iOS - page 50

Apple’s iOS platform has continued to be the top platform for users who actually like to buy stuff via their smartphone, says a new study from Forrester. Consumers with iOS devices are 30% more likely to buy something via their device, than Android users.

Even though iOS is where more of the money is at, Android isn’t getting ignored by U.S. companies. Forrester’s study also reported that 96% of ebusiness professionals surveyed for the study plan to launch a native or hybrid Android app by the end of 2013, while 99% said they plan to do the same for iOS.

Google Reader’s execution date is set for June 30th, so the team at Digg has been busy working on build a replacement as fast as possible. Digg Reader isn’t ready to go quite yet, but the company has started testing its new app and  announced that it will be ready to go live on June 26th.

Digg posted an update on its progress to replacing Google Reader this morning and stated that the team’s initial launch goals are to satisfy power-users with easy onboarding from Google Reader, a clean reading experience, and useful mobile apps.

Here’s what Digg had to say on its site about the upcoming launch:

With all the new changes coming to iOS 7 there are still a ton of little details to discover while Apple continues to put the finishing touches on it. While  iOS 7 does feature a completely revamped UI, its the little changes that make everything really come together.

One redditor put together this handy info graphic that compares some of the smallest iOS 7 UI elements with their iOS 6 counterparts.

Take a look:

Skype for iOS and Skype for Machas been updated today with support for a new feature: video messaging. But don’t think video chat. Skype’s new video messaging is all about recording brief, meaningful moments and sending them to other Skype users, not as a stream, but as a self-contained message that will reach them, even if they aren’t online.

Famed iOS jailbreak hacker Pod2g hates the redesign of iOS 7 so much he might abandon Apple’s operating system all together… for Android.

Gameloft has today released a new teaser trailer for Modern Combat 4’s upcoming Meltdown update, which brings new maps, new weapons, new game modes, and more to the company’s popular first-person shooter. The update is coming to both Android and iOS, and it could be the last before Modern Combat 5 makes its debut.

Poster, a wonderful WordPress client for iOS, which we’ve written about many times here on Cult of Mac, has been acquired by WordPress creator Automattic.

The app has since been pulled from the App Store and will no longer be available in its current form, but developer Tom Witkin, who announced the acquisition on his blog, insists he will continue to provide support for existing users.

Microsoft has launched Office Mobile for iPhone today, allowing Office 365 subscribers to access and edit their Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents stored in SkyDrive, SkyDrive Pro, or SharePoint from virtually anywhere. The app boasts support for charts, animations, SmartArt graphics and shapes, and more.

In iTunes 11, Apple gave us the ability to redeem iTunes and App Store gift cards using the FaceTime camera built into our Macs, and it is bringing the same functionality to our iOS devices with iOS 7. Instead of typing in lengthy codes, just point your camera at the gift card to redeem it.

Do you like the look of the new iOS 7 AirDrop feature that lets you beam things from iDevice to iDevice? Me too. But even if you have iOS 7 installed, you still can’t beam things to and from a Mac, which is arguably a more common need for basement-bound, friendless nerds like you and I.

Enter BeamApp, which does what it says on the virtual, HTML-based tin.

While competing smartphone manufacturers are producing devices in a whole host of different sizes, Apple’s iPhone has had only two screen sizes in its six-year history. But according to four sources with knowledge of Apple’s plans, who have been speaking to Reuters, the Cupertino company is “considering” iPhones with 4.7-inch and 5.7-inch displays.

It is also said to be working on a cheaper iPhone that will come in a range of different colors.

iOS has undergone a ton of small changes over the last six years, but never we have we seen as drastic changes as Apple has made with iOS 7. Don’t think iOS 7 is that big of change? Take a look at the image above that shows the evolution of the iOS home screen.

Jailbreakers have been able to customize their phones to look similar to iOS 7 now, but this is the first time that Apple is breaking away from some of the UI design principles that have made iOS so successful. The high res version can be viewed here.

Source: Reddit

Steve Jobs used to take care of Apple’s biggest product unveilings prior to his passing in 2011, and since then, they’ve been shared around among the top company executives. Scott Forstall handled everything iOS, but his departure from Cupertino last year left the door open for someone else.

At WWDC on Monday, Craig Federighi, Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, took to the stage to present iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks, and he’s now being hailed the perfect frontman for Apple, with developers, fans, and even investors impressed by his pitch.

This time ’round on CultCast: iOS 7 debuts to a standing ovation, but some aren’t in love; OS X 10.9 Mavericks will have you rewatching Top Gun, we’ll highlight the new features; new MacBook Airs get insanely long battery life and more power; and Apple resurrects the rumored Mac Pro to uproarious applause—it’s our complete WWDC coverage on this very special episode of the CultCast.

Join us as we review all the great stuff Apple announced in the glorious 90-minute event know as WWDC. Stream or download new and past episodes on your Mac or iDevice by subscribing now on iTunes, or hit play below and let the good times roll.

Show notes up next.

It’s our own fault. We all asked Apple to dramatically change the look and feel of the iOS operating system, which, until yesterday, remained largely unchanged since the introduction of the original iPhone back in 2007. And we all complained when it didn’t do that with iOS 6 this time last year.

But I can’t help but feel the Cupertino company is now punishing us for all those requests, and all that complaining we did before about its skeuomorphic designs.

When it comes to design, iOS 7 is vastly different to its predecessors. It still functions in much the same way — though there are some new features you’ll need to get used to — but it looks completely different. As soon as you power it up for the first time the minimalistic feel is staring back at you, but it isn’t until you’ve completed the setup process and arrived at your home screen that you want to vomit in your own lap.

With just over two hours to go until Apple kicks off its WWDC 2013 keynote, the Apple online store has gone down. We can’t say we’re hugely surprised, but the move does suggest that we won’t just see software previews today, but also new hardware as well.

By far the best way to keep up with an Apple keynote when you’re not attending is to watch it live, but that’s a treat Apple doesn’t offer all that often. Fortunately, it will be at WWDC 2013 today. You can watch the company’s grand unveiling of iOS 7 and OS X 10.9 live through your Apple TV.

The finishing touches are being added to Moscone West as WWDC 2013 draws closer. In just three short days Tim Cook and company will take stage at Moscone West to reveal a redesigned iOS, new MacBooks, and possibly a new iPad.

Apple’s WWDC keynote is slated to start Monday, June 10th at 10AM PST. Don’t want to miss all the juicy details as they’re unveiled? Well, here’s a handy infographic so you know what time to hop on and check the Cult of Mac liveblog for the full scoop on everything that goes down at WWDC 2013.

Image: Twitter

LEGOs and Apple products go together like celery and peanut butter. Tons of LEGO/Apple hybrid creations have graced the front page of Cult of Mac, but now there’s a small Taiwanese design group that created an iPhone 5 LEGO adapter that will allow you to morph you iPhone into a new LEGO creation.

The adapter plugs into your iPhone 5’s Lightning port and allows you to link your own LEGO bricks together with your iPhone or iPad, perfect for building your own LEGO iPhone case.

Here are some of the creations you can create with the LEGO adapter:

SwiftKey creator TouchType will be closely watching Apple’s WWDC keynote on Monday, hoping that the Cupertino company opens up its iOS platform to third-party keyboards for the first time. The SwiftKey keyboard has been exclusive to Android since its inception, but the company is itching to bring it to iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches.

Hulu has unveiled a brand new Hulu Plus app for that’s been completely redesigned to focus on “discoverability, efficiency, and our overall user experience.” The company hopes that the change will make it easier for users to find their favorite shows and discover new ones.

Jason Citron is a veteran of both the console and gaming space, involved with developing Double Fine’s Brutal Legend in 2006, and then releasing one of the first hit iOS games in the early, heady days of the iOS App store, a match-three puzzle game with a twist, Aurora Feint. Soon after, he created OpenFeint, which was the de facto leaderboard and multiplayer matching system for Apple mobile devices long before Game Center.

After OpenFeint was sold to Japanese social-gaming company, GREE, in April of 2011, Jason headed out to engage his passion for video game development once again with a new company, Hammer & Chisel, and a new game, announced today, called Fates Forever, an iPad-only massively online battle arena (MOBA) game.

Citron took some time out of a busy schedule to talk to Cult of Mac about the new game, it’s mechanics and business strategy, and his own take on what iPad games should be.

T-Mobile U.K. has confirmed that BlackBerry Messenger for Android and iOS will arrive on June 27. That means we have exactly three weeks to wait until BlackBerry’s hugely popular chat service goes cross-platform, and you can see exactly what it will look like on Android in the photo above.

Mail Pilot, the email client that was born on Kickstarter and first hit iOS back in April, is coming to the Mac. We don’t have a release for it yet, but if you’re itching to get your hands on it, you can sign up for the public beta today. 

When we talk about the Android/iOS wars, we often talk about it as a purely binary conflict. If one side wins, the other side must lose.

According to the latest Flurry Mobile Report, though, that simply isn’t true. There’s room for two kings, and while Android has surpassed iOS in overall marketshare, people spend much more time in-app on iOS.