Twitter announced on its blog yesterday that the company is finally rolling out an update to its mobile web application which will integrate HTML5 and introduce some nice new features, meaning it will no longer suck so much under mobile Safari.
Amazon’s Cloud Player Now Works on iOS Devices
Cloud Player, the recently launched online storage service from Amazon, now works on iOS devices through the Safari web browser. When it first went live, the service – which offers 5GB of storage for free – was only accessible from Flash-supported browsers and Android devices.
When you first navigate to Cloud Player on your iOS device, you are greeted by a warning that tells you your browser isn’t supported. You can just ignore that and proceed into your music collection. Once there, you can use Cloud Player flawlessly: it will pause when you receive push notifications and incoming calls, you’ll get the blue “playing” icon in your device’s status bar, and you can control playback from the buttons in the multitasking tray.
Browser-Based Lima to Compete with Cydia for Jailbroken Apps & Tweaks
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWPFfb4mF6k&feature=player_embedded
For a while Cydia has been the one and only source for jailbroken applications and tweaks, and it hasn’t really had a lot of competition. That’s about to change, as a new web-based installer called Lima is on its way to give Cydia something of a challenge.
Developed by the Infini Dev Team, Lima runs in the Safari browser and doesn’t require any additional applications – you just navigate to its webpage to access all of its packages. Downloading and installing packages is just as simple as it currently is with Cydia.
Judging from the video at the top, Lima looks like a nice, snappy way of accessing jailbroken apps and tweaks, without the downsides of the often slow Cydia. However, I’m not sure whether you’ll we’ll still be able to add our own repositories like we can with Cydia, or whether we’re stuck with whatever Lima has to offer.
As much as I love Cydia, sometimes its slow reload times and all too frequent errors prove to be a huge frustration, and I’m looking forward to giving Lima a try. What do you think; will Lima give Cydia a run for its money, or is it facing an uphill battle? Let us know in the comments!
[via iPhone Download Blog]
Safari Users Targeted By New ‘MACDefender’ Malware Software on Mac OS X
A new malware threat called ‘MACDefender’ is targeting Mac OS X users browsing the web using Apple’s Safari browser. The software automatically downloads a file through JavaScript, but users must first agree to install the software, making the potential threat a low risk to careful users.
The malicious software was highlighted on Monday by Intego – the company behind the VirusBarrier X6 antivirus software for Mac – after Apple Support Community users started reporting the threat. Intego say the software prompts users to download a compressed ZIP archive after clicking on a dodgy link in their search engines. The file is then decompressed and begins installing MACDefender on the system.
Safari’s New ‘Reading List’ Feature to Compete with Instapaper and ReadItLater
A new Safari feature hidden within the latest Mac OS X Lion build is expected to compete with services like Instapaper and ReadItLater as a method of saving pages for later reading. The ‘Reading List’ feature appears to be partly based on HTML and javascript, and is likely synchronize bookmarks between Mac and iOS devices.
Discovered by MacRumors, Apple’s description of the feature is the following:
Reading List lets you collect webpages and links for you to read later. To add the current page to your Reading List, click Add Page. You can also Shift-click a link to quickly add it to the list. To hide and show Reading List, click the Reading List icon (eyeglasses) in the bookmarks bar.
The feature is currently inactive within the latest build of Lion, so those running the release won’t be able to try it out just yet, but as a massive Instapaper addict I can’t wait for Reading List to go live.
Read New York Times For Free, Courtesy of Safari [Easiest Method Ever]
If you’ve run up against the New York Times‘ new paywall, here is the simplest way to continue reading — guaranteed. This isn’t just a Mac tip: it works on Windows too.
Apple Releases Safari 5.0.5 And Mac OS X Security Update 2011-002
Apple has just released Safari 5.0.5 – an update for Safari on Mac OS X which offers unspecified bug fixes and security updates for Apple’s web browser application.
The release notes read:
This update is recommended for all Safari users and includes the latest security updates.
For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website:https://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222.
In addition to the Safari update Apple has also released a Mac OS X Security Update 2011-002. The release notes read:
Security Update 2011-002 is recommended for all users and improves the security of Mac OS X.
For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website:https://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222.
All these nifty updates follow the release of iOS 4.3.2 earlier today.
Do-Not-Track Tool Added To Latest Safari Browser
The latest beta version of Safari now features a do-not-track privacy setting to prevent online advertisers from tracking users as they surf the Web.
The tool has been added to the latest version of Safari in Lion, the upcoming update to OS X expected to go public this summer.
Safari is the third major browser to add a do-not-track setting. It joins Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Mozilla’s Firefox include it, but Google’s Chrome does not — yet.
Google, of course, is one of the web’s biggest online advertisers. It’s also worth noting that Apple offers an in-app advertising program called iAds that competes with other forms of advertising, online and off.
Wall Street Journal: Apple Adds Do-Not-Track Tool to New Browser
Try This: Google For “Tilt” On Your iPhone
This is all over Twitter today.
Grab your iThing, open Safari, and use the Google search box to search for “tilt”.
Your search results are… tilted.
Is this an easter egg? An April Fools gag that someone forgot to switch off?
Tighten Up Safari’s Security With One Click [100 Tips #52]
You want your computer to be as secure as possible, right? Here’s one thing that newcomers to OS X might want to change pretty soon after getting their hands on their first Mac.
The OS X web browser, Safari, is a pretty good browser in almost every respect. But it has one default option that, personally speaking, I’ve never felt very comfortable about leaving switched on.
How To Download Any YouTube Video [Video How-To]
Have you ever seen a great YouTube video that you wanted to download but didn’t know how?
The browser extension FastestTube solves that. The free extension works with Safari, Firefox, Chrome, Opera and even Interent Explorer!
This video will show you where and how to get FastestTube, as well as download a video and save it to your hard drive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ph97RbPIh_U
Apple Loves The Web, and The Web Loves Apple, Says Gruber [Macworld 2011]
SAN FRANCISCO, MACWORLD 2011 — Apple is perceived as closed and proprietary, but the company has been very generous to the open web, and that generosity has benefited Apple in turn, says pundit John Gruber.
Speaking at Macworld 2011’s opening Industry Forum, Gruber noted that most of the best browsers on the market today are based on Apple’s WebKit, an open source browser engine developed and supported by Apple.
Apple allows its competitors to base their browsers on Apple’s technology, including Google, Nokia and Palm. Indeed, Palm’s entire webOS is based on Apple’s Webkit.
Why does Apple do this?
Because an open web is beneficial to Apple. Ten years ago, most software vendors developed for Windows and Apple was locked out. Napster is a good example, Gruber said. Napster was built for Windows, and Apple users were was largely excluded until third-party Mac clients were build much later.
These days, software companies build for the open Web. Twitter and Facebook, for example, were built for the Web.
“When Windows was the baseline platform for the industry, Apple was left out,” Gruber said. “But these days, if companies develop for the Web, Apple is included.”
This wouldn’t have happened if Apple hadn’t supported and encouraged the web as a development environment, partly by giving Webkit away.
“Apple has benefited tremendously from the rise of the Web,” said Gruber. “And the Web has benefited from contributions from Apple.”
Rumor: iTunes To Merge With Safari
A rather questionable new rumor is coming out of Three Guys And A Podcast. They’re claiming that Apple will not only discontinue iTunes this year but they’ll replace it with Safari. What?
Check Out Mobile Safari’s Augmented Reality Capabilities Under iOS 4.2
Considering the depths that Apple fans will plump into a new version of iOS even before it’s released — let alone a month later — we’re amazed to hear that developers are still stumbling upon new features of iOS 4.2… especially when those features are as buzzworthy as augmented reality. Yet that’s just what Occipital has discovered lurking in the firmware of Apple’s latest iteration of its popular mobile operating system.
Safari 5 Gets Updated For PC and Mac, Safari 4 for Tiger
Apple has just released an incremental point update for Safari 5 on both the Mac and PC, Safari 5.0.3, as well as Safari 4.1.3 for Mac OS X Tiger.
Safari 5.0.3 is largely a security and stability release, although there are some notable improvements including more accurate top hit results in the address field, more accurate results in top sites and more reliably pop-up blocking.
You can download the new version either through Software Update, or directly from Apple’s website.
Adobe Releases 64-Bit Version of Flash for OS X
Adobe’s just released a new version of their Flash Player for Mac into the wild. Called “Square,” the latest version enables native 64-bit support on OS X, which Adobe hopes will result in a substantial speed boost for users running modern Macs.
On our end, we haven’t seen much improvement, short of a marginal (and perhaps imaginary) performance boost under 64-bit Safari. It still seems to take up just as many system resources as before.
Are any of our readers experiencing varying mileage with Adobe Flash Square? Let us know in the comments: we keep on rooting for Adobe to prove Steve Jobs wrong, but it still remains a slow and unacceptable system hog.
Now Available On Software Update: Safari 5.0.2 and 4.1.2 (Tiger)
If you fancy a computer reboot to start off your day in exchange for some better WebKit stability and security, Apple has just pushed a new Safari update down the pipeline, fixing a stable of bugs and freshly revealed security vulnerabilities, including:
• Fixes an issue that could prevent users from submitting web forms
• Fixes an issue that could cause web content to display incorrectly when viewing a Google Image result with Flash 10.1 installed
• Establishes an encrypted, authenticated connection to the Safari Extensions Gallery
The 39MB Safari 5.0.2 update is available through Software Update now, or directly from Apple… and if you’re still stuck on Tiger, Apple’s even gone the extra mile and snuck out a 4.1.2 update for you throwbacks.
Apple Updates Safari and Swats Address Book Bug
Apple has released Safari 5.0.1, the latest version of its browser that adds support for the Safari Extensions Gallery and it includes a patch for the recently discovered Address Book bug.
According to Software Update on my Mac the update includes these new features:
- Safari Extensions
- Customize Safari with features created by third-party developers
- Find extensions in the Safari Extensions Gallery, accessible from the Safari menu and extensions.apple.com
iOS 4 Task Switching Bug — Apps and Hard Resets
I’ve been using my new iPhone 4 for over a week and now that I’ve had some time to explore it I’m learning a lot about the hardware and software that it came with. The iPhone 4 isn’t perfect since I’ve found a few problems with the hardware and iOS 4, but fortunately I’ve got workarounds for some of the bugs plaguing iOS 4.
Enabling and adding to the Bookmarks Bar in Safari for iPad [How To]
By having an iPad, you now have the internet in your hands (and probably on your couch), at least according to Steve Jobs. But are you wishing you had a bookmarks bar like in regular Safari? After reading this quick guide you soon will.
Browser Wars: Mozilla Dev Slams Safari for Windows, Calling it Malware
How soon the bloom fades from the fruit. Apple’s controversial distribution method for delivering Safari 3.1 to Windows users is inciting flames of discontent among customers and critics alike, who now accuse the company of unfair practices. The problem stems from Apple’s iTunes Software Update client for Windows, which some claim dupes users into downloading the latest version of Safari by leaving the install option checked by default, whether the browser was previously installed or not, which users then mistake to be a necessary update rather than an option.
Not surprisingly, rivals are jumping on the Safari-gate bandwagon like hungry wolves feeding on a wounded fawn, with angry words flung like cannon balls. Mozilla Chief John Lilly has gone on the offensive, alleging that Apple’s software delivery method “borders on malware distribution practices. What Apple is doing now with their Apple Software Update on Windows is wrong.”
Harsh words. Next will come the accusation that Apple illegally ties its browser with the operating system. Sorry, Microsoft beat them to it.
WWDC: Safari 3 on Windows Review
Having spent a day with the beta for Apple’s much-ballyhooed Safari browser for Windows XP, I’m ready to pronounce it the fastest browser for XP that I’ve used on a regular basis. On the other hand, it also is riddled with the kinds of bizarre bugs only a public beta could expose.
Sometimes, it’s both the fastest and the stupidest browser on all of Windows. If you’re on the fence, click through to hear whether your working style is ready for this not-quite-ready-for-prime-time browser contender while stranded in the Windows world.