When Apple first introduced folders in iOS way back with the iOS 4 release, it was largely laughed at by Android fans for being flimsy and barely functional. They had good reason to do that, too; Android has had a much functional, not to mention useful, folder organization system since time immemorial, whereas iOS' initial attempts were lousy and half-baked at best. In fact, there were so many lacking bits and pieces, and glitches, that one of them ended up serving a purpose that wasn't originally intended; the ability to nest folders within folders. It appears that the same glitch has carried over all the way to iOS 8 as well, and using the same technique (which we'll describe going forward for the uninitiated), you can nest folders within folders even in iOS 8 and iOS 8.0.2.
Thus far, Apple has launched the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in just under 30 nations, with the initial roll-out in the United States, United Kingdom and several others on September 19th followed closely by the addition of a further 20 countries only last Friday. Conspicuous by its absence, however, has been China, an emerging market with something of an affinity to Apple's product line-up. But with the news having trickled out to the blogosphere a short while ago that Chinese regulators has approved both of the Mac maker's new smartphones for retail, Apple has now confirmed that the larger handsets will be available throughout the world's most populous nation as of October 17th.
Apple's iOS 8 seemed to be experiencing a smooth initial transition, with millions of users downloading on the very first day of its launch and bugs apparently as minor as they were few. But after the mess that Apple made with iOS 8.0.1, things seem to have gone downhill somewhat, and it now appears that iOS 8's 'Reset All Settings' feature is also removing iCloud Drive documents apparently safe in Apple's secure online storage hub.
Apple has just released iOS 8.1 beta 1 download for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users. The first beta build carries a build number of 12B401 and is available to download immediately for registered developers, and is likely an update which includes support for Apple Pay and other bug fixes.
Some ten days after the official roll-out of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, the official Facebook Messenger app has just been updated in compliance with both new handsets. The changelog doesn't list anything else by way of changes, but given that app developers often squeeze in a couple of gratuitous bug fixes and performance enhancements without explicitly mentioning them, this is an update recommended for all using Facebook Messenger for iOS.
We heard late on last week that Apple could be plotting the roll out of a refreshed Mac mini next month to coincide with the launch of OS X 10.10 Yosemite as well as the iPad mini 3 and iPad Air 2. A new report has added another release to a growing list of touted products set to arrive over the next few weeks, noting that Apple is also set to take the wraps off a 27-inch iMac with Retina display. Citing sources familiar with Apple's product movements, the report suggests that this as-yet unannounced keynote may be much larger than first anticipated, but like the purported Mac mini refresh, the Cupertino company will be forced into using the ageing Haswell processor from Intel rather than the imminent Broadwell.
The roll out of the Galaxy Note 4 has been brought forward by Samsung in a somewhat hurried attempt to compete with the unforeseen popularity of Apple's two new iPhones, but in its haste, the Korean outfit may have released some units with a quite significant design issue. As the Tizen maker's Cupertino rival looks to recover from the Bendgate issue, it has emerged that some Note 4 users have discovered quite a large gap between the display and the outer frame - sizeable enough to fit a business card or a couple of sheets of paper - and given the asking price of the latest installment to the iconic phablet series, it's not exactly the kind of build quality that said users would've expected.
As well as opening up the keyboard aspect of its mobile software to third parties, Apple's iOS 8 has also treated the stock offering to a much-needed overhaul. The autocorrect-befuddled experience that users had begrudgingly grown accustomed to was certainly below the standards being set on Google's Android, but as well as introducing some SwiftKey-like features to the iOS 8 typing repertoire, Apple has also brought a more substantial predictive text to the fore. Not only will it correct your sentences within the context of what you've written before - unlike Auto-correct for the most part - but it'll also have a pretty good pop at guessing the next word in your sequence. One cartoonist thought it would be interesting / entertaining to see whether iOS 8's new keyboard could pick up on famous movie quotes using predictive text, and while it didn't exactly come up trumps, it did produce some quite hilarious alternatives.
The Web is awash with animated GIFs, and thanks to the introduction of iOS 8 and its third-party keyboard support, the authors of such apps have sought to make it easier than ever before to share these moving images. But the GIF isn't the only file type supportive of animation, and although the Animated Portable Network Graphic, or APNG, was assumed to be dying out, Safari for iOS 8 actually supports APNGs as standard. What's more, those using a beta or Developer Preview of OS X 10.10 Yosemite will also be able to indulge, and although both of Apple's new pieces of software have been inundated with new features, this is one that we certainly did not foresee.
Now that Consumer Reports has released its report into whether the iPhone 6 Plus bends too easily or not, we're all of the desperate hope that the whole Bendgate debacle will die a death as soon as possible. Even if it does though, there's always someone willing to take something that's already a little bit crazy and then take it to an extreme that few could imagine.
















