Cult of Mac

[UPDATE: Lots of readers report that the new option to activate iCloud Photo Library isn’t showing up on their devices. I’m looking into it. So far I know that the GM version — the one I used to write this guide —  and the final version are identical, build number 12A365. My guess is that Apple turned off the beta already]

iCloud Photo Library is rad. The idea is that all your full-res photos (including RAW photos) reside on Apple’s servers, and you access them from all your devices.

That’s a change from Photo Stream as it is now, which stores only the last 1,000 photos you took, not your whole collection. Apple has also introduced new tiers of iCloud storage pricing to cope with all your photos (and videos). This is now live, and I signed up for the 200GB option ($4 per month) to test it out.

Let’s take a look.

iOS 8 was released just 24 hours ago in what Apple is calling the biggest iOS release ever, but if early adoption numbers are any indication, customers might not feel the same way.

Users are upgrading to iOS 8 at a much slower rate than iOS 7, according to Tapjoy’s data from its app network of 200 million unique iOS users. Not only is iOS 8 lagging behind iOS 7, it’s being adopted even slower than iOS 6 was.

Following on from its recent Songs of Innocence album giveaway, U2 is apparently working with Apple on a secret new project, according to a TIME article.

While the story doesn’t give too many specifics, it does note that the project relates to “a new digital music format [the band hopes] will prove so irresistibly exciting to music fans that it will tempt them again into buying music –whole albums as well as individual tracks.”

Although this sounds the kind of counterintuitive move that utterly goes against Apple’s most recent promotional music stunt (where it paid U2 and its record label a reported $100 million to put out its album for free), U2 notes that it’s thinking about more than just itself:

If you are like most, you use a home computer, a work computer, a tablet and a smartphone, plus other electronic devices. And, like most, your data – files, emails, and contacts – are spread out over each one. What happens to your data if one of your devices is lost forever?

Stop take chances with your information with a 1-year subscription to IDrive, available for only $19 at Cult of Mac Deals.

For a certain subset of Apple fans, the only thing more exciting than Cupertino unleashing a new device upon the world is the box they choose to unleash it in. Apple is famous for its sexy, minimalist packaging design, and when the Apple Watch hits the market in 2015, we are expecting it to come in a box worthy of its luxury watch status.

Of course, what that box will actually look like is anyone’s guess. But Evelio Mattos of Design Packaging has released a stunning Apple Watch concept that isn’t just sexy, but has a killer hidden feature: the box doubles as an iPhone dock!

Apple may be halfway there when it comes to receiving the necessary regulatory approval for the iPhone 6 to go on sale in China.

As per China’s official Xinhua news agency, Apple has now received regulatory approval for the iPhone 6’s use on domestic frequencies, although it requires one other “critical license” before it is able to go on sale.

According to a recent Bloomberg report, Apple’s delayed entry into China with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus is the result of a disagreement with the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which tests all new phones before they may enter national telecom networks.

Updated security measures in iOS 8 make it impossible for Apple to give your data to the cops — even if the company wanted to.

Previously Apple could access a significant amount of data on any iOS device, which it would do if law enforcement approached the company with a seized device and a valid search warrant. Apple’s stronger encryption and updated privacy policy now mean it can no longer pull data from devices that have the latest version of the mobile OS installed.

“On devices running iOS 8, your personal data such as photos, messages (including attachments), email, contacts, call history, iTunes content, notes, and reminders is placed under the protection of your passcode,” Apple notes on its website. “Unlike our competitors, Apple cannot bypass your passcode and therefore cannot access this data. So it’s not technically feasible for us to respond to government warrants for the extraction of this data from devices in their possession running iOS 8.”

The release of a new version of iOS, and especially a major release like iOS 8, poses quite the dilemma to jailbreakers. Do you stick with your jailbroken iPhone or iPad and miss out on iOS 8’s exciting new features, or do you cave to temptation, install iOS 8, and lose your jailbreak indefinitely?

Sadly, we don’t know when an iOS 8 jailbreak will be released. It could be a while. But rest assured, if you’re tempted by iOS 8’s new features, the jailbreak community is already hard at work cracking it open.

Back at this year’s WWDC, Epic Games’ Tim Sweeney got up and demoed Epic Zen Garden, an impressive upcoming iOS 8 game which used Apple’s new Metal technology to great effect.

Leap forward a few months, and the free game has finally arrived on iOS — bringing console-quality graphics to users with the latest iPhones, courtesy of Metal and the Unreal Engine 4.

Did we mention it might be the most impressive zen garden game yet?

CUPERTINO, California — I’m a sports photographer, not a tech blogger, so I felt out of place shooting Apple’s big iPhone 6 press event with my iPhone 5s.

Baseball is what I do — I’ve shot nine Sports Illustrated covers — but I swear it was easier getting field access to shoot a World Series game at Fenway Park than dealing with all the people and security at Apple’s event.

This thing was a free-for-all. It was crazy. The place was flooded with media types from all over the world, all standing in line to get into the Flint Center for the Performing Arts, where the event was held.

I love my iPad mini, but the “tablet” I love reading on most isn’t an iPad, it’s my Amazon Kindle Paperwhite e-reader. It’s just a fantastically pure device that strips away everything that gets in the way of its major purpose: to read digital books as comfortably as possible.

So I was excited when Amazon announced it’s next-generation Kindle e-reader today. Called the Kindle Voyage, it’s a higher resolution Kindle with 300 pixels per inch, a new pressure sensitive bezel for page turning, and intelligent front lighting.

But that’s not why I’m excited about it: I’m excited because it has an awesome new glass panel on the front that boasts technology my iPad could use.

Photos on iOS 8 are so good that you will be able to ditch a whole home-screen folder’s worth of editing and organizing apps. That’s not an exaggeration: Apple’s new mobile OS packs in so many great new features that – even without the extending abilities of iOS 8’s new plug-ins – you can do pretty much any edit right there in the photos app.

The camera, too, has gotten an upgrade, and – maybe the most important for some – so has the iCloud Photo Stream, which will now give access to all your photos, from any device, whenever you want.

Sounds pretty good huh?

Massive iPhone 6 and 6 Plus preorders mean that Apple fans in India are going to have to wait a bit longer to get their hands on the company’s next generation handsets.

Originally Apple said that the iPhone 6 family of devices would go on sale September 26, only for that date to quickly slip to October 17, and now again back to mid-November.

Apple has been steadily working to improve its Apple Maps service since its disastrous debut a couple of years ago, and a new patent application published Thursday further cements that.

According to the application, filed in March last year, future iOS devices may scour through your data to warn you of traffic congestion on routes you are predicted to be likely to travel.

These journeys could be learned by your iPhone or Apple Watch by way of a smart artificial intelligence “machine-learning engine,” based on the frequency of previous destinations (say, regular appointments), location of events in a user’s calendar, location of events which users hold electronic tickets for, and addresses gathered by analyzing messages in the form of texts or emails.

Amazon has two new Kindles out, the Voyage, plus an update that brings touch to the cheapest Kindle. The new Voyage isn’t – as its name might suggest – waterproof ready for travel, but it does have a brighter screen and, get this, page turn buttons.

iMovie for iOS 8 is straight-up amazing, and I say that before I’ve even bothered using the app. And not because I’m a typical tech writer who “reviews” things based on rewrite of a press release, but because you don’t even need to open iMovie to use it.

Why? Because it has an extension that lets you edit your videos, right inside the Photos app.

After months of waiting, iOS 8 has finally been released for everyone to download and enjoy. The next generation for Apple’s mobile operating system brings plenty of new features. With an upgraded camera app, a new and intuitive health app and much more, this is sure to be an update you won’t want to forego.

In today’s Cult of Mac video, we give you a quick look at what iOS 8 has to offer. Install the new software and take advantage of a number of useful tweaks and enhancements.

Apple fans hoping to skip the iPhone 6 line on launch day were shocked to see preorder times plummet within the first hours of what Apple dubbed a record breaking weekend of preorder sales. Many started with shipping estimates of 7-10 days or worse for the iPhone 6 Plus, but if you ordered through AT&T, your shipping times may have just improved.

AT&T sales reps say the company has moved up shipment times on some orders by pulling stock from different regions that would normally be sold in-store.

We’ve already cover the major new features that iOS 8 is bringing to your iPhone today, as well as some hidden tricks too, but if you’re ready to pour over the bible on iOS 8 straight from the mothership you can download it now on iBooks.

Apple published its huge iPhone User Guide for iOS 8 this afternoon as an iBook and its loaded with everything you need to know about the iPhone, and offers some sneak peeks at the new 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhones coming out Friday.

The 182-page guide is broken into 37 section and covers features on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, as well as iPhone 5s, 5c, 5, and 4s. You can grab it on iTunes right now for free.

Don’t expect to bump into Apple’s design guru on your next coach flight. When Jony Ive hits the skies he flies private.

In fact, according to an Apple profile by Business Week, Sir Jony Ive cuts through clouds in the very same Gulfstream jet owned by Steve Jobs during his last years at Apple.

Apple TV updated Wednesday morning, giving the main screen a whole new look and adding Beats Music as a “channel.”

The icons for Music, Computers and TV Shows all have a new, almost pastel look, while all the icons seem a bit flatter, like iOS 8. The fonts seem thinner, as well, reflecting the overall new design ethos of iOS and OS X.

You can also connect to iCloud Photo and Family Sharing options, new iOS 8 features that also went live today for iPhone and iPad devices.

Apple is reportedly aiming to sell upwards of 50 million Apple Watches in 2015.

The news comes via a new report from Digitimes, which claims that Apple has placed orders for shipments of up to five million AMOLED panels per month throughout the year. These screens will be used as the innovative touch-sensitive display for Apple’s wearables debut.

If you’re anxiously waiting on a brand new iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus to come in the mail this week, you’re not alone.

Tracking the package as Apple’s ginormous new smart phone wends its way to you may be the internets new past time. You should have received a tracking number from Apple when your iPhone shipped, but there’s an even easier way to keep a watchful eye on that beautiful new gadget.

iOS 8 introduces a ton of new features and enhancements, including new ways for third-party developers to integrate their apps throughout the iOS experience. With a feature called Extensibility, apps can hook into other apps and areas like Notification Center to enhance their usability and functionality. Third-party keyboards are now possible too, and there are several great ones to choose from already.

Some of the best apps in the App Store are already updated for iOS 8 with new features, and others will be live in the store shortly. Here are Cult of Mac’s best apps that take advantage of what iOS 8 has to offer: