Dom Esposito

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…

Expand
Expanding
Close

Spotlight Search will gain some useful features in iOS 8 thanks to Spotlight Suggestions. Normally, I’d dismiss a something related to Spotlight Search, but after a bit of testing it seems that this new iOS 8 feature could be very handy.

Spotlight Suggestions will provide you with predictive search results that are pulled from the web. In order to use this feature, all you’ll need to do is pull down from the home screen to access Spotlight Search and begin typing. As you would expect, search results related to items on your iOS device appear, but that’s not where the fun ends…

Expand
Expanding
Close

At first glance, you may not notice anything different about the Messages app in iOS 8, but there is definitely a lot more going on when compared to iOS 7. Within the Messages app, Apple added several features including Tap to Talk which allows you to quickly record an audio/video message to send and playback inline within the app and the ability to quick reply to incoming messges.

Along with that, there’s a new Details tab that contains several useful features like an attachment gallery, Do Not Disturb (per message thread), and location sharing abilities. Check out our hands-on video with the new Messages app to get a first look at all of new feature you can expect when iOS 8 is released later this year.

Expand
Expanding
Close

It’s been a long time coming, but Apple has finally implemented useful notification features in iOS 8. Interactive notifications are essentially Apple’s version of quick reply (or quick actions) that will be available for a wide variety of apps when iOS 8 is released. We’ve had some time to explore the beta version today and put together a quick video to show off iOS 8’s new notification features.

Expand
Expanding
Close

During the WWDC 2014 keynote, Apple wrapped up its overview of iOS 8 and has officially announced device compatibility. This release is available for developers today and schedules for a public launch in fall.

iOS 8 will be compatible with iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s, iPod touch 5th generation, iPad 2, iPad with Retina display, iPad Air, iPad mini, and iPad mini with Retina display. So it looks like the iPhone 4 is officially dead to Apple.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Along with several other new APIs for developers, Apple has announced HomeKit which allows all home automation accessories/devices to work together. The new API will allow home automation developers to centralize all home automation in iOS without needing separate apps to access each device’s specific features. These devices include locks, lights, cameras, doors, thermostats, plugs, switches, and more.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple is giving out $25 App Store gift cards to WWDC 2014 attendees. The gift card is given to each attendee when picking up their badge. The $25 amount ties into the “25 years and coding” tagline printed beneath the WWDC logo. Check out Harrison Weinerman’s tweet below.

Expand
Expanding
Close

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.

Expand
Expanding
Close

<a href="http://9to5mac.com/2014/05/19/this-is-what-ios-looks-like-on-a-4-7-inch-iphone-6-display-video/">Full video below</a>

Over the past couple of months, it’s been rumored that Apple’s iPhone 6 will feature a larger 4.7-inch display. Several mockups and schematics have appeared online that mimic this rumor, but we won’t have confirmation until Apple announces the iPhone 6 later this year.

Instead of waiting for the rumors to be confirmed, we thought it would be fun and useful to create a physical iPhone 6 simulator. Doing so, would give us an idea of what iOS would look like if it were running on a 4.7-inch display…

Expand
Expanding
Close

Lately, there has been a storm of rumored iPhone 6 images, renders, schematics, and videos. We’ve seen just about everything that the rumor mill has to offer at this point. All of the mockups that have been floating around may not match up with Apple’s official iPhone 6 design, but they are definitely convincing to an extent.

We recently put together a video comparing an iPhone 6 mockup to the iPhone 5s and fifth generation iPod touch, but what about Apple’s other iOS devices? In the video below, we compare this alleged iPhone 6 design to the iPad Air, iPad mini, iPhone 4/4s, iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c, and iPod touch. Hopefully this massive comparison will put an end to any other questions regarding the rumored iPhone 6 design, but based on the mockup units we’ve obtained the iPhone 6 is going to be a very large device and possibly feature a sharper 1704 x 960 resolution display.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Based on all of the iPhone 6 dummy units we’ve seen, this rumored design closely resembles Apple’s fifth generation iPod touch, but that’s not all. As shown in the video below, the alleged iPhone 6 design looks very similar to another flagship smartphone released this year.

The HTC One M8 and iPhone 6 mockup look like cousins or long-lost brothers when it comes to their design. Of course there’s no confirmation that Apple is actually using this design for the iPhone 6, but almost all of these mockups have been manufactured based on “leaked” schematics and specifications.

Expand
Expanding
Close

We’ve recently obtained two iPhone 6 mockups in Gold and Space Gray and have put together a video comparing them to Apple’s iPhone 5s, fifth generation iPod touch, and the alleged iPhone 6 cases we’ve previously covered. We’ve seen quite a bit of news surrounding these dummy devices, but most of the time, the photos aren’t the best and we’re left wanting more information and details.

Expand
Expanding
Close

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen rumored schematics for Apple’s upcoming iPhone 6, but this time we’re presented with a detailed set of 3D renders. These images are claimed to be the source of design for all of the recent dummy iPhone 6 units that we’ve reported on, and allegedly, from a supplier based on Apple’s design.

We’re a bit skeptical of these renders, as anyone should be when dealing with these types of leaks. These images were originally obtained by the Wei Feng network (via G4Games) from “informed sources.” These alleged 3D schematics include dimensions and look very similar to all of the mockups that we’ve seen in the past.

Expand
Expanding
Close

Recent rumors suggest that Apple is working on a deal to acquire Beats Electronics, but at this point nothing has…

Another day, another dummy. We’ve recently obtained new images showing what appears to be a gold iPhone 6 mockup pictured next to the other two color variations that Apple currently offers. As mentioned, this is definitely a dummy model, but it’s also the first time we’ve seen a gold one.

Expand
Expanding
Close