Showing posts with label iOS 6. Show all posts
Showing posts with label iOS 6. Show all posts

Twitterrific 5 for iOS

Twitter client Twitterrific has reached version five, and is now available for iOS devices.
The app has been completely overhauled and redesigned. It now offers a very customizable user interface, giving user the ability to change the overall theme, as well as font, photo size, line spacing and other details.
Other notable features include support for gestures, syncing of timeline positions between several devices via iCloud and super-fast account switching.


The app is not without its flaws, at least for power users, who will miss the lack of push notifications, profile editing and list management. Its speed and design, however, will definitely appeal to many users looking for an alternative to the official Twitter client.
Twitterrific is currently available for $2.99 (50% less than the regular price) over at the Apple App Store.

Count Down to Christmas Apps

If you have little ones excited about the forthcoming holiday season, try these handy iOS Christmas apps.
Each of the five offers a different way to count down to Christmas, encompassing traditional advent calendars, customizable timetables and an app that lets you know how many "sleeps" until the big day.

1. Advent Calendar - Bacarox

This is a simple, graphic advent calendar with separate designs for boys and girls.
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2. Advent Calendar - Bacarox

You can tap to select the different sexes, then click on the dates to see that day's image.
Adding a nice touch, the calendar can be locked so the little ones can't sneak a peak at future days' pics.
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3. Alphabet Advent Calendar - Lightwood Consultancy

Perfect for very young children, this simple alphabet-based calendar offers a new word everyday.
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4. Alphabet Advent Calendar - Lightwood Consultancy

Simply tap on the date to view that day's word, which pops up with an appropriate image.
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5. Binny's Advent Calendar - Binny Talib

This quirky option, from the mind of talented illustrator Binny Talib, offers charming graphics and characters, along with cute audio to match.
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6. Binny's Advent Calendar - Binny Talib

Scroll through the street scene to find the right date. When you click, you get adorable activities or mini-games.
If you have kids, or you're a big kid yourself, we recommend Binny's Advent Calender as a must-download.
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7. Share Xmas Lite - METOP

Share Xmas Lite lets you create and share a personalized advent calendar from photos on your phone.
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8. Share Xmas Lite - METOP

The app's design isn't fantastic, but unlike rival apps we tested, this one does work. It's suitable if you're looking for a free way to customize a calendar.
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9. Sleeps to Christmas Lite - Christmas Countdown - Dardan Software

Finally, if your little one is too young for the advent concept, or already enjoys the "how many sleeps" premise, this app will count you down to Christmas day.
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10. Sleeps to Christmas Lite - Christmas Countdown - Dardan Software

You can swipe to change the character and tap the screen to see the time until the holidays in days, hours, minutes and seconds.
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 Thumbnail image courtesy of AForestFrolic

10 Tips and Tricks for iOS 6


Maybe you've installed Apple's iOS 6, the newest operating system for iPhones, iPad, and iPod touch, but do you know about all the tricks that are inside and how to use them?
Apple's latest mobile operating system, iOS 6, may have sparked a fury of Internet hate for the new Maps app, and I certainly won't wag my finger at anyone who misses Google's engine behind the Maps app, but plenty more goodies are tucked away in iOS 6 that you shouldn't miss.
Here are ten of the best features and how to use them.

1. Swipe up to reply to incoming calls with a text message. Maybe you heard that when a call comes in, you can now reply with a text message instead of just declining the call. But these options don't appear automatically. You have to swipe up from the bottom of the screen to reveal them.

2. Customize your text replies to declined calls. The feature that lets you turn down phone calls but reply with text message allows you to use a canned message for added convenience. A few options appear when you swipe up, as mentioned in the first tip. To change what they pre-written texts say, go to
Settings > Phone > Reply with Message.
You can now customize your one-touch replies.

3. Learn how to work the Do Not Disturb option. A new feature called Do Not Disturb appears in the settings, but it's nothing more than an on/off switch. Where can you set the hours for quiet time, or make it so that calls from emergency contacts come through? Oddly, these choices fall under the Notifications area. Go to
Settings > Notifications > Do Not Disturb.
The Scheduled button lets you define the hours when you don't want to be disturbed. The Allow Calls From button just below it launches a new screen where you can exclude people from your do-not-disturb list.

4. Attach photos and videos to email in the Mail app. Formerly, using the mail app was occasionally a pain. You'd compose a message, remember that you wanted to send the recipient a photo, too, and realized you couldn't actually attach anything to the draft. Now you can. In an email draft, press a hold anywhere in the body. In landscape mode (holding the phone horizontally), list of options will appear, including one to insert a photo or video. If you're in portrait or vertical mode, just press the arrow button that appears until you see the right choice.




5. Read in full-screen mode. News articles, blogs, and other text-heavy pages, when viewed on an iPhone especially, cause squinting and more pinching, zooming, panning than most people feel comfortable doing. When Safari detects a text-heavy page in iOS 6, it supplies a button called Reader at the top right of the URL bar, which reformats the page in a full-screen and easier-to-read layout. You'll also notice a "share out" or "send to" button (curved arrow) in Safari with a lot of great option beneath it also worth exploring. They're mostly not new to iOS 6, but they do appear in a newly designed interface.

6. Pass your iPad or iPhone to friends without worrying they'll get nosy. I admit that I've hesitated in the past before passing my mobile devices around to friends to let them look at photos or something that made me giggle on Facebook. The larger the group of friends, the more suspicious I am that someone might take liberties with my device when I'm not looking. The same is true, I'm sure, for parents who let their kids play with their iPhone or iPad. Guided Access, new to iOS 6, lets you lock down your device so that only the app you open can be used, and no other functionality works until you enter a unique four-digit passcode. It's a little tricky to find and set up.
First, go to
Settings > General > Accessibility > Guided Access.
Toggle the switch to on and set a passcode. When you want to use Guided Access, just open the app of choice, and triple tap the home button. Be sure to hit the start button at the top right. But wait, there's more (see the next tip).

7. Disable buttons in apps (in Guided Access). When you enable Guided Access in an app—which locks users from going into any other app or areas of the phone—you can also disable parts of the screen. For example, if you turn on Guided Access in the Photos app, you can also use your finger to circle parts of the screen you want to disable, such as the top row of buttons so that one can look through your other albums. Just be sure to hit the Start button in the top right corner before handing over your device!

8. Share Photo Stream. Apple's syncing service, iCloud, handles images with speed and good responsiveness. But it was never easy to share your pictures until iOS 6 came along. To share your Photo Stream images, go to the Camera app and press Photo Stream. Then hit the plus button in the upper left, which will open a screen where you can fill information about how to share your Photo Stream, whether with a select few individuals, or by making it public on your iCloud account.

9. Learn what the new Privacy button means (and use it). A new Privacy button under Settings comes with little explanation. Tap it, and you might not know what information it's even telling you because there are no instructions or explainers. Here's what it does: Privacy shows you apps that can talk to other apps, and whether they are. For example, my Twitter app talks to my Flipboard app. I enabled that integration, and I'm okay with it. But if I didn't remember allowing it, or wanted to shut it off, I can do so in the Privacy area with one quick motion. This feature gives you very good ability to quick ability to turn off any app-to-app sharing that you don't want and you might have forgotten existed. So if you don't want Facebook to know where you are, check the Location Services section of your Privacy buttons, and you can flip the switch off lickety-split.

10. Customize native Facebook alerts. A big new feature in iOS 6 was the direct folding in of Facebook functionality, meaning you can share to Facebook a picture from your Camera app or a link from Safari without ever opening the Facebook app itself. It works similar to the baked-in Twitter functionality that was new to iOS 5. What many users may overlook, however, is the ability to customize your Facebook chat and message alerts, separate from the Facebook app as well. They're found under
Settings > Facebook > Settings.
Of course, you can also add Facebook alerts to your Notification Center, but that feature isn't new (it's under Settings > Notifications, and then scroll down until you find Facebook in your list of apps).

4 things to do before installing iOS 6 on your iPhone or iPad

Even if you’re not trading up for the iPhone 5, you can still make your old iPhone (or iPad, for that matter) new again by installing Apple’s iOS 6 software update onto your handset.
Apple just pushed the iOS 6 update live on its servers, and you can install it on your iPhone or iPad wirelessly, in just a few taps.
Why bother with the upgrade? Well, I can tick off at least seven nifty new features right here, including turn-by-turn car navigation through the new Maps app, full-screen web surfing, a “do not disturb” mode for calls and alerts, the ability to decline a call with a text message, easier Photo Stream sharing, and more.
A red badge should appear on your iPhone’s (or iPad’s) Settings app once iOS 6 is available to download. After that, all you’ll have to do it tap the “Download and Install” button, and your device will take care of the rest.
That said, there are a few things you should do before updating iOS on your iPhone or iPad to the latest and greatest version, starting with…

1. Update iTunes

Apple recently issued a new version of iTunes to go along with iOS 6, and while there’s nothing earth-shatteringly new about the update, iTunes 10.7 is designed to play nice with iPhones and iPads running the iOS 6 software update.
Given that, it’s probably a good idea to update your copy of iTunes before taking the iOS 6 leap. Here’s how to do it.
For iTunes on a Mac:
  • Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner of the screen, then select Software Update.
  • The Mac App Store application on your Mac should open automatically, and it will scan your system for software that needs to be updated. Near the top of the list, you should see an entry for iTunes; just click the Update button.
For iTunes on a PC:
  • Open iTunes, click the Help menu, then select Check for Updates.
  • After a few seconds, a window should appear prompting you download the new version of iTunes; go ahead and click the “Download iTunes” button.

2. Back up your iPhone/iPad

The process of updating an iPhone or iPad is usually a smooth one, although snafus have been known to happen—particularly last year, with the rocky release of iOS 5.
Indeed, a stalled iPhone/iPad update could freeze your device or corrupt its data, including your photos, contacts, music and apps.
That’s why it’s critical you back up your iDevice before beginning the iOS 6 installation process. Here’s how:
Using iCloud
If you’re using Apple’s free iCloud service on your iPhone or iPad and you have iCloud backups enabled, your device should be backing itself up automatically whenever its locked and connected to a Wi-Fi network.
Checking your last iCloud backup 300x251 4 things to do before installing iOS 6 on your iPhone or iPad
It’s a good idea to check the date of your most recent iCloud backup before installing iOS 6 on your iPhone or iPad.
Nice, but it’s still a good idea to check the date on your most recent iCloud backup—and if the backup file is more than a few days old, you should probably perform a manual backup before proceeding.
  • Tap the Settings icon, then tap iCloud, Storage & Backup.
  • Scroll to the bottom of the next screen and check the date of your last backup. Was it more than a day ago? If so, tap the “Back Up Now” button to manually create a new backup file.
Using iTunes
Still syncing your iPad or iPhone with iTunes? If so, iTunes creates a backup of your iDevice with each and every sync, and it’s worth it to perform one last backup before installing iOS 6.
  • Connect your iPhone or iPad to iTunes on your desktop using its USB sync cable. Or, if you’re using Wi-Fi to sync your device with iTunes, you should see it already listed in the left column of the iTunes interface.
  • Click the “Sync” button on iTunes, sit back and wait; within a few minutes or so, iTunes will have created a new backup of your iPhone or iPad data.

3. Plug your iPhone or iPad into a power source

One thing you definitely don’t want to happen during the iOS 6 update process is have your iPhone or iPad run out of juice midway through the installation; it’s a sure-fire way to corrupt your device’s data, or worse.
With that in mind, make sure to plus your iPhone or iPad into a wall outlet using its power adapter or connect it to a powered USB port on your PC or Mac before you install iOS 6. Better safe than sorry, right?

4. Be patient

Whenever there’s a major new iOS update available for download, a stampede of eager iPhone and iPad users tends to slow Apple’s servers to a crawl—and when that happens, downloads that normally take minutes could take an hour or more.
iOS 6 Preparing Update message 300x292 4 things to do before installing iOS 6 on your iPhone or iPad
Relax: you’re not the only one staring impatiently at the “Preparing Update” message.
Also, the actual installation process may take a good 30 minutes-plus, after the initial download. And if you find yourself staring impatiently at a seemingly endless “Preparing Update…” message while iOS 6 is busy installing itself on your iPhone or iPad, relax—you’re not the only one. (For the record, it took about half an hour for my iPhone 4 to move past the “Preparing Update” step.)
All told, it took nearly an hour and a half to update my iPhone to iOS 6, so make sure to set aside at least that much time before taking the plunge yourself.
My advice: be patient if the iOS 6 download and installation process takes longer than expected—and whatever you do, don’t interrupt it in mid-stream.
And if you’re willing to live with iOS 5 for a little while longer, consider waiting a day or so before pulling the trigger on iOS 6.



You can check for the iOS 6 update manually on your iPhone or iPad by tapping Settings, General, Software Update.

How to Shoot and Share Panoramas in iOS 6

Everyone knows the iPhone 5 comes with a nifty new panoramic photo shoot mode. What they may not realize is that feature is a function of the mobile OS, not some sort of Apple camera hardware magic. If you have an iPhone 4S and update to iOS 6, you can start shooting awesome panoramas today.

To share them with the world, however, you might need a little guidance. We’ve got you covered.

I took an iPhone 4S out to one of the coolest New York City location I know: the Flatiron District. It’s home to the iconic Flatiron Building and Madison Square Park, and offers spectacular views of the New York City landscape and skyline, including the Empire State Building. I parked myself in the middle of an open-space seating area near the foot of the Flatiron Building and, with iPhone 4S and iOS 6′s new panorama mode’s guidance, shot a sweeping city vista.

As noted in my iPhone 5 first impressions post, the on-screen guidance helps you stay on track so you don’t move too fast and the camera doesn’t go too far out of alignment. Either one could turn your smooth pic into a jagged and disjointed mess. If done right, the image stitching is almost seamless.

Capturing the photo, though, is only the first step.

The resulting image clocks in at more than 16 MB, too large for an e-mail or for any Web site I know. But it’s easy to size the photo down. I connected my iPhone to computer and dragged the image to a folder. I also could have e-mailed (at a max file size of just over 1 MB) or shared it directly from the phone, but then I would have lost control of the image size and been unable to offer people a somewhat high-resolution view of the NYC landscape.

Last week I noticed friend and ABC News reporter Joanna Stern has shared a panorama shot from the Apple iPhone 5 launch event in a special embedded viewer on ABCNews.com. A right-click there revealed a service called Dermandar. This offered an app where I could collect 360-degree images and panoramas, and a web site where I could upload my own images and instantly turn them into sharable vistas.

I signed up (yes, you need an account to upload and share, but it’s free) and then selected the “Panorama” option. The other option is “360-degree,” but the photos iOS 6′s panorama feature take do not come full circle. I’d say they’re 380- to-300-degree shots.

I tried to upload the original file, but it blew way past Dermandar’s pixel limit. The original is around 10,000 pixels wide. Dermandar tops out at a robust 8,191 pixels wide. The depth on the original image was over 2,300 pixels. The final one was just over 1,800 pixels.

To reduce the image size, I turned to Google’s free downloadable Picasa image-editing app. I opened in the image in it, selected Export from under the File menu and then set the export size to 8,191.

Dermandar happily accepted this new image size. Once I successfully uploaded the panoramic image, Dermandar asked me to fill in some meta-information: title, tags, description. You can also pinpoint the shot location.

The end result is a roughly 960-pixel-wide window that lets viewers scroll back and forth through the panoramic image (see the embed above). You can share the link via social media or, better yet, use the embed code to place the image on your web page.

In a word, it’s awesome.