Jeff Benjamin

Jeff has been with iDownloadBlog since 2010, acting as resident video specialist, and tutorial expert. He earned his degree in Computer Network Systems back in 2001, but decided Cisco routers and the like just weren’t for him. Since then, he’s been heavily involved with online writing. He’s written for numerous tech and video game sites since the late 1990′s, and has a knack for explaining things in a simple, clear, and concise manner. Jeff works primarily from the east coast on his Retina Macbook Pro, and shoots video with a Canon DSLR. During downtime he likes to travel the world, visiting the various Apple Stores across the globe. You can email him at jeff [at] idownloadblog.com and follow him on Twitter @JeffBenjam or on Google+.

Let’s Talk iOS 108: Reality Apple TV

Jeff Benjamin ∙ November 10, 2015

Episode 108: An in-depth look at the Apple TV after some lengthy hands-on time. A discussion of tvOS 9.0.1 and tvOS 9.1 beta. Using Siri search with Apple Music. Talk about the iPad Pro, and our purchasing plans for the super-sized tablet.

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Apple Music beta is now available for Android on Google Play

Jeff Benjamin ∙ November 10, 2015

The Apple Music beta has launched for Android devices, and is now available as a free download via the Google Play store. If you have a compatible Android device, you can click this link to be taken directly to the Apple Music page on Google Play.

The download, which is version 0.9.0 and comes in at 29MB, officially brings Apple Music and Beats 1 to Android devices for the first time. Keep in mind that this is still a beta version, which means that not everything from the iOS version is there.

Feedbin Notifier review: the best way to get RSS notifications on Apple Watch

Jeff Benjamin ∙ November 10, 2015

Feedbin Notifier is an iOS and watchOS companion app for Feedbin—my favorite feed reading service. Feedbin is a paid service at $3 a month that provides you with one of the best post-Google Reader experiences that I’ve used.

I’ve experienced a lot of feed reading services. I’ve used Feedly, Feed Wrangler, I’ve even installed a custom Fever installation on my web server. Not to throw any of those services under the bus, because they each have their strong points, but Feedbin is the best overall feed reading package available.

Feedbin Notifier (free on the App Store) is an app that sits on top of the Feedbin service, and notifies you whenever new articles in your feeds meet specified criteria. It sounds simple enough, but if you’ve ever tried to get reliable notifications for RSS feeds, then you likely understand that it’s not as easy to pull off as it sounds.

The thing about Feedbin Notifier, and I’m going to use an overused catchphrase here, is that it just works. If you wish to have reliable notifications for all of your favorite RSS feeds, then you owe it to yourself to try Feedbin coupled with the Feedbin Notifier app.

For the record, this isn’t a review of Feedbin as a service, although I do plan on following up with a post about Feedbin in general sometime in the future. In this post, however, I want to talk about notifications. More specifically, I want to talk about notifications on Apple Watch, and how Feedbin Notifier is now my favorite app for Apple Watch.

Apple TV review: it’s all about the potential

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 19, 2018

Potential. That's a word that you're going to hear tossed around a lot when it comes to the newly released Apple TV. It has the potential to be a great streaming device. It has the potential to be a wonderful music playing machine. It has the potential to be an awesome gaming console. It has the potential to really become your living room's nucleus for entertainment.

Is it doing any one of those things in a mind-blowing fashion currently? Not exactly. Fortunately, the Apple TV has plenty of room for growth, because it's powered by a more significant operating system called tvOS, and Apple has opened the platform up so that developers can create apps. Just like an iPhone 4s at its beginning, which shipped with iOS 5, looks nothing like an iPhone 4s running iOS 9, the Apple TV experience is bound to evolve, grow, and improve.

If you purchase an Apple TV now, you're buying into that potential. Already, the Apple TV can do more than the 3rd-generation version that it supplants. The older hardware couldn't download apps, and wasn't capable of playing games natively on device. With the new Apple TV, you have all of that, along with much-improved hardware, a better remote that doesn't require line of sight, and limited Siri access.

At this early stage in the game, you shouldn't expect a perfect experience, but even out of the gate, it's obvious that the new Apple TV is a much better device than prior versions. Right now, it's just good, but with the proper direction, it has the potential to be the best set top box that we've seen thus far.

Apple posts its first iPad Pro launch ad on YouTube

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 19, 2018

Apple, gearing up for Wednesday's launch of the iPad Pro, has posted its first launch advertisement for the super-sized tablet on its YouTube channel. The 30-second spot, entitled a Great Big Universe, features footage of Sky Guide and Procreate, two apps that will launch alongside the iPad Pro with assets that take advantage of that extra large screen.

Apple releases tvOS 9.0.1 for new Apple TV

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated June 12, 2018

Apple has released tvOS 9.0.1 for the new Apple TV. The update is available as an OTA update by going to Settings → System → Software Updates. The full update is also available as a 922 MB download from Apple.

tvOS 9.0.1 comes with build number 13T402, and any user currently running tvOS 9.0, which will be all users not running a beta, are recommended to update.

Siri gains Apple Music support on Apple TV, now can search and play music on latest beta

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 19, 2018

Siri has apparently gained some new functionality for Apple TV, at least on the tvOS 9.1 beta. You can now direct the remote assistant to play any song or album directly from Apple Music, even if the song or album isn't in your library. Siri can even search for songs on Apple Music, play Play Beats 1 radio, and more.

This makes Siri a lot more useful on Apple TV, and means that you don't have to look at the interface to start playing a song that you want to hear. The lack of Siri integration for Apple Music has been a popular pain point for early adopters of 4th-generation Apple TV.

I'm running the 9.1 beta on my Apple TV. For the record, Siri search for music was said to come as an update early next year, so it's highly likely that this could be a beta-only feature. Other iDB staffers have tried to replicate this functionality on tvOS 9.0 boxes to no avail.

Watch our video that shows Siri integration for Apple Music on the Apple TV...

Apple’s iPad Pro goes on sale Wednesday and arrives in stores later this week

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 19, 2018

Apple just posted an early morning press release announcing the arrival of the iPad Pro. Apple states that the iPad Pro will be available to purchase online starting on Wednesday, November 11, and will arrive in Apple retail stores, select carrier stores, and authorized resellers later this week.

The iPad Pro starts at $799 for the base model Wi-Fi-only version with 32GB, $949 for 128GB Wi-Fi-only model, and $1079 for the top of the line 128GB model with Wi-Fi and LTE cellular connectivity. All models come in the familiar silver, gold, and space gray color options.

How to search GitHub for open source tvOS and iOS apps

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 19, 2018

Now that sideloading is a possibility on both iOS and tvOS, it's a good time to search for open source apps that are available to sideload. We've already showed you how to get apps like Provenance, MAME, Auntie Player, and others, but what about finding sideloadable apps on your own? In this post, I'll show you how GitHub can be a valuable resource for finding open source apps for your iPhone, iPad or Apple TV.

How to watch BBC iPlayer on Apple TV

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 19, 2018

Last month, an open source app called Auntie Player was released to access on demand programs from the BBC. This app can be sideloaded on an Apple TV and used to watch BBC on demand content and even live content.

I tested out Auntie Player today, and it worked as expected. Keep in mind, however, that you're supposed to be in the UK in order to properly access its content. There are ways to access BBC iPlayer outside of the UK, but we cannot endorse those methods.

Still, we understand that many of our UK-based readers would be interested in accessing BBC iPlayer on the Apple TV, so in this post we're going to show you how.

How to redeem an Apple TV app promo code

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 19, 2018

While it's possible to receive promo codes for Apple TV apps, it's not possible to redeem such codes directly from the Apple TV interface itself. Even though the newly released Apple TV is the first iteration of the device capable of running native apps, Apple is keeping the process of promo code redemption limited to iOS or the Mac.

Have you received a promo code for an Apple TV app or game? In this post, we'll show you how to redeem it.

How to record Apple TV video output on Mac

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 19, 2018

There are lots of reasons why you might invest in a USB Type-C cable for the new Apple TV. One of the most compelling reasons is because a USB Type-C cable allows you to record Apple TV video output. Via QuickTime's video capturing capabilities, first introduced in OS X Yosemite, it's possible to record and save direct-feed footage from the Apple TV to your Mac.