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iOS

The world’s most advanced mobile operating system

4,849 'iOS' stories August 2010 - July 2015
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iOS is Apple’s mobile operating system that runs on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Historically, Apple releases a new iOS version once a year, the current version is iOS 13.

In 2007, Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone and iPhone OS. During the event, Jobs referred to the operating system as OS X because it shared a similar Unix core compared to the Mac. When Apple launched the iPhone SDK a year later, they officially changed the name to iPhone OS.

In the summer of 2008, Apple added the App Store to iPhone OS with version 2.0, and this set the stage for the “app economy” that we still enjoy to this day.

Version 3.0 was released in 2009, and it included copy/paste, MMS support, Spotlight, mobile tethering, and push notifications for 3rd party apps.

In version 4, Apple finally renamed iPhone OS to iOS (with the iPad sharing the same software). The major features were multitasking and FaceTime.

iOS 5.0 introduced Notification Center, iMessage, Siri, and iCloud.

iOS 6.0 removes Google Maps in favor of Apple Maps and added the Passbook app (now known as Wallet).

Version 7.0 brought a dramatic redesign of iOS with a new font, flatter icons, a and new Photos app. The redesign was led by Jony Ive.

Version iOS 8.0, Apple finally allowed third-party keyboards and the ability to share files from different apps.

Version 9.0 included Apple Maps, an overhauled Notes app, and multitasking for iPad.

Version 10.0 included an SDK for Siri, Maps, and iMessages.

Version 11.0 included a new iPad Dock, Customizable Control center, drag and drop on iPad, and the Files app with third-party integration.

Version 12.0 added Screen Time features for managing your time on devices, the Shortcuts app, ARKit 2.0, and Memoji.

iOS 13 added Dark Mode, swipe-style typing, a redesigned share sheet, made app downloads 50% smaller, 2x faster app launch speed, Memoji Stickers and Memoji Makeup, HomeKit-enabled routers and HomeKit Secure Video, a new “Sign in with Apple” option for logging into third-party services, all-new Apple Maps, and much more.

Compatible Devices with iOS 13

  • iPhone 11
  • iPhone 11 Pro
  • iPhone 11 Pro Max
  • iPhone XS
  • iPhone XS Max
  • iPhone XR
  • iPhone X
  • iPhone 8
  • iPhone 8 Plus
  • iPhone 7
  • iPhone 7 Plus
  • iPhone 6s
  • iPhone 6s Plus
  • iPhone SE
  • iPod touch (7th generation)

Facebook finally letting you control your newsfeed, coming first to iOS app today

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Jul 9 2015 - 6:19 am PT
17 Comments
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One of the things we all love to hate about Facebook is the way that it thinks it knows better than we do which posts we want to see. Facebook uses unspecified algorithms to assign rankings to posts, boosting the visibility of those it thinks we want to see, and demoting those it thinks will interest us less.

A new iOS Facebook app rolling out later today will for the first time allow us to choose for ourselves whose posts get bumped to the top of our feeds. Three additional features also allow us to control what we do and don’t see further down those feeds … 
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New App Store price tiers let developers set very low prices for apps in emerging markets

Avatar for Benjamin Mayo Jul 9 2015 - 6:18 am PT
3 Comments
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Apple alerted developers to some App Store price adjustments earlier in the week and the alternative price tier details have now been posted. Apple has added other alternative price tiers in the past, but what’s interesting with these changes in particular is is that they are specifically targeted at offering really low price options for apps in a select few countries.

The new tiers enable developers to set prices for their apps way below the usual $0.99 price floor in India,  Russia, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey. (Special pricing for China has existed for some time.)

For example, using the ‘Alternative Price Tier A’ means that apps are priced at 10 Indian Rupees. This is equivalent to about 16 cents in USD. Before the addition, the lowest price developers could charge in India was 60 rupees, which is about 96 cents.


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Here’s everything new in the latest iOS 9, El Capitan, and watchOS betas

Avatar for Chance Miller Jul 8 2015 - 1:34 pm PT
48 Comments
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Apple earlier today began rolling out the third betas of iOS 9, watchOS 2, and OS X 10.11 El Capitan and we’ve been digging into each of them, trying to figure out what is new, changed, and improved. Most of the changes come on the iOS 9 and watchOS 2 side of things, with the new OS X 10.11 beta focusing mainly on under-the-hood changes. Read on for all of the changes…


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iOS 9 lets you store 105 more apps per folder on the iPad

Avatar for Chance Miller Jul 8 2015 - 1:01 pm PT
16 Comments
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In addition to adding the new News app, iOS 9 beta 3 also made a much-needed enhancement to the folder functionality on the iPad. In prior versions of iOS, users were restricted to a 3×3 layout of apps on the iPad, meaning that there were 3 rows of 3 apps on the device, for a total of 9 apps per page. With iOS 9 beta 3, however, users can now have a 4×4 setup of apps in folders on the iPad.


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Disney unveils the first official Star Wars iOS app w/ lightsaber training, themed selfies, more

Avatar for Justin Kahn Jul 8 2015 - 11:47 am PT
3 Comments

From 9to5Toys.com:

As we ramp up for Star Wars: The Force Awakens to hit theaters in December, we are getting Storm Trooper Bluetooth speakers, a new mobile RPG and a SW themed playset for the upcoming Disney 3.0. But it looks like it won’t stop there as Disney has just launched an official new mobile app. Simply named “Star Wars”, this is not a game, but rather a new hub app for “breaking news, rich media, social updates, special events, interactive features” and more:

On top of a basic newsfeed that draws content from all the official Star Wars channels and some typical countdown timers to big releases, there are also some interactive elements to the app as well. There are soundboard and GIF features that provide official clips from the films that users can share on message apps and even a SW themed weather function that compares current temperatures with well-known locations from the Star Wars mythos.

You’ll also find Augmented Reality experiences, a lightsaber trainer that makes use of your device’s motion sensor, and the ability to take as many Star Wars selfies as your heart desires. Much like the Show Your Disney Side app, you can choose from a number of popular costumes from the films, settings and the ability to drop other characters in the background.

The new Star Wars app is available to download for free starting right now on iOS. Head over to our daily game/app roundups for all the best discounts and freebies across every platform.

Hands-on with Apple’s News app in iOS 9 [Gallery]

Avatar for Chance Miller Jul 8 2015 - 11:22 am PT
19 Comments
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Apple earlier today pushed iOS 9 beta 3 to developers, and this build includes the company’s new News app. The app was unveiled back at WWDC last month, but was not included in the first two beta builds of iOS 9. News is designed with a Flipboard-like magazine interface with large images and minimalistic appearance.


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Apple releases iOS 9 beta 3 with Apple Music to developers for iPhone, iPad & iPod touch

Avatar for Chance Miller Jul 8 2015 - 10:04 am PT
36 Comments
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Two weeks after the release of the second beta of iOS 9 and a week after the launch day of Apple Music, Apple has released iOS 9 beta 3 to developers. The update is available to iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch users  via Apple’s developer portal on the web and via an OTA rollout. The beta carries the build number 13A4293g.


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Pinterest announces IFTTT & Polyvore apps as first developer platform integrations

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jul 8 2015 - 9:34 am PT
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After introducing a new developers platform and SDK in May, Pinterest is today announcing a couple of the first integrations developers have come up with starting with popular automation platform IFTTT and community based shopping/fashion site Polyvore.

For IFTTT, the service that lets users automate common web and app-based tasks based on a set of rules known as “recipes”, users will now be able to link products and devices on Pinterest to their automated workflows. The company shared some examples: automatically save Pins to a board from simple actions in other apps such as liking a photo on Instagram, upvoting a post on Reddit or favoriting an item on Etsy. There are more than 20 Recipes to choose from starting today. The Pinterest integration for IFTTT is available through desktop and the service’s mobile apps.

For Polyvore, users can login to the site using their Pinterest account to quickly and easily get access to pinning items from the fashion community/shopping site to Pinterest boards via the company’s iOS app.

In addition, Pinterest noted that new SDKs and documentation for developers are available to all through the company’s new developers site. The new SDKs give devs access to the Pin It button and JS and OAuth support.

Apple reportedly set to produce record 90 million ‘iPhone 6S’ this year with Force Touch and new color option

Avatar for Benjamin Mayo Jul 8 2015 - 8:19 am PT
12 Comments
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Following reports that said Apple had begun manufacturing the next-generation iPhone in late June, a new report by the Wall Street Journal is oloorroborating the story. It says that Apple is asking suppliers to produce a record number of ‘iPhone 6S’ units for the upcoming fall launch, topping 90 million units by the end of the year. Apple sold 74.5 million iPhones in the equivalent quarter in 2014, spurred by the success of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

The report also matches previous rumors that the new iPhone will feature Force Touch, which 9to5Mac extensively covered back in May. The iPhone 6S is expected to look almost identical to the iPhone 6 with improvements focusing on the camera, new pressure sensitivity screens and internal component improvements.


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Apple updates iOS Pages, Numbers & Keynote apps to resolve accessibility bugs

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Jul 8 2015 - 3:57 am PT
7 Comments

Apple has updated all three iWork iOS apps to resolve bugs that prevented Accessibility features working properly. Apple says that Pages, Numbers and Keynote all had “an issue that prevented proper navigation and editing with VoiceOver,” while Pages also blurred text when turning on Speak Screen on some iOS devices. The updates are to version 2.5.4.

Updates are of course free for existing users, each app costing $9.99 to purchase. Pages, Numbers and Keynote can all be downloaded from iTunes.

Apple places a great deal of emphasis on making its devices usable by as many people as possible, recently highlighting accessibility apps for Global Accessibility Awareness Day – and CEO Tim Cook famously telling investors to “get out of this stock” if they weren’t willing to see money invested in things like accessibility and environmental initiatives.

iOS 8.4 reportedly accounts for 40% of all iOS usage just one week after release

Avatar for Benjamin Mayo Jul 8 2015 - 2:14 am PT
16 Comments
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Using data by Mixpanel, Apple Music seems to be quickly driving adoption of Apple’s latest iteration of its operating system, iOS 8.4. The chart shows that, in just one week, iOS 8.4 usage now makes up more than 40% of all iOS device usage. This is a rather staggering rate of uptake for a point-release. Clearly, the interest and advertisement around Apple Music is having an effect on update rates. Obviously, this only tracks OS adoption and says nothing about how well Apple Music itself is being received.


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Showtime now available on Apple TV w/o a cable subscription, iOS app soon

Avatar for Chance Miller Jul 7 2015 - 8:16 am PT
21 Comments
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CBS’s channel Showtime is now available on Apple TV. The company this morning began rolled out its version of the service that does not require a cable subscription. Instead, users simply pay $11 per month for the service, after a 30-day free trial.


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What the Apple Watch Retina Display looks like when magnified to the pixel level

Avatar for Benjamin Mayo Jul 7 2015 - 5:48 am PT
7 Comments
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Bryan Jones has taken close up images of the Apple Watch screen, magnified such it is possible to discern the individual pixels and sub-pixels. The images show the arrangements of red, green and blue light that make up the images users see on the Apple Watch Retina Display.

Jones compares the screen technology with that of iPhone screens (shown below). They look quite different likely due to the fact that Apple Watch uses an AMOLED display rather than a LCD. iPhone pixels are tightly packed together with the red, green and blue aligned vertically. With the Apple Watch, the blue sub-pixels act as spacers for the stacked red and green sub-pixels. Jones also notes that the imaging specs are a lot smaller than compared with an iPhone which seems to be in aid of maximising battery life. When zoomed in to this level, it means you can see a lot more black space. Jones says this contributes to the Apple Watch’s excellent contrast ratios.


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Eddy Cue: Apple ‘working’ to bring back music Home Sharing with iOS 9

Avatar for Mark Gurman Jul 6 2015 - 6:07 pm PT
14 Comments
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Last week, we noted that Apple’s latest iOS 8.4 release with Apple Music removes support for the long-existing Music Home Sharing feature. This function allows an iOS device user to stream music from a computer running iTunes on their own WiFi network. Today, Apple Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services noted on Twitter that Apple is “working” to restore Home Sharing functionality in iOS 9. It is likely that Home Sharing was removed in iOS 8.4 due to changes necessary with the record labels to launch the new streaming music service. Cook previously revealed details on this week’s iOS 9 beta, streaming bit rates, and more via Twitter.


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Review: Apple Music offers great discovery & radio features, but has room for improvement

Avatar for Chance Miller Jul 6 2015 - 2:12 pm PT
36 Comments
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Apple Music was a service that I was incredibly excited about when Apple announced it last month at WWDC. I’ve written a lot about music here at 9to5Mac and every time I explain how big of a music fan I am. When I’m in my office, I always have music playing, whether it be radio or a specific artist or album. For the past two years, I’ve been using Spotify for all of my streaming music needs. I never had a problem with the service, especially recently as it has upped the quality of both its iOS and Mac apps to be both more stable and feature-rich. A combination that is hard to come by nowadays.

Being the Apple fanboy that I am, however, I obviously had to give Apple Music a try. For the past week, I’ve been using the service as my exclusive source for music. How does it compare to Spotify? Is it enough to make me permanently switch? Read on…


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Microsoft introduces ‘Tossup’ iOS app to make scheduling outings with family & friends easier

Avatar for Chance Miller Jul 6 2015 - 10:20 am PT
11 Comments

Microsoft today has introduced a new app for iOS and Android that makes it considerably easier for friends and family to make plans while on the go. Dubbed Tossup, the app was developed by the Microsoft Garage, which means it implores new ideas and thinking that the company hopes will catch on to the masses.


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SoundCloud iOS app adds ‘play related tracks’, shuffle for likes & playlists, more

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jul 2 2015 - 7:07 am PT
0 Comments

Popular music sharing app SoundCloud is getting an update on iOS that brings a number of new features to make for a better overall listening experience.

Among the new features, users can now select to ‘play related tracks’ from anywhere in the app: “let our improved algorithm create an endless stream of similar content from the 100 million tracks on SoundCloud. As easy as tapping Play Related Tracks.”

Another new feature that offers an improved listening experience is a Shuffle button for both your created playlists and songs you’ve liked. Here’s how you can shuffle tracks from within a playlist:

The updated app also gets a few other welcomed tweaks including the ability to add or remove tracks from playlists from within the app, and a new option to repost and share tracks from your liked tracks or from within search.

The updated app, version 3.1.0.0, is available on the App Store now.

Apple removed Home Sharing support for music in iOS 8.4

Avatar for Chance Miller Jul 1 2015 - 6:46 pm PT
53 Comments
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Apple yesterday rolled out iOS 8.4 to iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch users and the big news, of course, was the addition of Apple Music and Beats 1. It appears now, however, that Apple removed a feature still used by many from the operating system. As pointed out by several users on Apple’s Support forum, the company appears to have removed Home Sharing support for music in iOS 8.4. The Home Sharing support page has also been updated to reflect that the feature is not present in iOS 8.4.


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Apple expanding its camera-equipped vans to 13 new states this month for continued Maps data collection

Avatar for Chance Miller Jul 1 2015 - 3:56 pm PT
4 Comments

Apple today has updated its Apple Maps vehicles webpage with a list of new cities it will begin surveying later this month. Earlier this year we reported that Apple was using its camera-equipped vans to collect next-gen Maps data, including Street View storefronts and 3D images. Apple now has revealed 13 new U.S. that it will begin surveying later this month, as well as a handful of locations in the U.K. and Ireland.


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Happy Hour Podcast 021 | Apple Music first impressions

Avatar for Dom Esposito Jul 1 2015 - 11:00 am PT
5 Comments

Apple Music is finally here. The iOS 8.4 update hit yesterday and we’ve been exploring Apple’s new music streaming service to see if it lives up to the hype. Listen to our first impressions, problems, and our opinions about Apple Music. The Happy Hour podcast is available for download on iTunes and through our dedicated RSS feed.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/212759068?secret_token=s-VRY15″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”150″ iframe=”true” /]


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Many iCloud services experiencing downtime for users [U: Restored]

Avatar for Chance Miller Jul 1 2015 - 10:53 am PT
11 Comments

According to Apple’s system status webpage, several of its iCloud services are experiencing issues this evening. The support page shows that Documents in the Cloud, iCloud Backup, iCloud Drive, iMessage, iWork for iCloud, Mail Drop, and Photos are all experiencing intermittent service issues. The outages have ben going on since 8AM PT/11AM ET, if not longer since Apple is usually late to update its system status graph.

Last night, Beats 1 experienced a widespread outage for upwards of 30 minutes. iMessage also experienced a significant outage a little more than a week ago, although Apple never offically acknowledged the issues that plagued many users for several hours.

We’ll keep this post updated with the status of iCloud services throughout the afternoon.

Users may notice slower than normal performance when using iCloud Drive, My Photo Stream, iWork for iCloud, Backup & Restore, iPhoto Journals, iMessage attachments, Mail Drop, or iMovie Theater.


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