If you actually stand back and think about it, some of the most popular apps on an iOS device are centered around text input for storage of information or for use in some kind of communication like an email or text message. Native apps like Messages, Mail and Notes are all heavily based around text input and would just be useless shells without it. Apple obviously offers an on-screen keyboard that is easy to use and intuitive, but just because it is the standard method of text input it doesn't mean it's the best.
If you are the type of person who can't live without a jailbroken device then chances are high that loading up and refreshing Cydia is one of the first things you do each day. The App Store gets so many apps uploaded every day that it can become almost impossible to track what's new and what's not. However, with Cydia receiving a minimal amount of uploads in comparison, and the Changes section showing recent additions based on date and time, it is relatively easy to track all of the tweaks, packages and enhancements that get submitted to the repositories.
It isn't really a great secret that some of the most popular apps for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad live within the Photography section on the App Store. Browsing through that particular category always manages to bring up multiple appealing apps with new offerings landing on Apple's servers on a daily basis. Apple has put a lot of effort into creating the iPhone, it has a beautiful Retina display and a great camera, something which developers have recognized by producing functioning apps that make use of the photographs taken with the device.
I can imagine anyone who owns an iOS device has found themselves muttering the odd crossword under their breath whenever they click a link or an image in an app only for it to completely kick you out of the running app and decide to take itself off to a new page within Mobile Safari. I can understand why this issue occurs and unfortunately for the most part, it is a necessary evil if the user wants to visit or view information that hasn't been handled by the app developer.
If you are the owner of an iPhone or iPod touch then the chances are high that you have delved into the official App Store to browse through the hundreds of thousands of available apps that have been submitted for download by developers from all over the world. As you know, the App Store contains apps of all genres and has pretty much something to cover all tastes. It may have also become evident that the majority of apps are also built around similar navigation methodologies and use similar, albeit heavily customized, iOS specific controls.
Anyone who is a regular jailbreaker of any of their iOS devices will ultimately have a set of must-have tweaks and installations which always manage to make it onto their device as soon as a new jailbreak is released for iOS. Sometimes those packages are installed because they offer something fun and and at times it is because they genuinely make using Apple's mobile operating system a lot better. Those packages that fall under the category of the latter generally tend to have a much longer shelf life than other offerings in Cydia, well, until Apple natively implements them that is.
When it comes to packages and tweaks that find themselves at home on the jailbroken Cydia platform we tend to go through dry patches where we don't seen anything really being released that brings an awful amount of benefit to the user. This could be for a number of reasons, but one of the main driving factors behind this is the fact that Apple is making iOS more advanced with every major update thus removing the need for certain jailbreak based enhancements. Plus, Cydia is pretty much saturated with offerings meaning a lot of the good ideas have already been done.
Google have already proved that they are onto a winner with their iOS version of the popular Chrome web browser. Immediately after release the application was downloaded so many times it forced its way to the top of the paid app charts and has hovered around that spot ever since, picking up a large number of positive reviews on the way. The simplicity of the browsers user interface mixed together with the ease of use and built-in user gestures makes it an extremely positive experience for users.
The Olympic Games, held in London, England this year, will certainly be the highlight of the sporting calendar. Despite Wimbledon, EURO 2012 and many other big sporting events currently in full flow, none will quite live up to the glorious, diverse, and immensely entertaining Olympics. Living in London, the media has talked about little else over the past year, and as exciting as it is for us on a national level, most of the world will - in one event or another - be tuned in to a chunk of the coverage.
In keeping with the recent trend of user-experience and thanks to some minimalistic and beautiful weather apps, it is quite fitting that MinimalWeather has come into the public eye recently thanks to the power of the Twitter micro-blogging platform. Gone are the days of the overloaded mobile interface which brought stacks of information and text to read. Long live the minimalistic approach to mobile user interface design.
