Articles about iOS

In an ideal world, if you were the sole provider of any service through app and the users had unlimited resources on their devices, there would be no question of optimization and terms like agility and even user experience would be redundant. But as you might know, the current state of app industry is anything but ideal. There are dozens of apps competing for even the simplest of services and no matter how premium device a user has, there is always a limit to the number of apps it can operate smoothly.

The worst part, however, is scenario where after spending considerable amount of time, money and resources into developing and marketing an app, the users perceive it to be bulky and either never install it or uninstall after they find the memory it consumes is disproportionate to the value it brings.

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Earlier this year, I was shocked to learn that development of Opera for iOS was effectively dead. No, this was not just a rumor -- an Opera employee told me publicly on Twitter. And so, we here at BetaNews reported the unfortunate news. Luckily, the report of the browser's demise was short-lived -- the company later told me the employee was misinformed. I was dubious, so I took a wait-and-see approach to see just how alive development truly was.

Well, today, Opera supplied proof that its popular Mini browser is alive and kicking -- a new version! Apparently the company was just waiting for the iPhone 8 before updating the web browser. In a blog post highlighting the upcoming release of a new iPhone, the company shares that the user interface has been refreshed. For instance, there is more use of the "Opera red" color and trending news stories have been bumped to the top of the start page. New features have been added too, such as an enhanced search bar that can scan QR codes.

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Apple has announced another major expansion of its Internet of Things (IoT) services with a significant new partnership.

The computing giant has revealed it will be teaming up with Accenture for the launch of a new platform that will let businesses better interact with their customers.

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Digital assistants can do many things well, but no single one can do everything that we need. That's why we use different ones, depending on what we want to do and what device we are using. But what if they could talk to each other, so we wouldn't have to switch between them anymore?

Amazon and Microsoft have decided to do just that, announcing that Alexa and Cortana will soon be able to work together to help users do what they want much more quickly and easily. Here's what that means for the two tech giants' customers.

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President Trump has lost a six-year legal battle against the creator of an iOS app.

Tom Scharfeld is the man behind iTrump -- an app designed to teach people how to play the trumpet. He successfully represented himself in court, and prevailed over the US president, earning the right to retain the iTrump trademark.

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We'll forgive you if you've lost track of all of the changes Facebook has introduced to the News Feed over the years -- it's often something of an experimental playground. The social network's latest idea is a dedicated "Trending News."

The section is currently rolling out to mobile users, and is something of an extension of Facebook's Trending Topics. It is making its way out to Android and iOS users in the US.

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A few months ago, Google brought phishing protection to Gmail on Android. Now the company is doing the same for the iOS version of the app.

The feature is rolling out over the next few weeks, and it offers a couple of safety nets to protect users from visiting potentially dangerous links in emails.

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Navigating through any airport is stressful. Once you’ve queued for check-in, passed through security and trawled duty free, most people would locate the lounge for a couple of drinks. Problem is, it’s very easy to get lost in the moment and realize you’ve got to find your gate. That gate could be far further than you imagined and may even require a shuttle train to get you there in time. And that’s if you can find it at all!

The answer to this conundrum and much more is in the latest update of the TripIt app, released today. The paid-for premium TripIt Pro, now lets travelers see how far they have to walk between two specific points in an airport and also gives step-by-step walking directions for the shortest route between the two points in the airport you’ve specified.

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It has been a number of months since Google Earth received a makeover on Android and the web, and now the update is making its way to iOS. The latest version of the 3D world-exploration tool has been overhauled, bringing a number of new features to iPhone and iPad users.

These features include 360-degree videos, guided tours, and the interactive Voyager option for traveling virtually to major cities of the world.

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Millions of smartphones around the world could have been affected by a Wi-Fi security flaw, security researchers have claimed.

Broadcom's mobile Wi-Fi chips hid a vulnerability on them which could have allowed malicious actors to potentially attack a billion Android or iOS devices.

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Microsoft Garage is the place where many cool little projects take off. Word Flow, the iOS version of the keyboard that ships with Windows on smartphones, is among the more popular experiments, receiving positive reviews since its launch, more than a year ago.

But, like with other Microsoft Garage endeavors, that is not always enough to keep it alive. The software giant has pulled Word Flow from the App Store, telling users to give its other, better-known keyboard a try.

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When Apple added support for third-party keyboards on iOS, many users were excited. To be honest, I was not, however. While I appreciate having the choice, I much prefer privacy. You see, when you add a third-party keyboard, the developer can potentially intercept your keystrokes. If you are OK with that, more power to you. Me? I'll stick to the stock variant, thank you very much.

But OK, let's say you don't like Apple's keyboard and trust Google with your entries. If that is the case, the search giant's Gboard is a very impressive offering. It is more than just a keyboard, as it adds the ability to easily insert things like gifs, plus do Google searches. It even offers swipe-style typing, meaning you can glide from letter to letter rather than peck. Today, Gboard gets even better thanks to new Maps and YouTube functionality. Google has also added support for drawing, plus three additional languages -- Arabic, Farsi, and Hebrew.

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The big, standout new feature in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update Build 16251 is cross-device web-browsing. This lets you start browsing on your phone, and then switch to your PC and continue from where you left off.

The feature was initially only available for Android, but Microsoft promised that it would arrive on iOS "soon." Well, it’s here even sooner than expected and iPhone and iPad users can grab it now.

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Finding what you're looking for on eBay can be tricky. You need to find the right words to home in on exactly what you mean, and there's no guarantee that the seller will use quite the same wording. Far better, you might think, to be able to search using a photo of the item you want.

eBay agrees. With Image Search, users can take or upload a photo from their camera roll to search for matching items. The second new tool, Find It On eBay, can share images from the web -- including social media -- to eBay and use them to conduct searches. eBay says both features are facilitated by artificial intelligence and machine learning.

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Apple has a selective approach towards cryptocurrency, which is why iOS users only have access to a handful of coins in the App Store. You can find players like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Ripple, but most others are pushed aside.

There is no official position, but it is believed that Apple only accepts cryptocurrencies that are reputable. And Dash just rejoined that list. The sixth-largest cryptocurrency is back in the App Store, after being banned last year.

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