While Activation Lock has dramatically reduced iPhone thefts in some cities, with reductions as high as 50%, police data collated by the WSJ shows that the effect isn’t as great as expected in others. iPhone thefts fell by only 11% in Oakland, by 17% in Austin and actually increased by 32% in Seattle …
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Update: 82% as of May 13.
More than 7 months after its official release, iOS 8 has now passed 80% adoption as a version of Apple’s latest mobile operating system is running on 81% of active devices, according to Apple’s App Store Distribution data. The new data puts iOS 8 up two points since this time two weeks ago. The remaining devices include 17% running a version of iOS 7, which is where the upgrades came from, while 2% of devices measured have iOS 6 or earlier.
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WIRED has posted a new story on the Apple Watch, which revolves around interviews with Apple human interface designer Alan Dye and Apple’s VP Technology Kevin Lynch, who heads Apple Watch software. The piece shines new light on the foundation of the smartwatch project at Apple as well as some new details about the product — which ships later this month.
Amusingly, Lynch did not know what he would be working on when he accepted the Apple job. He walked into the role with the project already underway; early ‘experiments’ from the iPod team with click-wheels and such. Dye says that the idea for a watch blossomed during design meetings for iOS 7, Apple’s major software overhaul.
Some things are blindingly obvious in hindsight, and Iconfactory principal Craig Hockenberry and Daring Fireball’s John Gruber made one of these points about the flattening of iOS.
“The flattening of Apple’s user interface that began in iOS 7 was as much a strategic move as an aesthetic one,” says Hockenberry, with Gruber adding that “iOS 6-style skeuomorphism would’ve felt downright gauche on the watch.”
Not just gauche, but also hard to read on such a small display. I think both are right: while Ive may have preferred the minimalism of iOS 7 and 8 on the larger devices, what was a preference for the iPhone and iPad was a necessity for the Apple Watch.
Update 3/31: Apple’s latest data reflects 78% as measured on the App Store on March 30th.
Update 4/14: Two weeks and one iOS 8.3 update later, the App Store now reports 79% iOS 8 adoption.
Apple now says that 77% of active iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches are now running some version of iOS 8. The remainder of active devices running older software than what was released last September include one out of five devices still running iOS 7, and a small 3% running iOS 6 or earlier. The data comes from Apple’s App Store Distribution dashboard, which captured the adoption rate earlier this week.
While the information does show the steady climb of active devices upgrading to iOS 8 at a steady, gradual rate, it does not reveal how many users are running the very latest version, iOS 8.2, which is required for iPhone users to pair with the upcoming Apple Watch, which will be released on April 24th…
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[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ti0KdXrgSE]
A user experience expert has put together a video showing that the longer animations introduced in iOS 7 and continued in iOS 8 have a small usability cost: user input is ignored while the animation is running, making the user interface seem slower. The video compares it to iOS 3 running on the original iPhone.
While William Van Hecke believed that the issue was that animations used to be interruptible, this isn’t actually the case except for Springboard. In other cases, iOS has always ignored input until animations are complete, it’s just that they used to be shorter. If you’re fast with your fingers, there will now be times when you’re trying to do something while the animation is still doing its thing.
The new spring-based animations also make it less clear when the animation has ended, so the device seems unresponsive to input, but in reality it’s that the animation hasn’t quite finished.
Do you see this as an issue in real-life use? Let us know in the comments.
Officials in three major cities have reported dramatic reductions in iPhone thefts since Apple introduced Activation Lock as part of iOS 7, preventing devices being re-activated without the original owner’s iCloud login. Reuters reports that the number of reported iPhone thefts has fallen year-on-year by 25% in New York, 40% in San Francisco and 50% in London …
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Update 2/17: 73% iOS 8 adoption measured on February 16th, up 1% since February 2nd. Change shows 1% moving from iOS 7 to iOS 8 with ‘Earlier’ remaining at 3%.
Update 3/3: A month later, iOS 8 is now running on 3 out of 4 iOS devices according to Apple’s data. 75% of devices are now running iOS 8, with 22% still running iOS 7.
Apple released a new count today for the percentage of iOS devices accessing the App Store and running iOS 8. According to App Store Distribution data, 72% of iOS devices are now running iOS 8 with a quarter of devices running iOS 7 and a tiny 3% of users running iOS 6 or earlier versions using data “measured by the App Store on February 2, 2015.” That puts iOS 8 adoption up 3% since Apple last reported data two weeks ago with only 69% of devices running iOS 8 at the time.
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Update 1/20: App Store Distribution Data updated today revealing iOS 8 adoption has climbed 1% from its previous measure at 68%. iOS 8 adoption now measures at 69% of active devices according to App Store data captured January 19th. The rate increase is in line with MixPanel’s increase to roughly 71% now up from roughly 70% toward the start of the month.
Apple has shared its latest App Store Distribution Data on iOS 8 adoption to report that some version of its current mobile operating system is installed on 68% of iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches. Apple tracks the rate of iOS 8 adoption based on devices accessing the App Store with the current data being captured on January 5th, 2015.
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Apple’s iOS share numbers as tabulated by App Store visits are out for the first week of October and they are a “head scratcher”. iOS 8 gained only 1 point from 46% to 47% since September 21st which should have well exceeded 1% gain by the millions of new iPhone 6/Plus shipments alone – even if not one person had updated their iPhone 5/s/c. Even more confusing is that the “Earlier” category of iOS 6 and before devices actually grew in percentage from 5% to 6% over the previous two week period.
It is possible some people downgraded to iOS 7 (which was an option until just after 8.0.2 was released) while others have stayed put on their current iOS version because of a succession of errors in rolling out iOS 8. Combined with the large amount of space required to do an over the air update, it appears that iOS users have all but stopped upgrading iOS –a marked departure from years past.
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Within the first twenty-four hours, iOS 8 update appeared to be slower than its predecessors. A few weeks in, this continues to be the case says analytics firm Fiksu.
After twelve days, both iOS 6 and iOS 7 had comfortably crossed the 50% mark for iOS usage. By contrast, iOS 8 is yet to hit the 40% mark according to Fiksu’s measurements. An independent study from Mixpanel says iOS 8 is closer to 50%, but it is still far behind iOS 7’s rate of uptake.
At least, iOS 8 is ahead of iOS 5 in terms of usage, which should be expected given that iOS 4 users wanting to upgrade to iOS 5 had to plug in to iTunes to update. Since that change, both iOS 6 and iOS 7’s upgrade rates were almost double that of iOS 5. For reasons not fully known, iOS 8 currently sits about halfway between these two.
Not content with a blatant copy of the iPad mini and a smartphone called the Mi Phone, Xiaomi’s latest Android overlay – MIUI 6 – bears more than a passing resemblance to iOS 7. The flat icons, the icon screens scrolling above the fixed app tray at the bottom, the calendar, calculator, compass …
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When Siri lost its beta tag almost a year ago, I suggested it might be a good time for those who’d been frustrated with its early performance to give it another chance. What I discovered through your comments was that Siri seems to be one of those things that polarizes views: people either loving it and using it every day, or dismissing it as a useless gimmick. Not too many people seem to fall between the two.
But Apple has continued to work hard on improving the service, adding new capabilities as well as refining its ability to handle existing ones. It might not yet be as sophisticated as its creators envisage for the future, but a year on seemed a good point to revisit the topic and find just how many of its capabilities people are using …
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An update to one of Apple’s iOS developer pages today indicates that the latest version of the company’s mobile operating system has reached 90% adoption among users. That’s up about 15% since December of last year, when three quarters of users had upgraded.
The chart doesn’t break down which version of iOS 7 specifically users are running, but it’s safe to assume that the number of devices running iOS 7.1 has increased significantly since it debuted in March.
Apple revealed the next iteration of iOS, version 8.0, is already three betas into testing and is expected to be launched this fall alongside new iPhone hardware.
Apple is preparing an update to its iOS 7 mobile operating system that will fix issues with Mail attachment encryption, iBeacon connectivity, and security problems that exist in the current version, reports MacRumors. There is also speculation that the new version could make it easier for users to disconnect their phone numbers from iMessage, but there’s no indication that this will be in the 7.1.2 update.
The update is also said to include a possible fix for a glitch that allows access to certain apps from the lockscreen when a passcode is set as we showed you earlier this month.
iOS 7.1 was released earlier this year on March 10, 2014, while iOS 7.1.1 was released on April 22, 2014.
The build is reportedly in the hands of carriers for approval now, and could be released to the public by June 27th.
With hype building surrounding the filming of the latest Star Wars reboot, Disney is taking advantage by launching a new iPad app called ‘Star Wars Scene Maker’. The app allows users to create Star Wars scenes by selecting from various 3D assets like characters and environments, camera angles, dialogue (you can also record your own), musical scores, and more:
MAKE STAR WARS YOUR OWN!
Become the master of your own Star Wars video universe! Create your own scenes, choose your favorite characters, control their actions and dialogue, record your masterpiece, and share your Star Wars story! The Force of your imagination is with you!
FEATURES:
· Create your own Star Wars universe and bring it to life with imaginative play and countless options.
· Select from 3D environments with 3D models of your favorite characters, weapons, and ships.
· Use dialogue straight from the Star Wars films, or record your voice and apply a Darth Vader, Rebel Pilot, or Storm Trooper filter to put your words into any character’s mouth!
· Switch between three cameras, each of which can track or follow the action, to record your scene from multiple angles!
· Chooose a musical score taken from the Star Wars films, write your own iconic Star Wars “Title Crawl” and end credits, and share your finished scene with your friends!
Star Wars Scene Maker is available as a free download for iPads running iOS 7 and up (Disney says it’s “most compatible with the newest generation of iPad”), but you will find some paid in-app purchases and Disney ads within.
An update to the GoPro app that allows users to remotely control their GoPro cameras has been a long time coming. Just in time for iOS 8, today the app finally gets an overhaul for iOS 7 with a completely redesigned UI that ditches that super outdated design the app has been sporting for quite a while now.
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Earlier this week we pointed out that several cars were spotted on display in Moscone Center during the morning of Apple’s WWDC keynote. While Apple’s CarPlay technology did not get a mention during the information-dense two hour keynote on Monday, it turns out those cars were used to give CarPlay demoes to press and attendees at the conference.
We already noted Ferrari’s FF model, which has had CarPlay support since the official announcement, and USA Today mentions that a 1965 Ford Mustang was featured as well (with an aftermarket solution offered by Pioneer). However, Apple gave USA Today a CarPlay demo in a Chevy Spark as seen in the video below. Interestingly, Chevrolet is noted as a “committed partner” on Apple’s CarPlay microsite but not included among automakers shipping CarPlay-equipped vehicles in 2014…
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ActiveBoard is a new tweak for iOS 7 that adds a couple of useful features to the home screen. Using a pulsating glow behind app icons, ActiveBoard will let you know if an app has a notification or is running in the background. A red glow and bouncing animation will indicate a missed or unread notification, while a white glow informs you of the app’s background status.
Apple is preparing to release a new iPhone with a larger screen later this year, and while multiple reports have indicated that the screen will be larger, the exact dimensions of the screen and its resolution have so far been guesswork.
Some industry watchers have speculated that Apple could stretch the iPhone software’s interface and retain the iPhone 5s’s screen resolution of 1136 x 640. This approach would allow all iOS software and App Store apps to function normally on the iPhone 6 without work from developers. The downside of this approach would be that the iPhone 6’s display would fall below Steve Jobs’ somewhat arbitrary 300 pixels per inch definition of ‘Retina’ for a phone.
Just like with the transition to the iPhone 4’s Retina display in 2010 and the transition to the iPhone 5’s taller screen in 2012, Apple is preparing major resolution changes for the iPhone 6 that will require software changes by both Apple and developers, according to people briefed on the specifications of the new device…
OS Experience is a new jailbreak tweak for iPad that adds an extensive OS X experience to iOS. This tweak has been in development for quite some time and was actually announced before the iOS 7 jailbreak was released. Since then, the developer has been hard at work perfecting OS Experience to be the ultimate multitasking tweak for iOS. It’s very similar to an older discontinued tweak called Quasar, but this one takes multitasking on iPad to another level.
Security researcher Andreas Kurtz has discovered that versions of iOS 7, including iOS 7.1.1 (the current release), iOS 7.1, and iOS 7.0.4 do not encrypt email attachments in the bundled Mail application. This is an issue itself, but more worrisome as iOS, according to Apple, is supposed to encrypt email attachments. Here’s a page from Apple’s website indicating that:
If you’ve been around the jailbreak community for a while, it’s possible that you’re familiar with the popular iOS 5/6 gesture-based lock screen tweak Stride. This tweak worked as a lock screen passcode alternative and allowed users to set a custom gesture to unlock an iOS device.
Created by the popular tweak developer Adam Bell, Stride is making a comeback and is fully compatible with iOS 7 devices. This exciting release provides a very similar experience, but has been given a very clean makeover. This results in a beautiful native-like iOS 7 gesture-based lock screen and I just can’t get enough of it.
Apple has released a new support document explaining some of the issues that iOS 6 users have experienced lately when trying to make FaceTime calls. Along with an explanation, there’s finally a fix in sight that’s also detailed on the support page. What’s the fix? Update to iOS 7.
First spotted by MacRumors, the support document informs users of a pretty obvious solution to the problem. If you’re using a device that supports iOS 7, you’ll need to update to the latest version of iOS 7. If the device in question isn’t compatible with iOS 7, update to iOS 6.1.6 to resolve the FaceTime bug.
