iPad By Davis: “iOS 7 preview: New security features” plus 15 more

iOS 7 preview: New security features
Talk Mobile 2013 Launch Party in NYC - The Video!
Is Control Center a useful addition to iOS? [Poll]
Hey you, the one running iOS 7 beta when you really shouldn't be: Stay classy!
iWork for iCloud beta now live for registered Apple developers
iOS 7 is the most skeuomorphic, most liberating version ever
Reveal: A promising runtime inspector for iOS apps
How to tie your Apple ID to your Mac user account in OS X Mountain Lion
Why we can't have nice apps and how Apple could fix it
Apple yet again rumored to launch iPhones with larger screens, multiple colors
Quick Fixes for When an iPad App Won’t Open
Warner Bros. releases Man of Steel companion game
Deal of the Day: 44% off the Marware MicroShell for iPhone 5
Step through the Stargate with SG-1 Unleashed Episode 1 for iOS
Step through the Stargate with SG-1 Unleashed Episode 1 for iOS
GhostBird acquired by Yahoo!, Kitcam and PhotoForge 2 now removed from the App Store

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 09:48 PM PDT

iOS 7 preview: New security features

Apple's iOS 7, announced earlier this week, brings a lot of changes to all areas of the operating system, and security is no exception. iOS 7, at least as much of it as has been publicly disclosed by Apple to date, includes a number of security-related enhancements, seeking not just to make your data more secure, but also make security more convenient.

Safari - Do Not Track & Private Browsing

Do Not Track is an optional header that can be sent along in HTTP requests, expressing your preference to not be tracked by websites. Already included in the desktop version of Safari (as well as most other major browsers), the addition to Safari in iOS 7 means people will have the option to opt-out of server-side tracking of their browsing. There is no enforcement of the Do Not Track system, but with a large number of popular websites honoring it, it's certainly a welcome addition to mobile Safari.

iOS 7 has also moved Safari's Private Browsing option to a more accessible place. Enabling Private Browsing means Safari doesn't save your history, record cookies, or sync your browsing data to other devices. Previously this option was hidden away in the Settings app, going unnoticed by most. Now Private Browsing appears in the Safari app itself, allowing you to toggle it on and off quickly from within the browser, rather than having to jump out to Settings every time you want a little privacy.

Per App VPN

VPN (Virtual Private Network) support allows you to create secured connections between your device and VPN provider, offering a layer of network encryption to help keep your traffic secure. iOS 7 will expand iOS's existing VPN functionality to support per app VPN. The details on this are sparse right now, but this will likely give enterprises (and their employees) more granular control over what traffic should be routed over VPN.

Gaming

Cheaters be on alert, Game Center is also getting some security attention in iOS 7. If you've spent any amount of time viewing Game Center's leader boards, you've probably noticed that many of them are topped by individuals with impossible scores. Two items from Apple's keynote intended to help prevent cheating are "Secure game scores" and "Authenticated Game Center players". It wouldn't be surprising to see cheaters find new ways to top the charts, but it's good to see Apple taking notice and working to curtail those actions.

Activation Lock

Currently if your iPhone is stolen, Find My iPhone can help you track it down, disable it, or erase it, but only if it's on and connected to the Internet. If a thief immediately powers your iPhone off, then restores it to factory defaults, you're out of luck. Activation Lock works by requiring your Apple ID and password to activate an iPhone, even after it has been wiped. This means that even if a criminal completely wipes your devices and reinstalls iOS, the phone can't be activated unless they also have your credentials.

This feature only works if Find My iPhone is enabled on the device. There has been some unwarranted concern on what Activation Lock will mean for users trying to sell their old devices, but iPhone owners need not worry. If you disable Find My iPhone (which will require your Apple ID and password), prior to resetting your iPhone, it will no longer be locked to your Apple ID.

Keychain syncing

The Keychain is where applications can securely store sensitive information like usernames and passwords on your device. Your keychain is one of the only pieces of data that cannot be backed up to or synced through iCloud. If you want to preserve your keychain when restoring a device, you have to use an encrypted backup from iTunes. Also, if you use multiple iOS devices, usernames and passwords will have to be entered manually on each separate device.

Keychain syncing in iOS 7 will allow users to enable syncing of their keychain to iCloud. This means that multiple devices will be able to share the same data and when you restore data from an iCloud backup, iOS will now be able to restore all of your saved passwords. In addition to syncing, the Keychain is also being extended to securely store additional data for users, such as credit card information for making online purchases. Of course users can still use third party apps like 1Password for this, but will now also have the option to make use of native functionality.

Defaulting to secure data

This change will go largely unnoticed by users, but will offer additional protection to their data. On iOS, if you have a passcode set on your device, your data can be encrypted with it. The catch is, developers have to specifically enable data protection in their applications to make use of this encryption. If somebody were to jailbreak your device and bypass the passcode, they could potentially access data in any application where developers had not enabled data protection. Starting with iOS 7, data protection will be enabled by default for all applications.

And more

The above is not a comprehensive list of all security changes in iOS 7, but covers the ones we know about from the keynote. With iOS 7 in beta, and under non-disclosure, details may change before the public release, currently scheduled for this fall.

Talk Mobile 2013 Launch Party in NYC - The Video!

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 08:08 PM PDT

We're a whole week removed from the Talk Mobile 2013 launch party in New York City. For those who were able to make it -- well, you know it was a bit of a rager, as the kids like to say. (And if they're not saying that, give it time. It'll catch on.) Just us and 600 of our closest smartphone nerd friends, men and women from all walks of life, coming together to hang out, have a couple beverages, swap a few smartphone stories, and talk about the first week of Talk Mobile 2013.

Our thanks to all who were able to make it out. It was awesome, you were awesome!

For those who weren't able to make it out, we present the above highlights video, plus a few photos below and a bunch more on Facebook (where you should have already Liked Talk Mobile) and Google+ (where Talk Mobile should already be in your circles).

Talk Mobile Launch Party.

Is Control Center a useful addition to iOS? [Poll]

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 03:59 PM PDT

Is Control Center a useful addition to iOS

One of the many new additions to iOS 7 is Control Center. Apple bills it as "quick access to the controls and apps you always seem to need right this second." There's plenty packed in there, too; a series of quick toggles for such things as WiFi and Bluetooth, quick brightness settings, music player controls, AirDrop, AirPlay and quick shortcuts to some of the stock apps and a flashlight. All of this is accessible anywhere within the OS with a simple swipe up from the bottom of the screen, so the quick access part is definitely correct. But, we want to know your thoughts on whether you think Control Center is really a useful addition to iOS?

The music controls have always been quick at hand, as has rotation lock. The other toggles being close at hand are new, however, as are the apps. But, while quick access to a flashlight might be handy, same with the camera, are the alarm clock and calculator apps necessarily what the majority would choose to put there? Perhaps if you could customise which apps, and which toggles for that matter, you have in your Control Center, it would be more universally appealing?

That's what we want to know from you. Granted not many will have used it yet, but on first glance, does Control Center seem like a useful addition to iOS? Would it be something you would use on a daily basis, or would you prefer to be able to customise it to meet your own specific needs? As ever, drop a vote up top and give us your thoughts in the comments below!

Hey you, the one running iOS 7 beta when you really shouldn't be: Stay classy!

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 02:57 PM PDT

Hey you, the one running iOS 7 beta when you really shouldn't be: Stay classy!

I meant to publish this on Monday but I messed up and forgot to. Sorry about that. But it's the same every year. The iOS 7 beta is intended for developers to test for bugs and software compatibility. It's not intended to be an early release preview, or the daily driver for anyone's main phone. This year more than ever, iOS 7 is really beta. It's not done. It's not cooked. It's cool as hell but there's a reason there's a lineup at the Apple Store outside Moscone for iPod touches. Not even developers want to risk their main phone. (I don't have it on my main phone either.) So here's the deal...

Stay away. And if you're not going to stay away, be classy about it. Respect the NDA (non-disclosure agreement) you become part of when you install the software. Send bugs to Apple, not to the front page, and absolutely don't post negative reviews for apps that don't work or look well under iOS 7. Developers will update what they can when they can, and find workarounds if and when possible, but they're not allowed uploading iOS 7 binaries yet, and won't be until just before launch. Send them bugs privately to help them out, don't screw up their ratings. They're not doing anything wrong.

Again, we -- and other people -- write this every year because some people tend to forget it every year.

Play with the beta if you have to, but stay classy about it.

iWork for iCloud beta now live for registered Apple developers

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 01:47 PM PDT

First announced on Monday in the WWDC 2013 keynote, the iWork for iCloud beta is now live for registered developers to preview. Essentially, this is Apple's answer to Google Drive's online document editing tools, and promises almost the same experience as the desktop versions of the iWork apps.

The main difference here is that Windows PC users can also take advantage. Windows users are also iOS users, so iWork for iCloud is sure to be of benefit to anyone without a Mac that uses iWork on their iOS devices. It also promises to be compatible with Microsoft Office documents, with a simple drag and drop mechanism demonstrated for importing them.

iWork for iCloud is scheduled to launch openly this coming fall, but registered developers can take the new service for a spin over at beta.icloud.com right now.

iOS 7 is the most skeuomorphic, most liberating version ever

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 12:11 PM PDT

iOS 7 is the most skeuomorphic, most liberating version ever shipped. So please shut up.

iOS 7 is turbulence. It's change. That scares some people, and makes others hungry. It divides sentiment and reaction, and creates as much fear and noise as it does thoughtful analysis and future thinking. That iOS 7 in its current form had to be realized in under 8 months, that it involved designers at Apple outside the usual interactive team, and that the beta came in so hot the iPad version wasn't even ready, adds to the turbulence, and to the uneasy feeling that we're still in the midst of change rather than comfortably through it.

We'll be digging into everything that's been publicly released about iOS 7 very soon, but I wanted to share some thoughts to two specific things right now:

iOS 7 is alive. It moves and "breathes" though dimensional layers.

First, this is the most skeumorphic version of iOS that's ever shipped. Jony Ive and teams might have removed almost -- though not entirely -- all of the textures like stitched leather and green felt, but they amped up the physicality considerably. iOS 7 is alive. It moves and "breathes" though dimensional layers. It turns and flips and folds and bounces and does all sorts of other delightful, skeuomorphic things (including multitasking with cards you can fling away).

Just like the original iOS used OpenGL and other game-like technologies to make the smoothest animations ever seen on a mobile interface -- and back Apple up into a mobile gaming empire -- iOS 7 includes physics and effects that take the gamification of user experience to a completely new level. It's a virtual collection of objects that can be directly manipulated -- played with -- by a person's finger, by acceleration and rotation, or by other elements of the system. It's what Apple calls "depth. It's brilliant -- if unfinished -- and very much the beginnings of that "something next".

Second, the iOS 7 design language is liberating. Apple calls it "deference" and intends it to get out the way. That lets content shine, but it also lets designers shine. Previous versions of iOS layered bars -- status and menu and tab and more -- onto designs. It constrained and covered. iOS 7 lifts that off. It pulls away and overlays.

Initially, like with any new design language, we'll get a lot of apps that try to look like Apple's -- the UIKit or Metro or built-for-BB10 apps. That'll quickly give way to designers who take all the space and frameworks and run with them, and make things, beautiful and hideous things, that are new and exciting and not like anything we've seen before.

iOS is now an object inside and out, one that exists to drive focus to the content, media or app or both, but still and always delight to the user.

iOS 7 has only just gone into its first very early beta. There's a lot that can still be fixed and polished and hopefully will. The new grid is great, but things like the Safari icon fill up too much of it (imagine an Apple t-shirt with a logo on it 3-feet wide). As much as they've nailed the depth and deference, they need to follow through on the clarity. It needs a couple more rounds of interactive polish. That, however, like a thousand other details can and hopefully will be brushed in during the beta process. Still, the broad strokes are there.

iOS is now an object inside and out, one that exists to drive focus to the content, media or app, or both, but still and always delight to the user. It's just taken it all to a much more visceral level. It's scary, but it's the future.

Reveal: A promising runtime inspector for iOS apps

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 11:35 AM PDT

Reveal: A promising runtime inspector for iOS apps

Reveal is a new debugging app by Itty Bitty Apps. It gives you the ability to inspect view elements and hierarchies in your iOS apps in realtime, providing a unique perspective to developers for debugging their apps.

Before getting started with Reveal, you first need to link your project to the Reveal library. There's no fancy setup wizard like Spark Inspector, but Reveal does provide documentation so if you're not familiar with linking third party libraries, you should still have no problem getting it set up in a few minutes. Once your project is set up, run your project from Xcode (on a simulator or device) then launch Reveal and select your device from the drop down in the upper right.

Reveal is separated into three panes, with your app's hierarchy shown on the left, a view of your app in the center, and an inspector pane on the right. You can click and drag your app around in the center, exploring a 3D model of your app. As you move your cursor around your app in the center pane, you will see elements become highlighted as your cursor moves over them, making it easy to see which element you're going to select before you click it. When you select an element, you will also see it highlighted in the hierarchy view on the left. If you need more space to better see or select elements, an option-pinch in/out gesture will adjust the space between layers. In fact, go to Help > Keyboard Shortcuts to get a list of a number of handy keyboard shortcuts in Reveal.

Reveal makes it easy to simplify your interaction with elements in your app. By collapsing parent groups in the left pane, you can flatten groups of layers, simplifying the 3D model of your app. If you want to single something out, double-clicking on an element will drill-down, only showing you that view or element which you care about. When you're done inspecting a particular element, you can then jump back out using the bread crumbs at the top of the Reveal window.

As you change views in your app, you may notice that Reveal does not automatically update its display of your app. Currently you have to manually refresh Reveal to update the canvas any time you interact with your app and change the contents of the screen. Hopefully an automatic refresh gets added at some point down the road.

Digging around in the right pane, Reveal can offer a lot of information about various elements in your view. Some values can changed on-the-fly, though it wasn't always clear to me which values I could edit and which were simply for display purposes. The values that you can modify will update in your app in realtime, which is a handy way to check interface adjustments without having to recompile.

One feature noticeably absent from Reveal is the ability to see and replay interface notifications. Besides that, Reveal seems to compete fairly well with Spark Inspector on features, and actually seems less buggy. Given that Reveal is still just in beta, it will be interesting to see what functionality and polish is still to come.

Reveal is currently free to use, though it will need to be purchased when it moves out of beta. Reveal is worth checking out to see if it's a beneficial tool for your workflow. Users of Spark Inspector may also want to give it a try to decide which app best suits their needs.

Download Now

How to tie your Apple ID to your Mac user account in OS X Mountain Lion

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 11:18 AM PDT

How to tie your Apple ID to your Mac user account in OS X Mountain Lion

In Mac OS X Mountain Lion, you can tie your actual Apple ID to your OS X user account fairly easily. In most cases, this will be your iCloud account. There are many good reasons to do this, but this biggest is that if you ever forget your desktop login password, you can reset it via your Apple ID leaving no need to use recovery mode to reset it.

Not sure how? Follow along and we'll show you.

From the Apple menu in the upper left hand corner, click on System Preferences.
Under the System section click on Users & Groups.
If you have a passcode on your desktop, complete this step. Click on the lock in the lower left corner and enter your admin password in order to make changes to this menu.
Now under the account you'd like to tie an Apple ID to, click on Set next to the Apple ID option.
Finally, enter your iCloud ID or Apple ID and click OK.

That's it. Your Apple ID is now tied to your Mac user account. This means if you were to ever forget your desktop password, you can use your Apple ID to reset it. Just make sure the Allow user to reset password using Apple ID option box is checked like shown in the photo below.

Why we can't have nice apps and how Apple could fix it

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 10:26 AM PDT

Yahoo! just bought my favorite camera app for iOS, Kitcam, and removed it from the App Store. It's not the first time a great third party app has been been bought. Google has bought many apps, from the Slide apps to Nik Software apps (including Snapseed) to Sparrow. Facebook has bought Instagram, the Sofa apps, and Push Pop Press. Hell, Apple bought Siri and many others themselves. Not every third-party app that gets bought gets removed from the store, even if it's bought by Apple's biggest software competitor, Google, or an up-and-coming ones, like Facebook. (Yahoo! hasn't announced a mobile OS competitor, and may not be in the organizational shape to do so any time soon, but would be crazy not to have a project ongoing.)

This is why we can't have nice apps.

That's the grossest over-simplification of the tensions and business realties and market conditions facing app developers, but for an end user, it's a rightfully indignant one.

At the same time Microsoft is getting what passes for their shit together, finally releasing Halo for Windows Phone. While these two things might not seem to have much in common, they both highlight a problem that could be solved in the same way.

With more diverse and audacious first-party Apple apps.

Apple already makes first-party apps, of course. Not only do they make the core iOS apps, but they make all their ecosystem apps like iBooks, iTunes U, Remote, Find my [Device/Friends], and their iWork/iLife apps. They don't make or produce any first-party video games yet, or a higher-end camera app (for example), and especially not anything that could be termed experimental, but all of those things could help none-the-less push forward the state of the art of mobile.

No doubt Apple is stretched well beyond their limits already, and sprinting to get iOS 7 and associated apps ready for this fall will take more than every ounce of will and effort they can collectively muster. So, the idea of putting even more app development on their plate might sound ludicrous, or dumb enough my keyboard should be confiscated.

But people far smarter than I'll ever be have already offered suggestions for this, from farming out implementation to former engineers and designers now independent, to using these projects as mini "staycations" for current engineers and designers who need a 20%-style break from the everyday.

Gaming could benefit the most, giving Apple apps they could use to not only compete with the Halo, Ingress, Mario, Grand Turismo, and other first party titles, but apps they could use to dogfood Game Center and all their gaming, physics, audio, and other API, existing and upcoming, private and public. (A great first-party Core Data sync app would be a great, confidence building move as well.) Boutique apps that do something novel and cool with music or photography, F1 racing or coffee, or whatever else, could delight not only users, but Apple alike.

It could solve a lot of problems in a lot of interesting ways. If the competition is seen as unfair to third-party developers -- something that already occurs with iWork and iLife -- they could be listed differently, or in alternate rankings, so they don't suck attention away from the indies.

And it would insulate iOS, and its user base, against not only all the best indie iOS apps getting bought and potentially yanked so often, but the talent drain that comes with it.

Apple yet again rumored to launch iPhones with larger screens, multiple colors

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 10:18 AM PDT

Apple yet again rumored to launch iPhones with larger screens, multiple colors

Rumors about Apple releasing iPhones with larger screens and multiple colors aren't anything new. This time Reuters is reporting that it could happen next year due to pressure from the market and rival handset makers, namely Samsung. According to Reuters, sources familiar with the matter say Apple could be looking at 4.7" and 5.7" models as well as up to 6 color choices instead of the standard black and white options.

Apple is looking at introducing at least two bigger iPhones next year - one with a 4.7-inch screen and one with a 5.7-inch screen - said the sources, including those in the supply chain in Asia. They said suppliers have been approached with plans for the larger screens, but noted it is still unclear whether Apple will actually launch its flagship product in the larger sizes.

With Samsung steadibly increasing their smartphone marketshare each year, it makes sense that Apple would at least consider larger iPhone variants to capture back the market that wants larger screens. The Galaxy S4 sports a 5" screen while the Galaxy Note II has a 5.5" screen. Anyone who has seen a Note II in person is probably aware that it borders tablet size.

As far as other colors are concerned, Reuters is reporting that Apple may be looking at 5-6 different colors next year instead of just the traditional black and white options.

While it may make sense for Apple to look at a larger iPhone, we also have to keep in mind that Apple hates fragmentation and that's what different screen sizes will do for developers. iOS 7 will bring with it an all new set of challenges for developers on its own. While a 4.7" or 5" screen may not be out of the question in future revisions, I can't personally see Apple ever making an iPhone that's sporting a 5.7" screen. It would cut dangerously close to cutting into iPad mini marketshare and I'm not sure Apple wants to cannibalize a fairly new product line, at this point anyways.

As for color options, a lot argue that the iPod touch has color options so why not iPhone? A lot of that can have to do with who each product is aimed at. The iPod touch is aimed mostly at a younger audience. Flashy colors attract that audience. iPhones are also sold in much larger quantities than iPods. Carrying inventory for several different carriers and capacities on top of multiple colors drastically increases overhead costs and the inventory each physical retail store must carry for warranty replacements.

Reuters didn't have any information on what would be released this year but logic dictates the "S" upgrade will most likely follow suit with previous updates with a similar form factor that features mainly internal upgrades. That being said, will you be waiting until next year for a larger iPhone that may or may not happen or picking up an iPhone 5S, or whatever they decide to call it, later this fall?

Source: Reuters

Quick Fixes for When an iPad App Won’t Open

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 08:45 AM PDT

Here's a problem that all iPad users have experienced at one time or another: you open an app and it closes right away and returns you to the home screen. Sometimes it's just a fluke and the app opens properly when you try again, but sometimes the app just quits right away each time you try.

Luckily, there are several relatively easy potential fixes for this issue. Here they are, starting with the easiest and fastest method and going from there:

– Restart the iPad: Quite often that's all it takes to resolve this problem and it's quick to give it a try and either be done and good to go, or move on to the next possible fix.

– Open the Multitasking Bar and manually close the troublesome app. Double-press the home button to bring up the Multitasking Bar, which shows all recently opened apps. Tap and hold on any of the icons in the bar until you see the icons start to...

Read the whole entry... »

The good

Excellent graphics, great resemblance to the TV show characters
Authentic voiceovers are a great addition
Control system perfect for the touchscreen
It's Stargate SG-1!

The bad

Too many cut-scenes
Challenges can become a little tedious

The bottom line

Fans of Stargate SG-1 should love this. Equally, non-fans should get a good kick out of it as well. Once it gets going, and you're actually playing instead of watching a cut-scene, it looks great, plays great, and is a great example of a mobile game for the touchscreen done well.

$2.99 - Download Now

Step through the Stargate with SG-1 Unleashed Episode 1 for iOS

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 06:31 AM PDT

The good

Excellent graphics, great resemblance to the TV show characters
Authentic voiceovers are a great addition
Control system perfect for the touchscreen
It's Stargate SG-1!

The bad

Too many cut-scenes
Challenges can become a little tedious

The bottom line

$2.99 - Download Now

GhostBird acquired by Yahoo!, Kitcam and PhotoForge 2 now removed from the App Store

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 03:30 AM PDT

GhostBird Software, the developers of Kitcam and PhotoForge 2, has been purchased by Yahoo! to become part of the Flickr team. As a result, both applications have now been removed from the App Store, though will continue to work for anyone who has already downloaded them. Equally, if you've ever had either of the apps you'll still be able to re-download them. While disappointing for fans of their apps -- we love Kitcam here at iMore -- the guys from GhostBird are looking forward to their new endeavours:

"As photography enthusiasts, we are long-time admirers of Flickr, and we're thrilled to be able to bring our technology and passion for beautiful photos to the Flickr team."

Yahoo! has been pulling out the big guns of late with Flickr, and while the true purpose for this acquisition is yet to be seen, we can only imagine Yahoo! must have new things in the pipeline. So, congratulations to the GhostBird team, but equally we're sure a lot of you, like us, are sad to see their apps leave iOS.

Source: GhostBird Software

iPad by Davis

viernes, 14 de junio de 2013