Surprise, surprise! Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android
Four out of the five most popular gadgets on Facebook are Apple devices, according to the social network’s new Preferred Audience tool. Unsurprisingly, the iPhone tops the list with more than four times as much interest as fourth-placed Samsung Galaxy.
Everyday photographers are part of Apple's new ad campaign. Photo: Kate Schermerhorn
Apple is bringing back its popular ‘Shot on iPhone’ advertising campaign that won several awards in 2015, only this year instead of using pictures of scenic landscapes and city life, the company is changing the focus by using only portrait photos.
Seven must-have iOS apps for the frequent traveler. Photo: Ally Kazmucha/The App Factor
Traveling abroad, especially for the first time, can be overwhelming. From figuring out transit systems to finding places to say, there’s a lot to consider. That’s why over the past several years, I’ve come to rely on a handful of choice apps to help me travel better, smarter, and cheaper.
International or not, these are the travel apps for iPhone and iPad I never leave home without:
Attach the iHere 3.0 Tracking Device to whatever it is you lose most often, and find it immediately with a simple mobile app. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
As much as technology has become a ‘bicycle for the brain’, somehow the part of it that remembers where we put our wallet doesn’t get much exercise. Thankfully technology can help us with that too, from showing us where we left our keys, our car, even our pet if they run away. We’ve gathered a handful of the best tracking tech out there, and all for a fraction the usual price.
You don't need expensive equipment to record your guitar, an iPhone or iPad will do just fine. Photo: Lee Peterson/The App Factor
As someone who plays guitar and records my own music, I’ve been really keen on trying to record an EP using iOS only. I’ve done it on a Mac before, but since the introduction of the iPad I’ve been wanting to record on a touch interface. I’ve used an iPad mini, and it worked well, but with the introduction of the iPad Pro, I wanted to give it another go. Here’s what I’ve learned so far.
Apple is reportedly testing dual-lens cameras from three different companies. Photo: Computerbild.de
This week on The CultCast: A souped-up iPad Air 3 coming in March; “iPhone 5se” would be a terrible name for a 4-inch iPhone; the iPhone 7 Plus PLUS is for those who demand only the best mobile camera; and why Apple is pumping the brakes on their electric car.
Our thanks for supporting this episode goes to FreshBooks, the easy-to-use invoicing software designed to help small business owners get organized, save time invoicing and get paid faster. Get started with a free trial at Freshbooks.com/cultcast.
The Health app can become a dashboard for your body, offering all your key stats at a glance. Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac
Despite its heart-shaped icon, Health is an unloved app. It tends to gets relegated to a junk folder, along with other un-deletable Apple cruft, like the Stocks app.
But when you get past its garish colors and clunky user interface, Apple’s Health app turns out to be genuinely useful — if you customize the dashboard to match your personal fitness goals.
Don't Just delete an app, get rid of all its digital baggage too to free up valuable space on your Mac. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Another day, another batch of new ways to trick out your Mac. From fully removing deleted apps and all their digital detritus, to creating timelapses, recording screen activity and more, we’ve found some of the coolest enhancements for your Mac. And all of them are under $25.
Rumors, leaks, gear, and so much more. Cover Design: Stephen Smith/Cult of Mac
There are so many new leaks and rumors about upcoming Apple gear, we’re awash in joyful speculation. There’s the new iPhone 7 just for photographers, new iPad Air 3 details, and some hidden iPad Pro firmware features, just for starters.
Add to that some fine new how-tos, some great app roundups and a look at Apple’s biggest financial quarter yet, and you’ve got a fantastic digital magazine ready for downloading right now.
Maps hasn't been as helpful as it should be for some searches. Photo: Apple
Apple is finally correcting an issue with Siri that it has known about since at least 2011.
The problem has appeared when users ask the virtual assistant to show nearby facilities that offer abortion services. For years, the results have directed people toward adoption centers, which is kind of the opposite of what they were looking for.
Apple says it’s made improvements to the search algorithm since it first identified the problem, but some users are still getting the undesired suggestions.
Find out when your Mac is looking at your location data. Photo: Apple
As our digital lives converge across mobile and desktop devices like our iPhones and Macbooks, we rely on them knowing where we are at any given time. Safari suggestions, for example, count on knowing your location, as do any Maps searches or such.
You might want to know when your Location data is being used, however, for privacy reason. If you enable the Location Services menu bar, you’ll be able to see when any app is accessing your private location data, making it more possible to lock down any sources you don’t want using it.
The day I don't want to help a cute robot is the day I stop living. Photo: Studio Baikin
If you can look Atomi‘s super-cute robot hero in his single, perfectly round eye and say that you don’t want to help him get home, then you may be a monster. I’m sorry you had to hear it from me.
Atomi needs to gather atoms to repair his busted spaceship, but he has a few things in his way. Specifically, he can’t climb or jump, and some of those things he needs are on very tall platforms. But that’s where you come in. And the time you spend getting the little ‘bot where he needs to be is both fun and charming as it sounds.
This enlarged portrait shows a difference in quality from the iPhone 5s, left, and a dual-camera system created by LinX Imaging. Photo: LinX Imaging
If the pictures “Shot on the iPhone 6” were impressive, a dual-camera iPhone 7 could have the photography world again licking its chops.
Just how much further the technical quality could go with smartphone images is a future found in the work of an Israeli company called LinX Imaging, which happened to get purchased by Apple last year.
LivePapers lets you transform any of your photos into Live Wallpapers on iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. Photo: Ally Kazmucha/The App Factor
The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus come with the option to make any Live Photo you take a Live Wallaper on your iPhone’s Lock screen. However, if you have still images in your Camera Roll you’d like to make live, here’s how to turn any photo into a Live Wallpaper on iPhone:
The Garden Bridge, brought to you by Apple? Photo: Garden Bridge Trust
London Mayor Boris Johnson asked Apple to help him build the city’s controversial Garden Bridge, according to a report that reveals the politician flew to Cupertino in February of 2013 to pitch the company on becoming the project’s corporate sponsor.
Apple executives met with the mayor to hear about the ambitious pedestrian bridge project that will stretch across the River Thames. Also present in the meeting was British architect Thomas Heatherwick who designed the Garden Bridge.
Instead, the company is said to be developing a long-range alternative that means you won’t need to place your iPhone down on a special charging pad. But is this really necessary? Will the technology be worth waiting for, or should Apple just deliver wireless charging already?
Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we fight to the death over this very topic. It promises to be… electrifying.
Apple's diving into virtual reality. Photo: Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Apple isn’t sitting idly on the sidelines when it comes to Virtual Reality.
The company hasn’t shown much interest in entering the VR market to take on Facebook, Sony, Google, HTC, and Samsung, but according to a new report, Apple has secretly formed a huge team of experts that are exploring product ideas.
Cook says that Apple is no tax dodger. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple soothsayers have been predicting doom and gloom for the iPhone-maker ever since Tim Cook dropped the company’s Q1 2016 earnings. iPhone sales are projected to decline. The iPad is still struggling. And even the Mac is taking a drop.
This is the end for Apple according to some Wall Street crazies, but they’re missing a key metric in Apple’s earnings report that shows the company still has a lot of growing to do thanks to it’s huge install base.
This smart outlet will make any plug in your house more intelligent. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
Best List: Smart Outlet by Nyrius
I just walked into my living room and the lamp came on, welcoming me in from a cold, dark morning at the gym.
When I leave for lunch later, it’ll turn itself off.
The home of the future is here, and it’s easier than ever to create with the Nyrius Smart Outlet, a Bluetooth wall plug that lets you turn any device with a plug into a smart device.
This tiny drone can fly in packs with built-in 8-frequency technology. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Flying a tiny drone, especially for first-timers, can be a tense experience — trying to avoid flying into walls, trees, tables, one’s own head. While adding more drones to the mix is a lot of fun, it just multiplies the difficulty, that is unless you have this Ultra-Stealth Nano Drone. Among a bunch of cool features, it sports a system of eight frequency points allowing it to fly in packs, while keeping safe distance from its neighbors. It adds a whole new dimension to drone-ing, and right now it’s only $19.99.
The booq Daypack can carry quite a load. Photo: booq
Booq, makers of stylish, timeless and understated computer bags often named after snakes, is shedding some of its skin.
A new line of backpacks that debuted Thursday carries a simple name, Daypack. The line also carries color, unusual because booq typically likes to work mostly in gray and black.
Smack your weekend right in the face with these great new iOS games. Design: Stephen Smith/Cult of Mac
It’s a new year and a new you, and your iOS device just might be crying out for some new gaming titles to keep you fat and happy while you manage all those resolutions.
Whether you enjoy a deeper role-playing and crafting adventure to keep you tapping well into the evening over a long weekend, a musical adventure that you can create yourself, a Mad- Max-inspired demolition derby, or a quick brain-booster puzzle or two to keep your wits about you, we’ve got the five best on offer right now.
In no particular order, here are the best new iOS games that we’ve culled from a long list on the App Store.
One of the stunning photos taken. Photo: Sephi Bergerson
Award-winning Israeli photographer Sephi Bergerson recently shot an Indian wedding in Udaipur using just his iPhone 6s Plus — and the results are spectacular!
In an accompanying video, Bergerson describes the way that using an iPhone has changed his photography. While he notes that it ultimately still comes down to the skill of the photographer (which is presumably why I’m yet to pick up any photography awards despite my many iPhone snaps), it’s fascinating to hear him discuss his craft.
Well, time to pack it in and find a new company to write about, I guess! Photo: Fox5
Apple’s currently “stumbling” — and it’s the fault of a “negative,” “strict,” and overly “harsh” corporate environment, claims U.K. newspaper The Guardian.
“At Apple, you’re gonna be working 60-80 hours a week and some VP will come yell at you at any moment,” one coder is quoted as saying. “That’s a very hostile work environment.”
Work phone, home phone, err... what's next? Photo: West Midlands PoliceWork phone, home phone, err… what’s next? Photo: West Midlands Police
As expensive miniature computers people carry around in their pockets, it’s no surprise that smartphones are regularly the targets of petty thieves.
But one particular thief outshone the rest when he recently (allegedly) managed to steal 38 different phones during a Libertines concert in the U.K., only to be arrested with them stuffed down his trousers.
A work phone and a personal phone I can understand, but explaining away the other 36 handsets was surely a bit of a challenge!