Posts tagged with "iOS"

Grazing 2.0: Once Again, My Favorite iOS Browser

Back in September I first reviewed Grazing, an alternative web browser for the iPad that came out a few weeks after I complained about the average alternative browser for the iPad lacking the ideas, feature set or implementation to properly compete with Safari. Lots of things have changed since then, both with iOS Safari and the third-party development scene. Safari for iPhone and iPad got faster with the Nitro engine, received AirPlay support for any video found on the web and, with iOS 5, is also getting a major facelift with tabs on the iPad and other welcome additions such as tab undo and history right from the toolbar. On the other hand, the past few months have seen an explosion of alternative browsers that, in spite of the lack of Nitro JavaScript engine, are playing around with the craziest ideas when it comes to re-inventing web browsing on the tablet. I was impressed by the feature set of iCab Mobile (perhaps the most popular 3rd party browser for iOS), the UI of Sleipnir and the underlying concept of Portal, without a doubt the most innovative iPhone browser to date. There are dozens (if not hundreds) of alternative browsers for iOS now, and unlike last year many of them are really, really good. Apple still doesn’t allow iOS users to set a different default browser other than Safari, but third-party support has increased in the past months, so we’re starting to see integration with alternative browsers (usually iCab) in apps like Handoff and Mr. Reader.

Developers realized there could be so much more besides copying Safari and putting a sharing menu and tabs in an “alternative” browser. We have seen experiments with visual tabs, gestures, tab re-organization, and more. Is there still room for innovation? With iOS 5 bringing a slew of enhancements to Safari (including direct Twitter integration) and titles like iCab, Portal, Sleipnir, Skyfire and iChromy already available on the App Store, what’s next for third-party iOS browsers?

Grazing 2.0, a major update to the app I reviewed in September, provides an answer to this question by offering an interesting mix of features aimed at turning the app into a multitouch-enabled, platform-connected browsing experience for iOS. Read more

Screens for iOS Now Lets You Log Into Lion Computers

Screens, Edovia’s VNC client for the iPhone and iPad we’ve reviewed a couple of times on MacStories in the past, has been just updated to version 1.6 which, alongside a series of speed and performance improvements, brings full compatibility for machines running OS X Lion. With Mac OS X 10.7, Apple has changed a few things with VNC and remote user authentication, enabling features like Apple ID support and possibility of logging into a separate account while a machine is active on a different one.

The new Screens 1.6 allows you to log into a computer running Lion avoiding the additional login prompt you’d get when logging in with a VNC password (if you’ve tried VNC apps that haven’t been updated for Lion, you should be familiar with the login prompt). Screens, in fact, has a new OS authentication method that, by logging into a machine with your OS account name and password, skips the VNC prompt altogether and directly takes you to your desktop, with whatever is on screen, just like with previous versions of the app on Snow Leopard. Current Screens users willing to connect to a Lion computer should switch to the new setting for an optimal experience (that is, unless you want an additional login dialog). Bug fixes aside, Screens 1.6 brings keyboard support for more languages, and Windows VNC servers.

You can download Screens at $19.99 on the App Store. Read more

Apple Promises Software Update To Fix iOS PDF Vulnerability

Following the release of @comex’s latest jailbreak tool yesterday, JailbreakMe 3.0, many wondered how long it would take for Apple to take action and patch the security hole that allows special PDF documents opened through Mobile Safari to give admin privileges to code hidden inside them. The method, discovered and developed by comex, enables JailbreakMe to install Cydia on devices running iOS 4.3 and above with a simple click, making it the easiest jailbreak ever developed for a variety of devices including the iPad 2. The exploit works on various versions of iOS after 4.3, but the iPad 2 is only being targeted on iOS 4.3.3. As a preliminary version of the exploit leaked online before the official jailbreak was released, comex had already warned users that Apple would soon issue a software update to patch the vulnerability.

The Associated Press reports [via The Next Web] Apple Inc. spokeswoman Bethan Lloyd has confirmed the company is aware of the issue and is developing a fix that will be available via Software Update. A group of German researchers took a look at comex’s exploit yesterday, and warned Apple that any maliciously crafted PDF could take advantage of the Safari hole to install code on a device without a user’s consent.

Apple Inc. spokeswoman Bethan Lloyd said Thursday the company is “aware of this reported issue and developing a fix that will be available to customers in an upcoming software update.”

She declined to specify when the update would be available.

In the past, Apple closed another PDF vulnerability that allowed the installation of Cydia through JailbreakMe 2.0 in roughly a week. Whilst Cydia developers are relying on an exploit that could also be used by malware creators, they’re also taking the necessary steps to prevent the vulnerability from working again after the jailbreak is done and Cydia is installed. In fact, they have released a “PDF Patcher” tool that, once installed from Cydia, will make the exploit used to jailbreak a device unusable. For this reason, Apple will soon issue a software update to officially close the hole, but it’s very likely that several users who don’t want to lose their jailbreaks, yet want to stay secure, will install the unofficial patcher from Cydia.

The New Brain Behind Your Photos

One of the new features of iCloud that was announced at WWDC but was slightly overlooked by bloggers and iOS users is Photo Stream. Built into the native Photos app for iOS devices, iPhoto for Mac and the Pictures folder on Windows PCs, Photo Stream will allow you to automatically find on any device the photos you’ve taken on an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. With the addition of the Apple TV 2nd gen, Photo Stream will let you watch these photos on the bigger screen with your friends and family. How does it work? For those that missed the announcement, here’s a quick recap: because iCloud automatically stores, updates and pushes your content on all your registered devices (be them iPhones, iPads, or Macs and PCs running the iCloud control panel), Photo Stream acts as an extension of the mobile Camera Roll that, rather than just storing pictures locally, also pushes them to the cloud as soon as they’re taken, provided you’re on a WiFi connection. If you’re not on WiFi, Photo Stream will upload the photos from the Camera Roll to iCloud as soon a a new connection is established.

As explained by Steve Jobs on stage, and later demoed by Eddy Cue, the main purpose of Photo Stream is that of easing the process of importing photos shot on, say, an iPhone to an iPad or Mac for better viewing. With previous versions of iOS, users were forced to email pictures themselves and open the message on OS X to save the photos (facing at the same time a risk of quality loss due to email limitations); create an account on social services like Flickr or Facebook to upload photos from their mobile devices to avoid a desktop transfer process; even worse, users had to go home, find a USB cable, connect their iPhone to a computer, launch iPhoto or Image Capture and manually import the most recent photos. That’s a long and tedious process Apple wants to eliminate with a smart, automatic system that always puts the most recent photos on all your devices. In fact, Photo Stream can display the 1,000 most recent photos on iOS devices, whilst files are stored on iCloud for 30 days due to storage limitations on both ends (iOS and Apple’s server farms). On desktop computers, which come with more storage, Photo Stream stores all photos. Again, this new functionality works out of the box with any iOS 5 device configured with an iCloud account, and Photo Stream can be enabled in the Settings app. On the desktop’s side, right now Apple is requiring developers to download a special beta version of iPhoto and the iCloud control panel to test Photo Stream, but once iCloud publicly launches this fall everything will be baked in with no further configuration needed.
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