iPhone

iPhone-related tips and news for everyone interested in Apple’s iPhone or looking to make your iPhone experience even better.

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How Apple’s Walled Garden is a Double-Edged Security Sword

Andrew Orr ·

Patrick Howell O’Neill shared an interesting argument for MIT Technology Review: Apple’s locked-down ecosystem is both good and bad for security.

He argues that while the iPhone’s security is getting tighter as Apple invests millions to raise the wall, the best hackers have their own millions to buy or develop zero-click exploits that let them take over iPhones invisibly. These allow attackers to burrow into the restricted parts of the phone without ever giving the target any indication of having been compromised. And once they’re that deep inside, the security becomes a barrier that keeps investigators from spotting or understanding nefarious behavior.

Put another way: Apple’s locked down systems naturally select for the best hackers. And the best hackers have the skill to create the most devastating hacks. “This means that even to know you’re under attack, you may have to rely on luck or vague suspicion rather than clear evidence.”

‘Clean Text’ From ApiMac is the Closest Tool to TextEdit for iOS
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‘Clean Text’ From ApiMac is the Closest Tool to TextEdit for iOS

Andrew Orr ·

I believe Clean Text is the purest expression of plain text editing for iPhones and iPads, like TextEdit on Mac. I’ve been gradually transitioning my notes into plain text. I still use Apple Notes for its rich text and support for images. But plain text is a great backup solution. Clean Text doesn’t try to force you into its own note-taking paradigm; in fact it’s not a traditional note-taking app at all. Unlike other note-takers I’ve used, Clean Text, as the name suggests, cleans your text. It has tools to fix line breaks, join paragraphs, remove empty lines, replace tabs with spaces, and lots more. When you’re done you can copy the text to another app or export it to Files. One note at a time without a subscription or in-app purchase. One up front purchase of US$0.99. I created a shortcut that copies text from the input (share a plain text file to it) and opens Clean Text where you can paste it. Good for quickly editing a text file from Files.

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Apple Wins a Patent for Displays with Multiple Refresh Rates

Charlotte Henry ·

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted Apple a patent for displays with multiple refresh rate modes. It was spotted by Patently Apple.

Apple notes that displays may be operable at a native refresh rate that is equal to the highest refresh rate at which the display has full resolution. When operating at the native refresh rate, each row of pixels may be scanned sequentially. Displays may also be operable in a high refresh rate mode with a high refresh rate. In the high refresh rate mode, the display may operate at a refresh rate that is twice the native refresh rate, three times the native refresh rate, or four times the native refresh rate (as examples). The native refresh rate may be 120 Hz and the high refresh rate may be 240 Hz, as one example. The native refresh rate may be 60 Hz and the high refresh rate may be 120 Hz, 180 Hz, or 240 Hz, as another example.

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Save us From a Portless iPhone

Charlotte Henry ·

Rumors are swirling that future iPhones may not have any ports. Ed Hardy at Cult of Mac explains why a portless iPhone would be a horrible idea.

First off, there’s iPhone recovery. If something goes seriously wrong with your iOS handset, the cure is to hook it to a Mac or PC and use recovery mode. The need for this is rare, but occasionally crops up when operating system updates go horribly wrong. Without a Lightning port, this is impossible. The only option would be to send the iPhone to Apple or an authorized repair tech. A minor hassle suddenly becomes a major one. Next, even assuming the future portless iPhone comes with MagSafe, wireless charging will still be slower than wired. And the handset itself will cost more to make because Apple will (probably) put a MagSafe charger in the box. And they’ll cost users extra because most people will want to buy extras to have additional chargers at work, in the car, etc. Plus, you can say goodbye to some great accessories…