Right now, the easiest way to write messages on Apple Watch is using voice control or Apple’s recommended responses. But one intrepid developer wants to go back to the past by adding a keyboard to Apple’s wearable device.
His app, Shift Keyboard, just launched in the App Store. Developer Adam Foot spoke with Cult of Mac to try and sell us on the idea.
The just-announced LG G8 ThinQ packs a forward-facing sensor that allows users to control some of the phone’s functions with hand gestures, with no need to touch the screen.
The sensors used by the iPhone for Face ID should be able to duplicate this functionality. And that, in turn could simplify use of the device.
There are less than 100 days until WWDC 2019 and new iPad features are looming large on the mind of Apple fans.
In a new iOS 13 mockup, concept designer Léo Valle suggests some simple, yet groundbreaking features that would make the iPad a true Mac replacement. Some of these features probably won’t make the cut on iOS 13 this year, but even if one makes it’d be a game-changer.
Picaso Lab hand makes a professional-looking leather sleeve that goes around both the latest 12.9-inch iPad Pro and the Smart Folio Keyboard. It offers much more protection to the tablet than just Apple’s keyboard case. And this sleeve looks far better than Apple’s folio.
Read on for our full review of this great-looking protective cover.
Next week at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, LG looks set to unveil a revolutionary new smartphone with gesture controls. In a brief teaser video, the South Korean tech giant boldly promises the end of multi-touch — the way we’ve all been interacting with smartphones ever since the iPhone launched in 2007.
A gesture sensor could pick up hand movements in front of the device, rather than requiring physical interaction with the screen itself. So, for example, you could point at a button from a distance, rather than actually needing to tap the glass screen to select it.
In reality, I doubt that gestures will replace multi-touch anytime soon. However, I do think Apple could make intelligent use of this new tech. It could replace 3D Touch (which Apple looks set to scrap), and it could serve as a clever way to finally bring multi-touch to the Mac.
Samsung showed off its foldable smartphone this week, and while it’s clearly a first-generation model, it’s got a lot of people excited. Foldable phones have the potential to combine our phones and tablets in a way that offers a big display and a pocket-size form factor, all in one.
What would a foldable iPhone look like? With help from industrial designer Roy Gilsing, the folks over at Foldable.News have taken a swing at showing us.
This week on The CultCast: a totally new 16” MacBook Pro; a new 6K cinema display; new Mac Pro; new AirPods; new iPads and iPhones; even a new iPod Touch… according to a new report, Apple’s about to make huge updates to their ENTIRE product line. This could be one of the best hardware releases in years.
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Yes, the radio.
Some phones, and some old iPods — the clip-on Nano, for example — have real radio receivers built in. They can pick up over-the-air AM and FM waves, and play them, just like you were in a car from the olden days. The iPhone and iPad, though, have never had working radio tuners. But thanks to internet streaming, it doesn’t matter. You can listen to live radio anywhere, using an app.
Today we’ll see one super-simple app that works a lot like an old radio, and another app that I don’t really like, but that does pretty much anything you could want in a radio-streaming app.
After messing around with the amazing Hyperspektiv app earlier this week, I thought it would be a great way to make music videos. Hyperspektiv glitches your videos and Live Photos, giving them incredible special effects. All you need to do is arrange the resulting clips, and add music.
You can do this in any video-editing app on your iPhone or iPad — iMovie for instance. But that requires lot of manual work to get the music synced up with the video clips. After a little searching, I found Quik, a video app from GoPro. It’s not ideal — it likes to upload your videos to its servers with little warning — but it also has one essential feature: Quik analyses any music you add, and automatically syncs the video clips to the beat.
Apple built its world-dominating status by being brave. Not only did it create hit products, but it never worried about “cannibalizing” existing products to make way for the future.
Will that same strategy hold true at a time when Apple’s dominance is faltering? If the company is going to thrive through the next wave of tech, it’s going to take a whole lot of Dutch Cupertino courage.
Samsung put Apple and the rest of the tech industry on notice today during its massive Unpacked event.
During the biggest tech event of 2019 so far, Samsung unveiled a slew of new smartphones, wearables, earbuds and more. Even though Samsung has a rep for copying Apple — and there was certainly a lot of that at Unpacked — the company is setting the tone for the rest of the industry. Samsung even leapfrogged Apple’s products in some ways.
Here are six things Apple should take note of.
This tip is exhibit A in the case for Apple being really, really good at hiding features. I imagine if you went around to Apple’s house for dinner, and the company asked you to set the table, you’d have some real trouble finding the cutlery. Maybe you’d open the cutlery drawer and see only the spoons. Then you’d open the drawer below, expecting that Apple had just set things out differently, as usual.
But in that second drawer you’d find nothing but fruit. WTF Apple? And then you’d notice that the top drawer is a little thicker than it appears when open. You try the top drawer again. This time you see that if you press down on one of the wooden spoons, the others move aside — animated a little too slowly — to reveal the knives and spoons. But where the hell are the forks?
Back to today’s tip. It’s a combination of two tricks you may already know:
What do you think today’s tip might be?
Hyperspektiv is a contradiction. Photo-editing apps are designed to make your photos look better by making them look nicer. Hyperspektiv is designed to make your photos look better by making them look worse.
Not only that, it’s one of a handful of photo apps that don’t try to mimic the limitations of film photography, like grain and light leaks. Instead, it ditches the nostalgia and uses truly digital means to glitch up your images, turning them into stills and videos that would look fantastic in a music video.
Steve Jobs may have been referenced in a hip-hop track or two, but Apple’s co-founder and urban fashion aren’t exactly things you’d expect to find together.
That did not stop rap T-shirt designer Marino Morwood from picking Jobs as the subject of his latest creation. Having focused stars like Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. for his previous designs, his Steve Jobs T-shirt could bring Apple’s late CEO to a whole new audience!
The Apple Pencil 2 is way better than version 1.0. It’s always charged. It’s always there on the side of your iPad, ready to use. And now that it supports tap gestures, it’s also a lot more powerful. But it doesn’t stop there.
Check out these excellent Apple Pencil 2 tips and tricks to take your Apple stylus usage to the next level.
A week or so back, I took a long trip, and I figured I’d make some music on the journey. I wanted an app that would be simple to use, but powerful enough to get some real expression into these musical sketches. Plus, I wanted something called parameter locks, which I’ll explain below.
I quickly narrowed in on Triqtraq. It’s not a new app, but it’s so good you should check it out ASAP.
Anyone who choked at the $99 pricetag on the Apple Smart Folio cover for the latest iPad Pro should consider EasyAcc’s rival. This is slim and light, and costs less than half what Apple’s does.
We put this budget folio case through weeks of daily use and bring you our findings.
Up until recently, the only way to get 1080p YouTube videos on the iPad was to use the YouTube app. Now, and possibly for a limited time (knowing YouTube’s fickle support of features), you can view full 1080p video in Mobile Safari on your iPad.
It looks amazing on the 2018 13-inch iPad Pro screen, and it’s one tap away on every YouTube page.
2018 was a great year for Apple devices, but 2019 could be even better, if a new report is to be believed. Issued over the weekend by noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, his research note runs down some of his hardware expectations for the coming year.
From redesigned MacBooks to Apple’s best-ever desktop display, this could be a year to remember. Heck, there’s even a new iPod in the cards, according to Kuo!
If I was still a stoner student, and I liked to “smoke out” and stare at something other than wildlife documentaries for hours on end, I’d be letting my baked brain cruise the world using the Apple TV’s Aerial screen savers. Or perhaps not. As a mind-expanding student, I probably would’ve spent all my cash on munchies, and not have anything left for the comparatively expensive Apple TV.
The Apple TV’s Aerials are great. But did you know that you don’t have to just sit back, spark up and stare? You actually have some control over them, unlike a weed-smoker’s control over their appetite.
Dina Alfasi is like most commuters. As soon as she finds a seat on the train or bus, she pulls out her iPhone.
Alfasi may look like she is catching up with emails, streaming music or reading the news. Instead, Alfasi is making a discreet photograph of the person across from her.
Have you ever felt sick and thought to yourself, “I should diagnose myself based on a web search,” later wishing you’d sought a professional instead? How about taking on an extensive home-improvement project, only to call in a contractor after struggling to make any real progress?
Getting in shape or losing weight shouldn’t be something you are stuck doing on your own, either. That’s where a personal trainer comes in.
This week on The CultCast: It’s all but confirmed — Apple’s holding a March media event to make some special announcements. We’ll tell you what we know. Plus: Apple’s all-time best-selling products may surprise you. And is it worth buying a 2018 MacBook Pro, or should you wait? We’ll tell you what we think.
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Apple’s March 25 media event will be dedicated to services — and that will include the first glimpses of video content from Apple’s original TV series.
While we’ll get a look at some video clips, however, customers shouldn’t expect the series to debut immediately after the event.
Apple has added a shortcut to the latest versions of iOS 12 to make managing app subscriptions easier. Previously, you had to dig deep into your Apple ID settings to find the control panel for your subs. Now, it’s just a couple of taps away. On the surface, this looks like a simple tweak to make things easier for the user, but it’s more than that.
By making subscriptions easier for the user to cancel, it’s also making it more likely that people will sign up for them in the first place. That’s good for users, for developers, and for quality apps in general.