Leander Kahney's Blog, page 15

Government is on a coast-to-cast phone-unlocking rampage

Right from the start, the current iPhone vs. FBI standoff has revolved around whether it was focused on unlocking one specific handset or setting a precedent that would allow the Justice Department to unlock any phone it wanted. Well, if you wanted evidence that the government is using the All Writs Act to try and […]

(via Cult of Mac - Tech and culture through an Apple lens)

Awesome upgrades for your iOS devices and Apple Watch [Deals]

Getting the phone or the smart watch is always just the beginning. To make these devices an ideal fit with our lives, habits, or sense of style, there are plenty of peripherals available to bring our most intimate of technologies into closer alignment with our wants and needs. From low-profile charging to mobile mounts and […]

(via Cult of Mac - Tech and culture through an Apple lens)

‘Whackadoodles’ offered to help FBI crack iPhone

Details are emerging about how exactly the FBI managed to get into San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook’s device without the so-called “govtOS” it had been demanding from Apple. ABC News has spoken to unnamed sources who have outlined the process through which the government finally cracked the stubborn encryption on the iPhone 5c. And while […]

(via Cult of Mac - Tech and culture through an Apple lens)

OS X source code hints at switch to ‘macOS’

We’ve all noticed Apple’s latest operating system nomenclature, with each new release a device-centric OS, like iOS, tvOS, or watchOS. Why not macOS, then? A bit of source code in the current stable release of OS X (10.11.4) seems to point to that very thing. Developer Guilherme Rambo told Portuguese-language site MacMagazine.com.br that he found […]

(via Cult of Mac - Tech and culture through an Apple lens)

Waze will now nag you about how fast you’re driving

We expect navigation apps to warn us about gridlock, give us the best routes, and tell us how long our drives will be. But Waze is rolling out a new speed-limits feature that, while useful, might come off as a pain at first. The crowdsourced traffic app now includes limits information for thousands of roads, […]

(via Cult of Mac - Tech and culture through an Apple lens)

U.S. iPhone owners are cheapskates when it comes to apps

If you want to strike it rich on the App Store, here’s a hint: make a game. Americans who own an iPhone spent an average of $35 on apps and in-app purchases last year, only instead of forking over cash for productivity or education apps, the majority of that money goes to gaming. App marketing […]

(via Cult of Mac - Tech and culture through an Apple lens)

How to add Trello cards to Todoist automatically with IFTTT

As you may have noticed over the last month or so, I’ve had a little bit of a fascination with workflow automation and iOS. While some of it is the aftermath of trying to go iPad-only, most of it is simply because I love using iOS to make managing tasks easier whenever possible. I recently […]

(via Cult of Mac - Tech and culture through an Apple lens)

Videos on Instagram just got four times longer

Once an app only for photos, Instagram is now greatly extending its video capabilities. Coming soon, users will be able to share videos up to 60 seconds in length. Instagram started rolling out this change today and says more improvements to video are coming in a future update. One such improvement Instagram says will arrive […]

(via Cult of Mac - Tech and culture through an Apple lens)

SoundCloud takes on Apple Music with new subscription service

Apple Music’s competition in the music streaming battle just got a little fiercer today with the introduction of a new subscription service by SoundCloud. The new SoundCloud Go service costs $10 per month, giving you unlimited access to the YouTube of Audio’s vast trove of indie content without ads. You can also save files to […]

(via Cult of Mac - Tech and culture through an Apple lens)

Massive Snapchat revamp brings real voice and video calling

The Snapchat revamp you’ve been reading so much about in recent months has landed. Dubbed “Chat 2.0,” and available today on Android and iOS, it finally brings voice and video calling, improved Snapchat Stories, and 200 brand new stickers. With voice and video calling, Snapchat is more than just a funky messaging app. You can […]

(via Cult of Mac - Tech and culture through an Apple lens)