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iOS 7 video tip: Making text more readable
One of the biggest complaints I've heard from people who have made the upgrade to iOS 7 is that they can't read Apple's new favorite typeface -- Helvetica Neue Ultra Light. There's a simple way to make almost everything on your iOS device more readable, and that is to use the Accessibility settings to enable bold text. The result? Well, see for yourself. The image at top left is the "normal" text setting, while the one at right has bold text enabled. Enabling this readability trick is quite easy: just use Settings > General > Accessibility and toggle Bold Text on. Your device will restart, and once that's done you'll be able to actually read text without straining your eyes. Here's a video showing how to enable bold text in iOS 7 (note that you can go full-screen for full effect). Enjoy!
GameCase brings a full-size, natively supported gamepad to iOS 7 devices
Apple now offers native gamepad support in iOS 7, and ClamCase is making the most of that opportunity by unveiling the GameCase. The Bluetooth add-on will give iOS players a full-size, Xbox-like controller that should work in any title using the official gamepad API -- developers won't have to include proprietary code in their apps. ClamCase also promises ample play time through a built-in lithium-ion battery. The GameCase isn't expected to ship until late 2013 or early 2014, but there are plans to offer versions for all iPads and iPhones that run iOS 7. If you're interested, you can sign up for notifications from ClamCase at the source link.
Daily Update for September 19, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
iOS 7 on an iPad 2: First impressions
Shorty after Apple released iOS 7, we began hearing reports that it's buggy on the iPad 2. Everything from crashing apps to general wonkiness seemed to be troubling some users. With that in mind, I updated my own iPad 2 to iOS 7 try it out. Here are my first impressions of Apple's new mobile operating system on an older piece of hardware. Installation Installation was a breeze. After backing up my iPad, the process unfolded as expected. It's noteworthy that iTunes would not execute the installation until a full backup was complete. It failed at first as I had to free up some space on my MacBook Air's drive. Once that was done, it went swimmingly. Issues The only issue I've encountered is with responsiveness. Tapping a folder to open it sometimes takes half a beat. Likewise, scrolling through thumbnails of running apps via multitasking isn't as smooth as it is on my iPhone 4S. Also, the lovely blur effect that's seen when you pull Notification Center down on more contemporary hardware isn't there on the iPad 2. Instead, you simply see a darker version of whatever is behind the sheet. I also found a slight delay when pulling up a keyboard, especially in Mail and Messages, as well as when switching keyboards (alpha vs. symbols, for example). Note that none of this is annoyingly bad, but it is noticeable. There's bad news for One Direction fans: my daughter's beloved 1D app now crashes when you try to play a video. But that's likely an incompatibility bug in the app. Or maybe it's a commentary on One Direction. The good The rest, so far, has been all good. Web surfing on mobile Safari is what I expect. Mail does as well. In fact, I haven't had an app crash or refuse to function. It's also notable that the parallax effect works, as does the "dynamic" wallpaper. A few of you had questions about that on Twitter. I plan on spending more time with it over the weekend, but after a day's use, I can say that, aside from some minor responsiveness issues, iOS 7 seems just fine on the iPad 2. I'll have more after the weekend.
iOS 7 lock screen vulnerability reported, and here's how to fix it (Updated)
It took less than 24 hours for someone to find a way to break through iOS 7's passcode feature, and wouldn't you know it: the new Control Center is to blame. By going through a rather simple series of swipes and taps, a user can bypass the lock screen on some iOS 7 devices. You start in the Control Center, switch to the Timer, then double-tap the home button which lets you access the multitasking feature, allowing you to browse apps without having to unlock the device. I say "some" because there's a rather simple tweak you can perform that will prevent someone from using this nasty trick on your own iPhone or iPad: Simply go to Settings -> Control Center and toggle the "Access on Lock Screen" option to "off." Ta-da! You're safe! Update: Apple is working on a fix. Update 2: According to multiple reports, accessing the multitasking menu through the Timer glitch only produces blank screenshots, but using the glitch while in the Camera app gets the job done. [via Forbes]
iOS 7 bug enables user to bypass lockscreen, send emails and status updates (update: Apple response)
The moment operating systems become available to the public is also the moment millions of people have the opportunity to hunt around and find bugs. And, it appears that at least one rather critical bug has already been discovered in iOS 7. A keen-eyed user found a way to bypass the passcode-protected lockscreen and gain access to the device's photos app, giving him the ability to hijack the email or social network account associated with that device. Essentially, you access the alarm clock through Control Center, make your way into the multitasking menu and head into the camera app from there. We've embedded the video evidence below, just in case you're interested in trying it out for yourself; we tested it out using an iPhone 5s running iOS 7.0.1, and were able to duplicate the user's claims. This isn't the first time we've seen an iOS bug capable of bypassing your lockscreen and compromising the security of your device, and Apple typically squashes those bugs with patches; the last one took a month, however, so we'd like to see an update to iOS 7.0.2 a bit sooner than that. While you wait, the easiest way to avoid this concern is to disable the ability to access Control Center from the lockscreen (this can be found in the settings). [Thanks, @vbarraquito!] Update: Apple tells AllThingsD that it's aware of the bug, and that it's working on a fix.
iOS 7 adoption rate after one day is higher than for earlier versions of iOS
If it seemed like everyone on planet Earth was trying to install iOS 7 at the same you were, well, you're probably not wrong in that assumption. Information from Chitika Insights and others who have been following the action of the past 24 hours shows that anywhere from 18.2 percent (Chitika) to 36.10 percent (Mixpanel at 10:30 AM PT, see figure below) of all iOS devices are now running Apple's latest mobile OS. Why the difference in the numbers? Well, it probably has to do with the methodologies used by the two companies. A Mixpanel spokesperson responded to this question as follows: The data in the iOS 7 adoption report on Mixpanel Trends is based on an aggregated set of the more than 15 billion actions analyzed by Mixpanel each month. The report shows the share of total activity on devices running a version of iOS at a given time, not on unique devices. In Mixpanel, an action is defined by our customers and can be anything from logging in to an app to making a purchase or finishing a level in a game. I'm not familiar with their (Ed: Chitika's) methodology, so it's hard for me to speculate on why they are so different. But part of the answer could be the time at which the data was pulled. The data in our iOS 7 adoption report is updating in real time, so that 36 percent is as of 10 AM PT. Our chart shows we saw 18 percent adoption at around 5 PM PT last night. Also, here are some other points you might find interesting: In the first 24 hours activity on devices running iOS 7 skyrocketed, reaching 36 percent at 10 AM on Thursday. People updated during the work day: Just 10 hours after it was released, devices running iOS 7 accounted for 22 percent of total iOS activity. People stayed up late to update: Between 10 PM - 8 AM PT, iOS 7 claimed another 10 percent+ of activity. At 9 AM yesterday, iOS 6 accounted for 94 percent of iOS activity. At 9 AM today, it had dropped to account for only 61 percent of activity. If it continues at this rate, there will be more activity on iOS 7 than on iOS 6 in another 24 hours. Compare that to Android where, as of yesterday and 450 days after launch, all versions of Jelly Bean account for 57 percent of activity according to the Android OS Versions report on Mixpanel Trends here. Android's official stats (here) have Jelly Bean adoption at an even lower 45 percent. But the most recent version of Jelly Bean (4.2.X) only accounted for 12 percent of activity according to the Android OS Versions report on Mixpanel Trends here. Android's official stats (here) have Jelly Bean 4.2.X adoption at an even lower 8.5 percent. Compare that to iOS 7 which accounted for 11 percent of activity only two hours after release. Chitika's spokesperson provided the following clarification: While we can't speak to Mixpanel's methodology, here's how we tabulate our statistics for the iOS 7 study: We examine traffic across 300,000 different websites within our ad network ---these range from several sites in the Alexa Top 10 to smaller blogs. Additionally, our network of sites comprises a wide variety of verticals (e.g., automotive, photography, retail, etc.) For this particular study, we examined tens of millions of online ad impressions to tabulate our results. An important distinction is that we examine web browsing activity, rather than in-app activity. In comparison to the Android operating system, where only 45 percent of all devices are currently running Android 4.3 "Jelly Bean" -- an operating system that was released in July 2012 -- the adoption rate for iOS 7 is incredible, even when Chitika's lower numbers are used for comparison.
New and notable apps that launched alongside iOS 7
Apple rolled out iOS 7 yesterday to the public, and app developers were ready with their iOS 7 compatible apps. Yesterday, we looked at notable iOS app updates, and today, it is time to look at the new apps that debuted alongside iOS 7 . Here is a list of new apps that hit App Store just in time for iOS 7. La Luna: The Story Project [iPad; Category: Entertainment; $3.99] Pixar's Academy Award-nominated short film comes to life in a new interactive storybook experience for your iPad. Disney Infinity: Toy Box [iPad; Category: Games; Free] Captain Jack Sparrow in a sports car racing Dash, Sulley climbing mountains to find Cinderella's Castle – create anything your imagination dreams of. Riddick: The Merc Files [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $2.99] Be Riddick - the iconic antihero - and avoid the mercenaries that hunt you across the stars. Diptic PDQ [iOS Universal; Category: Photography & Video; $0.99] Diptic PDQ (short for Pretty Dang Quick) is the fastest way to create photo collages and share them with friends. Morningstar for iPad [iPad; Category: Finance; Free] Research thousands of stocks, funds, and exchange-traded funds; build a library of investment ideas; and drill down using proprietary Morningstar ratings and analysis. Lineal Timeline [iPad; Category: Productivity; $4.99] Beautiful Timelines Made Simple. Begin - Your daily todo list [iPhone; Category: Productivity; $0.99] Begin is a todo list for real people. It works how you'd expect. It's fast, it's simple and it's beautiful. Cook - The World's Cook Book [iPad; Category: Food & Drink; Free] Cook lets you create your very own Cook book for iPad to share the food you love with family and friends. Toca Cars [iOS Universal; Category: Education; $0.99] In Toca Cars you do what feels right. No rules apply to these roads. Cruise through big puddles of ice cream, fly off jumps into a lake or build a huge pile of houses, stop lights, and mailboxes and drive right through. Angry Birds Star Wars II [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $0.99] Based on the Star Wars movie prequels, use the Force for good against the greedy Pork Federation or choose a much darker path. Infinity Blade III [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $6.99] Created by ChAIR Entertainment, the original iOS blockbuster returns with adrenaline-fueled sword-fighting action, gorgeous visuals, and a thrilling story of love, betrayal, and redemption.
iOS 7 video tip: How to shut down running apps
One of the big questions we're hearing from people who are making the jump to iOS 7 is "How the heck do I shut down apps that are running in the background?" In the past, you'd double-tap the home button and get a display of app icons on your screen, then tap the red "X" on those icons to shut them down. With iOS 7, it's done with a swipe. Double-tap the home button and you see all of the apps that are currently chugging away on your device. To shut one of them down, just swipe it up and off of your screen. Want to do two of them at once? Flick 'em both off the screen with a two-finger gesture. Since a video is worth a thousand words, here's a short clip showing you exactly how to do it -- note that you can resize this video to full-screen to see it more clearly. Be sure to send this to all of your friends who are asking the same question, OK?
iOS 7 and the 'death of textures'
When Tim Cook said that iOS 7 marks the biggest change to iOS since the original iPhone, he wasn't kidding. If you've been able to download iOS 7 without any hiccups, you've undoubtedly noticed that iOS 7 looks different, way different. With Scott Forstall out of the mix, Jony Ive was put in charge of the look and feel of iOS and the end result is a flatter and arguably cleaner interface that does away with many of the textures users may have grown accustomed to with previous iterations of iOS. In short, iOS 7 is a whole lot flatter than its predecessor. Examining this significant shift in design, Ars Technica put together an extensive gallery highlighting a number of instances where Apple opted for a completely texture-less existence, one devoid of drop shadows, gradients and other visual cues. In one example below, we see that the new implementation of Passbook is completely shadowless. I, for one, think Apple has taken things a bit too far. While I understand that drowning in skeuomorphism isn't beneficial, I also think that running in the completely opposite direction isn't a more advantageous implementation. Overall, Ars is correct in noting that iOS 7 has brought with it the "death of textures." Oddly enough, one app some folks here at TUAW noted retained a slight semblance of texture is the Reminders app.
How to use multiple Apple IDs in iOS 7
If you have been used to using different Apple IDs for different apps in iOS 6, you can still do that in iOS 7, but some of the details have changed. One of the first complaints that came in was about Find My iPhone, with several people writing in worried that Apple had done away with the ability to use different Apple IDs with the app. But there is a "Sign Out" button on the first screen. Simply tap that button, and you will be able to use a different Apple ID for Find My iPhone. (Aside: you really should be using Find My iPhone, especially with the new improvements to it that came with iOS 7, which make it harder for anyone who might steal your iPhone to disable the feature.) The same is also true for Messages, but the logout button is a bit harder to find. You have to go to Settings » Messages » Send & Receive. At the top of that window you will see the Apple ID currently associated with Messages on that iOS device. Tap it, and you will be shown several options, including one to sign out of Messages. Likewise, FaceTime has a setting under Settings » FaceTime » Apple ID. Tap it, and the same options will appear as described for Messages. The same goes for iTunes and the App Store. And Game Center. And so on. The options are there, even if they aren't always immediately available. So if you need to use separate Apple ID accounts, start your search in the Settings app, and work your way from there. Update 11:27 AM: Thanks to Greg Deichler for pointing out to me on Twitter that I had missed an important detail. If you want to use Find My iPhone on iOS 7, you must do so using the primary iCloud account on the device. As with iOS 6, you can add additional iCloud accounts in iOS 7, but they do not have access to "Find My iPhone." I have always set up our family's iOS devices using the "family" Apple ID as the main iCloud device, and then added the personalized iCloud accounts as a secondary account, so I did not notice it had changed. You can see the difference by comparing the images below, showing the "Add a Secondary iCloud Account" options. So, I take it back: Apple did change this, and they changed it for the worse. I don't know why Apple changed this, but I am hoping that it is a temporary oversight that will be fixed in a later release of iOS 7.
OmniGroup overhauls OmniOutliner, OmniFocus and OmniPlan for iOS 7
The OmniGroup has overhauled its iOS apps for the iOS 7 release, including creating a completely revamped OmniFocus on the iPhone that is just a joy to use. OmniOutliner 2 adds a number of keyboard shortcuts and a redesigned Doc Picker, as well as new templates. The Doc Picker makes its way over to OmniPlan 2 as well and adds an in-app purchase for importing Microsoft Project files. For those who have had their OmniGroup apps from day one of their original release -- for me, that would be going all the way back to 2008 -- you will have to make a new purchase in order to upgrade. OmniFocus 2 for the iPhone is US$19.99; OmniOutliner 2 for iPad is $29.99; and OmniPlan for iPad is $59.99. The older versions of these programs have been removed from the App Store. I've been testing all three of these apps for the past week and will be presenting reviews on each within the next week.
iOS 7: Weather app is easy on the eyes, still lacking features
Another app that received a major overhaul in iOS 7 was the Weather app. The card-style design of the app has been stripped away, leaving in its place a lovely translucent UI with weather images in the background. It's about time Apple updated Weather, as the basic, boxy design has been around since the first iPhone debuted in 2007. UI The Weather app is now a full-screen app that allows Apple to fit additional weather data on the screen without making everything cluttered. The background is dynamic and changes based on the time of day and the weather conditions. It's a subdued background that is attractive on your screen and doesn't scream "look at me." To me, this is a good thing as it's the weather data that I want, not some vibrant pictures. The Weather app resembles the Yahoo Weather app, which is delightfully ironic as Yahoo provides the weather data for Apple. Features When the app launches, the first thing you see are the current weather conditions and the temperature, which occupy the top third of the screen (as shown above). The rest of the screen is split between the hourly forecast, the weekly forecast and the settings at the bottom. This isn't all there is to the app. Tapping or swiping on the weather data brings up additional information. For example, you can tap on the current temperature and view other weather parameters like humidity, chance of rain, wind speed and direction and the "feels like" temperature. Like its predecessors, the app supports multiple locations (shown above), which are added by tapping on the settings icon in the bottom-right corner, hitting the "+" button and then typing in the location information. Conclusion The new Weather app looks great and performs great, but its feature set lags behind its competitors. Notably absent are niceties like radar, photos and webcams. Don't get me wrong -- I love what Apple did here, and I use the Weather app in a pinch, but I still prefer apps such as WeatherBug and the new Perfect Weather.
iOS 7: The Calendar app re-imagined
Apple made sweeping changes in iOS 7 and left few stones unturned in the core system apps that ship in the OS. Another app that saw some profound changes is the Calendar app, which was the recipeint of a significant visual overhaul. UI Gone is the grey-blue look in the iOS 6 version of the Calendar. Replacing it is a bleached white UI that is accented only by the black text, red navigation elements and color markers highlighting important dates. Though striking, it is minimalist to the max and my be jarring to users expecting the color splash that graces the iOS7 homescreen. The layout is easy to figure out with the calendar in the middle and controls at the top and bottom. The top controls allow you to switch from a day view, month view and year view. There's also a search button and a "+" button to add a new event. The bottom lets you jump to the current date, select which calendars to view and and an inbox to view your invitations. Year, Month, Week and List Views The year view lets you see the 12-month calendar (shown at the top) and is useful for only cursory looks at the dates ahead of you and those behind. Tapping a month in the year will open the month view. The month view (also shown at the top) lets you see the most information in one location, but it gives you more of an overview of your agenda instead of the details. This is a significant change from iOS 6, which showed you the daily event details below the month. The current day is marked in red, while days with events are marked with grey circles. You can easily scroll from month to month by swiping up or down. When you tap on a day, you are brought to the day in the day view. The best view in the iOS 7 Calendar is the day view (shown below) which shows your daily schedule as well as the next seven days in a top navigation bar. A red dot highlights the current date when you are viewing it, while a black dot marks the date the you are viewing. You can tap or scroll to another day and your hourly schedule will appear underneath that day. There's also a week view (shown below) that is only accessible when you turn your phone in the landscape orientation. Each event is highlighted in your schedule and includes the name of the event, so you can easily see what you have to do. You also can swipe up and down to view your daily schedule and swipe left or right to change the weeks. Unlike iOS 6, which had a dedicated button for an agenda-style list view, the list view in iOS 7 is hidden. As noted by Steve Sande, you can see a list of your appointments by tapping on the Search icon at the top and searching for all events. You can see it in action in the video at the bottom of this post. Event Creation The create an event, you must tap on the red "+" symbol at the top right corner of the screen. This symbol is available in the day, month or year view. Still present is the ability to long tap on the screen to add an event, which was present in earlier versions of the calendar. Event creation is similar to iOS 6 with the same fields present in both versions of the OS. The layout in iOS 7 is slightly different with a stylish wheel-selector for the starting and ending dates/times, as shown below. Conclusion The Calendar app has been overhauled to match the minimalist design of iOS 7. As a result, a few key features like the month detail view. It's a toss up as to whether all the changes are bad or good -- a few features have been removed, but the clean look makes its easy to view your daily appointments and navigate the app. Like the other core apps, the Calendar is great for meeting your basic needs. If you want a bit more, check out Calendars 5 from Readdle or CalenMob. Update: Updated to clarify the long-press to add an event is still available.
Alternative iOS email app Dispatch gains advanced search, fresh interface
Now that you've given your iPhone a breath of fresh air with iOS 7, why not try something besides the old standby email apps? Along with a new interface, the recently overhauled Dispatch now includes background mail-fetching, alias support and even a multi-field search function. Four other features are explained in a post on the developer's blog, and with version 1.2, Dispatch is approaching the point where you could think about ditching your old mail app. The two-man dev team promises more updates are in the works, but can't commit to when we'll see them, of course.
Daily Update for September 18, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Apple issues internal alert for iPhone activation server problems
If you're having problems with anything related to Apple's servers today, it shouldn't be much of a surprise. There are almost 700 million iOS devices in the world, and judging by the slow iOS 7 download times, it seems like all of them are trying to update their devices at the same time. If you've already managed to download iOS 7, then this news probably doesn't matter, but if you're still trying, take heart: Apple is officially on the case. As noted by AppleInsider, Apple has issued an internal high-priority alert, known as a P1, to its employees that many users are experiencing server issues that, among other things, are preventing them from activating their iPhones. While that internal alert might not calm your frustrations about getting your hands on iOS 7, it does signify that Apple is keenly aware of the issue and is working to resolve it as fast as possible. As for the iOS 8 release next year, may I suggest that Apple open another data center to handle the downloads?
Daily Roundup: iPhone 5s and 5c reviews, Cyber-shot QX10 review, iOS 7 now available, and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Apple raises cellular download cap to 100MB for iOS
If you hadn't noticed, there have been a lot of app updates to accommodate the launch of iOS 7. You may not have to use a WiFi hotspot to grab them all, though -- Apple has quietly raised iOS' cellular download cap from 50MB to 100MB. You won't be loading Infinity Blade III while on the road, but the ceiling is high enough that moderately-sized apps like Sky Guide are now available over the air. Just make sure you've got enough spare bandwidth.
iOS 7 video tip: How to view list mode in Calendar
Earlier today while Doc Rock and I were rockin' the TUAW TV Live show, I noticed a post by our editor-in-chief Victor Agreda, Jr. in which he bemoaned the fact that he could no longer get into list view for his calendar. Doc and I both figured that there had to be a way to do that, so we quickly started punching buttons on our iPhones to see where the list view was hiding. Doc suggested buying Readdle's Calendars5 app to get a list view, but I found the free answer before we told Victor to spend five bucks. The answer? Click on the search icon in the Calendar app, AKA The Magnifying Glass. It does a "search all" of your calendars and displays the results in a long list. You can also, of course, narrow down the list results by typing in a search criteria like "TUAW TV". The short video below (which can be expanded to full screen), demonstrates how the calendar list mode appears with a simple tap.
