iOS9
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Crucial iPhone source code posted in unprecedented leak (updated)
Critical, top secret Apple code for the iPhone's operating system was posted on Github, opening a new, dangerous avenue for hackers and jailbreakers to access the device, Motherboard reported. The code, known as "iBoot," has since been pulled, but Apple may have confirmed it was the real deal when it issued a DMCA takedown to Github, as Twitter user @supersat noted.
Apple gives app makers more time to switch to HTTPS connection
Earlier this year, Apple required all app developers to switch on App Transport Security by January 1st, 2017. The feature (introduced with iOS 9 back in 2015) would have boosted apps' security, since it forces them to connect to the internet over HTTPS. Unfortunately, not everyone took advantage of the feature, and Google even released some codes that allowed developers to bypass ATS. If you were expecting to be protected by this extra layer of security in a few days' time, though, you'd be sorely disappointed. Cupertino has decided to extend the deadline and give developers more time to prepare for the switch. In a post on the Apple Developer website, the company wrote:
The FBI wants to crack another iPhone after Minnesota stabbings
The FBI and Apple might be headed for another fight over the case of a locked phone. Last night, FBI special agent Rich Thorton confirmed that the agency is trying to crack an iPhone belonging to Dahir Adan, a 20-year-old Somali immigrant who stabbed 10 people in a Minnesota mall last month. Per Wired, Thorton said the bureau was already sifting through some "780 gigabytes of data from multiple computers and other electronic devices," but unlocking Adan's phone could shed valuable light on why he did what he did and help figure out who (if anyone) helped him on his path.
Apple open-sources CareKit to help us better understand our health
Forget the iPhone SE and the smaller iPad Pro: Apple's biggest surprise at its most recent keynote might have been CareKit, a software framework meant to help iOS users more easily monitor and manage their illnesses. Some of you might have felt your eyes glaze over at the sight of "software framework," so let's put it this way: Apple wants to make it easy to assess your own health data and share that data with the people who can help you get even better. And starting today, CareKit is available on GitHub for developers to start playing with.
Google updates Hangouts on iOS to ease file sharing
Google has released Hangouts version 9 for iPhone and iPad, introducing several new useful features that users have been clamoring for. If it's been a hassle every single time you've needed to share a file or photo, you should be pleased with the changes.
Airmail's productivity-oriented email app comes to the iPad
Airmail is a popular Mac and iOS email app among power users, as it lets you use nearly any client and tailor the environment to suit your needs. While it recently came out on iPhone for the first time, the company just released version 1.1 for iPad which, along with the new features, should please hardcore users even more. Airmail now has split screen and multitasking, keyboard support for iPad Pro users, read receipts, smart folders, Touch ID support and a "send later" function for scheduled emails.
Share your iPhone 6s' Live Photos on Tumblr
Tumblr is a bit more animated now thanks to Live Photo sharing from the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. The GIF-dominated social network's app on iOS bumped to version 5.0 and with that milestone brings support for the more prominent features on Cupertino's latest handsets. In addition to easy sharing for your animated selfies, Tumblr's making use of 3D Touch to view them. If you have a 6s or 6s Plus, 9to5Mac notes that when you're scrolling through the dashboard and see the Live Photo icon over an image, simply deep-press on your device and it'll play the motion and audio captured with the photo.
Mozilla launches an iOS 9 content blocker, Focus by Firefox
Even Mozilla is getting into the iOS 9 ad blocking arena with Focus by Firefox, a free content blocker for Safari on Apple's mobile OS. Just like the early batch of blockers, it can keep your mobile browsing experience free of ads, as well as web analytics and social media trackers. But Mozilla says it'll also be transparent about how it's blocking content. It's using Disconnect's open source block list, which also powers Firefox's Private Browsing on desktop platforms, and it'll inform users as it builds on Focus by Firefox. In addition to making your mobile browsing more private, the blocker can also speed up performance by blocking things like web fonts. Ironically, Focus by Firefox isn't yet compatible with Firefox on iOS, because Apple doesn't allow content blockers to work with third-party browsers.
Amazon Video gets a bunch of new features on iOS
Amazon has released a ton of new features for its Video app. The update includes 3D touch support, Next Up (which is basically auto-play), picture-in-picture and X-Ray, which offers a wealth of IMDB information and trivia at the touch of a button. Even though some of these features are iPad exclusive (like picture-in-picture) they can help Amazon stand up against competition like Netflix when content alone won't carry the day. The 3D touch option is only available on Apple's latest smartphone offerings, the 6s and 6s Plus, and lets you access a number of features faster, but offers nothing in the way of exclusive functionality. Also, the app has been customized for the iPad Pro, meaning Amazon-exclusive content is bigger and better than it's ever been before. What more could you ask for?[Image credit: AOL]
Flickr takes advantage of iOS 9 and your iPhone 6s
The pressure-sensitive touch on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus was practically tailor-made for quickly glancing at photos, so wouldn't it make sense that major photography apps let you do just that? Flickr sure thinks so. It's launching an updated iOS app that takes full advantage of iOS 9, including 3D Touch on the iPhone 6s line. You can peek at photos, people and notifications with a firm push. It'll even flip through your camera roll if you swipe at the same time, giving you a quick way to share the right snapshot. As you might've guessed, that extra dimension also gives you home screen icon shortcuts that help you post photos that much sooner.
Adobe's Photoshop iOS apps are ready for use on the iPad Pro
If you're a designer or photographer, you're likely champing at the bit to get your hands on an iPad Pro for creative work. To prep for the larger slate's arrival, Adobe updated both Photoshop Fix and Photoshop Mix to take advantage of the tablet's tools. The duo of apps play nice with iOS 9's split-screen multi-tasking, wrangle larger image sizes (Adobe didn't specify how large, though) and offer "basic" support for that newfangled Pencil. Of course, you'll be able to make use of that split-screen feature on other iPads as well. New versions of both apps are available over at iTunes via the source links down below.
Verizon asks for permission to offer WiFi calling
Earlier this month, AT&T applied to the FCC for permission to offer native WiFi calling and now just a few weeks later, Verizon is following suit. The network has delivered a request to Tom Wheeler and his crew in the hope that it will be allowed to offer the feature to its users. If regulators give an official thumbs-up, we wouldn't be surprised if the first crop of iOS 9-toting iPhone users don't get the offering pretty quickly. After all, AT&T contacted the FCC on October 6th and started rolling it out to customers on October 8th.
Apple sued over iOS 9's eagerness to chew up cellular data
Not happy that iOS 9's WiFi Assist feature is quietly gobbling your iPhone's cellular data for the sake of boosting your WiFi performance? You're not alone -- and you might get compensation for your troubles. A California-based couple has filed a class action lawsuit accusing Apple of doing too little to warn iPhone owners about WiFi Assist's data use. Allegedly, the guide it posted in response to concerns about the feature doesn't cut the mustard. It "downplays" the kind of overage charges you could rack up after upgrading to the newer iOS revision, according to the complaint.
Chrome for iPad now supports iOS 9's multitasking features
With iOS 9, Apple introduced a handful of new multitasking features for the iPad, like the ability to run two apps side by side. Now Google's Chrome browser is ready to take advantage of these, thanks to an refreshed version of its universal iOS application. Aside from being able to use the Split View mode mentioned earlier, Chrome on iPad also supports Slide Over, as shown above; and Picture-in-Picture, which lets you browse websites and watch a pop-up video simultaneously. That said, Split View only works on iPad Air 2, iPad mini 4 and the soon-to-be-released iPad Pro, but the other tidbits are compatible with any tablet running Apple's latest mobile OS. Update: According to Google's Chrome blog, the iOS version has another treat for both iPhones and iPads with the addition of Autofill, just like you see on the desktop version.
iOS and OS X updates arrive with a ton of new emoji
If you've ever wanted to text taco pics from your iPhone or give the middle finger from your Mac, today's your lucky day. Apple has released iOS 9.1 and OS X El Capitan 10.11.1, both of which add a slew of new Unicode emoji ranging from Mexican food through to rude gestures. There are some important under-the-hood fixes, too. Your iPhone 6s or 6s Plus is now smart enough to stop recording Live Photos when you lower the device, and OS X shouldn't run into trouble with Office 2016. Whichever platform you're using, you'll likely want to update pronto -- if just to see the cutesy characters you'd otherwise miss. [Image credit: Emojipedia]
Apple News comes to the UK with iOS 9.1
As part of iOS 9, Apple introduced its own news curation app called News (an unimaginative name, but it's straight to the point at least). Like Flipboard, Google Play Newsstand and others, it's designed to collect the best online journalism and present it in a simpler, more beautiful way for readers. Apple device owners in the US were able to check it out straightaway, but so far device owners in the UK have been left out in the cold. Well, that's all changing today. iOS 9.1 is rolling out now and, as expected, it comes bundled with a tweaked Apple News app for Brits featuring some UK-specific journalism.
Twitch made multitasking a lot easier on iOS 9
In case you hadn't heeded that red flag on the App Store icon and downloaded the latest update for Twitch, you might want to fix that. The latest version of the streaming app favored by gamers adds a pop-out option for the game feed window for multitasking (like Android got months ago) and a couple of features that're very specific to iOS 9's new bag of tricks. Specifically, you can have a player window popped out of the app, hit the web browser or app of your choosing and then pop Twitch chat into its own pane. As the official Twitch blog tells it, that's available on most newer iPad models. However, Split View (where you have two fill apps running at once, only works with the iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 4.
Apple's News app is disabled in China
The News app in iOS 9 is officially available only in a handful of places, but you can still access stories when you're traveling abroad... unless you're visiting China, that is. A New York Times source understands that Apple has completely disabled News access in China, preventing you from reading anything new even if you're using one of the country's few uncensored connections on a US device. Apple hasn't commented on why it's switching things off, but the theory is that it would rather turn off News access altogether than deal with the many hassles of censoring individual sources and articles.
Mozilla proposes three golden rules for ad blockers
Users and advertisers are about to get involved in a dust-up over the role of content blockers, with much of the internet caught in the crossfire. Mozilla is hoping to play peacemaker by proposing a set of three golden rules that will create a "healthy, open web." The most notable is probably the idea that the firms providing browser extensions should be "content neutral," only screening out items that the user wants to avoid. That means blocking malware, pernicious tracking software produced by advertisers and bandwidth-heavy video ads. It's also a subtle two-fingered salute to companies like AdBlock Plus, which lets Google, Amazon and Microsoft amongst others get around the block, so long as they pay a fee.
Apple fixes 'app slicing' iCloud bug for latest iOS 9 update
The iOS platform's "App Thinning" feature is now available, and you'll be able to download leaner, smaller apps if you've already installed iOS 9.0.2. App Thinning or "app slicing" allows you to download only the parts of an app needed for your device, effectively saving you storage space. For instance, if you download an app for the iPhone 6, it won't have the parts needed for an iPad, because the developer tagged its assets for specific devices. It was supposed to be part of iOS 9 from the start, but it unfortunately got delayed due to an iCloud bug that forced users to download universal versions of apps.
