Cult of Mac

If your Facebook app is crashing after the iOS 6.0.1 update, you’re not alone: it’s crashing for loads of other users too.

The problem, however, isn’t necessarily iOS 6.0.1. Some Twitter users are reporting that the app is crashing on them, even without upgrading to iOS 6.0.1. Deleting the app and reinstalling it or rebooting your device doesn’t seem to fix the issue.

In short, the problem seems to be something on Facebook’s end that can be fixed without issuing an app update. Just be patient, and in the meantime, log-in to Facebook using Mobile Safari.

The iStabilizer is a combination monopod and camera/phone tripod adapter. It’s light, it’s sturdy, it’s mostly aluminum, and it’s pretty much ideal for occasional use. And it has one fantastic function which will probably get you arrested.

Now, this is fun. You may have heard that Apple ditched Google maps and navigation data to create their very own new Maps app using Tom Tom data. While some of the pros and cons of such a move are beyond this little iOS tip today, a little hidden feature of the new Maps App is not.

So, if you have an iOS device that will support it, try this fun little trick out, and let us know what you think in the comments below.

Starting November 2nd, Apple fans will finally be able to buy themselves an iPad mini, Apple’s diminutive new 7.9-inch tablet with an A5 chip, a 1024 x 768 display, a 5MP camera and that comes in the usual flavors of between 16 and 64 gigabytes and in white or black.

So which iPad mini is right for you?

We’ll make it easy for you. Across the board, for almost everyone, the cheapest iPad mini — the $329 Wi-Fi only model in black — is the one most worth considering. There are some exceptions worth considering though. Here’s why.

In addition to pushing iOS 6.0.1 to users earlier today, Apple has just pushed the first beta of iOS 6.1 for the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPad 2, third- and fourth-gen iPads, and fourth- and fifth-gen iPod touch to registered developers. Curiously, however, it does not yet seem to be available for the iPad mini.

Source: developer.apple.com

How often do you want to know what sounds look like? I’m guessing not very often, unless you’re a musician. But if you do want to know what sounds look like, and you want to know it in the most stylish and good-looking way possible on iOS, you can’t go far wrong with an app called Soundbeam. It’s just beautiful.

Apple just released iOS 6.0.1 to squash some bugs that have been running around on all iOS devices. But if you have an iPhone 5 the OTA update process is a lot different than usual because one of the bugs iOS 6.0.1 fixes is the inability for iPhone 5s to install over the air updates.

To get the update, you’ll have to download an app called iOS Updater, which isn’t difficult to get but we’ve got a quick guide to help you update your iPhone 5 just in case things get a little confusing.

Paper is an iPad app which proves that you don’t need to add bells and whistles to your software if it’s well designed. Unless your app is a bell and whistle simulator, I guess.

But Paper, which won fans with its ultra-simple interface and amazingly natural brush-and-paint engine, really was a little too stripped down. The new v1.2.1 fixes that, adding custom color palettes and a very sweet new color mixer, plus support for a pressure-sensitive stylus.

Apple has just released iOS 6.0.1 for all compatible devices (including the new fourth-generation iPad and iPad mini). Right now, you can get it using the direct download links below, or OTA using Software Update on your iOS device (if you have an iPhone 5, you will have to update your Software Update first by going to General > Software Update, which will install a new Software Update app to your homescreen).

The change log isn’t online yet, but will eventually be here. Improvements include numerous bug fixes, including an issue that prevents the iPhone 5 from updating itself over-the-air, a bug where horizontal lines are shown on the keyboard, sporadic issues with camera flashes, improvements with Wi-Fi reliability for iPhone 5 and 2012 iPod touch, and more.

The changelog and direct download links can be found below:

Although Hurricane Sandy passed through the Northeastern United States on Monday, the aftermath is still being felt three days later. Not only is New York City still flooded and thousands still without power and electricity in many states, but FedEx and UPS are still experiencing disruptions to their delivery services.

What does this mean? If you live in Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, D.C., or West VirginiaJersey, there’s a chance your iPad mini preorder won’t get delivered to you tomorrow. And if you live in New York or New Jersey? It’s pretty much a certainty you won’t get it.

The iPad 3 took forever to charge when it first came out, thanks to the gigantic battery that powers the new Retina display. Now that Apple has updated to the iPad 4, they’ve also come out with a new 12W power adapter that gives us the power we need.

After running some tests on the new 12W power adapter next to the old 10W power adapter, Insanely Great Mac found that the new 12W power adapter will charge an iPad 3 or iPad 4 as much as 30-45 minutes faster.

It doesn’t sound like much, but every second counts when you’re slaughtering your foes on Letterpress. You can pick the new adapter up from the Apple Store for 19 bucks.

Source: Insanely Great Mac

Quick test: see if you can guess what the following product does, just by decoding its cryptic name. Ready?

Belkin NetCam Wi-Fi with Night Vision

Apple is going to sell a holy-crap-ton of iPad minis at Apple Stores everywhere tomorrow, except in New York City. After getting ravaged by hurricane Sandy, NYC is still trying to recover from the damage the storm has inflicted on them, and many people won’t be able to make it to the Apple Store for the launch.

The damage from hurricane Sandy will probably mean that the iPad mini launch at the 5th Avenue Apple Store will be much more subdued than past launches. 

So you didn’t pre-order your iPad mini, huh? It’s ok. Even though online orders aren’t shipping for 2 – 3 weeks now you can still get an iPad mini tomorrow if you gear up and go brave the launch line

Yes, it’s a huge time investment, and no one really wants to sit outside an Apple Store for a couple of hours before the break of dawn, but we’re here to help you make the most of your iPad mini launch line waiting experience. In fact, this could even be a lot of fun. Just follow this guide and you’ll be in and out of the store and cradling your iPad mini in no time.

Along with this week’s surprising news that Scott Forstall is leaving Apple, Tim Cook also announced that Bob Mansfield is planning to stay with Apple for two more years. Just last June, Mansfield had decided that he was going to retire, but now he’s quickly decided he’s not ready to leave just yet, and will stay on to run a new Technologies unit.

Why the sudden change of heart? According to a new report, Mansfield and Scott Forstall haven’t gotten along too well, and when news surfaced that Forstall was on the way out, Mansfield decided Apple would be a lovely place to work at again.

The iPhone 5 is the best camera Apple has ever made (OK, maybe the second-best), so why not dress it like one of the best film cameras ever made?

That’s just what PetaPixel’s Leica skin will do, turning your long, thin iPhone into a long, thin fake rangefinder.

This is odd: when you receive your iPad mini, a stated software requirement listed on the box is that you will have a PC with iTunes 11 installed.

The only problem? While iTunes 11 was originally slated for an October release, it’s now been pushed back to November.

It’s not a big deal: if you plug in an iPad mini into the latest version of iTunes, it works just fine, albeit without an iPad mini icon. To me, that implies that we’ll probably see a small update to iTunes drop later today.

Source: iGen

Path, the popular “personal network” exclusive to smartphones and tablets, has today made its debut on the iPad. With a new interface designed to take full advantage of the iPad’s larger display, Path for iPad “allows for larger moments” and lets you see more of your family and friends on one screen.

South Korea has asked Apple to remove the Japanese names of the Dokdo islets from its new Maps app in iOS 6. Both Asian countries claim ownership of Dokdo, which has long caused tensions between the two. In iOS 5, when Maps was powered by Google Maps, only the Korean name for the islets was used, and that’s how Korean officials want it to stay.

It’s November, and you all know what that means: No, not the growing of wispy, creepy mustaches. November is National Novel-Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for (almost) short.

NaNoWriMo is the annual attempt by many tens of thousands of people to finally get that novel out of their head and into the cloud storage option of their choice. The goal is to write a 50,000-word novel by midnight on the 30th November, and you can get there by fair means or foul. The rules? It has to be a novel, it has to be 50,000 words (or more) long, and it has to be written in November.

The tools you will need most to write your NaNoWriMo novel are inspiration and a lot of perseverance. Luckily, apps can help you with both. Here’s the definitive guide to NaNoWriMo apps on the Mac and iOS. If you can’t drag that novel kicking and screaming into the world with the help of these apps, you can’t do it at all.

One of iOS’s most limiting aspects is its icon-driven interface. iOS’s default interface, the homescreen, it simply a grid of equally sized icons, and while these icons are pretty, they all look pretty much the same. Worse, they are dumb: they can’t do anything cleverer than pin a badge to themselves to convey information.

Compare that to the way Android or Windows Phone handles the homescreen. In Android, you can pin intelligent widgets along with apps to the homescreen; in Windows Phone, the tiles operate not just as app icons, but as smart widgets that can convey to the user changes that are happening within the app, even when it’s not as open.

iOS users have been clammoring for Apple to figure out a way to make the iOS homescreen smarter for quite a long time, and this concept video describes one possible interpretation, which mixes up the iOS homescreen with Android’s widgets and Windows Phone’s Live Tiles.

A court of appeal has reprimanded the “non-compliant” statement Apple published on its website regarding the case against Samsung’s Galaxy Tab in the United Kingdom. Apple now has 48 hours to correct the statement, which must then be displayed on the homepage of its website until December 14.

Apple has had a basic screensaver in OS X from way back, but it’s now possible to add a custom message to it, to leave valuable information for someone who might see it. It used to be called Computer Name, as it defaults to the name of your computer that’s set in your Sharing preferences. These days in Mountain Lion, it’s called Message.

iFixit is currently in the processing of tearing down the new iPad mini — a full day before the tiny tablet goes on sale in Apple retail stores the world over. Having already torn down the iPhone 5 and the new iPod touch, iFixit hasn’t too many surprises with the iPad mini; it’s just as difficult to get into as its siblings, and not at all easy to repair.

To Amazon’s displeasure, the teardown has also confirmed the presence of stereo — not mono — speakers, a Samsung display, and more.

You can now help Superstorm Sandy survivors by making a donation to the American Red Cross via iTunes and the App Store on your Mac or iOS device. Apple is accepting donations of $5, $10, $25, $50, $100, and $200 — and 100% of your contribution goes straight to the Red Cross.