Apple plans to limit Safari’s access to the accelerometer and gyroscope inside your iOS device in an upcoming software update.
iOS 12.2 will prevent websites from having access to motion data by default, rendering certain content unusable — even on Apple’s own website. Users will be able to change this inside Safari’s settings, however.
Reports of inaccurate motion sensors in the iPhone 5s continue to grow. As reported last week on Cult of Mac, there appear to be widespread problems with the 5s’ compass, gyroscope and accelerometer.
The original forum thread at MacRumors is now at a whopping 19 pages of user reports, and Apple has yet to respond to Cult of Mac’s repeated requests for information.
This morning, Gizmodo conducted its own tests and found the iPhone 5s motion sensors to be “totally screwed up.”
Looks like the problem is far more widespread than the naysayers on our original post, and on the MacRumors thread, are willing to admit.
You might not want to use your iPhone 5s to find your way out of the woods just yet.
A number of users are reporting that their iPhone 5s compass and level are showing incorrect values when placed on flat surfaces. It might be a hardware issue, leaving Apple with a costly hardware recall or replacement issue. The problem could also point to a software snafu that needs speedy patching.
The problem was first spotted on by “tharepairguy” on a forum thread over at Mac Rumors. He set his iPhone 5s and his iPhone 4 to magnetic north. The iPhone 4 reads 179 south, while the iPhone 5s reads 165 south. His car compass confirms the iPhone 4 reading.
He then checked the level app on each phone. The iPhone 4 showed a surface to be level, as did two other Johnson analog levels. The iPhone 5s? -4 degrees.
There’s a nifty image editing feature inside Instagram for iPhone that helps you quickly straighten out wonky images before you upload them. It’s fast, and it seems to do a great job of straightening out your photo without any manual tweaking.
That’s thanks to Instagram’s intelligent correction technology, which uses data captured by your iPhone’s internal sensors to establish the orientation of your device when your image was taken.
If you’re lucky enough to posses an iPhone 4 and haven’t already downloaded freebie Ball Pit, do it now and play around with it a little. Go ahead, I’ll wait.
Pretty cool, right? For those of you at work or still saving for an iPhone 4, the game is basically a first-person shooter set in the middle of a what looks like a holodeck from the later Star Trek shows, with the objective of shooting down the spheres that happen to be floating around in the big room with you.
Gameloft’s popular iOS shooter N.O.V.A. has just been updated and now includes a new gyroscope control system for the iPhone 4.
First impressions are fantastic! I’ve only given it about 15 minutes, but I love the gyroscope control system and since it’s introduction in games like ngmoco’s Eliminate: Gun Range, I’ve been looking forward to seeing other shooters with this functionality. It takes a bit of getting used to, and you’ll need some room to play, but it’s incredibly fun.
As well as gyroscope support, N.O.V.A.’s graphics have been updated and optimized for the iPhone 4’s Retina display.
If you don’t already have this game, I highly recommend it. Check it out in the App Store.
