iOS 7.0.3 has Hidden Settings to override animation speed and other parameters

A lot of people have complained that iOS 7′s app launch and unlock animations are too slow. While Apple doesn’t seem to have changed the speed of these animations in the following releases, the company has included a hidden settings view with options to configure animation parameters like speed, and physics related constants like mass, stiffness and damping factors. The internal Settings were discovered by developer Hamza Sood, who has previously made similar discoveries revealing hidden gestures in iOS and more. The internal settings show a toggle to enable slow animations, a slow factor that presumably controls the speed of these animations, and parameters to configure the physics-based spring animations. Looks like Apple are realising iOS 7 animations are too slow. 7.0.3 has internal speed modification settings pic.twitter.com/n6sH3mWkDU — Hamza Sood (@hamzasood) November 4, 2013 With the hidden settings, Apple seems to be testing the perfect combination of these parameters to make the animations seem not very slow nor very fast, but we’re not sure when these tweaked animations would be available in a public release. Of course if you don’t like the zooming animations at all, you can turn on Reduce Motion from the Accessibility settings, which uses a crossfade animation during app launches. Once an iOS 7 jailbreak is out, we can expect a jailbreak tweak to easily give access to these internal settings. Continue reading →

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The Simpsons poke fun at Siri [Video]

Siri, the personal assistant included in every iOS device, has received quite a lot of criticism for being unreliable, inaccurate and functionally limited. And although the service has improved quite a lot with iOS 7, the latest episode of The Simpsons aired this Sunday mocks Siri’s voice recognition and reliability. The short bit shows an iPhone owner asking Siri for nearby hospitals, but his words are interpreted wrongly, resulting in all his contacts being deleted. Here’s the video: Let us know what you think about the videos in the comments below. [via Gizmodo] Continue reading →

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OS X Mavericks motion tracking is helpful, not harmful

OS X Mavericks contains code that senses movement and reset idle time when motion was detected. This discovery hit the Internet like wildfire with people offering a wide range of reasons why Mavericks would want to track your movement. A follow-up report from The Verge reveals this is meant to benefit users, not spy on them. Further testing of the motion tracking revealed it was not the camera secretly watching users, but the ambient light sensor looking for motion. The sensor is used to adjust screen brightness in response to changes in ambient light levels. It also has a secondary function that senses changes in light levels as movements and resets the idle time. This idle reset prevent the computer from going into sleep mode while the user is in front of the machine and not interacting with the keyboard or mouse/trackpad. Continue reading →

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Best Buy, Apple and others price match Walmart’s discounted 16GB iPad Air

After the iPad Air was announced, Walmart followed up with its own announcement that confirmed the retailer would sell the iPad Air at a discount. Instead of the full $499 price tag for the 16GB, WiFi-only model, Walmart is selling the tablet device for $479. According to 9to5Mac, both Apple and Best Buy have confirmed they will price match Walmart on this model. The tablet is still being sold at its full price online, so customers who want the price match will have to come into the retailer’s brick and mortar stores. Staples is also discounting the 16GB iPad Air and has lowered the price of the tablet on its website. While other retailers are price-matching Walmart, Radio Shack has said it will continue to sell the tablet at its full $499 price tag when it goes on sale this weekend. In lieu of the price drop, Radio Shack is increasing the amount of money it will offer customers when they trade in an old iPad for the new model. Did you buy a 16GB iPad Air today? Were you able to secure a discount or did you have to pay full price? Continue reading →

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Plugin allows developers to mine bitcoins while you play their games

Icoplay’s Simon Hill talked to PocketGamer recently about freemium games and how bitcoin may revolutionize the world of in-game purchases. We could be at the cusp of a brave, new world where in-app purchases are a thing of the past and smartphone processing power is harnessed to produce virtual currency. Icoplay is working on Icominer Unity plugin that developers can build into an app or game. It’ll run in the background and mine bitcoins while a user has an app or game open. According to Hill, the plugin works like this: A developer installs the software, and every instance of its game running at any time, anywhere mines Bitcoins using the latent power of the device it’s being used on. The developer then takes its Bitcoins to spend or invest. At Icoplay, we’ve spent the last few months making this a reality. We’ve ended up with software that can just be dropped into a Unity project (on any platform at all) and make this distributed model of ‘passive grinding’ work. The Icominer plugin is designed to run silently while users play a game or interact with an app. It’s allegedly so stealthy that customers won’t even know it is chugging along in the background and being used to produce bitcoins. The only evidence of its existence may be diminished battery life as your phone will be working constantly to produce bitcoins, instead of sitting idle during quiet parts of a game or app. The plugin is in its final beta stages and will be compatible with any apps built with the Unity game engine. It will cost $80 for developers to use. Continue reading →

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Google Maps updated with improved hotel search results and transit directions

Google has updated its popular Google Maps app for iOS with key improvements in hotel search results and transit directions. Bug fixes round out the list of changes in version 2.4.3 of the app. The changes in this latest version of Google Maps are not earth-shattering, but they are significant for business people, tourists and other people who do a lot of traveling. One improvement that’ll interest the globetrotter is an improved hotel search and booking function. When searching for hotels in this latest version of Google Maps, users can now view sponsored hotel rates and click on a link to book rooms at these discounted prices. Commuters and other travelers will appreciate a new transit directions feature that provides quick access to maps and upcoming departure times from the transit directions preview screen. Google Maps for iOS is available for free in the iOS App Store. Continue reading →

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Launch day iPad Air inventory starts drying up, higher-capacity models most affected

The iPad Air went on sale today in more than 40 countries all over the world, and while stocks weren’t a concern initially, it seems inventory is starting to dry up on Apple’s online store and some retail stores. MacRumors notes that the 64GB and 128GB cellular models and the 128GB Wi-Fi models are in short supplies, with some countries showing these models as “shipping in 5-10 business days.” The US Apple online store seems to be unaffected by this shortage, as most models have delivery dates listed as November 4th. The exception is the Space Gray 128GB iPad Air on T-Mobile, whose shipping dates have slipped to 5-10 days. The Personal Pickup feature, where the buyer reserves an iPad online and picks it up from a nearby Apple Store, is seeing supplies dry up, with many stores showing their status as “Ships to Store” rather than “Available Today.” Are you seeing iPad Air shipping dates slip in your country’s Apple online store and retail stores? Let us know in the comments below. Continue reading →

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