3D Touch has all sorts of little conveniences around iOS that can add up to big time savers. If you haven’t used it much though, David Chartier put together a list of some great places to start.
iOS
Lightroom For iPhone Gets HDR Mode Update - Here's Why You Should Care
Adobe Lightroom Mobile now uses RAW files in a cool new HDR mode that greatly enhance the photos you take. Andrew Orr explains why iPhoneographers should care about this update.
Perspectives on Blancco's State of Mobile Device Report (iOS & Android)
Recently, Blancco published a report on the performance and health of iPhones and Android smartphones. A key finding was that iPhones are less reliable than Android devices. It created quite a stir, and the report intrigued John, so he asked for a copy of the report and looked into the findings. Here’s what he found.
iOS 10 Spying Possible With iCloud Backups
A scary piece from Motherboard brings to attention a tool for iOS 10 spying. A company called Mobistealth sells a special monitoring tool that can pull data from iCloud backups. And the device doesn’t need to be jailbroken to work.
Cool Stuff Found
iOS: Long Press Icons For Safari Shortcuts
You might not know it, but Safari has some hidden shortcuts tucked behind some of the icons. This will let you perform certain actions a little faster. Safari shortcuts will save you plenty of time. Andrew tells us how he discovered these shortcuts by accident.
Stanford's 'Developing iOS 10 Apps with Swift' free on iTunes U
iTunes U pushed a version of Developing iOS 10 Apps with Swift. The free iOS tutorial series from the Stanford School of Engineering has been updated for iOS 10 and the current version of Swift. Reader Rick Allen turned me onto this release, calling it, “a great and free resource,” which seems like a great reason to pass it on. Reviews on iTunes are overwhelmingly good, too. The description says the 14-part course covers UI design, memory management, a model-view-controller paradigm, object-oriented databases, animation, power management, multi-threading, networking, and performance. And it’s free through iTunes U.
What a Digital Avatar Patent Might Mean for Apple Customers
The latest patent filing (via RedmondPie) that the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office granted Apple is centered around digital avatars. It mentions how an editing environment could let people create a “representation of their alter ego.” It sounds like Apple has bigger ideas though. Andrew Orr dives in and gives us his speculations.
iOS: Turn Safari Into a Simple RSS Reader
If you’ve found modern feed readers too cumbersome or full-featured for your use, you might be in the camp that just needs a bare-bones feed reader. Thanks to an often-overlooked feature in Safari for iOS, you’ve already got one. Jeff Butts shows you how to use it in this Quick Tip.
iOS: Use "Vibrate Only" for Specific Event Alerts
This Quick Tip is all about the awesome sound of silence…ahhh. There’s a way that you can have your iPhone vibrate only for certain events (like when an email comes in) while allowing it to chime for others (such as when you get a text). Tired of the beeping and pulsing and dinging? This article’s for you!
Podcasts
Apple App Store Revenues Hit $40 Per User, While Average Downloads Decrease
A report by Sensor Tower finds that iPhone customers in the United States spend more on apps and in-app purchases than other platforms. App revenue for 2016 was an average of $40 per active iPhone. This is an increase from $35 in 2015, but at the same time, average downloads decreased.
Getting Two-Factor Verification Codes for Your Apple ID
If you’re using two-factor authentication for your Apple ID (and you should be!), then you’re likely familiar with how you’ll approve access from your trusted devices with a six-digit code. But what if that code never comes through or you accidentally dismiss the prompt? Well, in today’s Quick Tip, we’re going to show you an easy way to generate a new one from your Mac or iOS device!
iOS 10: How to Make Home Button Touch ID Work Like it Used to
iOS 10 brought a big change to the way the Home Button worked by requiring users to press it, even after your fingerprint has been recognized. But, there’s a feature tucked away under Settings > General > Accessibility that allows you to make your Home Button work like it used to. When this option is turned on, your iPhone or iPad with Touch ID will unlock with just a touch from the lock screen. Here’s how to do it.
4 Possible Roadmaps For macOS and iOS Evolution
From time to time, we’ve seen scenarios related to how the Mac/macOS and the iPad/iOS might evolve as personal computing platforms. We know about the declining sales of the iPad and Apple’s seeming inattention to the Mac line as whole in 2016. In turn, that has created some discussion about their respective future developments. John catalogs the likely and not-so-likely roadmaps for these products.
Cool Stuff Found
Photon Strike is a Fun Arcade Scroller for iOS
You may known of my penchant for tower defense games, but I also have a not-so-secret love for arcade scrollers. The good news for your time-sucking pleasure is that I found a new one called Photon Strike. It’s a solid vertical scroller for iPhone an iPad (I played on iPad) with good graphics and fast action. In fact, it’s very fast. It’s similar to others in the genre. You have to steer your ship (with your fingers), firing as long as your finger is on the screen. Waves of enemies fly around the screen, and you have to shoot/avoid them. Powerups are available throughout each level, and you get credits for each enemy you destroy for buying upgrades. It’s free to download, but for real-world cash, you can get yourself a whole heap of credits. You can also watch videos for free credits. Every five waves there’s a boss at the end. It’s ad-supported, but the ads go away with any purchase (the ads are not obnoxious). That said, this is the kind of game where I’m happy to pay to unlock ads to directly support the developer.
iOS: Easily Print To PDF Emails In Apple Mail
On iOS there is a hidden feature that lets you print to PDF any email you want. It doesn’t require a third-party app or another email client. You can do it inside Apple Mail with a 3D Touch. Andrew Orr shows you how.
You Scratch Your Head, I’ll Scratch Mine – Mac Geek Gab 643
Cool Stuff Found kicks off this week’s show, with email clients, Wi-Fi Widget(s), combo iPhone/Watch chargers, disk utilities and much, much more. Then, after a few additional tips from you, dear listeners, it’s time for your questions. Topics this week include comparing local vs. Cloud storage for things like your music, videos and documents; memory interleaving and when to use it; solving corrupt user accounts that won’t login; and solving the issues with web pages that are slow to load. Press play and enjoy!
How to Get Info on Your iCloud Devices
This Quick Tip is about how you can look within your iCloud settings to get information about every device you’ve signed into. This is helpful if, for example, your iPhone has been stolen, and you need to find out what its serial number is without having it right in front of you. We’ll tell you how to find this with iOS, macOS, and your Web browser!
Setting Your Default Calendar Across macOS and iOS Devices
This Quick Tip is not just about configuring which calendar is set as the default on your devices, but why you should check to see which specific accounts are set to sync calendars, too. Getting everything cleaned up and organized is the name of the game!