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Siri's inexplicable rickroll
TUAW received an email this afternoon from Brett M. who noted that under iOS 7, the query "What is today going to be like?" ends up displaying the WIkipedia page for "Never Gonna Give You Up". In case you missed it, that's a 1987 pop song by British singer Rick Astley that was used for rickrolling other people... As Brett mentioned, "If my query had a sly connection to one of the lyrics, I could see this, or if my query was so outrageous that I deserved to be rickrolled. But this? Very strange." If any of our readers can figure out the link between the query and the oddball response, please let us know. By the way, this does not work when asking Siri the same question under iOS 6 -- in that case, the answer is always today's weather. A TUAW hat tip to Brett M.
iOS 7 video tip: Adding the emoji keyboard and other keyboard tricks
Today we're going to pass along another short tip for those who may not have yet figured out how your friends send those emoji -- smiley faces, little animals, cars and trucks, etc... -- in Messages, emails or tweets. In addition, you'll see how to change settings to make working with your iOS virtual keyboard less frustrating and more efficient. As with all of our videos, you can go full-screen to see the details up close. If you have any tips or tricks you'd like us to include in the video tips, please use the red Tip Us button to give us your ideas.
MLB to use iOS 7's iBeacon for pointing out sights (and seats) in stadiums
Major League Baseball is becoming very iPhone-friendly: it gave iOS 6 users Passbook ticketing this season, and it's now planning a treat for iOS 7 users. A 2014 update to MLB's At the Ballpark app will use iOS 7's iBeacon feature to guide sports fans as they pass by low-power Bluetooth transmitters in the stadium. Enter the ballpark and you'll get seat directions; visit specific points and you may get coupons or highlight videos. Only the New York Mets are testing the feature at Citi Field, but the league believes that other teams are likely to follow suit.
Archiving iPhone app workflows
For app developers and bloggers, it's very instructive to have an idea of what has changed in the user interface of an app. App developers can look back and see how both the "look and feel" and steps required to perform a workflow have changed, while bloggers and other writers can use the information to update books or write posts about upgrades. Fortunately for both parties, there's a website called UX Archive run by two French developers (one of whom has moved to the Bay Area) and an American that plans to be an online museum of sorts, exhibiting the changes in app user interfaces and workflows over time. The site neatly divides the screenshots by app and task, so you can narrow down a search to just one particular task -- like creating, deleting, recording, sharing or uploading -- in one specific app. While there aren't a tremendous number of apps and versions currently archived (I counted 60 apps, with only a few showing the changes between iOS 6 and iOS 7 versions of those apps), it's a good start and UX Archive will be a helpful tool in the future provided the curators keep up with the updates. If you sign up for a free email list, UX Archive will ping you when a new workflow is added to the site.
Fiksu: iOS 7 adoption rate at 58 percent after one week
For the past week, analytics and advertising firms have been checking in with word on the adoption rate of iOS 7 -- that is, what percentage of all iOS devices are currently running the new operating system. The latest is Fiksu of Boston, which announced yesterday that iOS 7 was on 58.5 percent of all Apple mobile devices that were accessing its clients' apps. By comparison, iOS 6 was only at a 47.5 percent share after one week, while iOS 5 was at just 27.2 percent in the same amount of time. Chitika has also updated its data, and now says that iOS 7 accounts for 51.8 percent of the Apple devices accessing its servers. For iOS 6, the company saw an uptake rate of 47 percent after one week. Mixpanel has been posting hourly adoption rate figures and now shows 61.24 percent of all Apple devices running iOS 7. Taking an average of the data from all three of these firms shows an impressive 57.2 percent adoption rate, incredible when taking the huge number of iOS devices into account.
iOS 7 video tip: Short names and nicknames in Messages
Some TUAW readers have been concerned that in the Messages app under iOS 7, all they see is a person's first name in the header. It turns out that there's a setting to help change that information so that you can see the full name, first name and last initial, nickname or some other choices. In this TUAW Video Tip, you'll see just how one setting controls how names are viewed on your device. As with all of our videos, this one can be resized to full-screen mode for easier viewing.
Daily Roundup: Google's 15th anniversary, Stir's Kinetic Desk, iOS 7.0.2 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.
Square prompts iOS 7 users to allow microphone access for its reader
Square has sent an email out to its users noting that they may have to make some slight settings changes if they want to continue using the Square credit card reader on their iPhone. The changes come from a new security setting in iOS 7 in which the user needs to grant each app access to the microphone or else the app will not be able to use it -- or anything that's plugged into it, like the Square reader. The email lays out the steps users must take to approve Square Register for microphone access: When you update your Apple device to iOS 7, you may need to adjust your microphone in order to swipe payment cards with your card reader. If you have already updated to iOS 7, please allow Square Register to access the microphone. Here's how: 1. Go to Settings > Privacy > Microphone 2. Turn on the Square Register slider 3. Relaunch Square Register and swipe away! If you have not yet updated to iOS 7, your app will function normally. When you do update, follow the prompt to allow microphone access the first time you open Square Register. Though this email addresses how to approve Square Register, you follow the exact same steps for any other app that needs microphone access. You'll only have to go through these steps for existing apps on your iPhone that were on it before you updated to iOS 7. Any new apps you download will prompt you to give them access to your microphone the first time you launch them.
Is the Decline button missing from incoming calls in iOS 7? It's not just you
I've not found a ton of bugs in iOS 7; some weird behaviors (mostly in older apps) and visual artifacts, sure. Bugs? Thus far the biggest one I've found is the Decline button for incoming calls disappears, seemingly at random. I've had two calls from the same number over the course of a couple of days and sometimes the Decline button is there, and sometimes it isn't. Of course, 7.0.2 hit just as I was writing this, so maybe it's fixed. Are you seeing it?
Apple release iOS 7.0.2, fixes lock screen bypass bugs
Apple released iOS 7.0.2 and fixed the two lock screen bugs that made headlines earlier this week. One affected Control Center and the other took advantage of an exploit in the emergency dialer. These hacks allowed unauthorized users to access photos, contacts and social-sharing features without entering a passcode. Besides these pretty big bug fixes, the update also brought back the Greek keyboard for passcode entry. Folks running iOS 7 can download the update over the air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. You can also manually install it by connecting your iPhone or iPad to your computer and launching iTunes.
Apple addresses lockscreen bypass bug with iOS 7.0.2 rollout
Apple confirmed and assured everyone that it was working on a fix to the iOS 7 lockscreen bypass bug last week that let sneaky individuals mess with users' email and social network accounts. And now, exactly seven days later, said update is hitting handsets in the form of iOS 7.0.2. Directly to the point, the update is said to "fi[x] bugs that could allow someone to bypass the lock screen passcode." And hey, there's also a Greek keyboard option for passcodes thrown into the update for good measure.
Maxthon updates iOS browser with 'shake-and-send' cloud push and more
It's been a long while since Maxthon updated its iOS app, and hot on the heels of iOS 7, it finally has. Not only does it offer the usual speed and performance enhancements, the latest update to the mobile browser also reveals easier access to social media, a unique "shake-and-send" feature that lets you send content to the cloud by shaking the phone, localization in 15 more languages and a new "Push Away Menu" that supposedly helps you navigate the web one-handed. Seeing as Safari didn't get a ton of updates with iOS 7, it might prove useful to hit the source and seek out a possible alternative.
iOS 7 video tip: Organizing Notification Center
iOS 7's Notification Center can be a great way to see notifications at a glance, but when every app on your device suddenly decides to join the party, things can get a little hectic. In today's iOS 7 video tip, we'll show you how to turn off notifications from specific apps or delete them from your Today screen. The video, as always, can be expanded to full-screen for clarity.
Set up a 3rd-gen Apple TV with a tap from your iOS 7 device
Have a third-gen Apple TV and an iDevice running iOS 7? If you've yet to set up Cupertino's set-top box, you can do so now by simply touching your iPhone or iPad to the Apple TV. Okay, Apple's take on Bump requires a few more steps than that; you'll first need to enable Bluetooth on your iOS 7 device, then connect to the WiFi network you'll use with the Apple TV. (Your machine also needs Apple TV software 6.0 or later.) Still, it sure beats the labor-intensive process of selecting letters on-screen with the included remote. Once you've tapped your iPhone to the set-top box, prompts should appear on both the phone and the TV screen, and you're good to go. Give it a whirl for yourself -- Apple's directions are available via the first source link below.
TUAW TV Live: More discussion of iOS 7, and how about those new iMacs?
Today's TUAW TV Live will feature further discussion of iOS 7 -- including a take on people who are finding it not to their liking. We'll discuss the new iMacs that magically appeared yesterday, as well as some other cool topics that have popped up -- like setting up a third-generation Apple TV by just touching an iOS device to it. To join in to watch the live feed and participate in the chat, just click here or click that image you see at the top of this post. You'll join us on the AOL On Network. If you can't watch the entire show today, come back to this page within 24 hours to see the latest video below. Past shows are also available on the TUAW YouTube channel.
Third-generation Apple TV setup now as easy as touching an iOS 7 device to it
TUAW reader Aaron G pointed out an interesting Apple knowledge base article to us this morning. According to the post, a third-generation Apple TV running Apple TV software 6.0 or later can be easily set up by using an iOS device running iOS 7. It's as easy as touching the device to the Apple TV. Once the Apple TV is connected to your TV and showing the setup screen, you just unlock the iOS 7 device, making sure that Bluetooth is enabled and you're connected to the WiFi network that you want the Apple TV to be connected to. You then touch the iOS device to the Apple TV, after which prompts appear on both the iOS device and Apple TV. After entering your Apple ID and password on the iOS device and answering two simple questions, the configuration of the Apple TV takes place. It's connected to your WiFi network, activated and is set up with your iTunes Store account. It's a fast and easy way to set up the current Apple TV and hopefully any new devices that may be released by Apple in the future.
Daily Update for September 25, 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
Instagram gets the iOS 7 treatment
Next in the long line of popular iOS apps revamping their looks for Apple's newest mobile OS is Instagram, which just rolled out a new version of its photo-sharing app. Version 4.2.0 adds larger images and a more straightforward interface as well as flatter textures -- all of which help it fit in much better with the ultra-modern iOS 7 design aesthetic. The download is currently available through the App Store. [via Engadget]
Instagram refreshed for iOS 7 with larger images and videos, available for download today
Instagram may have missed the initial iOS 7 update run last week, but the retooled iPhone app is good to go now. Version 4.2, available for download today, brings design tweaks that mesh better with the latest iOS, with a slightly simpler interface and rounded profile pictures in the feed. Additionally, photos and video are a bit larger, and the resolution has been increased as well, enabling a better viewing experience overall. Instagram for iOS 7 can be yours right now. You'll find the download at the source link below.
iOS 7 beats up on Android, Windows Phone in user experience comparison
A new report by technology consultants Pfeiffer Consulting has found that iOS significantly outranks Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry phones in user experience satisfaction. Pfeiffer didn't want user "fan" bias entering into the equation, so the company only looked at "aspects that have a direct impact on the day-to-day user experience of an average, non-technical user." The results show that Apple's iOS 6 and iOS 7 best the other operating systems in all four main categories: cognitive load, efficiency, customization and user experience friction. The results, according to Pfeiffer: The combined results of the four different benchmarks and evaluations give iOS 7 a clear advantage in terms of overall user experience, taking into account the context defined for these benchmarks: day-to-day user experience of an average, non-technical user. If you're interested in studies such as this, the entire report is worth a read. It also demonstrates more good news for Apple and its newest iOS version.