In the market for a new Lightning cable for on-the-go charging purposes? Then consider the awkwardly-named “8-pin Lightning Data Sync (iTune) Blocker” from USB Fever. Not only is is like about a third of the price of Apple’s own cable, but it comes with a switch on the wire that’ll let you plug your iDevice into any charging hole without worrying that it’s going to suck out your data of pump it full of filthy malware.
Apparently, Americans like to pull up stakes and move to greener pastures more often than almost anyone else — which would explain the swirl of activity at the umpteen websites that help renters find an apartment. As one of the umpteen, RadPad is a relative newcomer to the group that stands out because of its user-friendliness.
RadPad is sort of the graphic novel of the apartment-hunting site breed: It emphasizes big, pretty pictures over a dull jumble of text. RadPad says their staff tries to ensure all listings have at least three up-to-date images by actually calling the author of each listing as they’re posted to verify.
Foursquare released a new update for its iPhone app today that finally brings the app in-line with iOS 7’s new white and minimal UI along with some new enhancements that make the app more socially aware than ever before.
Movable Ink — a New York City-based company whose technology allows clients to create more relevant email marketing campaigns — has put together this data visualization graphic, showing the United States divided by whether they prefer using smartphones and tablets to access their emails, or the classic desktop approach.
Essential media player application Plex is now out in a new version for iOS users — adding support for the latest firmware along with a refreshed media component.
Forbes contributor Mark Fidelman has posted an article arguing that Microsoft’s new mobile strategy will help it overtake Apple within three years.
Fidelman’s case comes down both to the possibility of “seamless integration” with Windows 8.1, Office 365 and Xbox — in addition to the growing share of the smartphone market that Windows Phones currently represent.
Most of us are aware that the iPhone can be an effective security tool; there are countless clips on YouTube proving its worth as a recording device, and FaceTime, Skype and the like allow someone on the other end to watch, and if needed send help, when things get sketchy.
A recording of a mugging, however, is no use if the muggers steal the phone; and initiating a FaceTime call under extreme stress is probably more difficult than it might seem.
Enter Eye Got You Covered, a $4 app that fixes both those problems and adds other thoughtful features.
Since there are relatively few good alternatives to the iPhone’s stock Mail app, a newcomer to the group usually sparks our curiosity and interest; what’s the cool new spin? Will we actually use it? Will we use it enough that it eventually replaces the Mail app on our home screen?
In the case of attachment-obsessed newcomer Inbox Cube, the answers are fun, yes and possibly.
Brazenly calling itself the “ultimate defense” for protecting passwords, documents, credit cards and all your other private stuff, FaceCrypt is being advertised as one of the most secure ways of controlling access to your iOS device.
Instead of asking for an alphanumeric password — or even Touch ID — FaceCrypt requests that users take a “selfie” to prove they are really the person they say they are.
Created by London-based university students Carrie Bale, Doug Hindson and Jooyoung Ryo, “Skew” is a charmingly low-fi animation which gently lampoons the monotonous cycle of our day-to-day lives in the digital world.
It’s become horribly obvious that the more a driver fiddles with their phone, the better chance they have of becoming involved in a car accident. But even taking one’s eyes off the road can be problematic — so Slovakian-based Sygic has added a head-up display mode to their iOS turn-by-turn navigation apps that tries to alleviate the problem by keeping the driver’s eyes focused on the road.
Australian publisher Halfbrick (Jetpack Joyride, Fruit Ninja, Age of Zombies) announced Tuesday that its new free-to-play band simulator game Band Stars will release to the App Store on Thursday, December 5.
The game, developed in collaboration with Australia-based Six Foot Kid, has been in development for a while, with an early build available last March at the Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco. Come this Thursday, you’ll be able to download the game for free onto your iOS device and start a band.
Readdle has today rolled out a major new version of PDF Expert, on of its most popular productivity apps for iOS. The new release introduces an all-new design for iOS 7, as well as a much-improved file manager and PDF viewer, support for AirDrop and background downloads, and lots more.
According to a new report from IBM, the greed consumer-driven shop-fest known as Black Friday.
The report shows a new high for online sales for this 2013 reporting period, as well as a soaring rate of mobile shopping, in which folks used smartphones to browse for deals while people were more likely to complete purchases with tablets.
The most interesting finding, however, was how much more iOS users spent than those on Android. Take that, Google!
We’re big fans of Apple’s Pages app on iOS here, as it allows us to create and edit good-looking documents easily and on the go. Pages’ stunning array of templates, combined with the ease of use associated with an app built by Apple itself for its flagship touchscreen device, make it a must-have app on anyone’s iPad.
Color us excited, then, when we heard about a hidden feature in Pages that lets us delete backgrounds from photos right from within the app itself. Instant Alpha is a super helpful feature when we need to get rid of a large solid color background without dropping the image into an editing program first.
If you’ve been meaning to treat yourself to a Pebble smartwatch and you haven’t already blown all of your savings on other Black Friday deals, then you might be interested to know that you can now get $20 off the device for one day only.
Readdle, the team behind some of the best productivity apps and utilities for iOS, has slashed 50% off five of its top offerings for Black Friday. The sale includes titles like PDF Expert for iPhone and iPad, Calendars 5, and Printer Pro — all of which are now half price for a limited time.
FIFA has launched its new app as part of the countdown to 6 December’s 2014 football World Cup draw.
The free app is available for both iOS and Android devices, and offers not just the live draw in streaming video, but also match schedules, destination guides and team profiles for the tournament — set to take place in Brazil in summer 2014.
Hoping to get a nice discount on your next Mac or iOS device this Black Friday? Then you’d better buy it from a third-party retailer. Apple has taken a new approach to its Black Friday deals this year and decided to give away gift cards rather than discount its goods.
Just when you thought you had heard every wacky app concept going, here’s another you might not have considered: Facebook for dogs.
Okay, it’s not exactly Facebook, but the free Woof iOS app (from developer Woof Labs) is pretty much that — describing itself as “an ecosystem to bring dog lovers closer to their dogs and local dog communities.”
“Great pen, lousy software” was the gist of our review for the Livescribe 3, a.k.a. “The World’s Smartest Pen” when we got the chance to use it recently.
For those unfamiliar with the concept, the Livescribe 3 is a so-called “smart pen” which takes handwritten notes and transfers them from paper to screen on the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. (In other words, it’s something of a next-generation Newton stylus for those old enough to remember Apple’s long-abandoned line of PDAs.)
There are few tech terms more loaded than “user privacy” here in 2013.
Back in January Cult of Mac reported that Apple had lost its spot on a list of the 20 most trusted companies when it comes to user information. That was long before the revelations of Edward Snowden and PRISMgate (the subject of an entire recent issue of our Newsstand magazine), which made everyone super-jumpy about data collection and what it means for personal liberties.
When people talk about Android being bad for developers, this handy chart explains in a nutshell what they’re talking about: across the board, in every metric, Android developers make less money than iOS developers… often by a lot.
Ah, the open road. Nothing like some great tunes, an agreeable companion and endless blacktop to relieve the stress after — or enjoy a little peace before — that remote Thanksgiving gathering (note that I said a companion, as in singular; if you’ve got kids, I’m guessing you’ll probably want to fly).
Before you head out, you might want to do a little planning with something like Roadtrippers, a helpful site and accompanying iOS app that can show you hip, hidden or just plain weird points of interest along your planned route.
BBM Channels, the latest addition to BlackBerry’s popular messaging platform, which made its public debut earlier today after more than six months in beta, is coming to Android and iOS “in the coming months.”