iOS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTjejvnBJfU&feature=youtu.be&a

Just a few hours after a report claimed that Apple was moving its TV advertising in house, the company debuted a new ad during the Stanley Cup Finals. The ad is part of Apple’s “You’re more powerful than you think” campaign and focuses on using your iPhone to track your fitness progress.

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Bloomberg reports that Apple is moving more of its TV advertising in-house. This means the company is loosening ties with Chiat\Day, the ad agency Apple has used for more than 30 years, best known for producing Apple’s 1984 campaign.

Apple told Bloomberg that Apple’s ‘Pencil’ iPad ad, pictured above, was developed by Apple’s internal advertising team and are now responsible for all other TV ads airing now.

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Whenever Apple introduces a new feature baked into iOS that was previously a domain ruled by third-party apps like its new HealthKit platform and Health app in iOS 8, questions inevitably come up about how it will impact other developers and competing platforms. That’s why we were interested in finding out how some of the top fitness and health app developers and accessory makers are reacting to Apple’s HealthKit announcement.

We reached out to some of the big names in the health and fitness app world, as well as companies like Withings and iHealth that sell iOS-connected health and medical accessories such as blood pressure monitors through Apple stores. Not only did all of the companies we spoke with— RunKeeper, Withings, Strava, and iHealth— confirm they are already planning integration with their ecosystems, they also talked about how having one central location for users to manage health and fitness data will indeed be a good thing for the business.

RunKeeper CEO Jason Jacobs told me he’s excited that Apple is bringing “some of the other key players in the ecosystem (doctors, EMRs, etc) into the discussion” and confirmed both his RunKeeper and Breeze app will soon support Healthkit. Others are also excited for integration with the medical industry that currently uses a highly fragmented record keeping system for health data.

Here’s what they had to say:
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Apple already forces developers to request authorization for all types of location services, and it also provides small indicator icons on iOS to let users know when apps are using location. In iOS 8, Apple is improving its location services for both developers and users by providing users with additional transparency with new location authorization requests. It’s also letting app developers tap into more location data from users with a new feature called “Visit Monitoring”.
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There are some interesting new advancements for audio coming in iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite that Apple didn’t discuss during its keynote presentation earlier this week. Two of the big new audio based features for end users, in addition to revamped CoreAudio APIs for developers, include MIDI over Bluetooth LE support and new features for the inter-app audio feature Apple first introduced with iOS 7.
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We’ve learned Apple has quietly introduced a new specification for manufacturers in its Made-For-iPhone/iPad/iPod (MFi) program that allows them to create headphones that connect to iOS devices using a Lightning connector instead of the usual 3.5mm headphone jack. Apple has not flipped the switch on the audio input support for Lightning cables and existing iOS devices, but it will release a software update in the future that will enable support in devices running iOS 7.1 or later.
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Now that we’ve taken a look at some of the unannounced and hidden features in iOS 8, it’s time to check out what’s been in the open since Apple’s official announcement. Of course, there are a lot more than 10 features in iOS 8, but in order to keep things to a minimum, we’ve put together video containing some of our favorites.

While some of these features may not be the most exciting around, they are definitely helpful and seem to be a good fit in iOS 8. Check out our video overview below to find out more about our top 10 favorite iOS 8 features…

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Update: Explanation of lock screen apps after the break…

Since Apple previewed iOS 8 yesterday during the keynote at WWDC, we’ve been continually trying out the new iPhone and iPad software to get familiar with the changes coming to users this fall. First up is a new way for apps to be promoted on the iPhone using subtle location-based prompts. Similar to how the lock screen features an icon and a swipe up gesture from the lower right corner of the display to quickly access the Camera app, several users are reporting a variety of apps are being featured on the lower left corner prompted by being near a relevant venue.

For instance, in the screen shot displayed above on the left, the user is visiting an Apple Store and an App Store icon appears in the lower left corner. Swiping up from the bottom acts as a shortcut to quickly access the Apple Store app within the App Store. Once installed, the Apple Store app icon then appears on the lock screen when visiting the retailer. While it’s not certain which specific perimeters must be met for this functionality to work, the commonality between other supported App Store apps including Starbucks and ShopSavvy is location.
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Apple took some time to talk gaming during a presentation closed to the public yesterday at WWDC. While noting that gaming is now an area that Apple is “pushing on very strongly”, the company also announced a new feature coming for gamers and developers: Controller Forwarding. 
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Now that iOS 8 is officially out for developers, it’s time to start digging into the apps and settings to find out what Apple didn’t tell us. Sure there are plenty of new features available in iOS 8, but there are definitely other little (and bigger) ones that didn’t make it to the unveiling.

We’ve been exploring iOS 8 and finding all sorts of features and helpful tips that Apple failed to mention during the keynote, but we feel are important enough to share with you. Check out our top 10 hidden iOS 8 features video below…

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Apple has added a handy feature into OS X to easily capture the screen of an iPad or iPhone on the Mac itself. Apple positions the feature as a way to help developers quickly make app previews, which Apple introduced as part of iOS 8’s improvements to the App Store, but there is no reason why this couldn’t be used by others for different purposes.

When plugging an iPad or iPhone running iOS 8 into a Mac running OS X Yosemite via USB, the iOS device now shows up as a standard camera input. This means any video app can be used to record the screen of the iOS device without the need for additional hardware.

Although Apple is targeting the feature at developers in its documentation for making app previews, it is not limited to being a developer-only feature.

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Apple’s WWDC 2014 keynote was home to plenty of announcements including iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite. There was quite a bit of information covered during the two hour presentation, but luckily we didn’t miss a second of the action.

If you don’t feel like sitting through the entire keynote video, we’ve put together a condensed version to give you the rundown on everything that was announced. Find out all that you need to know about iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite in our keynote recap below…

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Now you’ve had a chance to catch up on our coverage of the main new features of iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite, and seen our hands-on videos (iOS 8 overview, OS X Yosemite overview, iOS 8 Spotlight and iOS 8 interactive notifications), we’d like to hear your first impressions of each.

Whether you’re blown away by all the new features, disappointed by things you wanted but didn’t get, or just a bit underwhelmed, here’s your chance to let us know.

We’ve summarized the features Apple has chosen to highlight, and there are separate polls for each platform … 
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With so many new iOS and OS X features being introduced in yesterday’s WWDC keynote, the numbers that kicked off the show perhaps didn’t get the attention they otherwise might have done.

While the Wall Street line is that the smartphone market is saturated and iPhone and iPad growth is done, Tim Cook clearly thinks otherwise. Business Insider highlighted Cook’s comment on the migration Apple is seeing from Android phones.

“Over 130 million customers who bought an iOS device in the past 12 months were buying their first Apple device,” said Cook before introducing iOS 8, the new software for the iPhone and iPad. “Many of these customers were switchers from Android. They had bought an Android phone — by mistake. Then had sought a better experience … And a better life. And decided to check out iPhone and iOS.”

He added, “Nearly half of our customers in China in the past six months switch from Android to iPhone. This is incredible.”

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Apple has officially announced its Heath app and HealthKit SDK confirming our detailed reports from earlier this year. The new HealthKit platform will allow developers of various health and fitness apps to have all related data populate within the Health app in iOS 8.

Apple’s Health app will serve as a central hub for all incoming data from companies like Nike, fitness apps, devices, and even possibly information from your doctor. Apple is working with the Mayo Clinic and other healthcare related companies to expand the Health app’s functionality and provide you with the most important information about yourself…

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