See the iOS 11 beta 3 changes in action. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple squashed a few bugs in iOS 11 beta 3, released for developers today, but the update also adds new iPad multitasking features, Siri upgrades and more. Check out our video below to see everything that’s new.
In iOS 11, the Control Center becomes a remote control for your life. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
The latest batch of beta builds from Apple is now available to developers this morning. Developers can download the third betas of iOS 11, macOS High Sierra, watchOS 4 and tvOS 11.
Apple’s new software comes with a slew of new bug fixes and performance enhancements for the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV to go with the new features that were unveiled at WWDC 2017. iOS 11 beta 3 also packs a couple of big changes to Siri and Control Center.
A lot has change since 2007. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
The operating system that powers the iPhone has undergone radical changes since Apple launched the device 10 years ago.
As part of Cult of Mac’s collaboration with Wired UK to mark the 10th anniversary of the iPhone, we took a look at the evolution of iOS, from a simple touchscreen operating system lacking key features into a true computing behemoth with more tools than any one user could possibly need.
iOS 10.3.3 will likely be the last update before iOS 11. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Hot on the heels of Apple’s latest big batch of beta builds, the company has seeded two more updates to developers this morning, bringing new a bunch of bug fixes and performance improvements to iOS 10 and tvOS 10.
Here's what to expect from the next version of iOS Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
With WWDC 2017 right around the corner, it’s that time of the year when Apple can fix all the annoyances of iOS 10 and unveil something truly revolutionary for the next generation of iPhones and iPads.
Apple is expected to show off all the major features of iOS 11 at the WWDC in a couple of weeks. Surprisingly, the rumor mill has been quiet on what to expect, but that hasn’t stopped a flurry of speculation. We’ve got some ideas of our own too that we really want to see come to iOS 11.
Control Center in Windows 10 looks very familiar. Photo: Windows Central
As part of some big improvements coming to Windows 10, Microsoft is stealing the iOS Control Center to give users a quick and easy way of changing display brightness and toggling settings from the desktop.
Unlike Apple’s Control Center, however, Microsoft’s will be customizable.
Look at all the neat stuff you can do with Control Center, just by pressing a little harder. Photo: Cult of Mac
It pays to experiment with 3-D Touch, the feature that lets you press harder on your iPhone’s screen to get extra functions. But while we may be used to force-touching app icons, there are all kinds of other spots where it works. For instance, you press on the row of icons at the bottom of the Control Center to access some fantastic shortcuts.
Watch out for this bug. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
A newly discovered bug in iOS 10 is wreaking havoc on iPhone owners by making Control Center more unstable than ever.
With just three taps, the bug allows anyone to crash an iPhone in seconds. Once the trick is executed, the only way to unfreeze an affected iPhone is with a hard reboot.
The iPad needs support for multiple users. Photo: Jacek Zięba
Now that we know the date for Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, it’s officially time to start dreaming of new features that should be added to iOS 11.
Concept designer Jacek Zięba kicked off the dreamfest with one of the coolest iOS concept videos we’ve seen in a while. Check it out:
Navigating and using features on the Apple Watch is getting a lot faster with watchOS 3, and one of the best additions is the new Control Center that puts a bunch of commands just a swipe away.
The Photos apps gets a big revamp in iOS 10. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple has made the third public beta of iOS 10 available to members of its testing program this morning, just one day after the company seeded iOS 10 beta 4 to developers.
While the new beta build doesn’t contain any huge changes like in the previous releases, Apple did make a couple of tweaks, including the addition of over 100 new emoji characters that promote gender diversity, new keyboard sounds, a Control Center splash page and much more.
Federico Vittici and Sam Beckett brought a better Control Center and more to life. Photo: Federico Vittici/MacStories, Sam Beckett
Since there is still much to learn about the upcoming iOS 10 debut presumably at WWDC this year, Federico Vittici of MacStories and concept designer Sam Beckett took it upon themselves to bring their dreams to life. They worked together to design an incredible concept video that fulfills Vittici’s wishes for the next version of iOS. The video is nothing short of stunning and their implementation of his (completely reasonable) feature requests will have you absolutely drooling.
Even the guys Apple ripped off to come up with the feature are cool with it. But it could get even better before iOS 9.3 is finally released to the general public.
Throughout the summer I’ve been fortunate enough to follow iOS 8 through its beta versions. Every update is better than the last, but still iOS 8 could be better. With Apple’s big reveal just days away, the world is hoping for new products — but we can’t forget the software they’ll be running.
In today’s video, I’ll run down the top five things I’d like to see Apple add to iOS 8 to put it over the top. A better Control Center is just one of the items on my wishlist.
If you’re an iPhone user based in Europe, you’re going to have greater control over data roaming when iOS 8 makes its public debut this fall. Apple has added the ability to toggle Internet connectivity specifically alongside the general data roaming switch in its latest iOS 8 beta.
With iOS 8’s expected September release getting closer and closer, anticipation for Apple’s updated mobile software is growing. Beta releases, pushed to developers every few weeks, show off the latest tweaks and new features, and today’s release of iOS 8 beta 4 is no exception.
In today’s video we go hands-on and take a quick look at everything new in the latest version of iOS 8. See a redesigned Control Center, the helpful new Tips app and other key upgrades to Apple’s mobile software.
The Settings app in iOS is starting feel a bit crowded as each new update seems to bringing new tweaks and options to the main board and deeper menu. Control Center added quick access to key parts of the Settings maze, but we wouldn’t mind if Apple added this simple ‘Search Settings’ feature to iOS 8.
Rather than plunging multiple steps deep into the Settings app, this concept from Christoph Fahlbusch would bring the pull-down search bar into the Settings app, making it consistent with the ‘Search iPhone’ UI. It’d come in handy for quick tweaks, especially for less advanced users who are still trying to figure out where to turn on emjois.
Control Center was one of the top touted features added to iOS 7, but while the new swipe up gesture to toggle it is great, you might find yourself using multitask function more, so Bill Labus created a gorgeous iOS 8 concept that merges multitasking with control center to give you quicker access to your most used controls.
“Flicking up from the bottom of the edge allows the multitasking app views to be tied directly to the gesture, which allows for direct manipulation and avoids having to wait for a passive animation to complete before interacting with them.”
Developers can grab the Xcode project and take it for a spin or you can get your fill from the video teaser below:
We haven't Cydia on our iPhones in forever. Photo: Alex Heath
I’ve had iPhones for years, but I’ve never really been keen on using one that wasn’t jailbroken. As much as I love iOS, some of Apple’s decisions always kept my iPhone from working exactly how I wanted it to.
Jailbreaking gave me the ability to sidestep those limitations and make iOS my own. I could experience some of the freedom that Android users have grown to love while retaining the reliability, stability and polish of iOS. While I was frustrated that Apple wasn’t making major changes to improve its platform, I was happy that I could make them myself using unauthorized third-party tweaks.
Then I started using iOS 7, and everything changed.
Jailbreak developer Ryan Petrich is one of the most esteemed in the community, having created the excellent Grabby, Liveclock, and Display Recorder tweaks.
Now, Petrich’s first iOS 7 tweak is here, and it’s an incredible one. Called FlipControlCenter, Petrich’s brand new jailbreak tweak lets you rearrange and customize the layout of iOS 7 Control Center, with all new buttons.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve found the included Flashlight–along with the ease of access within the Control Center–to be a fantastic addition to my life. I always have my iPhone with me, which means I always have a quick flashlight with me. I use it to see in my over-crowded closet, behind the sound board at gigs, and into my shed during the dark hours of the winter up here in Alaska. It’s handy.
One thing, though, that’s kind of a pain is turning the thing off. Yeah, you can slide the Control Center up, then tap the flashlight icon to turn it off. But I’m usually trying to manage my phone along with whatever thing I needed from the shed or the closet and those couple of steps can seem like too much.
It’s fantastic to be able to swipe up from the bottom of the screen in any app or the home screen to turn Wi-Fi on or off, enable or disable Bluetooth, and the like. Control Center in iOS 7 has really solved some of my biggest issues with iOS in general.
However, there are times when I’m playing a game or using a certain app that I don’t really want the Control Center to pop up when i use the bottom of the screen.
I don’t know about you, but I love Control Center in iOS 7. I don’t know how I managed without it before (or why it took Apple so long to introduce it). And I’d love to see a similar feature brought to the Mac that would allow me to control my music, adjust the brightness of my display, and toggle things like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
Fortunately, we don’t have to wait for Apple to create it, because it’s already here, thanks to Controls+ for Mac.
The wait is finally over. iOS 7 is now available to download, three months after it got its first unveiling at WWDC. You can download and install it either via iTunes on your Mac and PC, or by using the over-the-air Software Update feature baked into iOS 6.