Articles about iPhone

Today is a big day for iPhone and iPad users, as it’s when iOS 11 makes its official debut.

There’s a lot of cool new features in this OS update, including a design refresh, revamped Control Center, a Do Not Disturb driving mode, Siri improvements, and much more. However, iOS 11 is also when Apple stops supporting 32-bit apps. And that means some of your beloved apps and games may stop working once you perform the update.

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When the Apple Watch Series 3 was revealed last week, there was much excitement about the fact that -- at long last -- it would be possible to make calls without the need to have an iPhone nearby. Built-in cellular connectivity is something Apple Watch users have been begging for, and the Series 3 model delivers LTE goodness.

But all is not quite as rosy as it might first seem. Yes, it's possible to use your new Apple Watch to make phone calls, but it's not going to be of any use to you if you go abroad. The smartwatch does not support roaming. On top of this, the device will only provide full functionality in the country of purchase -- so if you were thinking of buying a cheap Apple Watch abroad, you might want to think again.

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In the United States, there are four major cell carriers -- Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint. They are not the only game in town, however, as there are regional carriers too. Not to mention, there are many MVNO offerings that piggyback off of the towers belonging to the aforementioned "big four."

One interesting new player in the MVNO space is Comcast with its affordable and unlimited "Xfinity Mobile" offering. Limited to subscribers of Xfinity home service, it uses a combination of Verizon's excellent LTE network plus Xfinity's 18 million hotspots to maximize coverage. Today, Comcast announces that the the budget-friendly service will soon be getting Apple iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus.

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The focus of Apple's event yesterday was certainly the new iPhones, but this was far from being all that came out of Cupertino. Apple also released iTunes 12.7 and there's a glaring change -- the App Store is gone.

iTunes has long been derided for being bloated, and this latest change seems to be Apple's attempt to get things back under control. Ditching the App Store means that apps can only be downloaded using an iOS device, but as significant as this is, it is not the only notable change in the software.

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Some tech pundits are living on a different planet, because why else would they question whether consumers will spend $1,000+ on the new iPhone X? Even Barclays got in on this, making the absurd claim that Apple needs to sweeten the deal to get people interested. Are you kidding me?

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past couple of years, a $1,000 iPhone is not out of this world. Apple sells the top-tier iPhone 7 Plus for $969, and I find it really, really hard to believe that the company will hesitate to cross the $1,000 mark with this completely new flagship.

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With a couple of notable exceptions, Apple consistently ranks as the second largest smartphone manufacturer based on sales. It's something that we've become accustomed to. No other vendor, except Samsung, has managed to beat it.

Well, until now, that is. According to a new report from Counterpoint, Apple was overtaken by Huawei, which posted a very strong performance towards the second half of the year.

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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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What are the chances of getting a new iPhone if your handset develops some sort of fault? If you take a damaged or troublesome iPhone into an Apple store, you might be told you're eligible for a repair, or you might walk out with a completely new phone. A newly leaked document shows how Apple decides what treatment you receive.

A document known as the "Visual/Mechanical Inspection Guide" has been leaked to Dropbox, and it shows how Apple technicians choose between offering in-warranty repair, out-of-warranty repair, or a replacement phone.

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Nowadays, many people leverage cloud storage for mobile devices. With Wi-Fi and high-speed cellular data being commonplace, this works fairly well -- until it doesn't. If you ever find yourself in a place without a reliable internet connection, it can be quite frustrating when you can't access needed files. It can also be a massive dilemma if your phone or tablet runs out of available storage and you don't have a connection to offload them to the cloud.

While many Android devices can use USB-C flash drives, iPhone and iPad users cannot, sadly. Luckily, some manufacturers make flash drives with a Lightning connector, enabling Apple users to both expand storage and move files without the need of the internet. Today, Kingston releases its latest such model, called DataTraveler Bolt Duo. This is a USB 3.0 flash drive that has both a Lightning connector and USB Type-A. With capacities up to 128GB, it could be a very useful product for iOS users.

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Apple announced many of the new features that will be available in iOS 11 at WWDC 2017, but there is one that we are only hearing about just now: screen recording.

Yes, come this fall, iPhone and iPad users will be able to show others what is on their smartphone or tablet's screen. And TeamViewer just announced that it will be the first to have a screen-sharing solution available on iOS.

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Next month, Apple is expected to introduce a new smartphone -- probably a few new models, actually. What most folks are excited about, however, is the rumored "iPhone 8." There has been some speculation that it will be an extremely premium -- and expensive -- smartphone. Some leaked designs imply that it will have almost no bezels, while ditching the bottom physical home button and extending the screen to the very top, wrapping around the front camera and ear piece -- similar to the Essential Phone.

Based on the rumors, the iPhone 8 -- if that is even what it will be called -- could be narrower and taller than existing models, such as the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. That's why I found myself quite excited while looking at a Tweeted picture of Tim Cook's pants today. In a Tweet Cook sent from a manufacturing plant, there is a bulge in his right pocket that is clearly an iPhone. But which model is it?

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If you look at the iPhone 7 and the Galaxy S8 and compare them to their predecessors, there is no denying that Samsung's flagship has made a bigger leap forward. It is arguably the more interesting smartphone of the two as a result. But, as always, that does not automatically translate into better sales.

The iPhone, for all the minor upgrades it has received over the years, has rarely been dethroned by its rivals, and that was again the case in the second quarter of 2017, when it basically wiped the floor with the Galaxy S8 in terms of sales.

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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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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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