aren’t being talked about right now, because the novelty of iOS 7 is yet to wear off, but these features are still conspicuous for their absence.
iOS 7’s new design is currently acting as a mask. It’s so significant that for the majority of users, there isn’t a second thought about anything else. The question isn’t “Can I do anything new?” but “How new does it look?” But when the dust settles, it’ll be easier to spot the features that are still missing.
And things are missing, because underneath all the new frost and parallax, iOS 7 is essentially the same operating system as iOS 6. While there are some terrific improvements, it’s not the grand departure from its predecessors that it seems.
Let’s go over some of the things that are still missing.
We’ll start with the big one. iOS apps still don’t talk to each other like they should.
Let’s use an easy example to illustrate what we’re talking about. Let’s say you want to share a photo from inside the Photos app. If you tap the ‘Share’ button, your options will include messaging, email, iCloud, Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr.
Fair enough. But what if you want to share via WhatsApp? Or Google+? Or Skype? Or send your photo to a service like Dropbox or Evernote? Your only recourse is to open each of these apps separately and upload the image to them, one at a time.
This isn’t the way it has to be. OS X, for example, allows apps to communicate with each other. You can fairly easily shoot a file from one app to the next. The ability for apps to talk to one another without each app having been specifically programmed to know some arcane secret handshake with every other app is part of what gives an operating system its sense of cohesion.
Yet this rudimentary ability is missing from iOS. In fact, it’s all over the place, whether sharing links in Safari, videos in YouTube, and files in Dropbox. Unless an app has been pre-programmed to “know” it can share with one specific app, they simply can’t communicate. It’s a messy and inconvenient system: not at all what you’d expect from Apple software.
But this isn’t a mobile limitation. Apps talk to each other just fine on Android without any fancy tricks. When I take a picture on my HTC One, I can go into my Gallery app and then send then image just about anywhere — and I’ve only had to open one app manually.
iOS apps need a deeply integrated service to talk to one another. That’s more important than iOS getting a fresh new look: it would result in a fresh new feel, and untold new possibilities for app developers. Why isn’t Apple concentrating on that?
While we’re on the subject of apps, let’s quickly address the issue of Default Apps.
In iOS 7, Apple still won’t let you choose a third-party app as a default app. Hate Safari? You can’t set Chrome as your default web browser. Don’t like Mail? You have no option to make Mailbox your default mail client. And even after Mapsgate, iOS users have no way to make Google Maps the default maps app, short of a jailbreak. Apple still forces you to use its own apps, and there’s no good reason why.
It’s almost as if Apple doesn’t trust us to choose our own default apps.
It’s almost as if Apple thinks we can’t be trusted to choose our own defaults — like Apple’s worried that it’s going to have a Genius Bar full of people who accidentally set Chrome as their default browser and can’t work out why Safari won’t open when they click on links.
Maybe this is a genuine concern. But we’ve all learned to deal with this kind of thing on our desktops, and other mobile devices powered by other platforms. We should be able to deal with it on our iPhones and iPads, too. And as iPhones and iPads replace our PCs and laptops, it’s only natural that they inherit some of their tweakability
The ability to tweak our iPhones and iPads doesn’t have to end at setting default apps, though. We should also be able to install third-party tweaks on our iOS devices, and we shouldn’t have to jailbreak to do it. These don’t have to be big changes that will completely change the way our devices operate: even simple tweaks, like third-party keyboards and icon packs, would greatly enhance the way in which we connect with our iDevices.
After all, not everyone likes the keyboard Apple provides in iOS, and it would be nice if we could install something like SwiftKey, which has become so popular on Android. Tweaks like these could be sold through the App Store just like iOS apps, and Apple can demand the same 30% cut it does on everything else — it’s a win-win situation.
Admittedly, this is a big ask, especially from Apple, who is famous for locking down its software and not allowing us to tinker with it. But there is some hope. During his interview at D11 back in June, Tim Cook said, “I think you will see us open up more in the future.” Let’s hope this means the ability to customize our devices.
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could see today’s weather forecast, or the latest sports scores, or how many page views you’re getting on your blog, without having to open up an app? Simple information like this should be accessible from the home screen, but that’s still not possible in iOS 7.
Apple has given us one live icon with the Clock app, which now shows the time, but that’s as far as live icons go on iOS. Hopefully, it’s the start of something, and future iOS releases bring us more.
I have a great idea how live icons should work on iOS. Imagine you could tap and hold an icon and then change the size of it, so that instead of taking up just one space on your home screen, it could take up two or three, or even more. The more space it has, the more information it can display.
I’ve created a (poor) mockup below that explains what I mean. I’ve used Twitterrific as an example. As you can see, when it’s taking up just one space, the icon is static — just like normal. But as it gets bigger, it can display things like the number of mentions, direct messages, and retweets that are waiting for you inside the app.
This is a simple example, of course, but the same concept could apply to all kinds of different apps.
These aren’t simple changes, and Apple cannot implement them all in one year so we shouldn’t have expected that. Apple’s priority with iOS 7 was clearly to remove all of the design niggles we had been complaining about and introduce a fresh new look that would immediately signal its change of direction under new leadership.
iOS 8 should be something special.
But let’s not forget that rival platforms have had some of these features for a number of years. Apple has had lots of opportunities to match them, or even take the basic concepts and create even better experiences. But it hasn’t.
As a result, iOS has gone from a cutting-edge mobile operating system that’s way ahead of everything else to a platform that’s now trying to catch up to its rivals in many key areas.
But iOS 8 should be something special. Now that the new design is here, Apple can finally concentrate on the core features beneath it and address the things that iOS is currently lacking.
I’ll bet that a lot of the features I’ve mentioned in this piece or others like them are here next fall, alongside many more that could give iOS the edge over its rivals once again.
If you were hoping to order a new iPhone 5s from the Apple Online Store tomorrow and have it delivered to your door on Saturday, then you may be out of luck. The new handset just went on sale in Australia, and no matter which color or capacity you go for, every single model comes with a 7-10 business days shipping estimate.
The iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c has just gone on sale in Australia, and the team at iExperts have already gotten their hands on the new devices and given them their first teardown.
Thanks to all the leaks we’ve been enjoying in recent weeks, many of the components you’ll see below have already been seen before. But if you get a kick out of seeing expensive gadgets being pulled apart — or you just admire Apple’s incredible build quality — then you’re in for a treat.
The city of Cupertino this week published updated plans for Apple’s proposed new campus ahead of possible approval next month. A city council meeting is scheduled to go ahead on October 15, and providing all goes well, Apple will finally be able to begin clearing the land that the “Spaceship” campus will be built upon.
Good news, Google Wallet users — you can now access your account on your iOS device with an official Google Wallet app. You can use it to make payments to friends, track your loyalty cards, and access nearby offers. One feature you won’t find, however, is tap-to-pay, which relies on NFC connectivity.
We’ve already brought you an iOS 7 review roundup from everyone else, but you may have noticed that the Cult of Mac team published our own iOS 7 review today, too. It’s split up into separate parts to make it easier to digest, and this handy roundup will help you find each part and what it covers.
We’ve taken a look at all of the new features — including Control Center, AirDrop, and iTunes Radio — and all of the improvements Apple made to existing ones, like the Camera app and Notification Center. We’ve also got some tips and tricks that will help you get accustomed to iOS 7 in no time.
The wait is finally over. iOS 7 is now available to download, three months after it got its first unveiling at WWDC. You can download and install it either via iTunes on your Mac and PC, or by using the over-the-air Software Update feature baked into iOS 6.
It’s been over three months since iOS 7 got its first unveiling at WWDC, and in just a couple of hours, it will be made available to the public. It’ll be completely free to download — no matter which iOS device you’re using — and Apple’s confident it will quickly become the world’s most popular mobile operating system.
iOS 7 is the biggest change to iOS since the original iPhone, introducing a colorful new design for the first time, and bringing lots of new features — including Control Center, improved multitasking and Notification Center, iTunes Radio, and AirDrop.
So should you be rushing to download and install it on your iOS devices as soon as it becomes available, or can you wait until all the fuss has died down? Well, we’ll be bringing your our review in stages over the course of the coming days, but to help make your decision super simple, we’ve trawled through the biggest and best iOS 7 reviews out this week and put together a helpful roundup.
iOS 7 is much more than a pretty face. Early “news” reporting focussed on the new look provided at the last minute by Jony Ive and team, but the inner workings of the new OS have clearly been under development for a lot longer. So, try to look past the bright colors, blurred popovers and beautiful parallax for a moment, and join us as we take a tour of the best new features of iOS 7.
“In the past, when we’ve announced a new iPhone, we’ve lowered the price of the current iPhone making it even more accessible to more people. But this year, we’re not going to do that,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook during the company’s special event in Cupertino on Tuesday.
Instead, Apple replaced the iPhone 5 with the iPhone 5c, a device with exactly the same internals, but a different, more colorful design. But why did it do that? Could it be because the iPhone 5 is too similar to the iPhone 5s, and that dropping its price would have hurt sales of the newer model?
I think so.
I don’t think Apple made the iPhone 5c plastic to make it cheap; I think the company made it plastic to make it worse and to open up a bigger gap between the entry-level iPhone and the high-end model. Here’s why.
After announcing the new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c at an event on its Cupertino campus on Tuesday, Apple released its first ads for both devices. One of them — the iPhone 5c one — was shown during the keynote, but the two iPhone 5s clips, which show off its fingerprint sensor and improved camera, were not.
But don’t worry, Apple’s uploaded all three to YouTube, so you can enjoy them when you want, as much as you want, in high definition.
When Apple updated its website on Tuesday and added the new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c to its online store, we were surprised to see that it was only advertising support for two of the U.K.’s four 4G carriers — EE and Vodafone. But don’t worry, both Three and O2 have confirmed that the devices will support their new LTE networks, too.
A much-anticipated iPhone deal between Apple and China Mobile looks even closer this week after the popular smartphone gained regulatory approval to run on the carrier’s wireless network. The new partnership will see the iPhone supported by the world’s largest network for the first time, opening it up to more than 700 million subscribers.
If you were hoping to spend some cash on the Apple online store this morning, you’re going to have to wait a little while. It’s just gone down ahead of today’s press event in Cupertino, and when it comes back up, we expect it to be populated by at least two new iPhones, and possibly new iPods and a new Apple TV as well.
Apple has been targeted by a class action lawsuit for falsely advertising a Season Pass for the final season of Breaking Bad. The season was split into two parts, but those who purchased a Season Pass were angered when they discovered that the eight episodes included in the second part were not included, and that they would have to pay extra to get them.
At this point, we’re pretty confident that Apple will unveil two new colors for the iPhone 5S: a gold/champagne and white model, and a graphite and black model. If you’re wondering how the latter will look against the existing black iPhone 5, then this new hands-on video should give you a good idea.
At an event in Japan today, Sony unveiled the new PS Vita TV, a tiny set-top box that will sell for around $95 and look to compete with devices like the Apple TV. Not only will it let you stream content from services like Hulu and Sony’s own Video Unlimited service, but if you connect a DualShock 3 controller, it will also allow you to play PSP and PS Vita games on your TV.
Apple is becoming a victim of its own success. It’s been several years since the company launched the iPad and revolutionized yet another product category, but we haven’t seen anything truly groundbreaking since then. Sure, we’ve had the iPad mini, the Retina MacBook Pro, and the awesome new iMac, but they’re all variations or improvements on existing products.
Now the world is clamoring for something completely new — something that’ll take off just like the iPod, iPhone and iPad.
Some reports suggest it will be the Apple “iTV,” the company first television set, which is said to be in development inside the company’s Cupertino headquarters. But it’s more likely that Apple’s immediate concern is with the “iWatch,” a smartwatch powered by iOS that will bring all kinds of crazy-cool technology to your wrist.
I had suspicions Apple might be working on its own watch when it redesigned the iPod nano last year. A lot of fans used the tiny nano as a watch thanks to third-party strap accessories, and it seemed like its form factor and design were changed for a reason — to make way for something new.
We’ve been reading iWatch rumors for the past few months, so it’s time to put them all together and establish what we think we know about the iWatch so far.
Having gone without a refresh since 2009, the iPod classic is one of the oldest products still on sale in the Apple Store. Will Apple finally update it this fall to add flash storage and a Lightning connector? Probably not. In fact, some expect the Cupertino company to finally kill it off.
You wait weeks for an invite to an Apple event, and then two come along at once. Shortly after the company invited the media to its September 10 shindig in Cupertino, it sent out invitations to a second event in Beijing on September 11. It’s the first time Apple has made an announcement in China, so it must be for something pretty special — but what?
Well, we have some ideas.