iOS 5

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April 5, 2012
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Is the iPhone fragmented? iOS adoption measured against Android

By on April 5, 2012 at 11:15 AM.

Is the iPhone fragmented? iOS adoption measured against Android

The iPhone’s unprecedented success stems from the combination of multiple factors, not the least of which are Apple’s industry-leading design prowess and its ability to make software that appeals to enthusiasts and mass-market users alike. The culture and hype surrounding Apple products doesn’t hurt either, of course. Where the overall experience is concerned, Apple wisely created a scenario that gives it control of both hardware and software, removing carriers from the equation to an extent and ensuring the end user enjoys the experience Apple envisions without any substantial impediments. Despite this ideal scenario, some industry watchers maintain that fragmentation is unavoidable to some degree, and this issue exists in the iOS ecosystem just as it does with Android. More →

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mobile
March 15, 2012
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Sparrow launches email client for iOS with gorgeous UI, no push notifications [video]

By on March 15, 2012 at 8:50 PM.

Sparrow launches email client for iOS with gorgeous UI, no push notifications [video]

Sparrow’s desktop email client for OS X includes a great UI and a number of great features such as multiple accounts, a unified inbox and a user-friendly layout. The company on Thursday brought those same attributes to Apple’s iPhone, iPod touch and iPad with the release of its much anticipated iOS app. Much like the desktop version, Sparrow’s mobile app features a simple, Facebook-like design that is light, responsive and easy on the eyes. The iOS app supports iCloud, Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, and other IMAP services, however it does not support POP accounts or push notifications. “If Sparrow was to do Push today, we would have to store your credentials (login/password) on our servers to frequently poll your accounts, and send you notifications,” the company said. “This is a responsibility we’re not ready to take. As a startup focused on iOS/OS X development, we do not have the skills to secure your data on our servers and we do not want to put sensitive information at risk. That’s why Sparrow iPhone 1.0 doesn’t do push.” Sparrow’s mobile app requires iOS 5 and can be had for $2.99 in Apple’s App Store. A video of Sparrow’s new iOS app follows below. More →

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Featured
February 8, 2012
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Why the iPhone is worse than a BlackBerry

By on February 8, 2012 at 12:11 PM.

Why the iPhone is worse than a BlackBerry

I love my iPhone. In fact, I’ve loved every iPhone Apple has launched since the first model was unveiled in 2007. Slowly but surely, Apple has introduced new features and eliminated upon almost every major gripe people had with iOS to push the limits of what we expect from a modern smartphone, and also to keep the platform on par with or even ahead of the competition. Copy and paste, MMS, background apps, multitasking, notifications, folders and much more have been added over time. There is one thing that makes me hate my iPhone every single day though, and I hope Apple is going to address it soon. I need more control over my alerts. More →

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mobile
February 3, 2012
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iOS apps crash more than Android apps, study shows

By on February 3, 2012 at 1:01 PM.

iOS apps crash more than Android apps, study shows

Apps running on Apple’s iOS devices crash more frequently than Android apps according to a new study preformed by mobile app monitoring company Crittercism. The data, which was collected between December 1st and 15th last year, spans 23 different versions of iOS and 33 different Android versions. The latest version of iOS (5.0.1) leads all others with 28.64% of all crashes, Forbes reports. The OS build is still relatively new, however, so much of the poor performance could be attributed to apps that haven’t yet been properly updated. Even still, there are older version of iOS that have surprisingly high percentages — iOS 4.2.1 was responsible for 12.64% of crashes, iOS 4.3.3 had 10.66% and iOS 4.1 had 8.24%. The chart above, which represents collected from more than 214 million apps between November and December 2011, shows that iOS apps are more likely to crash across all quartiles. A second chart below shows the percentage of app crashes across all OS versions addressed by this study. More →

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Breaking
January 20, 2012
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Untethered jailbreak for iPhone 4S and iPad 2 now available

By on January 20, 2012 at 12:09 PM.

Untethered jailbreak for iPhone 4S and iPad 2 now available

Following news earlier on Friday that an untethered jailbreak for the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 was almost ready for public release, anew tool has been made available for download. The new build makes use of pod2g’s “corona” exploit and is the result of combined efforts from the iPhone Dev Team, the Chronic Dev team and iOS hacker pod2g. The tool that enables iOS devices with A5 processors to be jailbroken has been dubbed “Absinthe A5,” and users need to load the Greenpois0n website on their devices in order to trigger the jailbreak. Users having problems loading the site in Safari should simply go into Settings and enable VPN — after about a minute, the device will reboot and the jailbreak will be applied. iPhone 4S users running iOS 5.0 and iOS 5.0.1 and iPad 2 owners running iOS 5.0.1 can download Absinthe for OS X via the read link below to apply. Unfortunately, there is still no option for Windows users looking for an iPhone 4S or iPad 2 untethered jailbreak for the time being. More →

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mobile
January 19, 2012
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iPhone owners living in the past finally get a peek at the present

By on January 19, 2012 at 12:45 PM.

iPhone owners living in the past finally get a peek at the present

There will always come a point when hardware limitations prevent previous-generation iPhone and iPod touch models from receiving the latest version of iOS. The issue is more prominently discussed in the Android community due to the frequency of updates and the time-consuming process vendors face when making customized software elements available on a new Android build. But owners of older versions of Apple’s mobile devices also know the pain of seeing features added to iOS that they will never get to enjoy until they purchase a more modern device — until now. More →

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mobile
December 27, 2011
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Free, legal Siri port now available for iPhone 4 and other iOS 5 devices

By on December 27, 2011 at 3:15 PM.

Free, legal Siri port now available for iPhone 4 and other iOS 5 devices

News of a new untethered jailbreak solution for all iOS 5.0.1 devices other than Apple’s iPhone 4S and iPad 2 emerged this morning, and iOS users now have another reason to take advantage of the hack. IOS developer chpwn announced on his blog on Tuesday that a free Siri port dubbed “Spire” that does not violate any copyright laws is now available for jailbroken iOS 5 devices. This is not the first Siri port available for the iPhone 4 and other devices, but it is the first legal option and it also allows users to input their own proxy server since Apple’s servers cannot be used by devices other than the iPhone 4S. Spire is now available for the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad and third and fourth-generation iPod touch devices, and it can be downloaded from Cydia. More →

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Breaking
December 12, 2011
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Apple iOS 5.1 beta 2 now available for developers, here’s the change log

By on December 12, 2011 at 1:49 PM.

Apple iOS 5.1 beta 2 now available for developers, here’s the change log

Apple iOS 5.1 beta 2

Apple has just seeded iOS 5.1 beta 2 to developers, and hopefully, battery life is fixed for good. We’re combing through the update and will let you know what we find (it looks like you can now delete photos from Photo Stream from your iOS device), but for now, we have the full change log after the break!

Thanks, Austin!

Developing… More →

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mobile
November 29, 2011
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Static bug plaguing iPhone 4S users could be hardware issue

By on November 29, 2011 at 10:20 AM.

Static bug plaguing iPhone 4S users could be hardware issue

It has been a month and a half since Apple released its record-setting iPhone 4S and users are still plagued by a series of bugs that has made the device unusable for some. BGR was one of the first sites to report on a troubling glitch that causes audio to cut out during voice calls when using a headset, and many users continue to experience very poor battery life despite the recent iOS 5.0.1 update Apple released to address the issue. Another bug that has not been widely reported in recent weeks involves static sounds that are heard during voice calls, and the issue may be more serious than initially believed. Read on for more. More →

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mobile
November 11, 2011
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iPhone owners report even worse battery life with iOS 5.0.1

By on November 11, 2011 at 9:00 AM.

iPhone owners report even worse battery life with iOS 5.0.1

Apple on Thursday released an update to iOS 5 that addressed issues many users were having with poor battery performance. The Cupertino, California-based company had been testing the solution for some time, even uncharacteristically reaching out to affected end-users and having them install the potential fix to test its effectiveness. Despite Apple’s determination that iOS 5.0.1 resolved issues related to battery life, however, not all users are finding that to be the case. Read on for more. More →

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mobile
November 10, 2011
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Apple is trying to make iOS autocorrect less horrible

By on November 10, 2011 at 10:00 AM.

Apple is trying to make iOS autocorrect less horrible

Apple is working on solutions that will help to improve the text input experience on its iOS devices. The Cupertino, California-based company has been discovered to be building an enhanced version of its autocorrect feature, the beginnings of which are currently hidden within the publicly available version of iOS 5, that adds suggested words above the iOS keyboard as users type. The functionality works much like the solutions currently found in Android or Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform, and it is viewed by many as a much-needed addition to Apple’s mobile OS. Read on for more. More →

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mobile
November 8, 2011
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Apple seeds iOS 5.0.1 beta to end users to test battery life improvements

By on November 8, 2011 at 10:05 PM.

Apple seeds iOS 5.0.1 beta to end users to test battery life improvements

Apple has already released two beta versions of its iOS 5.0.1 software to developers, but now it is beginning to seed the software update to several end users through AppleSeed as well. The update is expected to offer improvements to the Siri voice engine and should address issues many users have been having with battery life. Participants who choose to test the new iOS build will not be able to revert to an earlier version after upgrading, but they will be able to upgrade to the final patch when Apple releases it in the next few weeks. Read on for more. More →

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mobile
November 8, 2011
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iOS 5 now on nearly 40% of iPhones, study finds

By on November 8, 2011 at 3:35 PM.

iOS 5 now on nearly 40% of iPhones, study finds

Following the highly anticipated launch of Apple’s latest major iOS revision, iOS 5, Chitika Insights found that the new build accounted for 20% of iOS traffic within just five days. Now, as we approach the one-month mark since iOS 5 was released, the new OS can be found on more than 38% of iPhones, 30% of iPads and 12% of iPod touch devices. Using impressions served by its mobile ad network as a guide, the firm analyzed traffic between October 22nd and October 28th to determine how widely iOS 5 had been adopted across Apple’s various iOS devices. Read on for more. More →

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