Today Apple have released the latest version of their mobile devices operating system, iOS 7. It is available for millions of iOS devices through the 'Software Update' page on the General section of the Settings app.
iOS 7 is completely redesigned from iOS 6, which had previously followed the UI look from each previous version of the mobile operating system. iOS 7 takes a new approach of simplicity, layering and a new colour palette. All of the Apple apps, Camera, Messages etc. are also completely redesigned.
The new design minimises intrusion and hopes to give the user the information they exactly when and where they need it. For example FaceTime is full screen, as the conversation you are having is the focus of your attention.
The redesigned Photos app looks really good. It automatically groups your photos in 'moments' based on the time and location that the photos were taken. Other changes include the Control Centre which you can pull up from the bottom of the page to turn things like bluetooth and wi-fi on and off. Also included in Control Centre is brightness controls, music controls and a torch (flashlight).
The YouTube iOS app icon has been featured on +Web Warp Blog before: YouTube and iOS6 - September 2012, it was praised for changing from an old fashioned television (not very YouTube) to a much more sensible 'YouTube' branding which everyone who has used the website will recognise:
So why is it changing to this??
The app update inlcudes: Watch a video while searching for the next one, just like picture-in-picture and Search for playlists and use the “play all” button for endless entertainment. What are your thoughts on this app icon change?
Apple's WWDC2013 conference keynote did not disappoint. One of the announcements, and probably the one which will affect the most number of Apple's customers is iOS 7. Apple's mobile operating system has a brand new UI which looks great. It will be available on the iPhone 4, 4S and 5; the iPad 2, 3, 4 and Mini; iPod Touch 5th Gen.
Some of the new features such as the new music app look really good, but this post is just a quick first look of the new UI. From Apple's page: www.apple.com.
The new look is as per the rumours in some ways, simple colour palette, radical change from iOS 6. But in other ways it is just incredible. The apps apear to 'float' on a pane above the wallpaper. By tilting your device you can see 'behind' the app icons! There is a huge amount of translucency and the app icons look fantastic. Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
The Facebook Messenger app as been a curious addition to the Facebook mobile apps lineup. It's only advantage over the messages section of the Facebook app itself was the loading time. It appeared as though Facebook were trying to 'replace' text messaging with their Messenger app. This was until January when in America and Canada users were able to use the Messenger app to make voice calls to contacts over their data contract or Wi-Fi connection.
This feature now comes to the UK, but without too much of a fanfare as it's more of a beta test and will be rolled out properly once bugs are squashed. To try out the feature for yourself in the UK you'll need the iOS version of the Facebook Messenger app. Then just swipe right to reveal a list of your contacts. Tap a contact for their information and the new 'Free Call' button will be there. If it's got a green phone symbol, you are good to go! If they don't answer you can even leave a voice message.
App Gratis gives you access to one free app for iOS devices each day. These include paid apps such as WhatsApp and Cut the Rope, but each app is only free for one day! There are also links to lot's of discounted apps and apps which were already free too.
The app limits itself to one push notification a day, to make sure it does not become annoying. If you have an app which you are marketing at a cost a 24 hour give away could greatly increase your user base. And users of good apps share their experience with other iPhone users!
Download today and start discovering paid apps for your iPhone / iPad / iPod Touch, for free!
Incredibly Facebook now has over one billion active users each month! This huge success is often accredited to Facebook's constantly changing service, always adapting to include new features or keep up with (or purchase!) competition such as Instagram and Google+. Today they have launched yet another iOS application for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. It's simply called "Poke".
Poking a friend has been a decreasingly used feature amongst many users. Since poking became a feature of Facebook a lot has changed. Your profile's wall as become a timeline and the use of mobile or third applications has increased massively. Messages have become a defacto way to prompt a response from a Facebook friend. The new app brings more to poking your Facebook friends.
With the new Poke app you can poke your Facebook friends who also use Poke app too, and you can include a message, photo or video along with your poke. You can even control how long that the recipient can see your poke for, down to only 3 seconds! Poke allows you full control of who gets your poke, and you can select whole groups of users.
Will Poke be a success? Will it replace dropping a quick message to your mates or posting a pic on your timeline? Only time will tell. Many of the options are already built into Facebook, and this app isn't yet cross-platform. It may just be a flash-in-the-pan novelty, but at last it keeps Facebook's ever changing list of services fresh.
Let us know what you think by dropping a comment below.
A long time ago in a galaxy far far away there were birds whose eggs where stolen by Bad Piggies... or am I confusing Angry Birds with Star Wars?!?! One of the best mobile games, Angry Birds, has taken a fresh, sling-shoting, head only carton approach to the Star Wars universe in: Angry Birds Star Wars!
The epic game see the Star Wars characters you know and love do battle in an Angry Birds sling-shot style. The game features the epic Star Wars sound track, light sabres and the classic scenes that you will enjoy playing out on your phone/tablet. Reasonably priced at just 69p for iOS devices and available on Windows, iOS and Android. For links to download it in each format click here.
Google Chrome on the desktop is super fast to start-up and super fast for browsing and it's easy to use user interface keep users come back time after time, despite new versions of Internet Explorer and Firefox competing. It's non-intrusive auto-update keeps it primed and ready to make the best of new technologies such as HTML5 and ward off security threats which try to take advantage of the browser.
For more advanced users it allows you to sync your bookmarks (favourites), Chrome Web Store App's and other settings across various platforms and devices. This is great for syncing Chrome over Windows and Mac computers. Google Chrome is featured on the Android Ice Cream Sandwich smartphones and tablets and will also be included in Android Jelly Bean devices too. But what about iPhone and iPad users?
Google Chrome is now available for iOS! It's finally here after months, if not years, of anticipation. Chrome for iOS brings a simple User Interface, which is a touch ready version of the desktop application. It also features unlimited tabs, which is better than the iOS default browser, Safari, which is limited to 8.
Sync - this is the killer feature. Safari will be improving browser synchronisation in iOS 6 due in the Autumn and Mountain Lion due in July, but with Google Chrome and Google Chrome for iOS you can experience a unified browsing experience today. Tabs that are open on one device are synced so you can see them on the other. Like a webpage but don't have time to read it? Send it to your iOS device where it is stored so you can read it later, even offline (requires the Chrome to Mobile Web Store App for Chrome). Unified web history, if you've been there before it will help you save on typing by suggesting autocomplete options. Haven't been there before? Google search results appear after each character to help you find what you are looking for.
So does Chrome for iOS look any different? Short answer is no:
Chrome for iOS
Safari for iOS
To download it from the App Store:
Google have created a short video about syncing Google Chrome across multiple devices, include Android 4.0+ and iOS devices too! It's called Your Chrome, Everywhere.
The My Xbox Live App was reviewed on Web Warp Blog last year, but Microsoft have added a new feature in the current version of the free iOS app - Xbox Control.
Exclusively from the iOS app users can remotely control their Xbox over the internet. In practice this enables you to launch apps such as Netflix or BBC iPlayer from your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch and choose to watch a movie/TV programme, without having to use your Xbox controller. When you are in these Xbox Live Applications you can navigate through the on screen menus in the normal fashion because the app displays virtual Xbox controller buttons for you, as shown in the screen capture below.
This is similar to Apple's Remote App for Apple TV but it's missing one vital feature. When you go to search for content on an Apple TV using the the Remote app the iOS on screen keyboard appears for quick and easy searching. Trying a Bing search using the My Xbox Live app and you still have to navigate using the left, right and A buttons. Not really making best use of the iPhone's capabilities, and almost rendering the app little more than just a really neat way to launch a game (assuming the right disk is in the Xbox).
My Xbox Live is now also available for Android devices via Google Play, but doesn't include the ability to control the Xbox remotely - yet.
The Apple World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) earlier today included the announcement of iOS 6. iOS 6 is the sixth major version of the Apple mobile operating system which rus the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. There are hundreds of new features but some of the major new features are listed below.
Maps - All new Apple Maps including Turn-by-Turn Navigation and Siri integration.
Facebook integration throughout the OS
FaceTime over a cellular connection
Improved Safari including better iCloud integration
New options for controlling alerts, including "Do Not Disturb" mode
Shared Photostreams
Passbook - for a paperless ticketing system
iOS 6 will be coming to iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod Touch 4th Gen, iPad 2 and the New iPad this Autumn.
The Google+ iOS App has been updated to include a new high resolution user interface. The new retina display ready interface looks great and is a world away from the previous Facebook style application. The Google+ app features a smooth autoloading of the next item in your circles news feeds. The full bleed images and fine fonts look incredible. For more information about the update see the Google blogpost or see the Google video below!
Apple have released an update for iOS devices (iPhones, iPad's & iPod Touches). This new update, 5.1.1, is ready to be downloaded and installed right on the device by browsing to Settings > General > Software Update. The update fixes various bugs including an issue with warnings about successful purchases from the App Store, which actually succeeded once a suitable Wi-Fi network has been connected too.
The update is reasonably sized at just over 50MB and takes advantage of iOS 5's feature to update software in smaller packages downloaded directly to the device, negating the previous requirement to download over 700MB's to iTunes and then connect the iOS device to the computer to install the update.
Everyone uses the classic smiley face :-) or winking ;-) but on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad you could be showing your emotions in a lot more detail! These faces look great on the retina display too.
To enable the Emoji keyboard follow these quick and simple instructions below!
Apple have announced that their next version of Mac OS X will be called Mountain Lion. It will be released in the summer of 2012. For those of you who are Apple developers you can download the developer preview today.
The new feature list is heavily influenced by iOS as many predicted and Mac OS X Mountain Lion will include dedicated Mac apps for Notes, Reminders and iMessage. All of which work with iCloud. There will also be a notification centre, which can be accessed via a trackpad gesture, to centralise notifications of new iMessages, emails and notifications from third party apps. Lots of the iOS features within apps, such as the share button will be included so you can tweet from within apps, just like on the iPhone, iPod Touch and the iPad.
Starbucks have been running a card loyalty and benefit scheme called "Starbucks Card Reward" for some time. From tomorrow their new scheme "My Starbucks Rewards" replaces it. The same physical card can be used and the existing feature of topping up the card to make coffee purchases will remain. The differences are all in the benefits/rewards.
Previously you received benefits for using your card:
"Free Extra Shot for your drink
Free Soy and Whipped Cream for your drink
Free Syrup for your drink
Free Tall drink when you buy a bag of whole bean coffee (250g)
Free Tall drink with a VIA® 12-pack
50p off Fresh Filter Coffee"
The new My Starbucks Rewards scheme features two levels of benefit.
Microsoft have launched a mobile app as a companion to the latest Xbox live software update which launched yesterday. The new app, called "My Xbox Live", features social contacts, achievements and your avatar. The app is free and available for iOS and Windows Phone 7 users. The app is optimised for the iPad too. Details from Microsoft.
Microsoft have demonstrated their new Windows Store which will be included in Windows 8 Beta which is due for release next February. They claim it will have a greater reach than iOS and Android devices put together. The Windows Store follows features the Metro stlye which is finding it's way into all Microsoft's products. For more information about developing for Microsoft's Windows Store see the below video.
Lockergnome reports on the iOS 5 Location Services use and its effect on battery life. A very useful video with a great set of tips! Here is a link to the original story on Lockergnome's website: Click Here.
Facebook is 2nd most popular site in the world (Alexa rating page) and it has over 500 million active users. A lot of these users have smart phones and if you have an Android device or iPhone, iPod Touch etc. then the Facebook app is a must for you! Keep up to date with your friends latest statuses/photos/event invitations, all on the go. The Facebook app runs through a web fetching system so essentially all of the content within the app is actually online. This means that it is updated and improved all the time without the need to constantly download updates to the app itself. Facebook's mobile app incorporates all of the recent changes to Facebook's News Feed and privacy enhancements such as post approvals to add tagged items to your own wall.
The Facebook app also features Check In which uses your smartphones GPS to quickly determine your location, and also alerts you if a friend checks in nearby. You can look at pages on the go and read and respond to private messages. If it wasn't so buggy and often unreliable then it would get 5/5 but sadly it is so it's getting a 3/5 rating. It's also spookily similar to the Google+ app following recent changes...
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