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Flickr, Vimeo integration coming to iOS 7

Rounak Jain — Tue, 21 May 2013 18:59:57 +0000

Flickr and Vimeo are all set to become first-class citizens on iOS, as Apple works with these companies to deeply integrate their services into iOS 7. Flickr and Vimeo are popular media sharing networks, with Flickr specialising in photos while Vimeo in videos. Currently the online third-party networks iOS supports natively are Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and the Chinese social network Weibo. Flickr and Vimeo integration would be very similar, according to 9to5Mac: With Flickr integration, iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch customers will have the ability to share photos stored and/or taken on their devices to Flickr with a single tap from the system-wide share menu. [...] Vimeo will be a new video-sharing option that Apple deeply embeds into iOS, giving users an option beyond YouTube. The integration will most likely also bring single sign-on capabilities that third-party photo and video apps can take advantage of. Flickr, already built into Apple’s iPhoto apps on Mac and iOS, will receive a major boost if it indeed finds a place in iOS 7. Yahoo, the company that owns Flickr, is putting a lot of resources behind reviving the former leader in photo sharing, and just yesterday announced that the free tier would now have 1TB of storage space. For what it’s worth, Apple has its own photo sharing service for iOS users called Shared Photostreams, but it doesn’t seem to have taken off. Apple is also looking to partner with Yahoo for other features like search and Siri integration with Yahoo News and other Yahoo websites. Vimeo integration is interesting given Apple’s complicated relationship with YouTube’s parent company, Google. The YouTube app was previously bundled with every iOS device, but is now a third-party app available on the App Store. iOS still has native “Share to YouTube” options for videos, and it remains to be seen if this makes its way to iOS 7. Improved sharing is great for iOS 7 but we had thought that Apple would no longer have to do this on a case-by-case basis, and would rather expose APIs that let any third party app hook into the system. Continue reading →

Senator John McCain asks Tim Cook “Why do I have to keep updating the apps on my iPhone”

Rounak Jain — Tue, 21 May 2013 18:04:14 +0000

Apple CEO Tim Cook today testified in front of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee, defending the company’s tax avoidance strategies. During a questioning session with Cook, U.S. Senator John McCain asked a rather funny question to Tim Cook about an issue that bothers many people. “I’m out of time, but why the hell do I have to keep updating the apps on my iPhone? Why can’t you fix that?” To which, Tim Cook laughed and replied “We’re working on making our products better all the time.” While delivering updates to apps is obviously a good thing, having to manually update them isn’t exactly a great experience. Most people don’t bother with app updates, which is why an option to automatically install app updates in the background in iOS 7 would be great. If you’ve a jailbroken iOS device, then you should get the Auto App Updater tweak, which as the name suggests is a great way to ensure that your apps are always up-to-date. Continue reading →

Google Play Music All Access unofficially coming to iPhone and iPad

iPhoneHacks — Tue, 21 May 2013 16:45:32 +0000

Last week when Google launched Google Play Music “All Access,” its music streaming service, it didn’t come as a surprise when it didn’t release an app for the iPhone and iPad as it is still to release an app for Google Music that was launched in 2011. It is still a mystery why Google launched a web app for Google Music rather than a native app. However, this void has been filled by third-party apps like gMusic that allow users to listen to the songs that they’ve uploaded to Google Music. The goods news is that the developer of gMusic has just confirmed to Wired that he has submitted an update to the App Store, which will bring Google Play Music “All Access” to iOS, thus allowing users to stream millions of songs from Google’s All Access song database on their iPhone and iPad, in addition to the songs uploaded to Google Music. The update includes a Web Search feature that taps into the subscription-based All Access song database. Want to hear Lemon Crush from Prince’s Batman soundtrack? Do a quick web search from within the app and you’re good to rock out like it’s the late 1980s. If you’re in the U.S., you can sign up for a free 30-day trial later today, and if you subscribe before June 30th, the monthly fee will be $7.99 as opposed to the regular price of $9.99. Google said that it will rollout All Access to other countries soon. It’s a pity that Google hasn’t released a native app for Google Music as they have some of the best apps in the App Store. We really hope they change their mind and release an app. Until then gMusic seems like the best alternative available currently. It is available in the App Store for $1.99 (download link). We’ll let you know as soon as the update for gMusic app with Google Play Music “All Access” is available in the App Store. Via Wired Continue reading →

QuickGestures brings Android-style gestures to iPhone’s Contacts and Phone app

iPhoneHacks — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:15:14 +0000

QuickGestures is a new jailbreak tweak that brings Android-style gestures to the Contact lists in the Phone and Contacts app. It adds the following gestures to iPhone’s Contact and Phone app: Swiping from right to left on a contact in the Contact list initiates a call. If there is more than one number then it will prompt you to select the number to call. Swiping from left to right on a contact launches iMessage (or Quick compose sheet if you’ve biteSMS installed). If there is more than one number then it will prompt you to select the number to send the iMessage or SMS to. To send a new email to a contact long press on the contact. You can customize the tweak via the Settings app. It allows you to reassign the gestures and also disable them. As a bonus it also allows you to hide section headers and hide the Search bar from the Contact list, which seem unnecessary as I can’t figure out why anyone would want to do it. You can check out the video walkthrough of the tweak below. The tweak works exactly as advertised and it ends up saving you a few taps. If you prefer gesture driven UI then you should like this tweak. QuickGestures is available on Cydia for $0.99. As always, let us know what you think in the comments. ➤ Download link Continue reading →

Apple courting American Express cardholders in India with a 10% cash-back offer

Stefan Constantinescu — Tue, 21 May 2013 12:30:21 +0000

The iPhone is expensive, even if you live in the West, so you can only imagine how hard it must be for someone living in places like India. That’s not to say Indians are poor, but let’s be honest, there’s an obvious difference in income levels. Apple knows this, and according to ZD|Net, they’re going to try to do something about it. If you trade-in your old smartphone when buying an iPhone, you can expect to receive a discount of up to $145. If you have an American Express card, you can get 10% off an iPhone. Why American Express and not Visa or MasterCard? Don’t ask us, we don’t have the slightest clue. Our favorite California company is also giving people discounts on their iPhone if they pay a $182 down payment and then agree to pay the rest off in six months. How are they going to enforce that though? We can imagine it could be rather simple to swipe someone’s identity card and just buy as many iPhones as you can so you can sell them in other countries. Anyway, what’s important here is that Apple is trying, trying hard, to get the iPhone into more people’s hands. We’re eagerly awaiting news of the “cheap” iPhone, which looks like it’ll be an iPhone 5 that’s in a plastic case instead of a beautiful glass and metal body. Continue reading →

Yahoo unveils redesigned Flickr site, offers a free TB of storage space

iPhoneHacks — Tue, 21 May 2013 04:55:12 +0000

Hot on the heels of the Tumblr acquisition, Yahoo has released a completely redesigned website for Flickr, the popular yet what seemed like a neglected photo sharing service. Along with the launch of the new design for its website, Yahoo has also announced that it is giving users a 1 terabyte of storage space for free so that they can upload and share all their images in full resolution. Yahoo has also released a new app for Android smartphones and tablets. Yahoo had released a major update for its iPhone app last December with improved design, Instagram-like filters and social features. Yahoo had this to say about the redesign on Flickr’s blog: Spectaculr. A new, beautiful experience for your photos We want Flickr to be the most amazing community and place for you to share your photos. So, we’re also revealing a beautiful new design that puts photos at the heart of your Flickr experience, where they should always be. Whether it’s a sweeping landscape or a family portrait, we want every photo to be at its most spectacular. Your homepage is now a gateway to everything you care about, and all the photos Flickr has to offer. Our new Activity Feed combines your friends’ recent uploads with activity on your own photos, and all in a beautiful design that lets you share and interact right on the page We completely rebuilt the photostream to show off your photos in a seamless layout, and gave you room to express yourself with a customizable cover photo and high-res profile picture. So how many high resolution photos can you upload with 1 TB of free storage space? Yahoo is saying that the storage space is enough room to stash 537,731 “full-resolution” photos per user. If that’s not enough then users can buy an extra terabyte of storage with Flickr’s Doubler account for $499 a year. There’s also an ad-free version, which costs $49.99 per year. Let us know what you think of the redesign and 1 terabyte of free storage space. Is that enough to convince you to switch to Flickr? I’m definitely contemplating it. Continue reading →

To-do app Checkmark, Units, Ninja Slash free on App Store

Rounak Jain — Mon, 20 May 2013 21:30:52 +0000

Popular to-do app Checkmark, usually priced $4.99, has gone free today on the App Store along with Units, a unit converter, and Ninja Slash, a 4.5 star rated game. Checkmark: Checkmark is an excellent to-do app that takes the stock Reminders app one-step further. The app lets you set favourite locations, create reminders based on these locations including those that fire a specified time after you reach a certain location. It also lets you set time based reminders. You can download Checkmark from this link. Units: Units is a unit converter for the iPhone that sadly isn’t updated for the iPhone 5. It however is a great app for older devices, and has a rating of 4 stars. The developer notes that version 2.0 is coming soon, and till then version 1 of the app will remain free. You can download Units from this link. Ninja Slash: Ninja Slash is a Temple Run like runner game where you play the role of a ninja who runs through the streets, “slashing” zombies and avoiding obstacles. $0.99 usually, the game is a universal binary and can be downloaded from this link. Continue reading →

How to enable spoken notifications on your iPhone

David Gilson — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:30:34 +0000

Whether you’re an uber busy person or you just like the sounds of Siri’s soothing tones, we have a tip today that you’ll like. If you don’t want to break from what you’re doing to check out every single notification noise on your iPhone, then did you know how to make it read out notifications? It’s not quite Siri, but it is using Siri’s voice bank. Read on to find out, how to configure your device, and things to watch out for. This is not the same as Siri’s in-car notification system, but it works similarly and is ideal if you need to know what’s arriving on your iPhone, but you need your hands (say while driving) and can’t check your iPhone all the time. To start with, open the Settings app, and tap the General option. Then scroll down to Accessibility. You’ll see that the first line refers to the “VoiceOver” feature – leave it for a moment. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and tap the “Triple-click Home” option and then select “VoiceOver”. This gives you a quick way to deactivate the voice over mode. Scroll back to the top of the Accessibility options and tap on the VoiceOver option. BEFORE you switch the feature on, scroll to the bottom and turn on the option to “Speak Notifications”. Then you may scroll to the top and turn on the VoiceOver feature. At this point, everything you tap on will be selected, but not opened (e.g. Apps and folders) and the iPhone will speak the item’s name. To actually open, or launch things, you must give them a subsequent double tap. Most importantly though, when notifications come through, your iPhone will read them out to you. The method you must use to open and launch things with VoiceOver turns on is quite difficult to use, and it is not at all obvious how to scroll in this mode either. Fortunately, if you read the guide properly, you’ll be able to toggle VoiceOver on and off by pressing the Home key three times in quick succession. To reduce the amount of speech coming out of your iPhone, disable the “Speak Hints” option in the VoiceOver settings. If you haven’t followed all of the steps here and are finding the iPhone speaking everything you’re touching and you are prevented from scrolling and thus turning VoiceOver off, then do not fear. The secret is to scroll using three fingers. This and other tips are actually shown on the VoiceOver settings page, however, you’d be forgiven for mentally filtering the tips out in your rush to get the VoiceOver reading out all of your texts and emails! One final note is that you should bear in mind that everyone around will hear your notifications being read out. Whether you value your privacy or you think your notifications might not be appropriate for those around you, I suggest you use this feature carefully or only with earphones! Thanks to GigaOm for this tip. Continue reading →

Easily shoot 360° video with Dot [Deals Hub]

StackSocial — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:25:34 +0000

Our latest iPhone Hacks Deals offer gives you more than just a lens for your iPhone. We’re offering you a fast and fun way to shoot fully interactive 360 degree video which you can then share instantly with your friends online. How are we doing this? It’s simple – just as simple as the product is to use. We’re giving you a great deal on Dot – a savings of 28%, in fact. That’s right. For a limited time you can get Dot for just $27.99 courtesy of iPhone Hacks Deals. How does Dot work? Just snap Dot on your phone, shoot a panoramic video (called “Dotspots”), then post to Facebook, Twitter, or kogeto.com. Or you can just email it to someone you love – all from Kogeto’s free app. What can you do with Dot? Shoot: Snap Dot onto your iPhone 4/4S, download our free Looker app, and press record. Dot will capture everything around you. Capture the crowd and the band. Film the beach at the same time as the sand volleyball team. Record a virtual tour of your dorm without missing a thing. View: The video on your screen is only the beginning. Swipe or click and drag across the screen to swivel around in 360°. Or switch modes and view all 360 at once in super-widescreen. You get to see everything. Share: Your Dotspot is ready to share with the world via email, facebook, twitter, or kogeto.com with just a single click. Got a blog? Tumblr feed? Website? You can embed your videos there – or anywhere! Note: This Dot is for iPhone 4/4S users – and is available to continental US customers only. For more details on this offer – including what you’ll be getting and all important reminders – visit the Deals Hub. The Dot raised over $100,000 on Kickstarter and is now in full force, changing the way you see the world – one video camera at a time. Get one for yourself today at the low price of $27.99 from the iPhone Hacks Deals Hub while you can – and start seeing the world differently today! Subscribe to our mailing list Continue reading →

AT&T to allow FaceTime over cellular for all customers by end of the year

iPhoneHacks — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:02:26 +0000

When Apple introduced FaceTime over cellular feature in iOS 6 last September, AT&T only allowed customers with a Mobile Share plan to use the feature. Since then it has been slowly expanding access to the feature to other customers. In November, it expanded FaceTime over cellular access to any customer with an LTE device on a tiered data plan to use the feature. Then earlier this year, it further expanded access to the feature to all customers on a tiered data plan. This meant that the only customers to be left out was AT&T customers with a grandfathered unlimited data plan. According to a report on The Verge, customers with such unlimited data plans will finally be able to access the feature on AT&T’s network by the end of this year. In June, customers with an iPhone 5 or any other LTE device with the unlimited data plan will be able to use the feature, followed by any customer with the unlimited data plan by the end of the year. For video chat apps that come pre-loaded on devices, we currently give all OS and device makers the ability for those apps to work over cellular for our customers who are on Mobile Share or Tiered plans. Apple, Samsung and BlackBerry have chosen to enable this for their pre-loaded video chat apps. And by mid-June, we’ll have enabled those apps over cellular for our unlimited plan customers who have LTE devices from those three manufacturers. Throughout the second half of this year, we plan to enable pre-loaded video chat apps over cellular for all our customers, regardless of data plan or device; that work is expected to be complete by year end. Sprint, Verizon and most recently T-Mobile customers have been able to use FaceTime over cellular feature. Via: The Verge Continue reading →