iOS developer Ganbold, who has brought customizable keyboards to the iPhone has now released a similar tweak which brings the ability to alter and arrange the keyboard on a jailbroken iPad. 5 Row Customizable Keyboard for iPad has recently hit Cydia and works in the same manner as its younger brother, which is for the iPhone. Apple have a dedicated Settings entry within iOS that allows users to define certain international keyboards, but these are pre-defined layouts and don't give the user a more advanced option of creating a keyboard to suit specific layout requirements.
Google's modestly-updated 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich almost ready to roll out for the Nexus S, but those anxious to get the update now, we've got the tutorial ready and waiting for you to get your teeth into!
The GO Dev Team is considered as one of the strongest forces in the Android development scene because of their great “alternative” apps that replace stock apps. GO SMS Pro, GO Contacts, GO Launcher HD and GO Keyboard are good examples of such apps.
While I am a satisfied user of the stock Messaging app (mixed with SMS Popup) that comes with the Galaxy S II on Android 2.3/4.0, there are plenty of people out there who prefer a messaging app that does more than just send/receive text messages. They want abilities like being able to schedule texts, receive pop-up notifications, voice input/output, a nice home-screen widget, blacklisting, favorite contacts etc. etc.
For those who prefer to embark on their iOS journey in a landscape orientation, it may be slightly annoying that certain native apps and parts of the OS isn’t set-up with landscape support. Apps such as the default Settings app are strictly portrait-only affairs and no matter how ferociously you flip that device around; it refuses to to budge. The same goes for the multitasking switcher tray which can be invoked by double tapping the Home button on the device. The bar that appears along the bottom on the screen containing backgrounded apps is designed to work in portrait mode only.
Over the last few months a number of vulnerabilities have been found within the iOS platform that could potentially allow some ethically challenged individuals to gain access to certain parts of a user’s handset if it is lost or stolen, even if a passcode lock is enabled. The methods used have generally been long winded and allows access mainly to the device’s Camera Roll, recent call logs, as well as allowing the perpetrator to be able to make outgoing voice or FaceTime calls in some cases. Being able to circumvent the passcode lock and access that kind of minimal data is concerning, but on the grander scale of things hardly represents a massive breach.
What started out as a Kickstarter project aiming to raise $10,000 has now made it out of the nearly-a-reality pile and into the iPad App Store. The team behind the creation of the Taposé app were inspired by Microsoft's 2008/2009 Courier journal concept and wanted to recreate the discussed features for the iPad and possibly other tablets through the creation of a dedicated app. After four months, three Apple rejections, a successful appeal, a revoked appeal, a UI review and then a final App Store review, Apple approved the Taposé app for general sale.
Besides the introduction of a whole new user-interface, Ice Cream Sandwich brought functional upgrades to Android such as Beam and Face Unlock. Now, Face Unlock is certainly not as secure as a PIN or alphanumeric password, but it provides a good level of security and has a a lot of novel value.
Although Apple pushed out iOS 5.1 along with the release of the new iPad earlier this month, it didn't really bring any earth shattering changes to delight the iOS user community. One of the additions that Tim Cook and his team talked about is the fact that they have removed the option to double tap the Home button on the lockscreen to display a camera shortcut button in favor of permanently displaying a camera icon that reacts to a swipe up gesture.
Despite being such an “open” mobile operating system, all Android phones in the market today come with a few limitations. These are actually safety mechanisms put in place for more security and to ensure that (inexperienced) users don’t mess up their devices. For enthusiasts, though, these safety mechanisms are limitations. Limitations that limit how they get to use a device they own.
