In the early days of iOS, the lock screen was considered, if anything, an ornamental feature of the Apple platform. Presenting little more than the time, date and the patented Slide to Unlock, the face of an ecosystem was traditionally one of decided blankness.
With Apple having announced the date earlier on today for WWDC 2013, we’re bracing ourselves for a marked rise in the number of Apple-related news, rumors and reports. With iOS 6 having failed, in the opinion of many, to bring any dramatic improvements on iOS 5, the concepts and ideas for iOS 7 have been arriving thick and fast. The one you're about to see below, as well as having been presented in a very professional manner, is one of the best iOS 7 concepts yet, and features a radically redesigned interface including a new Notification Center, widget support, and lock screen toggles. Catch the full demonstration video after the break!
The iOS keyboard has hardly changed since the earlier days of iPhone OS, and as such, the jailbreak community have consistently looked for ways to freshen things up for those who like to chop and change. Some alternative keyboards are a tad over-the-top, while others are just plain garbage, but when a designer manages to combine subtlety, elegance and minimalism in one fell swoop, we simply have to pay it a little bit of attention.
As my colleague recently pointed out, decent battery retention in a mobile device is perhaps at more of a premium than ever before. We love all the new and exciting features arriving with each and every updated revision, but keeping the thing running for more than a few hours at a time can be something of an uphill battle. The Infinity Cell kinetic charger is an iPhone battery pack with a twist, as it uses your body’s natural movements to generate the power, meaning you don't need to be repeatedly hooking your handset to the mains in order to keep it juiced up.
The iOS native screenshot feature is very useful, particularly for capturing small bits of information for referencing to at a later date. But if you want to, say, snap an entire webpage, you'll find yourself doing quite a bit of scrolling as you try and pick up every last bit, and thereafter, you're left with a somewhat fragmented representation of what you were initially reading. Enter Barry - Webpage screenshot, an app which, simply put, allows you to take screenshots of entire webpages in a single hit, and if it sounds like just the app you've been looking for, you can catch all of the details after the break.
Rumors pertaining to the fifth-gen iPad have begun heating up over the past few weeks, and the consensus seems to be that the device will take on a similar form factor to that of the iPad mini. Today, a photo purported to illustrate the interior of the rear shell of the "iPad 5" has been released by Tactus, the same company that offered the world a glimpse into the shell of the supposed low-cost iPhone. From the image, it would appear as though the various contours and grooves tie in with earlier such leaks, and although we're reserving full judgment until we encounter some more substantial evidence, it's looking very much like we should begin bracing ourselves for a "large iPad mini." Apart from the alleged iPad 5 exterior shell, a SIM tray has also popped up which is claimed to be of the next-gen iPhone, dubbed the iPhone 5S. More details right after the jump.
There is a new tweak out today on the Cydia store which in my opinion is worth checking out. This small and lightweight tweak comes from developer rvirajm and can be thought of as more of a small phone based utility rather than a large functional installation that will greatly enhance the feature set of the iPhone.
Google has proven in the past that the search giant is not shy about releasing its apps on iOS. The company fought long and hard to get some of its apps onto its perceived competitor's devices, but with Google's business model relying on everyone using the internet as much as possible, it's little wonder that it simply wants to make that as easy, and as enjoyable as possible.
Instagram is without a doubt something of a runaway success, and it managed that even before the famous buyout by social network, Facebook. A combination of smart filters and a social aspect, Instagram had us all taking arty photos of our food, cats and just about anything else. We love Instagram, and judging by our feeds, you probably do too.
The introduction of Siri along with the iPhone 4S caused a few people to think that voice based commands were going to become the next accepted method of interaction with our mobile devices. Conversely, a number of users simply couldn't see the merit or value in having to ask questions to find out things like the local weather or what the time is in other countries. Regardless of personal opinion, it looks like Siri is definitely with us in the long-run with iOS, which is why it's great to see tweaks like Ask Assistant landing on the Cydia store that make using Siri that little bit easier.
