iOS

Flight tracking apps have been popular on iOS for as long as the platform had the App Store, and this fall Apple is baking a key function of those apps right into the operating system. A little known feature called ‘flights data detector’ is included in both iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan but was not highlighted on stage during Apple’s WWDC keynote. As one Reddit user highlighted, the feature lets iOS automatically detect when text is referencing a flight and allows users to actually check on the flight’s status and progress with an attractive interface. Here’s how it works on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Mac…
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One of iOS 9’s marquee additions is support for split-screen applications on the iPad. This allows users to operate two iPad applications simultaneously, side-by-side. However, due to processor limitations of older iPad models, the full 50/50 split-view functionality is currently only present on the iPad Air 2 thanks to the device’s A8X processor. However, with the help of developer Hamza Sood, we have discovered that the feature may soon be expanding to the iPad mini…

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Every time Apple is expected to release an S-series iPhone — the 3GS, the 4S, the 5s, and now the 6S — pundits rush to discount the value of each anticipated new feature, claiming that it won’t be enough to boost iPhone sales. Yet historically, every prediction of iPhone sales peaks or declines has been wrong: each iPhone, whether a big “tick” or small “tock” on Apple’s upgrade schedule, has outsold its predecessors. Even without form factor or screen changes, speed sold the iPhone 3GS, Siri boosted the 4S, and Touch ID and camera improvements helped the 5s. (In S years, improved distribution, new color options, and price and capacity tweaks have made a big difference, too.)

This week, analysts and pundits have co-opted my colleague Mark Gurman’s scoop that Force Touch on the iPhone 6S will be used for shortcuts across iOS, suggesting that Force Touch isn’t going to be exciting enough to make people upgrade. That’s true, but also so obvious as to be ridiculous: Apple certainly won’t pitch a pressure-sensitive screen as the iPhone 6S’s marquee new feature. Force Touch debuted in the Apple Watch, but it’s not even mentioned on the first Apple Watch page on Apple.com, instead showing up in the fifth paragraph of the “Technology” page. It’s similarly found only paragraphs down on the page of the 12″ MacBook where it made its Mac debut.

With the notable exception of the iPad mini 3, Apple never releases new devices with only one new feature to hook customers. Even a month before it’s announced, it’s a virtual certainty that the iPhone 6S will arrive with camera improvements and faster processors, most likely a new color option, and Force Touch as one of many small but nice additions. So long as Apple gets distribution and international pricing right, the iPhone 6S is going to do just fine…

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While Force Touch on the Apple Watch allowed Apple to add an additional layer of buttons to a small display, the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus screens don’t lack for either real estate or buttons. So why would Force Touch be desirable on larger displays? Following up on our May report that Force Touch is coming to Apple’s next iPhones, sources who have used the iPhone 6S have provided new details on how Force Touch works and feels under iOS.

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Plex, the popular media service that offers apps on nearly every platform, has today revealed the latest iteration of its iOS application. With the latest update, the app has gained several new features.

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The iPhone 6 was the iPhone many had long been waiting for, offering a larger screen size and NFC support for Apple Pay. Unsurprisingly, it opened to record sales, and has continued to break sales records ever since.

But Apple’s ‘tick tock’ strategy –a major new iPhone one year and an updated model based on the same form factor the following year – means that the company has to work much harder to sell its S models. With little visual difference (and the average mass-market customer oblivious to processor upgrades), Apple has to rely on a headline new feature to persuade people that it’s worth the upgrade.

For the last couple of S models, Apple has offered pretty convincing reasons to buy: the 4S gave us Siri, and the 5s introduced Touch ID – both appealing features that were easy for non-tech customers to understand. But if the rumors are correct that Force Touch is the headline new feature of the iPhone 6S, this is one of five reasons I think the company’s rumored ambition to make 90M units by the end of the year could be a tough number to turn into sales … 
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We shared yesterday that Apple’s newly released fifth developer beta version of iOS 9 adds a new collection of colorful, Retina showcasing default wallpapers for the iPhone. Settling on a new wallpaper, or in this case a whole set of gorgeous imagery, usually mean development on the operating system itself is wrapping up ahead of a public release sometime the following month.

For non-developers and iPhone users not risking stability on their daily driver in favor of new eye candy and features, though, the several week waiting period for iOS 9 to be finalized and released ahead of the new iPhone 6S can make waiting to try those new wallpapers frustrating. To remedy that, we’ve shared downloadable versions of each new wallpaper below so you can sport the iOS 9 look on your iPhone without the occasional bugs that accompany beta versions of iOS:
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Microsoft first unveiled “Windows Bridge” a few months back, a new tool for developers that aims to make porting iOS apps to Windows 10 easier and hopefully breathe some life into the Windows Store in the process. Today the company is releasing the software, albeit an early release ahead of a final launch planned for later this year in the fall.

The bridge offers developers tools for utilizing existing code from iOS apps to build Windows apps, but Microsoft stressed that its “goal with the iOS bridge has never been simply to run iOS apps on Windows.”
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With the release of today’s iOS 9 beta, Apple has introduced several new features. The first on the list, and probably one of the most important, is support for Wi-Fi Calling on AT&T. In previous betas the feature was limited to T-Mobile’s network, but it appears the final version of the software will enable it on multiple carriers.

At the moment, AT&T doesn’t actually support Wi-Fi calling from any device, but has previously promised that the feature would eventually be made available some time this year.

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Although early beta releases of iOS 9 featured relatively little new eye candy for potential upgraders, today’s release of iOS 9 beta 5 includes a welcome surprise: a large collection of colorful new wallpapers. The images range from colorful desert dunes to several different colors of feathers, plants, planets, and multi-colored explosions. They’re all packed with detail, showing off the photorealistic rendering abilities and vivid color palettes of Retina displays. Many (but not all) of iOS 8’s wallpaper images have been removed from the collection, and the blue/green tidal wave image originally included with iOS 9 betas has disappeared.

A gallery with some of the new wallpapers is below…
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Update: iOS 9 beta 3 for public beta testers is also available.

Apple today released iOS 9 beta 5 for registered developers testing the new operating system ahead of its release this fall. The latest build comes two weeks and two days after the previous version, which included tweaked icons, the return of Home Sharing support, a new Handoff UI, a cleaner Apple Music experience, and changes to how Apple Pay can be activated on the lock screen. Headlining features in iOS 9 include an overhauled Notes app, transit directions in Maps, multitasking features on iPad, a News app, and much more. As Apple starts to fine tune these releases, changes between each build should slow down. We’ll explore the latest beta for any notable differences, and let us know if you spot any changes as well.
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In a statement to USA Today, Apple has officially announced it has signed up 11 million members to Apple Music since launch. Eddy Cue says he is “thrilled with the numbers so far”, noting that about 2 million of that number have signed up for a family plan, which costs $14.99 for up to six people. The real success of Apple Music won’t be known until the 3 month trial ends and the 11 million have to make the choice to start paying for the monthly subscription.

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Apple is now allowing developers to test more iOS 9 features with an update to its beta distribution app TestFlight. The updated version enables developers to test faster, native watchOS 2 apps for Apple Watch, including newly gained access to more sensors and custom watch face complications. The update also lets developers test some iOS 9 features like App Thinning, which allows users to download larger chunks of apps as needed to preserve local storage, for the first time.

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Apple’s first pair of applications for Android, Apple Music and Move to iOS, may be the start of Apple opening up even further to Google’s mobile platform. According to a new job listing on Apple’s website, the Cupertino-based company is “looking for engineers to help [Apple] bring exciting new mobile products to the Android platform.” The presence of the word “new” seems to indicate that Apple’s plans go beyond the already announced Apple Music and Move to iOS apps…

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U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh today decided to stop a group lawsuit against Apple over undelivered text messages caused by an iMessage bug, Bloomberg reports. The issue drew a lot of attention last year when the bug with Apple’s messaging system caused former iPhone users that switched to Android to discover text messages were not being properly delivered to their phone number. In dismissing the lawsuit, Judge Koh explained that while Apple’s iMessage system may have resulted in lost text messages, their was inadequate evidence that the group faced a “contractual breach or interference” from iMessage…
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Kantar data suggests that the iPhone increased its market share during Q2 in all of the countries it surveyed bar the USA. Apple’s share of the smartphone market grew in China, Australia and all five of Europe’s largest markets, defying the usual lull in sales seen during the run-up to a new model in September.

Apple iOS returned to growth across all of Europe’s ‘big five’ markets [of] Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain,” reported Carolina Milanesi, chief of research at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

Kantar surveyed buyers to determine the reasons they selected the iPhone over Android rivals, with owners listing four main factors … 
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