Mobile menu toggle

4 quick ways to speed up a slow iPhone

By

If your iPhone feels a little sluggish, here are 4 easy tips to help speed it up again!
If your iPhone feels a little sluggish, here are 4 easy tips to help speed it up again!
Photo: Ally Kazmucha/The App Factor

app-factor-logo-thumbnailIs your iPhone slow? Whether you’ve just updated iOS or you’ve been experiencing performance issues for a while, there are several things you can do to get things humming again. Regardless why your iPhone is slow, here are my top four tips to help you speed it up again.

Googlebot ditches iPhone disguise to become an Android

By

googlebot-ditches-iphone-disguise-to-become-an-android-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201602Galaxy-S6-edge-iPhone-6s-jpg
iPhone Android Samsung
See ya, Safari! Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android

Googlebot, the giant webcrawler that Google uses to scan webpages and update its index, is ditching its iPhone disguise to become an Android.

Rather ironically, the tool has been masquerading as an Apple device running iOS 8.3 for years, but it will soon become a Nexus 5X running Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow to become more efficient.

Malware uses Apple’s FairPlay DRM to attack iOS users

By

hack
143 million customers in the U.S. may have been impacted by the attack.
Photo: Colin / Wikimedia Commons

Researchers have just discovered a new malware threat for iOS devices that uses Apple’s own FairPlay DRM system as a delivery vector.

Dubbed “AceDeciever” by the researchers, the malware in question can technically infect any type of iOS device, jailbroken or not, if a user downloads a third-party app.

Pro-Apple protesters plan to swarm courthouse outside FBI hearing

By

data privacy
Protesters in San Francisco line up with pro-privacy signs outside the downtown Apple Store in 2016.
Photo: Traci Dauphin/Cult of Mac

The FBI will be greeted by protestors when it faces off against Apple at the U.S. District Courthouse in Riverside, CA on March 22nd.

Fight for the Future — the same group that rallied at Apple Stores across the country last month — is organizing another protest against the FBI’s federal court order compelling Apple to weaken security in iOS so the government can hack the San Bernardino terrorist’s iPhone 5c.

LastPass aims to make two-factor authentication less annoying

By

Use LastPass with even fewer actual codes.
Use LastPass with even fewer actual codes.
Photo: LastPass
Making two-factor authentication a little simpler. Photo: LastPass
Making two-factor authentication a little simpler. Photo: LastPass

Two-factor authentication is super secure, but incredibly annoying when you’re in a hurry. LastPass, one of the front-runners in password managers on desktop and mobile, might have the solution with a new mobile app that will simplify the login process to LastPass, which can then manage your many web accounts with ease.

Instead of entering a passcode to get into LastPass, you can have its new mobile Authenticator app send a simple verify button that will let you sign in with one tap. Here’s a quick video to see how it works.

Tiny chip could give iPhone 7 Plus more storage than ever

By

Sneeze and it's gone: iPhone 7 may be super-duper thin.
iPhone 7 Plus will pack tons of storage despite being super thin.
Photo: Yasser Farahi

The iPhone 7 Plus may boast more storage than any smartphone Apple’s ever created, if the company uses a tiny new chip by SanDisk that packs 256GB of flash storage.

Photos of the new chip destined for smartphones surfaced on an Italian tech blog comparing them to the old 64GB NAND flash chip SanDisk made for Apple in the past.

Check out how little the new chip is next to the old 64GB model:

Yeelight is smart, colorful and perfect for reading [Reviews]

By

Colorful as all heck with brightness controls that actually work for reading.
Colorful as all heck with brightness controls that actually work for reading.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Best List: Yeelight by ipegtop

Most smartbulbs I’ve tried only let me use my iPhone to change the color of the bulb and to turn it off and on. I’ve never found one bright enough to read by, either, making me wonder if it’s even possible with the current technology.

The Yeelight is my answer: It’s a fantastic, app-controlled, touch-enabled smartlamp that’s colorful enough to set a fun mood while also being bright enough to use for my before-bed reading ritual.

Bottom line, this one’s a winner.

Here’s an app to keep your hard drive humming and healthy [Deals]

By

Drive Genius 4 is used by Apple Store geniuses to  diagnose and address hard drive issues.
Drive Genius 4 is used by Apple Store geniuses to diagnose and address hard drive issues.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

If your hard drive takes a dive, it takes your computer along with it. Drive Genius 4 is an ideal and easy way to make sure your hard is running at peak performance, spotting potential problems early and even bringing it back from the dead in the event of a crash. Today you can get it for just $39.99.

Ex-Google boss slaps medical grade EKG onto Apple Watch

By

kardia_band.0
Calling this a killer app isn't really appropriate.
Photo: AliveCor

AliveCor, the groundbreaking medical tech company which makes an iPhone case for predicting strokes, is embracing the world of the Apple Watch.

The company’s forthcoming Kardia Band is an Apple Watch accessory which will augment the wearable’s existing heart monitor with the addition of an FDA-approved, voice-activated electrocardiogram that can analyze your heart rate and email it directly to your physician.

Everything Apple will announce at its March 21 keynote

By

iPhone SE will be the star of Apple's March 21 keynote.
iPhone SE will be the star of Apple's March 21 keynote.
Photo: Martin Hajek

The invites are out and the rumors are in. Apple’s first event of 2016 is going down March 21, when the company will loop fans in on some shiny new products coming soon to Apple Stores.

Apple is expected to introduce a new 4-inch iPhone aimed at budget customers and people who want to be able to hold their smartphone with one hand, but a new 9.7-inch iPad that’s every bit as impressive as the iPad Pro could steal the show (along with some other new goodies).

Here’s what to expect from Apple’s big event.

iPhone 7’s redesigned antenna band revealed in leaked photo

By

iPhone-7
Is this Apple's next-gen iPhone?
Photo: CNBeta

The iPhone’s prominent (and, dare we say it, somewhat ugly)  antenna bands have been a staple of Apple’s handsets for a few years now. However, a new photo — allegedly leaked by Apple device maker Foxconn — shows off Cupertino’s more minimal approach with the upcoming iPhone 7.

What do you think?

Apple says it ‘pays every cent’ it owes in E.U. tax

By

Apple raked in the cash last quarter.
Apple claims it doesn't receive favorable tax deals in Ireland.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple has spoken up about the European Union investigation into its Irish tax affairs, telling a panel of E.U. investigators that it pays “every cent of tax” it owes in the country, and that it gets no advantage whatsoever compared with other companies.

Instagram thinks it knows which pictures you want to see

By

iPhone home screen instagram facebook twitter by LoboStudioHamburg
Instagram is getting even cozier with Twitter and Facebook.
Photo: LoboStudioHamburg/Pixabay. Licensed under CC0 1.0

The latest Internet outrage upon us: Instagram is killing chronological order.

The photo-sharing platform announced the change today in a blog post and says that the update will let you users “see the moments they care about first.” Reaction to the news is predictably negative, considering that time has served us well as a measurement of change so far, and users don’t see any compelling reason to change that now.

Ive says Apple Watch is a fashion system, not a product

By

Apple Watch is a killer device, even without a
Apple Watch is a killer device, even without a "killer app."
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple Watch was never designed to be a singular product, according to Jony Ive, but a whole fashionable system in its own right. Not just in a functional sense, either, as part of an Apple tech ecosystem.

In an interview with Mashable’s Christina Warren, Ive points out the form that enriches the Apple Watch function.

“I think we found that by being able to change the strap,” said Ive, “not just change the color but the design — and the designs change profoundly — that we could start to introduce a new look in combination with different watch faces and user interfaces.”

Apple accuses FBI of using All Writs Act like ‘magic wand’

By

Bruce Sewell
Apple's legal team has lobbed its latest response at FBI.
Photo: House Committee on the Judiciary Hearings

Apple general counsel Bruce Sewell said the FBI threw “all decorum to the winds” in its latest federal court filing, but in the company’s official response today it has vowed it does not “intend to response in kind.”

The iPhone-maker says in its latest filing that the FBI’s claim that it exhausted all viable investigative alternatives is false because it improperly reset the iCloud password before consulting Apple. The company also admits that it didn’t take a public stance on privacy and encryption until the release of iOS 8.

Google is pushing to encrypt more of its services

By

google-is-pushing-to-encrypt-more-of-its-services-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201511star-wars-humour-the-droids-were-looking-for-stormtroopers-use-google-search-jpg
Google is finding increasingly effective ways to keep its data secure.
Photo: David J. Roger

The latest Google Transparency Report shows that since January 23, 77 percent of all requests to its servers have used encrypted connections.

The numbers on the new report are current as of February 27, and the company says it’s “working hard” to achieve full encryption across all of its services.

14 weird and wonderful gowns from Apple’s fashion exhibit

By

This 3D printed dress will be part of Apple's Manus x Machina exhibition.
This 3D printed dress will be part of Apple's Manus x Machina exhibition.
Photo: Nicholas Alan Cope/The Met

Apple’s upcoming fashion exhibition at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art is set to open in May, but if you can’t make it to the Big Apple to see which designer pieces Jony Ive and Co. hand-picked as examples for how technological advancements have altered fashion, the museum has given a sneak peek at some of the weird and wonderful gowns that will be on display.

The exhibit will feature over 100 pieces made from the 1880’s up to 2015, including gowns from icons like Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld, Christian Dior, Miuccia Prada, Yves Saint Laurent, and more.

Take a look at some of the pieces coming to the Manus x Machina exhibit:

Ex-NSA lawyer uses tacky metaphor to slam Apple

By

iPhone rain by Dariusz-Sankowski
Ex-NSA counsel Stewart Baker rained on Apple at SXSW this week.
Photo: Dariusz Sanksowski/Pixabay. Licensed via CC0 1.0.

Commentary on the encryption battle between Apple and the U.S. government might have received its strangest metaphor yet.

Stewart Baker, who used to serve as a counsel for the National Security Agency, appeared on a panel at the South by Southwest Interactive festival in Austin this week. During the discussion, he said that Apple’s current, outspoken position in favor of privacy is a recent development and compared it to the sort of PR-driven whitewashing that Hollywood studios have used to promote actresses as “innocent” and “pure.”

“Who remembers Tim Cook before he was a virgin?” Baker said, paraphrasing composer Oscar Levant’s barb at ’60s everygirl Doris Day.

It got a little less polite from there.

How to view your Google Drive files faster with Launch Center Pro

By

Want even faster access to your most-used Google Drive files? Let Launch Center Pro do the heavy lifting!
Want even faster access to your most-used Google Drive files? Let Launch Center Pro do the heavy lifting!
Photo: Ally Kazmucha/The App Factor

app-factor-logo-thumbnail Launch Center Pro has solved many workflow problems for me over the years. Most recently it’s been an immense time-saver when it comes to accessing Google Drive files I need often. While the Google Drive app itself is decent enough, it only acts as a hub to Google’s other apps, which is somewhat annoying.

That’s why I started using Launch Center Pro to speed up the process. Here’s how you can, too.

SmartDraw finally makes it to Mac (via the cloud)

By

SmartDraw Cloud brings the popular Windows-based diagramming app to all devices, any time.
SmartDraw Cloud brings the popular Windows-based diagramming app to all devices, any time.
Photo: SmartDraw Software

This post is brought to you by SmartDraw Software.

Plenty of jobs nowadays involve creating visual aids for clients, bosses and co-workers, from project flowcharts and building schematics to medical diagrams, you name it. But getting a BA typically doesn’t teach digital draftsmanship, which is why apps that make it easy to create compelling, clear graphics and illustrations have become so popular.

SmartDraw is an intuitive, powerful and fun app that’s become a contender against the big legacy software brands. More than half of the Fortune 500 and over 250,000 public and private enterprises of all sizes use SmartDraw now. But until today, SmartDraw has been available only on Windows machines. That changes with the release of SmartDraw Cloud, which lets Mac users get in on the action.

Woz reveals formative moment that turned him into a geek

By

wozniak
Woz has the magic touch with computers.
Photo: Reddit

Before Steve Wozniak co-founded Apple Computers, he was just a super-nerdy kid who loved to operate HAM radios. In a new video interview detailing the most formative moments in his totally geeky life, Woz explains how he went from tinkering with electronics to teaching himself binary by 5th grade, and then made a machine that played tic-tac-toe in 6th grade.

Woz eventually got so good with machines that he could design a mini-computer in two days. Those skills led to his creation of the Apple II computer, which put his and Steve Jobs’ fledgling company on the map.

Watch as Woz recounts his childhood obsession with computers, during the humble beginnings of Silicon Valley, below:

New Android app design guidelines ripped from iOS playbook

By

More of your Android apps are going to look like this.
More of your Android apps are going to look like this.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
More of your Android apps are going to look like this. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
More of your Android apps are going to look like this. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Your Android apps are going to get an iOS-style makeover soon, thanks to new design guidelines from Google.

Mostly concerned with the bottom of Android apps, Google is looking to have its developers place a bar across the bottom of their apps that will let users navigate between different sections of the app, just like iOS currently does.