Following our post on how to switch between Mavericks and Yosemite, iDownloadBlog reader Jack Stean took the script we featured and turned it into a full-fledged Mac application that sits in OS X's status bar. RebootToHDD does everything we explained in our tutorial, but without the hassle of copying and pasting script...
Coming two weeks after the last iOS beta, which contained several visual tweaks and changes to Settings.app, Apple has released iOS 8 beta 5 build 12A4345d to developers. Besides the usual mix of bug fixes and improvements, there are likely to be multiple UI tweaks and other noticeable changes. Apple has more details in beta 5's release notes.
We're currently installing the beta and will be updating this post with any changes we find. If you find any changes from the previous beta, be sure to email us at tips@idownloadblog.com or leave a comment below, preferably with a screenshot of the modification...
The idea for BrightPlayer originally came from a Reddit post in /r/jailbreak, where a jailbreaker pitched his tweak concept to any interested developers out there. The result is a handy little jailbreak tweak for adjusting display brightness and toggling rotation lock from the iOS video player.
BrightPlayer is a great example of a simple tweak that adds a small amount of convenience to a certain area of iOS. I've quite frequently found myself having to invoke Control Center to up my display brightness when launching a video, and all too often I'm toggling rotation lock to keep the video in landscape. BrightPlayer fixes these issues by adding options for both screen brightness levels and rotation lock directly into iOS's video player...
Following Apple's release of a public beta of OS X Yosemite, iDB reader Antony Verros sent us some code he wrote in AppleScript, which allows users to quickly restart a computer and automatically boot up in the installed OS of choice. For anyone who installed the OS X Yosemite beta on a separate partition, this is an easy solution for booting up into Yosemite or Mavericks without having to hold down the Option key on boot to select the desired partition. The script can even be tweaked to work with BootCamp.
While it's mostly a matter of time-saving convenience, this method can prove to be quite advantageous over time, particularly for users who find themselves frequently switching between OSs, whether it be a Yosemite beta, Mavericks, or Windows 7. Having an easily accessible application for booting into another OS while making a sandwich or refilling a cup of coffee, versus having to wait around to hold down Option, can be highly useful...
With the imminent introduction of the iPhone 6 will come the release of iOS 8, Apple's latest iteration in its mobile operating system. After spending the past several weeks with pre-release versions of the software, I can say that there are definitive grounds for anticipating its public availability. Whether you're planning on buying a new iPhone this fall or upgrading your current device to iOS 8, there are clear reasons to be excited about the features it has to offer.
Although it will be shipping with quite a few significant features – Apple claims this is their "biggest iOS release ever" – we've gone hands-on with the beta releases and picked our top ten favorite enhancements that will be available for qualifying devices this September. Here, in no sequential order, are the best of what makes iOS 8 great...
Earlier this year, a DMCA exemption expired, which made unlocking your iPhone not only illegal, but also punishable by a $500,000 fine, five years in jail, or both.
Today, Congress passed a bill that makes unlocking your phone without permission from your carrier legal. The bill was first unanimously passed by the Senate a couple of weeks ago, and the policy was unanimously passed by the House of Representatives this afternoon. The last step is for President Obama to sign the bill, which will officially turn it into a law.
Google has released an update for its iOS Gmail app that adds support for saving attachments directly to Google Drive and inserting Google Drive files directly into email messages.
There are also new account management options for hiding accounts in the Gmail app without removing them altogether. Additionally, users can now change their profile picture in the app's settings.
Although it's been around for a while, handyPhone is an incredibly useful tweak that seems to have gone largely unnoticed by the jailbreak community, despite its beneficial functionality. Admittedly, the description and screenshots of this tweak in Cydia are somewhat cryptic, and anyone not already familiar with the concept behind handyPhone might pass it by without a second thought. However, this tweak is truly a gem, bringing some great new features to the Phone app...
Apple has sent an email to registered developers notifying them of a complete wipe of CloudKit databases. The erase, which is scheduled to take place on July 22nd, is related to the iCloud APIs introduced at WWDC this year and will effect iCloud containers with public databases.
This is the second time Apple is deleting iCloud server data, as the tech giant performed a similar wipe on July 7th in order to upgrade their servers to coincide with the latest beta releases for iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite.
Here is Apple's full email to developers:
Two weeks after its last beta release, Apple has seeded iOS 8 beta 4 to developers. Aside from the usual myriad of bug fixes and improvements, there are sure to be some UI tweaks and other noticeable changes. Apple has more details in beta 4's release notes.
We're installing the beta now and will be updating this post with any changes we find. Be sure to let us know of any changes you run across! Simply email us at tips@idownloadblog.com or leave a comment below!
As a follow-up to our recent article on how to change app icons in OS X, we've scoured the internet for the best icon packs for Mac apps in existence. The result is a beautiful assemblage of icons that is certain to give your Mac a fresh, new look.
In addition to large, themed icon sets, we've added several individual icons of third-party applications that have received an early update from independent graphic designers, who took inspiration from iOS 7, OS X Yosemite, and Apple's pre-Yosemite designs for iBooks, iLife, and iWork...
Ever since the iOS 7 jailbreak was released, there has been no shortage of tweaks for Control Center. Nonetheless, there's always room for more refinements to iOS 7's quick settings panel. CCSliders isn't a new tweak, but, for the most part, it has remained tucked away in a third-party repo without a lot of attention. That is, until now.
CCSliders allows users to tap on icons to the left or right of the brightness slider in Control Center to cycle through several other types of sliders, including media volume, ringer volume, and flashlight brightness. There's even an add-on for a f.lux slider in the same repo. CCSliders is simple in concept, but it adds unique and handy functionality to iOS 7's Control Center...