iOS - page 61

Once you get on Apple’s bad side, it’s hard to climb back into its good graces, and AppGratis is starting to learn that the hard way. After pulling AppGratis’ app from the Apple Store last week, Apple has also decided to kill push notifications on the app for users that still have it installed.

This is the first time we’ve seen Apple kill certain functionality on an app after users have already installed it. AppGratis was banned from the App Store after Apple decided violated multiple rules of the App Store, but AppGratis says its already working on a comeback.

If you love to game, and you’ve never played a roguelike, shame on you. You can hardly call yourself a gamer at all.

We’ve all seen those fake iOS devices that are being made in China, but did you know that Apple’s App Store is being cloned there, too? A service called KuaiYong, which means “use quickly” in Chinese, according to MIC Gadget, lets iPhone and iPad users download and install pirated iOS apps without jailbreaking.

The service has been around for almost a year, so how has it gone unnoticed for so long?

Evernote’s free image editing app, Skitch, now allows you to annotate and share PDF files on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. You can then share those PDFs with other Skitch users, who will get a nifty summary view of all your annotations.

Here’s an interesting fact for you. Facebook Home — the new app that deeply-integrates Facebook into Android smartphones (and probably most notable for its system-wide Chat Heads messaging) — doesn’t work as intended on iOS… but it was actually prototyped on Quartz Composer, Apple’s visual development environment distributed as part of Xcode!

Facebook brought its new Chat Heads feature to iPhone earlier this week, but it doesn’t offer quite the same experience as the Android version. The feature is designed to make your Facebook Messenger conversations easy to access from anywhere, but on iOS, it only works when you’re within the Facebook app — which kind of defeats its purpose.

But as is often the case, the jailbreaking community has a solution. A new tweak that allows you to use Chat Heads as Facebook originally intended on iPhone is coming soon to Cydia.

LinkedIn has rolled out new apps for Android and iOS that boast brand new designs, faster navigation, and new features. Users will now find an increased focus on their news stream, with conversations, network updates, and more now front and center. The update even comes with a fancy new demonstration video; check it out below.

Moxtra is a great, free app that allows groups of users to collaborate using files — video clips, images, PDFs — that they’ve stored in virtual notebooks; some collaboration can even be conducted in realtime.

Back in January, when Moxtra launched, I described the app as a sort of Evernote-Pinterest blend. Now there’s even more blending with the former, because Evernote has added Moxtra integration.

If you can’t beat ’em, talk trash.

That’s seems to be the popular sentiment among technologies most powerful companies, and Microsoft’s head executive for Windows Phone has been all too happy to do a little ribbing on Apple and Android lately.

At the All Things D conference yesterday, Terry Myerson,  took to the stage to talk about the future of Windows Phone, but he also took a few shots at Apple and Google during the interview and said that iOS is “boring.”

Siri hasn’t quite lived up to the hype that most Apple fans bestowed upon it after it debuted with the iPhone 4S, but it’s still a magical piece of software, and Apple’s competitors want their own version of Siri.

Adding to months of speculation that it’s working on its own smartphone, Amazon just bought a  Siri-like app called Evi, for $26 million. 

Apple got a head start on Google with the App Store, but over the last year, Google Play has continued to make up ground, not only with its offerings of apps, but also the amount of revenue it generates.

In Q4 2012, Apple’s App Store was still seeing four times as many sales as Google Play was, but fast forward to Q1 2013 and the App Store is now only making 2.6 times as much as Google Play.

I don’t know about you, but I find that displaying the battery percentage alongside the battery indicator in the iPhone’s status bar takes up too much room — particularly if you use tweaks that provide status bar symbols for outstanding notifications. I usually use Springtomize to remove the battery indicator altogether, leaving just the percentage.

But a new tweak called Live Battery Indicator gives you the best of both worlds — without taking up too much space.

Messaging alternative MessageMe just updated today with several new features, like the ability to chat in landscape mode if that strikes your fancy.

The iPhone app won’t save chat doodles to the camera roll by default anymore; you’ll be able to save them if you like, or turn the feature off completely, saving valuable space on your iPhone should you so choose. The Voice Notes feature has been improved, and you can search for other MessageMe users using their email.

Audio now works for messages with video, and you can save videos as well in the new version. There’s also other “minor fixes and performance improvements” to be found.

After being fired from his post at Apple for the Apple Maps fiasco last year, Richard Williamson has found a new home at one of tech’s other superstars – Facebook.

Richard Williamson played a key role in the development of the iPhone’s software under Steve Jobs. After working at Apple for more than a decade, Williamson was put in charge of the Apple Maps team that replaced Google Maps in iOS 6.

Android’s reputation as a nest for malware isn’t likely to heal anytime soon, thanks to a new report from Symantec.

According to the security company’s research, Android is still the main target when it comes to mobile malware writers, but iOS is technically a more vulnerable platform.

Kicking Google Maps to the curb last year in favor of its own homegrown solution caused quite a stir last year for Apple. Most of the rage over Apple Maps has died down, but Google’s former CEO, Eric Schmidt, sees no reason why things can’t be repaired.

In fact, Schmidt admitted today that Google would love to work with Apple to set Google Maps as the primary navigation tool on iOS. With tensions between the two companies still being tight, we’d say there’s not a slim chance in hell of that happening, but Schmidt thinks it could.

Even though there are rumors that Facebook and Apple might be working to bring Facebook Home to iOS, it’s hard to believe Apple would give up so much control of iOS to Facebook.

For those craving for some Facebook Home action on iOS, there’s a new Facebook app update that will bring the most buzzed-about features of Facebook Home to your iPhone: “Chat Heads.”

After the successful announcement of Facebook Home for Android, the Menlo Park-based social networking giant is apparently in talks with Apple and Microsoft to bring the software to iOS and Windows Phone.

Facebooks’s director of product, Adam Mosseri, spoke with Bloomberg today about these talks. “We’ve shown them what we’ve built and we’re just in an ongoing conversation,” he said, making sure no one thinks anything is a done deal.

If you’ve ever been disappointed with the YouTube for iOS app’s inability to tune into Live streams, then we’ve got some great news for you today.

Google just released version 1.3 of YouTube for iOS, and along with some stability and performance improvements, the app now gives users the ability to view Live streams inside the app. There’s also a new Queue feature that will let you add a bunch of videos to a list to watch later, along with some UI improvements to give users quicker access to their My Subscriptions feed.

The free update is available in the App Store now.

Source: iTunes

While companies like Samsung have been busy making mega-huge smartphones with gigantic screens, Apple’s aim has been to keep the physical footprint of the iPhone the same while adding better features, like the iPhone 5’s 4-inch display.

If Apple wants to make an iPhone with a 4.5-inch screen though, it’s going to come with some big changes. However, Ran Avni has created an iPhone 6 concept that gives big display fans the 4.5-inch screen they dream of, without making the device bigger. To achieve the thinner, smaller design all Apple would have to do is ditch the home button.

Here’s a video of the concept:

Have you ever wanted to build your own iOS apps but have no coding experience whatsoever?

That’s not a problem with this easy-to-follow video course – a course that you can take on your iPad, meaning you’ve got access both anytime and anywhere. In this course you’ll learn how to create apps using the same tools and techniques used to make the top apps in the App Store. And you’ll be able to learn this thanks to Udemy and Cult of Mac Deals for only $29!

Microsoft is designing a new smartwatch that could allow it to compete with upcoming devices from the likes of Apple, Google, and Samsung, The Wall Street Journal reports. The company has already asked suppliers in Asia to ship components for the device, which will reportedly boast a “touch-enabled” display.

Looking for a toy that is both fun, creepy, and lets you use your cherished iOS devices all at the same time? Then this Cult of Mac Deals offer will be right up your alley.

This little robotic bug looks and moves just like a real insect, but is completely controlled by your iOS device. That’s right – you can control this creepy crawler with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod – and we’ve got it at a 27% discount for a limited time. Thanks to Cult of Mac Deals you can get this tiny tech toy for only $29!

Apple could introduce a redesigned backlighting system to the fifth-generation iPad to help make the device thinner and lighter, according to NDP DisplaySearch. The Cupertino company will have to make significant changes if it is to bring the iPad mini’s sleek and slim form factor to its bigger brother, and this is one of the areas in which it could reduce bulk.

Nuff said.

Source: Twitter