iOS 9 - page 3

Pro Tip: Check your Apple Watch battery from your iPhone

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Get your battery info fast and easy.
Get your battery info fast and easy.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Pro Tip Cult of Mac bugYou can of course check the status of your Apple Watch battery on your wrist, but it’s even easier to discover how much Apple Watch juice you have left right from your iPhone.

In fact, you can check the battery status of anything connected via Bluetooth, including headphones and speakers.

Here’s how.

Set up your iOS 9 News feed (and subscribe to Cult of Mac)

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Apple News app
The Apple News app relies less on algorithms than other tech companies in the news business.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

The latest trend in news consumption is curation. Apple News — replacement for the earlier, less-than-successful Newsstand — does just that. It may not be the first app to repackage the web for easy reading (looking at you, Flipboard), nor maybe even the best, but chances are it’s already on everyone’s iOS 9 iPhone or iPad, making it a clear winner for mindshare.

News is pretty fantastic, as it allows you to customize and set up the News channels and outlets you want to check on regularly without having to rely on any specific outlet for updates. News pulls from your favorite websites RSS feeds and repackages it all in an intuitive, newspaper and magazine-like format for easy browsing and reading.

Let’s take a look at how to set it up and use the iOS 9 News app to your best advantage.

Pay what you want for a complete education in iOS 9 development [Deals]

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Pay what you want for almost 100 hours of instruction in iOS 9 development and plenty more.
Pay what you want for almost 100 hours of instruction in iOS 9 development and plenty more.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

iOS 9 is here and the development frenzy has begun. It’s not too late to get in on the action though, and right now may be the best time to start with this bundle of top notch lessons that can be your for whatever you want to pay. The almost 100 hours of instruction covers iOS 9, Swift, Xcode, WatchOS 2, tvOS, and more, and all proceeds go to Project HOPE, delivering medicine, supplies, experts and medical training in response to disasters and wellness needs around the world.

Pro Tip: Get full desktop versions of your favorite websites in iOS 9 Safari

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iOS 9 is on a huge number of Apple's mobile devices.
iOS 9 is on a huge number of Apple's mobile devices.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Pro Tip Cult of Mac bugWhereas most websites these days — Cult of Mac included — are responsive to whatever device you’re browsing on, there are still a few websites out there that will serve you a special mobile version when you head there on your iPhone.

Unfortunately, sometimes the functionality of the full desktop version of the website is missing from the mobile version. When that happens, you can use the iOS 9 version of Safari to get the full desktop versions even when the web developers don’t provide a link to do so.

Here’s how.

How to get iOS 9’s “picture in picture” video mode on your Mac

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Just like your iPad, your Mac can do picture in picture mode, thanks to Helium.
Just like your iPad, your Mac can do picture in picture mode, thanks to Helium.
Photo: Helium

One of my favorite things about iOS 9 is picture in picture mode, which keeps a small window of a movie visible on screen at all times. Unfortunately, OS X El Capitan doesn’t have an equivalent: you can watch a movie while multitasking, sure, but it doesn’t stay on top of your window stack no matter what, which is the genius of iOS 9’s interpretation.

I’m hoping OS X 10.12 will address this issue. In the meantime, though, there’s an app that will give OS X iOS 9-style picture in picture mode. And it’s free!

iOS 9 has already broken the 60% barrier

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Here's what time iOS 9 is landing in your area.
iOS 9 is crushing it in adoption figures.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

The public version of iOS 9 has been available for just over one month, and already it’s passed the 60 percent adoption threshold — with 2x the number of users as are currently using its predecessor, iOS 8.

Siri will win you over as a trusted assistant

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Siri will remind you of tasks you need to complete based on your location.
Siri will remind you of tasks you need to complete based on your location.
Photo: Stephen Smith/Cult of Mac

Maybe there aren’t a ton of new features in iOS 9, but you may find yourself getting tighter with Siri.

Siri is out to earn the title of “Best Assistant” with a series of new tricks aimed at making your life easier.

You no longer have to set a time for Siri to remind you to do tasks. You will automatically get reminders once you arrive or leave a location. No time to read an email or an interesting article? Ask her to remind you later and she will do so.

Siri can call up any photo you like based on a location or timestamp. She can also give you sports scores without directing you to a website, can convert measurements and, if you have a shiny new iPhone 6s, there is no need to press the home button to summon her. Just say, “Hey Siri.”

To see how Siri worked for me, check out the video below.

Facebook’s sneaky app is draining your iPhone battery

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facebook-logo-file
It won’t happen until 2020 at the earliest.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

iPhone users who have been suffering from worse battery life since upgrading to iOS 9 may want to try deleting Facebook’s iOS app.

The social network confirmed reports that surfaced earlier this week claiming the iOS app uses a heavy amount of resources in the background to run processes. The big problem with the battery drain is that it occurs even if iPhone owners have background app refresh disabled. It’s actually worse with the setting turned off. because Facebook is sneakily creating channels to continue refreshing its app in the background, even when users tell it not to.

Apple clears the air on Wi-Fi Assist confusion

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Wi-Fi Assist may be chewing up your data.
Wi-Fi Assist may be chewing up your data.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

iOS 9’s new Wi-Fi Assist feature might have you accidentally burning through your data plan, so to clear up any confunsion about the new iPhone feature that switches you over to LTE speeds when a Wi-Fi network is weak, Apple has released a new support document detailing exactly how and when Wi-Fi Assist should work.

That time already? Pangu drops iOS 9 jailbreak

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Pangu
Ready to break out of jail?
Photo: Pangu

Just weeks after iOS 9’s launch, Chinese jailbreak team Pangu has released the world’s first untethered jailbreak for Apple’s new mobile operating system.

The jailbreak, which covers iOS 9 through iOS 9.0.2 for all compatible Apple devices, is available for free, although OS X users will have to wait since there’s only a Windows installer available.

Learn to make iOS 9 apps by actually, you know, making them [Deals]

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By building 20 separate apps, this course will teach you development on iOS 9 from top to bottom.
By building 20 separate apps, this course will teach you development on iOS 9 from top to bottom.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

iOS 9 is still a wide open frontier for anybody looking to develop the next hit app. If you want in on the action, you’re going to have to learn to use iOS 9’s various powerful coding tools and languages, which is why this course is ideal. By building 20 separate apps, you’ll learn the ins and outs of developing for iPhone, all for just $19 at Cult of Mac Deals.

Beware this ‘fix’ for nasty iOS 9 Game Center bug

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Game Center is causing some problems for iOS 9 updaters.
Game Center is causing some problems for iOS 9 updaters.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

If you’ve been having trouble with Apple’s Game Center after upgrading to iOS 9, you’re not alone.

Read Apple’s discussion forums and you’ll find 14 pages of comments from disgruntled gamers complaining about — and trying to solve — this rather massive issue.

Liveblog: Tim Cook talks biz at Box conference

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Apple chief Tim Cook (that's not him in the photo) will talk iOS 9 and the future of work at the BoxWorks conference today in San Francisco.
Apple chief Tim Cook (that's not him in the photo) will talk iOS 9 and the future of work at the BoxWorks conference today in San Francisco.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

SAN FRANCISCO — Will Tim Cook do anything to steal Google’s thunder?

The Apple CEO is back at the Moscone Center, this time for BoxWorks 2105, the annual gathering of customers and developers for enterprise cloud storage company Box.

It’s a rare speaking gig for Cook, who tends to limit his engagements to just a few high-profile events a year. While big and successful, Box’s conference is hardly one of the marquee events on the tech calendar. Unless it falls on the same exact day Google is announcing new products at its big Nexus media event.

“He’s f****ing with Google,” said one analyst in the press room when asked why Cook chose this event.

Cook is likely to talk up the new iPad Pro and Apple’s enterprise efforts, which include partnering with IBM and Cisco. Read on to see what he says. We’re liveblogging the event. Cook will be onstage at 9 a.m. Pacific.

Pro Tip: Avoid data overage charges with this hidden iOS 9 setting

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This little toggle will help you manage any paltry data plan you have.
This little toggle will help you manage any paltry data plan you have.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

iOS 9’s Wi-Fi Assist feature helps when you’re connected to a slow Wi-Fi connection by kicking in your cellular data network to help things seem a bit snappier.

The problem is that it can also rack up some data charges if you end up going over your data cap. If you’ve got a limited data plan with your wireless carrier, you’ll want to find this iOS 9 setting, which is on by default, and kind of buried in the Settings.

iPhone 6s review: Pretty on the outside, a beast on the inside

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iPhone 6s
Apple hits another home run.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

iPhone 6s is a mirror image of its predecessor at first glance, but thanks to improved internals and innovative new technology, it’s very much a different beast.

With Apple’s latest A9 processor, a new 12-megapixel iSight camera, Live Photos, and 3D Touch, this is much, much more than just an “incremental” iPhone upgrade. It’s the iPhone that will change the way you use your iPhone. It’s Apple most exciting smartphone in years.

3D Touch is killer UI; here’s how to best use it

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3Dtouch
Quick Actions are the best thing about 3D Touch.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

If you’re trying your best to resist an iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus, do not walk into an Apple Store and try 3D Touch. Once you’ve had a taste of it, your smartphone simply won’t feel complete without it.

Here are four ways in which 3D Touch makes life a lot sweeter.

iOS 9 ad blockers could ruin your online shopping experience

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unnamed-2
Before and after adblockers. Notice any difference?
Photo: Sears

One of the big innovations of iOS 9 was the ability for Safari users to download and take advantage of content blockers.

According to a new report, however, ads may not be the only content that is blocked by apps like Crystal. Online retailers such as Walmart, Sears and Lululemon are also seeing their e-commerce sites negatively affected by adblockers — with some crucial features failing to work as before.

iOS 9.1 beta 2 brings new fixes to developers (and the public)

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iOS 9.3 beta 6 is here!
iOS 9.3 beta 6 is here!
Photo: Apple

Developers can add the latest iOS 9.1 beta to their iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches starting today.

Exactly two weeks after releasing the first beta, Apple has started seeding iOS 9.1 beta 2, build 13B5119e, to developers via an over-the-air update and in the Apple Dev Center.

Update: As of Thursday this week, public beta users can also update to the latest iOS 9.1 public beta 2, as well.

Security firm puts $1 million bug bounty on iOS 9

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A new iOS 9 beta is here.
A new iOS 9 beta is here.
Photo: Apple

While millions of iPhone users have eagerly upgraded to iOS 9, a new race is on among researchers to find critical flaws in Apple’s software, and they’re throwing around more cash than ever to get hackers to find the holes.

A new security industry firm called Zerodium announced today that it will pay hackers $1 million for a single exploit that allows attackers to break into an iPhone or iPad running iOS 9. The company says its even willing to pay the bounty multiple times, as long as the exploits break through iOS 9’s security flaws a certain way.