Category: iOS

Apple’s iPhone Event Is Today At 10:30 PM IST, Get Your Live Blog Here!

Apple will start its 2013 iPhone event at 1 PM ET / 10 AM PT, for those in India the time is IST 10:30 PM. Bookmark this page and catch our live updates below.

The event 2013 will likely see the official announcement of the next generation iPhone (5S) and possibly the much humored budget iPhone 5C. If the leaks and rumors become true, we may see an iPhone 5S with a fingerprint sensor (Touch ID) on the home button, a 12- or 13-megapixel camera with a dual-LED flash, and a gold-colored model. iOS 7 is been in Beta for months now, so we expect some news for the final release of iOS 7. Other rumored products that may be launched are the updated iPad and the iPad mini with retina display.

No matter what happens, we will be there to bring you the latest updates below:

September 10, 2013
BBM For iPhone Confirmed By BlackBerry Executive

“The BBM app will be launched for Android and iOS”, we have been hearing this news from a long time. About a month ago BlackBerry was rumored to test the messenger on both Android and iOS platforms. Now, as per a tweet from Alex Kinsella(Senior Strategic Account Manager for BlackBerry), it shows that BBM will launch first on iOS. As the tweet said:

“BBM for iPhone was submitted for review 2 wks ago #waiting”

Earlier in May BlackBerry officialy announced that BBM will be available on Android and iOS, ever since then we have heard rumors of it launching soon. Here is what Mr. Bocking said when he officially announced messengers availability on Android and iOS.

“For BlackBerry, messaging and collaboration are inseparable from the mobile experience, and the time is definitely right for BBM to become a multi-platform mobile service. BBM has always been one of the most engaging services for BlackBerry customers, enabling them to easily connect while maintaining a valued level of personal privacy. We’re excited to offer iOS and Android users the possibility to join the BBM community,” said Andrew Bocking, Executive Vice President, Software Product Management and Ecosystem, at BlackBerry.

The tweet above shows that BBM might be available for iOS anytime, so when you wake up tomorrow do not forget to check your app store. Few years back, BBM was one of the most popular communication means, but today we have others like Whatsapp, hike, we chat and ALOT more. Will the availability of BBM on Android and iOS bring the change back ? We will have to wait and see.

September 7, 2013
Apple Patents New iOS Unlocking Features

A patent just awarded to Apple allows for a user of an iOS to lock or unlock a device based on a gesture — perhaps the equivalent of a child-proof cap.

The patent, as spotted by AppleInsider and reported by TechCrunch, would allow access to one set of apps — let’s say games for instance — with the drawing of a letter with a fingertip, and then another set, say email, with another, separate gesture.

Apple’s U.S. Patent No. 8,528,072 for a “Method, apparatus and system for access mode control of a device,” describes a system that creates user access modes guarded by predetermined gesture inputs.

Currently, as Apple Insider reports, Apple’s iOS offers passcode unlocking as a means of access control. Under this method, users must input a simple code or password to gain complete access to the device. Apple also provides a certain level of user configuration, allowing access to Siri, Passbook and Reply with Message even when a device is locked.

Such unlocking methods are definitely not new and various Android devices in the past along with custom ROMs have allowed similar functions, whereby a user can “draw” a letter or a shape to launch a specific app, such as the drawing of an envelope that would launch the email app.

This patent by Apple is also accompanied with the effective feature of “Guest Mode”. In this feature Apple will build a lock screen launcher that will easily be accessed by the user through gestures, voice, keyboard, mouse or stylus, already covered in the Apple patent.

September 3, 2013
iOS 7 To Be Launched On September 10

September 10 is the date we’re currently marking in the diaries for the iPhone 5S and 5C reveal, and that may have just been reinforced by a claim that we’ll see the release of iOS 7 that very same day.

According to an email sent to developers from Nuance, the company behind Siri, the general availability date for iOS 7 is set for September 10.

The Next Web contributing writer Owen Williams posted the below email from Nuance to his personal blog, it reads:

As you are probably aware, iOS 7 GA will be released on September 10th.

The NDEV Program has pre-qualified that SpeechKit 1.4.5 works properly on iOS 7, but we encourage you to conduct own testing to ensure that when the upgrade happens, your Nuance speech services continue to work seamlessly.

It asked developers using its API to conduct testing to ensure that their services work on iOS 7 even though its SpeechKit 1.4.5 is pre-qualified to work properly on iOS 7. Nuance is the voice recognition focused company which has also worked on Siri, Apple’s intelligent voice assistant.

Historically, Apple has released iOS Golden Master versions to developers on the same day as the announcement of new iPhones, giving developers time to test their apps with the final version of the new iOS before its release it to the general public a couple of days before the launch of the new iPhone.

[Via]

August 27, 2013
iPhone 5S & 5C Show up in a Video

iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C, the rumored next-generation iPhone and the so called ‘cheaper iPhone’ respectively, are supposed to be unveiled on September 10. As the date approaches closer, we’re seeing details leak out often, but this time its not an image, or group of iPhones, But a video showing the possible golden iPhone 5S and the cheaper version of the iPhone famous as the iPhone 5C.

Looking at the video, there’s no way to tell if the parts shown in this video are real, but they line up with previous leaked photos.

[youtube id=”m-Ib6NME-DE” width=”100%” height=”300px”]

The video clearly shows both the alleged upcoming iPhones together. The 5S might get launched with a faster processor as per the rumors but there is not much information about the ‘5C’ except it being made with a polycarbonate shell. We will have to wait and see if Apple will really launch two phones, specially a cheaper one ? This question will remain unanswered till September 10 irrespective of any new leaked images that might come up.

[via]

August 27, 2013
All New ‘Asphalt 8 Airborne’ Now Available For Android And iOS Devices

Asphalt 8: Airborne, the newest addition to the popular racing game series has been released with universal compatibility for both Android and iOS devices. The game features a brand new engine and includes 47 selectable cars with 37 new cars making an appearance. The game also places an emphasis on verticality with ramps and air stunts, and contains nine different locations for tracks.

The game’s focus is arcade style, objective based races compared to more simulation oriented game such as Real Racing 3. Players earn awards based on a variety of objectives in-game such as narrowly missing cars, performing stunts mid-air or causing the opposition to wreck. While each of these eventually earn small amounts of currency at the conclusion of the race, the most important they earn nitro in-game.

This game is available for a price of 55 INR, which seems decent for a game like this and specially looking at the increasing price of USD(This game costs $0.99 in US). What is your take on this new game ?

August 23, 2013
iOS 7 Beta 6 Release Seeding Early With Minor Fixes

Rumours are that Apple will be holding a media event on September 10th – this is where they’ll possibly unveil the ‘iPhone 5S’ and the low-cost ‘iPhone 5C.’ Late last night, Apple inched closer to a final ‘golden master’ version of the upcoming iO7 7 and seeded iOS 7 beta 6 to developers.

The update comes a week after the previous update and just hours after a report pegged the Beta 6 update for next week. The focus of the small update appears to be on an emergency issue with iTunes in the Cloud which requires a workaround.

This update addresses an issue with iTunes in the Cloud, where some purchases may download or play unexpected items. If you have any devices running previous versions of iOS 7 beta, you must:
1. Install iOS 7 beta 6
2. Install the ResetMusicAndVideosLibraries configuration profile
3. From Settings > Music, tap the Reset Media Library button
4. Restart the device

It’s only a 13.5MB OTA download (build 11A4449d) and according to the change log in the iOS Developer Center shows it brings a quick fix.

iOS 7 is scheduled for release in the fall of this year, with updates to Apple’s iPhone and iPad lineups expected around the same time. If past history is any indication, iOS 7 should be made available to the public just a few days before the launch of the next-generation iPhone.

August 16, 2013
YouTube Founders Launch Mixbit, A Vine And Instagram Rival

Steve Chen and Chad Hurley, the two original founders of YouTube and current team behind San Mateo-based incubator AVOS, are in the process of launching MixBit, a new social video clip service.

Video recording and sharing seems to be a very competitive market at the moment. For longer videos YouTube and Vimeo are the key services. Shorter video captures are being catered for by Vine (6 second limit) and Instagram (15 second video).

Here’s how the Mixbit site itself puts it:

“The MixBit app and website helps people create videos together. The app lets you record, edit and publish videos as short as one second or as long as an hour—right from your mobile device. The MixBit site is also the first site that lets users collaborate with each other and remix videos uploaded by the community.”

MixBit is very similar to Vine in that you use an app to record a short video on your mobile device. However, the time limit for each video capture is 16 seconds rather than just 6, and MixBit goes a step further than that by introducing editing.

For example, once you’ve recorded a series of 16-second clips, you can then edit them and stitch them all together in any order you choose. You can also mix photos in with them. Up to 256 clips can be merged into one, resulting in a short home movie that lasts over an hour.

Once you have a video you’re happy with, you can share it with your friends and family via Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or the MixBit website. You can also choose whether your videos are public or private, so if you have a clip you only want to share with certain people, that’s not a problem.

What’s really interesting about MixBit is that even after your video has been finalized and uploaded, it still consists of a whole bunch of separate video clips and photos. So you can go back into it at any time and make further edits. You can even edit your videos in your web browser on the MixBit website.

[Via]

August 8, 2013
iOS 7 Beta 4 Fixes Charger Hack

Apple is said to have fixed a powerful charger-based hack, which previously allowed iDevices to be compromised by hackers using a modified power charger in under a minute.

As Reuters reports, Apple said the issue had been fixed in the latest beta of iOS 7, which has already been released to software developers.

“We would like to thank the researchers for their valuable input,” Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr said. The researchers were Billy Lau, a research scientist at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and graduate students Yeongjin Jang and Chengyu Song.

Andy Greenberg, Forbes technology and information security reporter explains that the researchers took advantage of a security flaw in Apple’s developer model, which allows anyone with a developer license to install third-party apps on a registered device.

iOS 7 prompts a new warning message to the user when they plug their iOS device to any device that attempts to establish a data connection informing them that “Trusting this computer will allow it full access to your device and all its data.”

Of course, this leaves iPhones and iPads that won’t get the iOS 7 update vulnerable. According to the researchers, all other versions of iOS can be hacked in this manner.

However, end users will have to wait for iOS 7 before the fix arrives.

August 2, 2013
Can’t Login to Twitter on an iPhone, iPad or iPod ? Twitter knows it, Here is How you Fix it!
Many iPhone / iOS device users are facing issues logging into Twitter from their iOS devices, so much so that some people cant even open the twitter website on their browser. Twitter is aware of this bug and claims that it is working on a fix.

If you can’t login to Twitter on your iPhone, iPad or iPod you may be one of the many who are affected by this bug.

[box type=”notice” title=”Bug Alert: ” message=” Some users are having trouble sending a Tweet with photo. Some users report seeing the following errors when logging into Twitter for iPhone: Unauthorized / @(null) / Error Loading Tweets (400 or 401) “]

Twitter Recommends the following steps to attempt to reinstate your iPhone / iOS Twitter access to your Twitter account .

Remove your account from the app and log back in

If clearing your phone’s cache or turning your phone off and then on again didn’t work, you should try removing and then re-adding your account to the app. This is essentially the same thing as logging out and back in again, but since there is not “log out” option on the app, you’ll need to remove the account from the app entirely and then sign back in.

Note: The instructions for removing an account from the app are different for iOS4 and iOS5 (and higher). If you don’t know which OS version your phone is running, you can check by going to your iPhone’s Settings > General > About > Version.

To remove your account from the Twitter for iPhone app:
1. Go to your phone’s System Settings.
2. Tap on Twitter.
3. Tap on the account that needs to be removed.
4. Select Delete Account.
To add your account back to the app:
1. Open the Twitter for iPhone app.
2. Tap Sign in.
3. Enter your username and password.
4. Tap Done.
If you’ve forgotten your account’s password, follow the troubleshooting steps below to recover it.

How to send a password reset from your mobile device:
1. If you’re using a mobile device to access Twitter, you can send yourself a password reset via Twitter for Android, Twitter for iPhone, or mobile.twitter.com.
2. On the welcome page, select Sign in and then Forgot password?
3. Enter the email address or username that you are trying to request a password reset for. If you have a phone number associated with the account, you can choose to receive a reset via SMS.
Uninstall and reinstall the app

If above troubleshooting steps didn’t resolve your issue, you can try deleting and reinstalling the app on your iPhone.

To uninstall the app:
1. From your home screen, press and hold your finger on the Twitter for iPhone app icon.
2. The icon will begin to wobble and an x will appear in the top left corner of the icon. Tap the x.
3. Your iPhone will ask you to confirm your decision to delete the app. Tap Delete.
4. The app will disappear from the screen and has been deleted from your phone.
To reinstall the app:
1. Go to twitter.com/#!/download/iphone and click Download now.
2. Open the App Store app on your phone and search for Twitter.
3. Tap Install.
Try clearing your phone’s cache
1. Tap the Settings app icon on your iPhone.
2. Tap Safari in the list of applications.
3. Scroll down and select Clear History and/or Clear Cookies and Data
4. If you’ve cleared your cache but are still experiencing the issue, try turning your phone off and then on.
Check that your time zone settings are set to update automatically

If you’re seeing “Unauthorized” or “Invalid username and Password” when you try to sign in, this is likely caused by incorrect time zone settings or an outdated version of the Twitter client application. Please make sure your Twitter client is up to date with the latest version and that the date, time and timezone settings are set to update automatically.

To check your time zone settings:
1. Tap the Settings app icon on your iPhone.
2. Tap General.
3. Select Date & Time.
4. Make sure the option to Set Automatically is enabled.
July 30, 2013
New Apple Patent Indicates A Location-Aware Battery System For The iPhone

Future iPhone devices may come with intelligent batteries that draw down power based on a user’s location and charging habits, a new patent application suggests.

From the application :

A method for modifying one or more characteristics of a mobile electronic device in order to save or reduce power consumption of the device. The method includes determining by, a processor of the mobile electronic device, an estimated use of the mobile electronic device during an upcoming time period; using the estimated use, determining, by the processor, whether an internal power source of the mobile electronic device has sufficient power to continue operation of the mobile electronic device in a first state during the upcoming time period; based on the estimated use and the internal power source, if the internal power source does not have sufficient power, adjusting the one or more characteristics to reduce a power consumption of the mobile electronic device during the upcoming time period.

Apple proposes a system that can compare the estimated time period a user will spend on their device with battery reserves, determining whether the device has sufficient power to last for said period. If the battery does not have sufficient power, the system will adjust “one or more characteristics” to conserve energy.

Image Courtesy : Apple Insider

As devices like the iPhone get thinner and come packed with more features, improving or maintaining the same battery life will be one of the biggest challenges for Apple. It will also have to come out with innovative software based solutions to improve battery life.

We’re already seen Apple use software based solutions such as intelligent scheduling, opportunistic updates, coalesce updates, push notification triggers etc. to bring us smarter multitasking in iOS 7 without having a major impact on your iPhone’s battery life.

[Via]

July 25, 2013
Apple Acquires Transportation App HopStop
Apple, in a bid to improve its infamous mapping system, today acquired popular transportation app HopStop.

Apple confirmed the purchase late Friday afternoon, though did not go into detail about what it intends to do with the company.

The new mapping software Apple debuted in September with the iPhone 5 has been faulted for getting users lost and for its lack of public transportation directions. HopStop shows users in more than 500 cities the fastest way to travel by foot, bike, subway and car; Locationary deploys real-time data from a variety of sources to help users find featured businesses.

The functionality is similar to the newly-acquired Waze, except it is for transit rather than automobile traffic.

HopStop’s App Store description reads :

Get detailed subway, bus, train, taxi, walking and biking directions, real-time transit information via “HopStop Live!”, as well as official transit maps, nearby station search, and station-to-station schedules in over 600 cities throughout the US, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

In addition, you’ll benefit from our latest feature, HopStop Live!, which lets you see what other HopStop users are saying, in real-time, about the stations, trains, lines and buses you use most. HopStop Live! empowers our community of millions of transit riders to work together towards a common goal to get everyone to where they need to go, faster.

With HopStop Live! you can:
- Follow your favorite lines, stations or stops
- Report real-time delays and issues
- Contribute pictures of what you’re seeing on buses and trains
- Share to Facebook and Twitter
The app also supports these great features as well:
- Get directions from your current location
- Get schedules for hundreds of regional rails, subways, buses, ferries, light rails, streetcars, trams, trolleys & more
- Map a location & see nearby subway & bus stops
- Estimate travel time & cost for a taxi & call cab companies
- See a list of all possible routes with Smart Route
- Get biking directions in NYC, DC, Chicago, & SF
Earlier on Friday a report from All Things Digital noted that Apple had purchased Locationary, a location-based data company that blended data from multiple sources, including things like business listings and products and services.

[Via]
July 20, 2013
VLC Media Player Returns To iOS App Store

Late in 2010, an iOS version of the popular, open-source VLC media player appeared on the App Store. But by January 2011, Apple had pulled the app, facing possible litigation from one of VLC’s original creators. According to a report from Ars Technica, version 2.0 of the app has now returned to the New Zealand and Australian App Stores, with a U.S. launch scheduled for late Thursday night and worldwide roll out later.

The visual appearance of the app has remained fairly consistent to the old version from 2010. The app was completely rewritten and is much faster thanks to modern output modules for audio and video, and offers multi-core decoding and support for any video files available in VLC media player for desktop operating systems.

Along with the faster performance, VLC for iOS 2.0 has a number of new features, including the ability to sync media via WiFi, Dropbox, 3rd party apps, or web download. It also added support for network streams, video filters, subtitle rendering, and more.

VLC supports a “WiFi Upload” feature as mentioned above, that lets you upload files through a desktop web browser running on the same local WiFi network, as well as a new “Download from Web Server” option where you can enter the URL of a file you want to download within the app. The app comes with support for iTunes file sharing, and Dropbox integration.

Back in 2011, VLC developer Rémi Denis-Courmont filed a complaint against the original VLC iOS app, created by developer Applidium. At the time, VLC was licensed under the now-outdated, open source GNU General Public License version 2.

[Via]

July 19, 2013
Google Maps Returns To The iPad, Updated With Indoor Navigation And Live Traffic

The big Google Maps update that hit the Android Play Store last week is now rolling out to Apple’s mobile platform. The update, which brings the app to version 2.0, contains a number of new features including iPad support and indoor maps.

Google Maps version 2.0 brings the iOS title more in line with the native Android offering, including indoor mapping and the newly released “Explore” pane.

Google Maps 2.0 for iOS includes both live traffic updates and incident reports that offer details on current traffic conditions. Unlike the Android version of the app, it does not include on-the-fly rerouting, but Google has said that it plans to add the feature in the future. The new version of Maps also offers indoor directions and maps for malls, airports, transit stations, and more.

Google Maps is currently unavailable to download in the App Store for many countries until this update is released.

As 9to5Mac reports, some users have had success downloading the new version of Google Maps by deleting their current version and downloading it from iCloud.

Google launched an overhaul of its Maps service at its IO event in May, and following that it announced an acquisition of the mobile mapping service Waze for just over $1 billion last month.

July 17, 2013
WhatsApp For iOS Reverts To Subscription Model, Adds iCloud Backup, Multi-Photo Sharing

The enormously successful mobile chat tool WhatsApp, which Apple recently listed as the 6th most popular paid app of all time, has received some major updates today.

Today, the company has issued an update with a few nice features, and have quietly removed the 99c / Rs. 60 barrier to entry, reverting to an annual subscription model of the same amount.

The paid app business model is really a vestige of an older era where developers would sell their work up-front. But over time, many paid apps have made the switch toward going free with paid features. Games really triggered this wave, but other high-usage apps like messaging have gone for a freemium strategy.

The new version also adds iCloud message backup, which allows synchronization of chat states between devices and backup and restoration of content after logging out of changing devices.

The company has also added third-party URL schemes, which allows various apps to share data to WhatsApp and vice versa, and users can now send multiple messages to an individual or group (much needed!).

While this isn’t the visual overhaul many users were hoping for, it’s a great update nonetheless.

WhatsApp is one of the most popular cross platform messaging services out there. It recently announced that the service has over 250 million monthly active users, not to mention the fact that WhatsApp handles more than 27 billion messages every single day.

July 17, 2013