iOS 8

iOS 8 adoption rate stays flat, iOS 7 continues to lose ground

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 27, 2018

According to Apple's dashboard for developers based on App Store access data, iOS 8 adoption rate has remained flat at 82 percent of iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices. By comparison, two weeks ago iOS 8 was found to power 82 percent of iOS gadgets.

As iOS 7 continues to lose ground, it's lost a single percentage point compared with the seventeen percent mark two weeks ago. The latest stats arrive ahead of Apple's iOS 9 preview due next month at the annual summer conference for developers in San Francisco.

SwiftKey keyboard launches theme store

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 20, 2015

SwiftKey, the popular gesture keyboard for iPhones, iPads ands iPods with iOS 8 or later, today launched a brand new theme store featuring a dozen themes for customizing the look and feel of its keyboard.

After debuting on Android in 2014, the built-in theme store is now available to iOS users with twelve newly designed themes, priced from 99 cents to $1.99.

LockEmoji prevents the iOS keyboard from reverting to another input mode

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 17, 2015

If you regularly use the emoji keyboard on iOS, then you've no doubt experienced the issue that causes your keyboard to revert to another input method.

This problem generally arrises when doing one of two things: after tapping send in a chat app like the Messages app, and on first keyboard activation when the current input mode is emoji.

If you're unfamiliar with the issue, it's a little difficult to describe without actually showing you. Check out our video demonstrations, which shows you how LockEmoji—a free new jailbreak tweak released on Cydia—tackles this issue.

Sunrise Calendar update introduces Meet, the fastest way to schedule one-to-one meetings

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 5, 2018

Sunrise, a powerful cross-platform calendar application, on Thursday launched Meet, a companion iOS 8 keyboard specifically designed to make scheduling one-to-one meetings ridiculously easy.

Available as a free update to the Sunrise app in the App Store, Meet lets you schedule one-to-ones with another party like a pro, without having to leave the context of the app you're currently in or switch to Sunrise for that matter.

iOS 8 grows to 82 percent of devices in the wild

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 27, 2018

After passing the eighty percent mark two weeks ago on the heels of Apple Watch launch, and less than a month before WWDC 2015, Apple's mobile operating system has been found to now power 82 percent of iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices in the wild.

The new data comes via the official App Store Distribution dashboard, which is publicly available on Apple's portal for developers. iOS 7 has kept its seventeen percent share from two weeks ago while older versions of the software continue to comprise about two percent of legacy hardware out there.

AquaBoard for iOS 8 brings OpenGL-based water effects to your SpringBoard

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated June 12, 2018

It seems like every few months, Elias Limneos steps up to the plate to bring us something awesome. Even during a "jailbreak drought", such as the one we're currently experiencing, Limneos doesn't hesitate to put out a great release.

AquaBoard for iOS 8 is the latest such release, and it is a follow up to previous versions of AquaBoard for iOS 5, iOS 6 and iOS 7. Needless to say, AquaBoard has been around for quite some time, and now, even first time jailbreakers get to taste (or is that drink?) the goodness that is AquaBoard.

Apple Watch pushes iOS 8 adoption rate to 81%

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 27, 2018

After experiencing a slowdown following a record-smashing Christmas quarter, the rate of iOS 8 adoption is notably picking up speed again.

According to the official App Store Distribution dashboard, publicly available on Apple’s portal for developers, about 81 percent of iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices in the wild are now running iOS 8.0 and later. Jut two weeks ago, the pace of iOS 8 adoption stood at 79 percent of active devices.

A notable uptick could be explained by the Apple Watch, which requires the iPhone 5 and later running iOS 8.2 and later. For those wondering, Apple measures active devices by monitoring iPhones, iPads and iPods that access the App Store.

Apple posts iOS 8.4 beta 2 with new Trending Searches feature on iTunes Radio

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 27, 2015

Apple on Monday seeded iOS 8.4 beta 2, which includes a redesigned Music app experience from the previous beta, to its registered iPhone, iPod touch and iPad developers.

The software carries a build number of 12H4086d and can be applied over-the-air through the Software Update mechanism available in Settings > General, for those who are running the first beta. A standalone installer is available through Apple's portal for developers.

Release notes accompanying the download mention claim “this beta version of iOS contains bug fixes and improvements”. At least one new feature was spotted in this release: trending searches. Now when you're searching for a song on iTunes Radio via the Music app in iOS 8.4 beta 2, it will automatically suggest a list of trending searches.

Google removes YouTube app support for older versions of iOS, Apple TV

Jake Smith ∙ April 20, 2015

Google announced on Monday in a support document that its YouTube app will no longer work on older versions of iOS and the first and second generation Apple TV "after April".

Giffage is a third-party keyboard with style

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated October 14, 2018

As many of you know, I've been quite bummed by the third-party keyboards on iOS 8. Many of them are underwhelming, and not all of the blame rests with developers. Apple's implementation has left lot to be desired, but many of the third-party keyboard developers have done themselves no favors.

Needless to say, there hasn't been one keyboard that I use on my iPhone outside of the stock English keyboard, and the Emoji keyboard, but that recently changed. Giffage (free) is a brand new third-party release that brings a GIF keyboard to iOS 8.

I understand that Giffage isn't the first third-party keyboard to do GIFs, as I've used some of the alternatives. What I can say is that Giffage is one of the best designed and easiest-to-use third party keyboards that I've yet to try. The implementation is well thought out, and goes beyond the call of duty when it comes to sweating the little details.

iOS 8 adoption rate passes 79 percent

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 27, 2018

Various versions of Apple's iOS 8 mobile operating system are now running on 79 percent of devices in active use, as measured by the App Store on April 13, 2015. The freshest stats were churned out Tuesday from the App Store Distribution webpage publicly available on Apple's portal for developers.

iOS 7 is now found on nineteen percent of devices, with earlier iOS versions running on two percent of iPhones, iPads and iPod touches in the wild.

Apple’s ResearchKit available today to developers and medical researchers

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 14, 2018

Today, Apple's made good on its promise to make ResearchKit available to developers and medical researchers. As announced in a media release Tuesday, medical researchers can tap into ResearchKit to write custom apps while developers are permitted to contribute new research modules to ResearchKit.

ResearchKit was designed as an open source software framework to help doctors and scientists mass-gather accurate data from participants using specialized iPhone apps. With today's ResearchKit release, it's now possible to create medical apps for Android in a true open-source fashion.