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Turn your favorite tunes into ringtones with quick iTunes tip

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With so many people in the world having iPhones with the same ringtones, hearing a ringer go off can be irritating and confusing. The iTunes Store sells ringtones, but they can become quite expensive if you like switching things up a lot.

In today’s video, we show you how to solve this annoying problem by creating your own free ringtones in iTunes. Just follow these simple steps to separate yourself from the crowd instantly.

Subscribe to Cult of Mac TV on YouTube to catch all our latest videos.

Kim Kardashian’s stupid iOS game could make $200 million this year

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iOS users have proven they have an uncanny ability to waste obscene amount of coin on silly in-app purchases, and the latest tech-titan to cash in on all that spending is none other than reality star Kim Kardashian.

Kim launched her first iOS game at the end of June to surprisingly great reviews, but the bigger surprise is the mountain of cash Kardashian and developers Glu Mobile are about to make off of all the fans flocking to download a piece of Kim’s Hollywood life.

PayPal’s iOS client now supports loyalty cards

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Earlier today we reported on how Apple’s new iTunes Pass feature hints at Apple’s interest in mobile payments. However, Apple’s not the only company interested in this area.

Last night, PayPal updated its iOS client with one important new feature, allowing it to support loyalty cards. That means that PayPal’s app can become your one-stop-shop for payments and checkins for some of your favorite stores, including Starbucks, CVS, and others.

Indulge your inner OCD with Brother’s tiny Wi-Fi label printer

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Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
The Brother P-Touch P750W label printer works like a charm. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

When I was a kid, we used to label everything: toys, boxes, file folders. My parents used one of those manual rotary label dispensers, the kind you had to squeeze hard enough to make each individual letter poke up through the hard plastic label tape. It was a good day when my brother and I got to use the label maker to title our shelves, toys and books (“Rob’s Stuff” was a common theme).

These days, printing labels is a lot easier thanks to computers and label printers like the ones from Dymo and Brother. Typically, you’ve got to connect these to a Mac or PC, and then use special software to send labels to the label printer.

The Brother P-Touch P750W (printer makers really need to work on their model names) is a label printer that can connect to your computer via USB, sure, but also connect either to your existing Wi-Fi network or create its own Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n network to print labels from any device, including iPhones, iPads, Android devices, Windows PCs and Macs.

Yeah, I’ve already labeled some shelves around the house. Old habits, it appears, die hard.

The best mail client on mobile just got even better

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CloudMagic, the best third-party email client for mobile, just got even better thanks to a major new update that’s available right now on Android and iOS. In addition to adding quick filters for things like unread and starred messages, the release brings customizable alert tones, account nicknames, access to spam folders, and lots more.

This tap-based app wants to beat Yo for world’s fastest messenger

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When Yo, an app which lets you send out one word messages (hint: they all read “yo!”), hit the App Store and raised $1 million in the process, it seemed that messaging apps had reached their minimalist bottom.

Not so, according to the makers of TAP: a new check-in app looking to snatch Yo’s status as the world’s fastest messaging app. TAP lets you broadcast your location to friends by simply tapping twice on your phone, without even having to unlock it. The location update lasts just ten minutes before disappearing — making this something along the lines of the “Snapchat for Location.”

Award-winning iOS game Leo’s Fortune recreated as a Rube Goldberg machine

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Leo's Fortune
Photo: 1337 & Senri LLC

Spend any time watching trailers for new iOS games, and quickly you’ll find that one merges into the other: all stock music, quick gameplay snapshots, and (if the title’s any good) a stream of title cards reading things like “Brilliant” and “You’ve Never Seen Anything Like This Before.”

Inventive platformer Leo’s Fortune has just received a new trailer and, wouldn’t you know it, it’s every bit as original as you’d hope for from the recipient of a 2014 Apple Design Award. In fact, dare we say it, it’s worth watching even if iOS gaming isn’t really your bag.

The trippy world of Monument Valley goes on sale for $1.99

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Games like Monument Valley have managed to be both popular hits and critical darlings.
Games like Monument Valley have managed to be both popular hits and critical darlings.

As you can see from the exclusive “making of” feature I wrote a few months back, I’m a massive fan of Monument Valley, the surrealistic M.C. Escher-inspired iOS puzzle game that rocked the App Store earlier this year.

A recent winner of Apple’s Design Awards at WWDC, Monument Valley is a triumph of isometric design, in which you guide a white-clad princess through a series of impossible structures in a game Apple describes as “akin to a walk through a museum or listening to a music album.”

While the game was already a bargain at $3.99, it’s just been the recipient of a slashed pricetag — meaning that you can now pick it up for the bargain price of $1.99.

Hands on: Minor refinements boost major improvements in iOS 8 beta 3

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The latest iOS 8 beta serves up many minor tweaks that put a friendly, usable face on the major improvements at the heart of the mobile operating system. In today’s video, we take a quick look at iOS 8 beta 3. We’ll show you the latest upgrades to the software to give you an idea what to expect to see on your own device this fall, when Apple releases iOS 8 to the public.

Subscribe to Cult of Mac TV on YouTube to catch all our latest videos.

Uber speeds off with senior Apple Maps engineer

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Former (?) iOS Maps engineer Chris Blumenberg. Photo: Chris Blumenberg
Former (?) iOS Maps engineer Chris Blumenberg. Photo: Chris Blumenberg

Uber has just poached one of Apple’s senior engineering manager, who worked on both the company’s Maps app and its iPhone software, says subscription website The Information.

The senior iOS engineer in question, Chris Blumenberg, was among the first engineers to work on the iPhone’s software — joining Apple in 2000 initially to help Microsoft port Internet Explorer and Office over to Mac OS X.

The Information editor Jessica Lessin claims that three sources familiar with Blumenberg’s jump to Uber confirmed the situation with her.

Don’t wait for Handoff — these 5 apps sync seamlessly today

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iOS 8’s Handoff feature looks totally rad. Imagine starting off a task on your Mac and then being able to continue where you left off on your iPhone or iPad without waiting. Just pick up the device and everything has already synced.

But wait! There’s no need to imagine this, because you can already do it right now, and you don’t even need iCloud. Handoff looks truly useful, and will blur the lines between our devices more than ever before, but let’s take a look at some apps that already work seamlessly between platforms.

Get these iOS games at firecrackin’ July 4th prices

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Happy July 4! While you’ve probably got plans with friends and family — or a date with a BBQ — appmakers are hoping you’ll have a bit of time for iOS gaming over the holiday, too.

I’ve written before about how 2014 is shaping up to be a golden age of mobile gaming for Apple users, and to make the deal a little bit sweeter, various popular games are currently being discounted in the App Store to give you something to play over the long weekend.

Which games? Check out our list below for the full details.

Disney brings popular Facebook soccer game Bola to iOS

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Disney need to be a bit quicker off the mark than this!

With both the U.S. and England now knocked out of the FIFA World Cup, Disney has just now taken the opportunity to release an iOS version of Bola, the hugely popular Facebook soccer game developed by Three Melons and acquired by Playdom back in March 2010.

Now called Disney Bola Soccer (or Disney Bola Football if you live somewhere where football is used to describe a game in which players kick a ball with their feet), the game is a whole lot of fun — utilizing simple swipe and tap gestures — and is well worth checking out.

Monetize your iOS app with StartApp now supporting Apple’s Swift code [Sponsored post]

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This post is brought to you by StartApp.

Are you a developer or advertiser looking to make a profitable app? The best way to do so is integrate a mobile monetization platform that inserts ads for other apps in your app. Recently moving into iOS operating environment, one of Google Android’s biggest and most successful ad networks to date, StartApp, now offers the first SDK to support Apple’s new programming language, Swift.

Watch the video showing how StartApp can help monetize your iOS app here.

Sometimes You Die gets prequel update, plus price drop

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Sometimes You Die
Sometimes You Die attempted to strip all the fun out of 2-D platformers. The result was amazingly good fun.

I’m a massive fan of Sometimes You Die, the weirdly existential platformer with the banging soundtrack, which topped the iOS game charts earlier this year.

For those who have played and completed the game, there’s some good news today because as of this morning creator Philipp Stollenmayer released the so-called Prologue Update, which adds a whole new chapter to the game, plus new unlockables, and even a German translation.

Spotify now lets you view play queues, and warns about duplicate songs

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Shortly after updating Spotify with the ability to search for downloaded music offline, Spotify’s iOS app has just received a notable new update.

Spotify now lets users view play queues on their iPhone. This can be done by tapping the queue icon on the top right corner of the “Now Playing” screen. The update also features a new dialog box, which appears each time you try to add a song to a playlist which already includes it: a great way of avoiding duplicating songs without you realizing it.

Future iPhones could intelligently modify security settings based on location

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Future Apple devices may be able to dynamically modify user interface elements, security levels, and other types of behavior based on location, according to a new patent application published Thursday.

Referred to as “Location-sensitive security levels and setting profiles based on detected location,” Apple’s application describes a setup in which both the hardware and software of your iPhone, iPad, and whatever other mobile devices Apple releases in future can seamlessly work together to automatically adjust various UI and device behavior settings.

Angry Birds Go! gets long-awaited multiplayer mode

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Oh boy! More pissed-off avians!
Oh boy! More pissed-off avians!

It may be painfully average as a kart game, but the uber popular Angry Birds Go! iOS racer has just upped the ante by finally adding a much-requested multiplayer mode.

Letting you race against other players from around the world to determine the fastest bird or piggy on the track, the presence of multiplayer was first teased by developers Rovio all the way back in December, when they asked: “Who wants to see multiplayer in Angry Birds Go!? It’s coming in spring!”

As it turned out, Rovio missed the spring deadline, but hopefully the extra time to work on the update will have been well-spent.

Adorable puzzler Monsters Ate My Birthday Cake will keep you up all night

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This is how my non-gamer girlfriend shows me which games are worth playing: She stays up until 3 a.m., wearing down the iPad mini battery to 22 percent while she tries to solve the next level.

This time, she bathed our dark bedroom in colorful reflected light while she moved Niko, Groggnar, Eek and Claude around on the screen in Monsters Ate My Birthday Cake. If it’s so important to solve environmental puzzles on the bright screen in the middle of the night, I know the game’s addictive.

This morning, still playing on the couch after charging up the iPad while she (finally) got some sleep, she told me like it is.

“It took me 15 minutes, but I finally got that level,” she bragged. “With three stars, bitch.”

5 stunning tips that will make you an iTunes master

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The native iTunes application offers many features and controls for handling your songs and movies, but sometimes it can seem too overwhelming to understand. In today’s video, we give you five quick tips that will help you master iTunes. You’ll learn how to customize your store settings, access a convenient mini player and so much more in just seconds.

Subscribe to Cult of Mac TV on YouTube to catch all our latest videos.

iTunes U gets more educational with iPad course creation and discussion features

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Apple has announced that it’s updating its iTunes U app with new iPad-friendly features designed to make it easier for teachers and students to use tablets for their online courses. The new features will roll out starting July 8.

“Education is at the core of Apple’s DNA and iTunes U is an incredibly valuable resource for teachers and students,” says Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “iTunes U features an amazing selection of academic materials for everyone around the world. Now, with the ability to better manage and discuss educational content, learning becomes even more personalized on iPad.”

The app’s update will let teachers create full courses entirely on their iPad by importing content from iWork, iBooks Author and other educational apps in the iOS App Store. Teachers will also be able to use the iPad’s in-built camera to incorporate photos and videos into the course material.

Fitlist fitness tracker adds progress graphs and workout-sharing options

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If the idea of using your iOS device to help track your fitness appeals to you, it’s worth checking out the newly-updated Fitlist app.

Since one of the best things about the new wave of fitness trackers is the ability to see how you progress over time, the most useful new feature of the popular workout log is the addition of new progress graphs. These allow you to view your cardio and strength exercise history in the form of attractive, easy-to-read charts. (This feature is available to premium users only.)

Cloned Blek sets a new low for shameless ripoffs

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Cloned Blek took one of the most unique iOS puzzle games in ages and, well, made it less unique.
Cloned Blek took one of the most unique iOS puzzle games in ages and, well, made it less unique.

By enhancing discoverability and human curation in its App Store, and favoring innovative indie developers over brainless money-hungry giants, Apple is doing a lot of things right these days when it comes to iOS.

An area it could still work on, however, is kicking out knockoff titles — or making sure they never make it into the App Store to begin with.

Case in point is Cloned Blek. Brought to our attention by Gamezebo, the title is a shameless display by apparent ripoff artists Coffee House Apps.

Go Go Ghost is a spirited sort of endless runner

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Endless runners are a popular genre on iOS, and the newly-launched Go Go Ghost looks like it’s not going to buck that trend.

A side-scrolling auto-runner, it varies up the formula by adding missions. To complete each mission, your character (a ghostly figure with a flaming skull, a bit like a cuter version of Marvel’s Ghost Rider) must collect coins, power-ups and other objects, chase down enemies, avoid pitfalls, and defeat sinister bosses. To help you are a variety of colorful supporting characters, who will do some of the gem-collecting work on your behalf.