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Apple doubles down on in-app purchasing security in iOS 4.3, password now required

Sam Sheffer — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 01:46:00 -0500

As you might recall, a certain game was racking up credit card bills because of its in-app purchases -- something which probably resulted in some angry parents (or as the folks in Finland say, "birds"). In Apple's latest iOS update, a feature has been implemented that requires the user to input their password whenever an in-app purchase is made. Will this new security measure actually prevent those children from purchasing hundreds worth of virtual fruit? A big boon for grown-ups, a big downer for those who no longer have an excuse to explain their Smurfberry obsession.

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iPhone 3G, iOS 4, and you -- what's missing (spoiler: multitasking)

Ross Miller — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 19:33:00 -0400

While iOS 4 is delivering on every promise for the iPhone 3GS users out there, as we were all told up front, the iPhone 3G would be missing some of those touted new features. Granted, we knew such disparities would exist but were never given the finer details. Now that the final build is percolating through the internet, we decided to take a look at what features are and aren't working on the earlier year's model.

What's there

Folders
Threaded mail
iTunes playlist creation / editing
5x digital zoom: just tap on the display near the capture button, but be warned, it doesn't paint a pretty picture
iBooks: we were having issues with the earlier build, but it seems to be running fine after today's official download -- PDFs work, too.
Photos: you can now sort by albums, events, faces, and places
Game Center: the icon is present, but as of this writing we're unable to connect to the servers. (Update: a number of readers saying it didn't come with today's download. We nabbed ours as a gold build, which might explain the discrepancy despite still being considered "up to date" by iTunes.)
Spell check has been updated
Spotlight search: you can search the web and Wikipedia from the home screen search bar. That said, not all our queries -- "Engadget," for example -- weren't offering the option. [Thanks, jkane08]

What isn't

Multitasking: this is the big one. Double-tapping the home button doesn't give you the handy menu, there's no fast app switching, and background use is missing in action.
Screen lock: normally in the multitasking menu (which isn't available on 3G), it's nowhere to be found, even under Settings. Bummer.
Home screen wallpaper: you'd think this simple addition would make the cut, but sadly no. The dock has been given a visual upgrade, though.
Bluetooth Keyboard support: we haven't tried this ourselves, but an influx of reports from Twitter suggest this is also a no-go.

We'll keep testing, but be sure to let us know your own discoveries below!

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iOS 4 gold works with any compatible iPhone / iPod touch via iTunes 9.2, jailbreak also updated

Ross Miller — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 20:47:00 -0400

Want to get your hands on an iOS 4-equipped device now without being a registered Apple developer? As a number of readers have pointed out, it seems yesterday's gold build release works on any applicable iPhone / iPod touch whether or not its UDID has been sent to the dev center. Now that the previous restraint has been lifted, the only requirement now is a copy of iTunes 9.2 -- currently for Macs only and still blocked by the developer gate, but once you manage to obtain the appropriate files, the only thing in your path is time itself. Sure enough, we just got through installing the build on an unregistered iPhone without a hitch. Details available via Gumball Tech, and please, don't forget to back up your data ahead of time.

In less rule-abiding news, the not-quite-surgical hand of the jailbreak community has taken a gander at the gold. A developer known as msft.guy, whose previous credentials includes recently-released binary "which enabled blacksn0w unlock port for iPhone 3GS on iOS 4 Beta 4" according to Redmond Pie, has updated PwnageTool for yesterday's update. As always, proceed with that one at your own risk, and if you're curious but hesitant, the ever-reliable iPhone Dev Team promise a full jailbreak / unlock suite later this month. Either way, video proof is available after the break.

Update: Just to clarify, iOS 4 now works with any iPhone / iPod touch that's already been proven compatible -- the trick here is that you now don't need to register with Apple before trying.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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iPhone OS 4 renamed iOS 4, launching June 21 with 1500 new features

Nilay Patel — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:26:00 -0400

We knew it had to happen eventually -- iPhone OS has been renamed to iOS with the bump to version 4. Some 1500 new features are coming along with the name change, including biggies like multitasking, a unified inbox, app folders, and data detectors. Although Apple is encouraging devs to tweak their apps for the iPhone 4's new Retina Display, iOS4 will also automatically redraw text and controls for existing apps to make them play nice with the new higher pixel density. Bing search integration has also been added to iOS 4 in addition to Google and Yahoo -- Google is still the default, though. The golden master is available to devs today, and Steve says the 100 millionth iOS device -- that's iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad -- will be sold sometime this month. That's a lot of devices! We found out about most of the features of iOS 4 at the SDK event, so check here for the full rundown.

Apple says iOS 4 will arrive for the iPhone 3G, 3GS, and the iPod touch on June 21 -- and it'll be free to iPod touch owners for the first time, which is nice. Not all features will be supported across all devices: the first-gen touch is left out entirely, and the 3G won't do multitasking, as we heard at the SDK event. We'll see if there are any other limitations and let you know.

Amusingly, an iOS trademark is currently owned by Cisco -- just like the original iPhone trademark -- so we'll see if Apple's lawyers actually called ahead this time around or if they'll have to fake-tussle and make nice again.

Gallery: iPhone OS 4 renamed iOS 4, gets 1500 new features

Check out more from WWDC 2010 in our liveblog!

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