One of the coolest features of the new Apple TV is its absolutely stunning new screensavers, which fly you through some of the most gorgeous locations in the world.
Apple hasn’t announced any plans to bring the screensavers over to the Mac yet, but they’re such a perfect fit that developer John Coates created a new Swift app that lets anyone get the beautiful backdrops on their desktop.
Here’s how to do it:
My kids are constantly breaking their earbuds. Whether a pair of Apple’s pack-in EarPods or a $40 pair of neon green ‘buds from Best Buy, anything they use ends up with frayed and broken wires.
These ruggedized earbuds from GOgroove, however, withstood both teens — and I’m still able to use them. Plus? They sound really great for the price.
It’s hard to resist the allure of a fancy Apple Watch stand, especially if you want to take advantage of watchOS 2’s awesome Nightstand Mode. Sena’s Travel Case and Stand is one such premium accessory, and how useful it’ll be to you depends on what kind of relationship you have with your smartwatch.
It looks great, and it’s definitely high-quality. And while it does solve a couple major issues I’ve been having with my Apple Watch, it offers solutions for some other ones I can’t imagine ever confronting.
I’m a big fan of getting instructions off the internet: recipes, directions on car maintenance, or video game walkthroughs, for example. The problem is that you need to be online to view them.
Now in iOS 9, however, there’s a way to save web pages to a handy, offline-friendly PDF file. The next time you’re flying on an airplane and trying to get through Broken Age with a walkthrough, you’ll be in luck.
Here’s how to convert any webpage in iOS 9’s mobile Safari to a PDF and then read it in (or send it from) iBooks.
If you want Siri to tell you everything there is to know about music you might need an Apple Music subscription to get the right answers.
The three-month trial period for Apple Music has finally ended, and it appears that not signing up for the monthly service may cost you a bit of Siri functionality.
After six months of trying to log my runs with my Apple Watch, I finally gave up and bought a dedicated GPS running watch.
There’s a lot to like about Apple’s new wearable. The Activity app, for example, is brilliant at helping people lose weight. But the truth is, as a running watch, it sucks.
Is merging iOS with OS X a good idea? For the longest time, the answer to that question has been a resounding no from anyone who appreciates good software — but with iPad Pro on the horizon, there may well be a growing case for it.
The iPad Pro has the potential to be the ultimate 2-in-1 — a laptop that could really replace a notebook when you need to get stuff done. But in many ways, it’s being held back by iOS, which is still very much a mobile platform without many of the basics we have on our desktops — like a file manager.
So, is there now room for a new platform that delivers the best of iOS and OS X, perfectly suited to a tablet that doubles as a notebook?
Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we battle it out over that very question!
When a Klingon says bortaS bir jablu’DI’reH QaQqu’ nay,’ it’s not good. It means “Revenge is a dish best served cold” and what is likely to follow is some sort of death blow.
So when Edward Brawer, the developer of the dock replacement software uBar, had pirates of his Mac app in sight, he set his phaser to amusement. Users who ripped him off soon saw the titles on apps and folders switched to the Klingon language.
If Cupertino is looking for some ideas for its next wearable, this slick Apple Watch 2 concept would be a good place to start.
The mock-up comes from designer Eric Huismann, and he has some cool ideas for how the future of Apple’s smartwatches could look and behave. Along with some nice cosmetic changes, Huismann’s version of the device also boasts some of the features that didn’t make it into the first wave.
You’re probably excited about all of the fun new emoji characters that you just got in iOS 9.1, but one of the new additions won’t show up on any of your keyboards.
The “Left Speech Bubble” emoji isn’t part of the official canon yet, but Apple went ahead and added it, anyway. Here’s what it looks like and how to add it to your pictorial lexicon.
Apple’s new “Eye in Speech Bubble” emoji has mystified us ever since it was first discovered last month, but now that iOS 9.1 is out to the public, we finally know the full story (and meaning) behind the odd new pictogram.
My wife is a voracious reader. And a bit of a hoarder.
So I tried to convince her to start reading ebooks on her iPad mini, instead of constantly bringing home new books from the book store. But it was not an easy transition. Partly because she loves to support our local bookstores and partly because she didn’t love the reading experience on the iPad.
Into the house comes a Paperwhite and all that changed.
iPhones are pretty tough things, but despite all the Gorilla Glass and engineering magic Apple can throw at them, they’re still susceptible to broken screens when dropped.
That could change in future iPhone models, with a newly-published patent application describing an automated mechanism for protecting the iPhone display with a method straight out of James Bond.
Instagram’s new app Boomerang lets users create one-second videos of everyday moments, then share them to Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.
The new app is a lot like the new Live Photos feature Apple introduced on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. Boomerang takes a burst of five photos, stitches them together into a mini-video, then plays the clip in forward and then reverse — you know, just like a boomerang!
Here’s how it works:
Remember in grade school when you learned what the middle finger meant? Twitter was kind of like that Thursday morning as giggly and astonished people reported their discovery of a middle-finger emoji in their iOS update.
This is not new news. We knew the finger would fly when the iOS update was announced earlier. Maybe it got lost in the excitement of finally getting a taco emoji. Who knows. But the tweets about the bird were refreshing 20 and 30 at a time every few seconds this morning.
To most taking to social media, the middle finger feels naughty and delicious.
If you’re even slightly interested in having smart lighting for your house, the new Philips Hue bridge, which supports Apple’s HomeKit automated-home framework, should be in your shopping cart right now.
Controlling your lights from your phone is one level of crazy future-stuff, but doing it with your voice drops you into an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. And you definitely want your home to feel like an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
This week’s update to iOS 9.1 did more than just squash some bugs and tweak the Shift key. It also added a ton of new emojis to your built-in keyboard. If you want to put a number on it, iOS 9.1 adds 184 new, tiny pictures to spice up your text messages.
It may be hard to keep track of which ones are new, so we gathered up the newcomers for your convenience — along with where to find them.
Google revealed that it’s getting into the subscription video streaming game today with the introduction of YouTube Red.
The new $9.99-per-month service will give customers ad-free access to all of YouTube’s content, but the company plans to charge customers extra if they sign up through iOS.
I go through phases of different cases that I like to style my iPhone with. Back in the day I used to like clear cases just to show off the fact that I have an iPhone at all, but lately I’ve been really digging leather. That’s why I was particularly excited to try out the new Access Case 2 from Nodus, but it’s more than just good looks. It works as a compact wallet and dock for your phone as well. Yes, an actual dock.
The first big updates for iOS 9 and El Capitan were released by Apple this morning, but the company has some smaller updates for the Apple Watch and Apple TV 4, too.
The GM for tvOS was seeded today to developers who already got their hands on the early release Apple TV 4 units. That software will be the final version the new set-top box ships with next week. Apple Watch owners also received an update in the form of watchOS 2.0.1.
The Apple Watch update contains the following fixes:
The first big update for OS X El Capitan has been released to the public today after months of beta testing of its new features and improvements.
OS X 10.11.1 brings more than 150 new emoji characters to the Mac, along with improved compatibility with Microsoft Office 2016, better VoiceOver reliability and numerous other bug fixes. The update can be now loaded through the Mac App Store or via the Software Update option in the Apple menu.
Here’s a full list of the improvements:
A ton of new emoji land on iOS devices today with the public launch of iOS 9.1.
Apple released iOS 9.1 this morning to users after five beta builds of the first big iOS 9 update were tested by developers. Among the new features: dozens of new emoji for everything from tacos, burritos, unicorns — and even a middle finger.
iOS users currently running iOS 9.0.2 can grab the new software via an over-the-air update or download it directly from iTunes.
Here’s everything that’s new in the update:
Jony Ive sure hates rival companies ripping off the iPhone for their latest flagship handset design. Which is why we’d respectfully suggest that Jony doesn’t click the link below, unless he wants to ruin his Wednesday before it even starts.
From the curved edges and color options to the prominent antenna lines, all that’s missing is the Apple stamp of quality. And Jony’s permission, of course.
Where can you buy weed legally? What kind of marijuana is best for you? What are the laws concerning pot use in your neck of the woods? Potent new marijuana apps make it easy to answer all your sticky weed questions.
We’ve harvested the best marijuana apps so you don’t have to pick through the seeds and stems yourself.
Maybe there aren’t a ton of new features in iOS 9, but you may find yourself getting tighter with Siri.
Siri is out to earn the title of “Best Assistant” with a series of new tricks aimed at making your life easier.
You no longer have to set a time for Siri to remind you to do tasks. You will automatically get reminders once you arrive or leave a location. No time to read an email or an interesting article? Ask her to remind you later and she will do so.
Siri can call up any photo you like based on a location or timestamp. She can also give you sports scores without directing you to a website, can convert measurements and, if you have a shiny new iPhone 6s, there is no need to press the home button to summon her. Just say, “Hey Siri.”
To see how Siri worked for me, check out the video below.