iPhone Life - Best Apps, Top Tips, Great Gear

iOS 17 top image

At the June 5 2023 WWDC Keynote, Apple announced iOS 17 alongside other software updates, new Mac devices, and Apple Vision Pro. While iOS 17 is a more practical update with few new features, there are many great updates to the apps we use most: Phone, Messages, FaceTime, Photos, Health, and more. Keep reading to see the many ways these updates will change the way you use your iPhone this fall.

Apple's Groundbreaking New Headset & Everything Else Announced at WWDC 2023

Apple used its 2023 WWDC keynote to usher in a groundbreaking new era of computing with its new Vision Pro, a spatial computer headset, its first new product in eight years. It also announced the expected software updates to its existing devices, including iOS 17, iPadOS 17, watchOS 10, and more. Many of these updates are small but practical, hopefully leading to an elevated experience across devices. Let's dive into the details.

Back in the Windows Mobile / Symbian days, in 2007, I've already published a full roundup of then-current UPnP (desktop) server and mobile client apps (see THIS / THIS). Now, let's take a look at how it is done on the iDevice (iPad [Mini] / iPhone / iPod touch)!

As you may have guessed, the stock video player shipped with iOS, “Videos”, doesn't support accessing UPnP (also known as DLNA; in this article, I refer to it as “UPnP”) servers. That is, you'll need to use third-party apps on your iDevice. Fortunately, there are several of them.

1. What can you use UPnP for on iOS?

Up until now, I haven't really recommended the otherwise excellent (“thanks” to Apple's overly strict and - in my opinion - when it comes to video playback, absolutely unnecessary restrictions, jailbreak-only) XBMC multimedia player for iPad 3/4 users playing back high-resolution videos.

The reason for this was, as has always been explained in my articles, the lack of Retina screen support.

Now, take a look at the next two screenshots (click the thumbnails to get the original shots! Don't even try to evaluate the video playback resolution using the thumbnails):

WARNING: This review is graphics heavy!

Note: Due to security concerns for my iPad and iPhone I decided not to include device information screenshots for them. However, you can access any iOS device information by clicking on the Devices button next to the iTunes Store/Library button on the right upper side.

 

Yes, there is a new icon! :) It does look better than the previous version.

 

The Closed Captioning bible

By Werner Ruotsalainen

There is a lot of confusion (see for example THIS) around Closed Captions (CC for short); they are routinely mistaken for traditional, textual subtitles (subs for short), even in the non-TV-streaming / DVD, that is, strictly Apple world. In this article, I've elaborate on the difference, the CC-to-subs conversion and the rendering of the original (Apple) CC's in desktop and iOS players.

1. The difference between CC and textual subs

1.1 Apple's CC

As you may already know (see for example THIS), the previous iPhone model, the iPhone 4S, couldn't truly record video with more than 30 frames per second (fps) without, by 50%, decreased vertical resolution and (with the 1080p-native 4S) switching to 720p resolution. Now, let's take a look at how the iPhone 5 behaves in this respect! Can it record 30+ fps video at all?

 

iPhone 5’s have literally been flying off the shelves since their release a couple of months ago! Anyone who has a new iPhone 5 and is active, accident prone or outdoorsy; you should listen up.

 

And, with the Holiday season upon us, even if none of those traits apply to you, this is still good information to bookmark. After all, an iPhone 5 heavy-duty case can make a great Holiday gift for someone in your life who does happen to fall into the above-mentioned categories!

 

To that end, I have rounded up some of the best, rugged protection, heavy-duty iPhone 5 cases out there.  Featuring the Lifeproof frē, the Griffin Suvivor, the Otterbox Defender, Ballistic's Hard Core, Trident's Kraken, and Seidio's Convert. Read on after the break for full review details!

The player I recommend (review; another, MKV-specific one), along with the (currently, not AppStore-based) AVPlayer(HD), the most for non-DTS (that is, mostly, AC-3) MKV's on non-jailbroken devices has been BUZZ Player - it has had one of the best MKV behind-the-curtains demuxing and hardware playback.

UPDATE (10/10/2012): at DPReview, I've written a quick tutorial on how you can directly review and delete photos off your storage cards using this hack via BUZZ Player 4. See THIS.

Original article:

Have you ever envied Android / Symbian / BlackBerry / Windows Mobile (and even the forthcoming Windows Phone 8) users because of the freedom they have because of the storage cards? Now, you'll get an answer!

I've continuously been asked (see for example THIS and THIS) about how you can play back videos residing solely on an external, Camera Connection Kit (CCK)-compliant (that is, an SD card or a micro/mini one with an adapter)  storage card - or a compatible USB memory key. Up until now, I've always referred my readers to articles / videos like THIS and THIS (see the bullet starting with "Ripped movies: if you have any ripped movies or personal videos, you can use the CCK to add extra storage to the iPad"). Unfortunately, tutorials targeted at jailbroken users (for example, THIS one) haven't used symbolic links (the “magic” we'll make use of) either, meaning they relied on the built-in video / image viewer of iFile. The multimedia support of the latter isn't anything to write home about – it can only play back native iOS formats and has absolutely no advanced features.

The $39.99 Goal Zero Rock Out Portable Speaker does rock out, but they needs a few adjustments before I can recommend them for a hall of fame.

The Good

The heavy-duty case and wooden frame make for a substantial device. In other words, it doesn’t feel delicate, which is good in a portable product. For a small portable device, the sound is adequate. Not good separation, but you can’t expect that in a single-box device.  The hanging cord is a good idea and came in handy when visiting Yosemite recently where my Apple iPhone played away while the speaker hung on a door handle.

UPDATE (11/Oct/2012): the latest BUZZ Player and Good/PowerPlayer updates removed AC-3(A52), E-AC-3 and TrueHD(MLP). The developers of GoodPlayer stated (link) the patent holder asked for quite a lot money for the license. I've asked the developers whether the decoder(s) could be provided as optional In-App Purchases. HustMobile answered it might be possible.

Windows Media (WM for short) and Silverlight (SL for short) Internet TV streaming is a very popular TV broadcasting method, particularly outside the U.S. For example, on, in my opinion, the best national TV station directory, wwiTV (“World Wide Internet TeleVision”), there are at least ten directly accessible WM / SL streams for Germany (list HERE; look for the green (WM) and light blue (SL) links). And that's only the number of streams directly accessible through wwiTV – I bet many of the external links (the red / black-background “LINK” ones) also lead to WM / SL streams. (Brown links are Flash streams not covered in this article.

UPDATE (21/Dec/2012): it's BACK! See THIS.

Original article:

I've recommended AVPlayer (HD) in several of my articles as a player with an excellent video decoder and feature set and one of the most recommended, best titles for iPhones and iPads alike.

Unfortunately, it (both the small-screen and the iPad versions) has been recently removed from the AppStore. I've talked to the developer. Currently, it's unknown when AVPlayer(HD) is put back to AppStore - it won't happen in the near future (1-2 weeks), that's for sure.

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