ipad & iphone user issue 87 - 2014 uk.pdf

ISSUE 87

BEST 3G/4G

Become an iPhone app developer today!

for iPhone & iPad

Everything iPhone 6:what you need to know about thenext iPhone

The fastest, most reliable network for your iPhone revealed

2 iPAD & iPHONE USER ISSUE 87

Like driving a Ferrari with the breaks on.

That’s how it can feel if you pair a slow

network connection with a slick, futuristic

piece of tech such as an iPhone or iPad. It doesn’t

matter how fast your phone or tablet if the internet

connection on which it relies is slow, slow, slow.

The trouble is that a great network connection

in one area can be a slow dog in another. The

networks themselves all publish coverage maps

based on their own data that are at best optimistic.

So how do you know which is the best network

for your iPhone or iPad? By buying iPad & iPhone

User, of course. We took to the road to test mobile

broadband under real-world conditions over the

length of the UK. We travelled from London to

Edinburgh to discover which 3G and 4G networks

are best for speed, best for reliability.

So the next time you’re looking for a network

contract, be sure to heed our words and take the

breaks off your Ferrari.

Elsewhere, we have reviews of the latest beta

of iOS 8 – the next mobile OS for your smartphone

or tablet. We’ve also got advice for the budding app

designers out there. These days anyone can be an

app coder, you don’t need any experience of design

or software coding. We show you how in this issue.

All that an our usual heady mix of iPhone and iPad

reviews, feature and tutorials. We really hope you

enjoy this edition of iPad & iPhone User.

Welcome...

ISSUE 87 iPAD & iPHONE USER 3

We look at beta 4 of Apple’s mobile operating system

Welcome to iPad & iPhone User’s iOS 8

hands-on review, where we’ll be reporting

on our experiences with the latest beta

version of iOS 8. (The fi nal public version of iOS 8

is likely to be slightly diff erent, but rest assured that

we’ll post a detailed review of that as soon as we get

our hands on it.) Following iOS 8’s offi cial unveiling

at WWDC 2014, we’ll look in depth at the host of

brilliant new features, design and interface changes

and new possibilities opened to app developers.

We also consider whether you should upgrade to

iOS 8 on your iPad or iPhone, and detail when iOS 8

iOS 8 beta


will launch to the public and how you can upgrade

to iOS 8 before then, which iPads and iPhones it will

run on, and other important iOS 8 facts.

Will my iPad or iPhone be able to run iOS 8?

To sum it up: the iPhone 4s and later, the iPad 2 and

later, both iPad minis and the iPod touch 5G will all

be able to run iOS 8. Plus, of course, any new iOS

devices launched in the rest of 2014 – presumably

the iPhone 6, and potentially the iPad 6, iPad Pro

(assuming it doesn’t run Mac OS X instead – that’s

one of the rumours) and iPad mini 3 if and when

these devices are launched.

When will iOS 8 launch?

iOS 8 was offi cially unveiled/previewed to the public

at WWDC, Apple’s annual developer conference, in

June. We got to see what iOS

8 looks like, how the design

has been tweaked from iOS

7 and what new features we

can look forward to in the

new version of iOS. When can

civilians get their

hands on iOS 8?

Initially it will

be restricted to

a beta testing

programme, which

app developers

(or those willing to

claim they are app

developers) can


pay to sign up to. These betas will be unfi nished

versions of iOS 8 that are likely to contain fl aws,

glitches and design elements that are later changed,

but joining the beta means you can get a good idea

of iOS 8’s broad design ideas and main features

before committing to the fi nal version.

Expect iOS 8 proper to be rolled out to the

public around September or October – most likely

alongside the iPhone 6.

Visual design and interface

After a succession of operating systems that looked

roughly the same, iOS 7 was a stark departure:

brighter, lighter, less skeuomorphic and far more

modern than iOS 6. As we expected, Apple hasn’t

done anything as radical as this for iOS 8.

iOS 8’s broad aesthetic cues are as far as we can

tell almost exactly the same as iOS 7, with the same

clean, minimal icons, and transparency eff ects in

place of iOS 6’s skeuomorphic design elements. It

retains the bold (but very slightly toned down) colour

palette of later iterations of iOS 7, which saw the

bright green of iOS 7.0 darkened a touch.


iOS 8’s interface is largely the same as iOS 7’s too.

But there are a few changes. Take the app-switching

interface. As well as your open apps, this now shows

circular thumbnails of recently ‘used’ contacts. Tap

one of these and iOS 8 off ers icons that let you ring,

FaceTime or text that person, depending on what

contact details you have available.

However, most of the changes to iOS’s interface

are designed to cope with new features, which we

will look at next.

New features

iOS 8 has a host of brilliant new features, which we’ll

look at one by one in the following section. But it’s

worth remarking before we start on one interesting

aspect to Apple’s presentation: a lot of emphasis

was given to developer-specifi c, highly techie parts

of iOS 8, and the new openness Apple is allowing

in the things that app developers can do within iOS

8. So we’ll divide this into two parts: innate features

that iOS 8 itself can do, and developer features that

will allow apps to do new things.


Messages

Messages – which Apple software head Craig

Federighi pointed out is the most used app in iOS

– gets lots of handy tweaks.

Group messages are organised far more

conveniently. You can use iOS’s Do Not Disturb

mode on a per-thread basis, such as situations when

a group message thread has got out of hand and

your device keeps buzzing with notifi cations of new

messages. Or, in a more drastic measure, you can

leave a group message thread at any point. If lots of

people in the thread have been posting images or

videos, you don’t need to worry about keeping track

of them all, because Messages organises all the

attachments in a Messages thread at the bottom of

the thread. Finally, you can share your location with


other members of a thread indefi nitely or for various

limited periods of time.

You can send voice and video messages that

self-destruct (to save memory) after a certain period

of time unless you choose to save them.

Brilliantly, voice messages sent via Messages

appear in the lock screen with a waveform graphic,

and you can listen to the message in question by

simply lifting the iPhone to your ear – iOS detect the

motion and interprets the gesture automatically (as

usual, we look forward to testing this out and seeing

how accurate it really is). You can then reply, again

without pressing any on-screen controls; speak your

reply, then lower the phone and the message is sent.

Mail

The Mail app has been updated with gesture

support and a wide range of small but convenient

tweaks and new features.

You can use gestures to delete, fl ag or ‘unread’

messages, swiping across a message to perform the


chosen action: it’s a single swipe to mark as unread,

fl ick across and tap to fl ag, or drag all the way across

to delete. We’ve seen gesture support like this in

third-party apps but it’s nice to see Apple taking

developments on board.

In a form of in-app multitasking, you can fl ick a

message down to the bottom of the screen, check

or copy material from another message, and then

return to it with a single click. From the demo, it

appeared to be roughly the same as minimising a

window on a desktop OS – highly convenient.

And Federighi showcased the ability of Mail to

recognise an invitation in a marketing email as an

event, and off er to add it to Calendar.

Last of all, a new feature called MailDrop allows

emailed attachments to be stored in the cloud

rather than sent directly with the message, so that

the recipient can read the rest of the message (and

download the attachment separately) even if a full

server would previously have caused a bounceback.

Interactive notifi cations

As you’ll have noticed when we replied to a voice

message from the lock screen, iOS 8 lets you

accomplish far more without leaving the app you’re

in, thanks to more responsive notifi cations.

Facebook, Messages or Twitter notifi cations

pop down into your screen and can be responded

to there and then – you get the option to reply or

Like, accept or decline Calendar invitations and so

on, all from the lock screen or Notifi cation Centre.

Alternatively, notifi cations can be fl icked away.


Continuity

This could be the biggest attention-grabber of all,

and aff ects Mac OS X Yosemite as well. It’s a very

cool concept.

Continuity is the name Apple is giving to

enhanced compatibility between its new desktop

and mobile platforms, enabling you to for instance

answer iPhone calls on your Mac (a notifi cation will

appear even if your iPhone is downstairs charging),

or continue a message started on iPad on Mac or

vice versa. If you’re composing an email on your

phone and walk up to your Mac, Mail on the Dock

in Mac OS X will prompt you that you’re composing

a message; you can click it to carry on writing the

email on your Mac.

Finally – and much requested – iOS 8’s

Continuity allows you to AirDrop between your

mobile device and the Mac.


QuickType predictive typing

iOS 8 off ers a major step forward on the keyboards

front. QuickType is a form of predictive typing that

looks far more ambitious than the modest auto-

correct-level predictions in previous versions. We’re

not just talking about completing words you’ve

nearly fi nished typing – in Messages, Mail and

similar contexts, iOS 8 will off er entire words that it

suspects you may wish to use based on context, in

a little palette above the keyboard.

For example, if you type a message to a friend

suggesting dinner, predictive typing might add “and

a movie”. Eerie, no? And naturally this cries out for

exhaustive testing.

Our testing suggests that QuickType is a potential

timesaver that will improve as both the service and

the user learn more about the other. On occasion

we found ourselves able to type out an entire

sentence with single clicks because QuickType was

in a particularly astute mood, but in others it was

eff ectively auto-complete with good PR.


Furthermore, Apple says iOS 8 will be able to

learn the words you typically use and understand

the context in which you’re typing, such as a

business or personal communication – messages

it sense are intended for business use would see

more formal suggestions.

This sounds amazing, but we didn’t notice a

particularly nuanced grasp of context – although

this may be something else that improves with time.

The best we could say is that QuickType appeared

to sense diff erences in tone on a per-app basis: in

other words, it tended to off er more casual words in

Messages, and was more formal in Mail.

We’d got the impression from the keynote that

it would be more subtle than this (detecting lexical

tendencies relating to specifi c people and specifi c

conversations, for instance), but more testing will be

needed before we can comment on that.

In order to safeguard privacy, all the information

QuickType acquires about your writing style will stay

on the device, Federighi insisted.

Safari

Here’s a small but attractive change to the Safari

interface: on iPad, you can get a ‘bird’s eye view’ of

all the tabs you’ve got open. And the sidebar from

Mavericks is now present in Safari on iOS.

Apple didn’t announce it during the event, but

Safari users will be able to use DuckDuckGo – highly

privacy-focused search engine – as the default

search. This was one of several subtle shots at

Google – whose business model is built around

gathering large volumes of user data – that Apple


took during the night. In a further nod to privacy

fans, Safari on iOS 8 will enable Private Browsing

on a per-tab basis.

The main changes in the way you use Safari,

however, are likely to be seen in the developer

changes we’ll discuss later – the ability for third-

party apps to share data with Safari and be added to

the sharing pane, for instance. (The examples given

were a Pinterest ‘pinning’ feature and an in-Safari

translator by Bing. Neither of these are innate to

Safari, but third-party apps will be able to create

new optional features that you can import.)

Camera

Apple didn’t discuss this on stage, but there are

some nice updates for the Camera app.

If you tap the screen to focus on a point in the

frame, a slider appears underneath that allows you

to adjust the exposure compensation on the fl y. The

implementation is a bit odd – it seems more eff ective


to swipe across the entire screen, when the intuitive

thing would be to move the slider itself – but it’s a

handy extra feature.

Other updates include:

Time-lapse video: Probably the most imagination-

catching of the Camera updates; it’s a surprise this

didn’t get a mention on stage. iOS 8 introduces a

new Time-lapse video mode, whereby the Camera

app will take photos at dynamic intervals to create a,

well, time-lapse video.

Camera timer: Odd this hasn’t been included

before, really. iOS 8 will feature a camera timer.

Burst and Panorama modes get more inclusive:

In iOS 8, graphics optimisations will give users of

older iPhones access to the quicker burst mode

previously only available to the iPhone 5s (other

phones used to get a slower version of this, which


only snapped images once every half-second or so).

And the iPad gets access to Panorama photos.

Separate focus and exposure controls: You

will soon be able to independently control the

focus and exposure of a scene in iOS 8. There are

several ways the Camera app could implement this,

including tap-to-focus with an exposure slider or two

separate tap-to-focus reticles.

iCloud Drive

This is a sort of Dropbox-esque cloud storage

service with seemingly wide cross-platform,

cross-app compatibility. If you’re in an app like

Sketchbook, for instance, you can bring up the

iCloud Drive pane, and access the fi les there.

Any edits you make are saved back to the

original location. You’ll have access to all of those

documents on your Mac and Windows as well.

There are implications for the Photos apps, too,

which we’ll come to in a bit.


Health

Health is a new app that brings together a variety

of health and fi tness-related metrics – collated

from fi tness bands and various third-party devices

– that you can monitor easily in a single interface.

Some analysts expected new hardware to

accompany Apple’s health-related software updates

– maybe even a health-monitoring iWatch. Instead,

these features will work with a range of third-party

fi tness bands and health accessories. (Nike and

Withings products were displayed as examples.)

Naturally, that doesn’t rule out some kind of wearable

or health-monitoring accessory in the future.

Related to this, Apple also announced HealthKit,

which will enable third parties to build their own

compatible software. Given the many diff erences

between the healthcare systems in Britain and

the US (not least the corporate spending power

it commands in America), it’s debatable how

much we’ll see the examples shown last night

– a healthcare monitoring system from a private

fi rm called Mayo Clinic – replicated over here, but

it all looks well designed.


Family Sharing

Family Sharing is a lovely idea, that sounds like it will

be both safe and convenient. You set up as a family

(informing iOS of the various members of your family

and their devices) and it will automatically confi gure

photo sharing, location tracking and the free sharing

of digital media across up to six family members

(they need to share a credit card). It looks simple,

although of course we’ll have to reserve judgement

until we’ve wrestled with the feature ourselves.

In a nice response to some controversies with

high-spending toddlers lately, Family Sharing

includes a parental lock feature for app downloads:

when your kids try to buy an app, they have to get

permission (and a permission request automatically

appears on your device). Federighi didn’t specify

whether this would apply to in-app purchases, but

we would assume so, since that tended to be the

cause of the worst spending sprees.


Photos

Photos is where iCloud Drive comes into its own.

Photos shot on any iOS device are automatically

saved in the cloud and accessible on all of your

other iOS devices.

To cope with the enormous volumes of photos

this is likely to create on each of your devices, Apple

is talking up the enhanced smart search features

in iOS 8 Photos. Search terms are returned as

locations, times and album names.

You can edit photos within the app (using auto

straightening and cropping, for instance, and smart

editing based on ‘intelligent image analysis’) and the

edits are transferred across to other iOS devices,

pretty much instantly.

All of this worked seamlessly in the demo,

needless to say. Will our mileage vary? We’re also a

little concerned about the free allocation of space

provided with iCloud, which may get used up

quickly. Whether users will be willing to pay for more

storage is debatable – although the pricing schemes

announced tonight do seem quite reasonable.


Siri

Another new feature we expected

was Shazam, and sure enough, it’s

integrated into Siri: Siri can recognise

songs that are playing nearby, and

then lets you buy them from iTunes.

But that’s not the only upgrade for

Siri in iOS 8.

Car-bound Siri users can now fi re

it up by saying “Hey Siri!” No need

to tap the controls. (Presumably this

means the device is always listening

out for commands? Will this impact

battery life?) And there’s ‘streaming

voice recognition’, which simply

means Siri displays what you’re

saying (or what it thinks you’re

saying) while you’re saying it. If

nothing else, this will be a godsend

for those moments where you say a long question

and then see Siri had absolutely no idea what you

were saying. Last of all, there are 22 new languages

accepted for Siri voice recognition, and 24 new

dictation languages.

Weather

One last – and relatively minor – change relates to

the Weather app. Apple’s weather data was formerly

proved by Yahoo; now, it’s from The Weather Channel.

We looked at the two forecasts on iOS 7 and iOS

8 at the same moment, and it was pretty much the

same – just the odd degree in a few days’ time, and a

diff erence of a minute on that day’s sunset.


New features for developers

This might not seem relevant to the average iPhone

or iPad user, but the developer-centric updates in

iOS 8 are likely to result in some very interesting

new apps and app features. Its new willingness to

allow app developers more freedom in modifying the

user experience and (with permission) aff ecting the

behaviour of other apps is a new direction for Apple.

A lot of the most intriguing stuff in iOS 8 isn’t

about the features Apple is providing, but the

opportunities it’s creating for third-party app

developers. Widgets, Extensibility, Touch ID API,

keyboards, home-automation APIs – we’ll only

grasp the signifi cance of all this once the developer

community has got its claws into the new kits.


App Store improvements

First up, Apple announced some changes that will

make it easier for developers to sell their wares

on its store. App bundles are now allowed: if

developers and publishers allow it, you’ll be able

to bundles of multiple apps with a single click (and

presumably a discounted price).

As well as screenshots, devs will be able to post

preview videos on the App Store. And the apps

should be easier to fi nd: Apple says its new Explore

search facility is far better at showing the apps you

want. (Spotlight also now suggests purchasable apps

that fi t your search criteria when you search within

iOS itself, which may lead to a few extra sales.)

Finally, you’ll be able to join beta tests of new

apps using Apple’s TestFlight beta test service.

Extensibility and widgets

Apps can now ‘talk to each other’, sharing

data and modifying each other’s behaviour

in small ways, although Apple was keen to

stress the security measures designed to

safeguard this process – any data transferred

will move via iOS’s own security.

This means, for example, that Pinterest

can share its data with Safari and allow the

user to add a Pinterest entry to the Safari

sharing pane. Or Safari could gain a Bing

translate feature, as seen below. (Interesting

for Apple to be pushing Bing, isn’t it? One in

the eye for Google.)

But doesn’t that sound a bit like... widgets?

Yes! iOS 8 fi nally gets widgets.


You can download widgets from apps and

customise their position on the Notifi cations screen.

The example Craig Federighi gave was a (rather

brilliant) eBay widget that lets you observe the

progress of your auctions, and make a bid from

the Notifi cations Centre itself. (In general, the

Notifi cation Centre has been empowered to make

far more actions without resorting to the individual

apps’ own interfaces.)

Third-party keyboards

On a related theme, but worth its own entry because

of its signifi cance, iOS 8 is open to system-wide

third-party keyboards. This is huge, and tackles one

of the biggest complaints we had about iOS in the

past – its infl exible and backward-

looking keyboard.

With this change, you’ll be able

to download a Swype-style swiping

keyboard and use it throughout iOS

8. This small, simple feature – Swype

lets you type by moving your fi nger

smoothly across the letters you want

without leaving the screen – is the

single element in Android that we

used to be most envious of.

Between this and QuickType, iOS

8 now has state-of-the-art typing

options. Assuming QuickType is

as good as it looks, typing will be

great out of the box, with a range of

system-wide upgrades available for

power users.


Third-party Touch ID

Touch ID, the fi ngerprint scanner off ered on the

iPhone 5s (and presumably on further iOS devices

yet to be launched) is now being opened up to

third parties too. So instead of being confi ned to

unlocking your device and a few key preinstalled

apps, you can use your fi ngerprint to log into

banking apps, make secure payments and so on.

As with most of these new developer tools, it

remains to be seen how this will actually aff ect the

user. But we’d be surprised if we don’t see extensive

use of the Touch ID API in third-party apps, because

of its great security and convenience.

Home automation & HomeKit API

The last of the features we predicted, under the

speculative heading of ‘iHome’. Instead it’s known as

the HomeKit API, which will let

devs build home-automation

apps to work with iOS.

One example given was

the ability to say “Get ready

for bed!” to Siri, causing the

system to check that all doors

are locked and lights are

dimmed, but the possibilities

are endless.

Bitcoin and other

virtual currencies

A small one, this, but a change

to the App Store guidelines

may allow virtual currencies


to be transferred and accepted. The relevant clause

in the “Purchasing and Currencies” section reads

as follows: “Apps may facilitate transmission of

approved virtual currencies provided that they do so

in compliance with all state and federal laws for the

territories in which the app functions.”

Metal graphics system

We’re really getting into developer tech now, but

the nutshell summary of the new Metal graphics

system is quite appealing: more effi cient rendering

of detailed 3D graphics. Obviously we look forward

to testing the fruits of Metal thoroughly and seeing

for ourselves how eff ective it is.

Tim Sweeney, the boss of Infi nity Blade developer

Epic Games, was brought on stage to demonstrate

a new Zen Garden game built with the Metal

technology. He described the new possibilities as

“an order of magnitude increase of detail” – with

10,000 petals at one point being simulated, and

3,500 individually animated butterfl ies.


You’ll soon be able to see for yourselves how

impressive this all is, because the Zen Garden demo

app will be made available for free on the App Store

in due course. But the real test of the technology

will come in the quality of commercial gaming apps

launched in the next few years.

Swift programming language

Last of all (and exciting the developers in the

audience very much), Apple announced a new

programming language for both iOS and Mac

software, called Swift. After reporting Apple’s (by

this point quite openly technical) announcement

that Swift features “closures, generics, namespaces,

multiple return types and type inference”, our

US colleague Dan Moren pointed out that “the

biggest cheer at this event, you heard it, came at

‘namespaces’.”

Swift is something we’ll be hearing a lot more

about in the future. For now, take a look at our article

Apple unveils Swift, a new programming language

for iOS, Mac for more details.


How do I upgrade to iOS 8?

Upgrading is easy – once the update is rolled out

to the public. You simply go into the Settings app,

General, then Software Update, and if there’s a new

version of iOS, you can download and install it from

this screen. It will be a free upgrade.

(Bear in mind that in theory you will only be able

to upgrade to the absolute latest version of iOS at

the time of upgrading. If iOS 8.1 has come out by

the time you upgrade, for instance, you’ll be able to

get that one, not iOS 8.0. But occasionally iOS users

have found themselves forced to upgrade via an

intervening version. That’s not supposed to happen,

but doesn’t seem to cause any long-term problems.)

Will I be able to downgrade

from iOS 8 to iOS 7 (or iOS 6)?

Based on past behaviour, probably not – so beware.

iPhone and iPad owners who signed up to the iOS

7 beta, and therefore got access to the operating

system before it offi cially launched, could go back to

iOS 6 if they didn’t like it. This downgrading process


was relatively simple. Now, it’s possible that Apple

will run things diff erently with iOS 8. We hope so; it

would be nice if Apple let members of the public try

iOS 8 and then go back if it wasn’t for them. But this

would be a surprise.

How should I prepare for the iOS 8 launch?

Before you upgrade, it’s a good idea to save your

handset’s SHSH blob. This is a cryptographic key – a

small bit of saved data – that Apple uses to control

the version of iOS you can install on your iPhone or

other iOS device. Each one is uniquely generated for

a specifi c device, so you can’t use someone else’s.

Jailbreakers commonly save these blobs locally so

that in future they can trick iTunes into restoring their

devices to an earlier version of iOS. For more on

SHSH blobs read our article at tinyurl.com/qhtn335.

Ultimately the best plan for the iOS 8 launch is

to frequently check tech sites you trust, such as

Macworld for details of new features and design

changes from iOS 7, and then if possible (and if

one of your friends takes the plunge) try the new

software on a friend’s device. Make your mind up

as far as possible, then upgrade.

iPad & iPhone User’s verdict

The fourth beta of iOS 8 has a host of small but

convenient tweaks (particularly in Messages, Mail

and Photos, but throughout the system), and opens

up new possibilities for app developers to get

creative. Widgets are a big addition, third-party

keyboards are a huge addition, and we can’t wait to

see what games developers do with Metal.


What can we expect from Apple’s next fl agship model

The iPhone 5s is rapidly approaching its fi rst

birthday, after being launched by Apple

in September 2013. That means Apple is

preparing to launch its next iPhone, presumably

called the iPhone 6. But what will the diff erence

between the iPhone 5s and 6 be? We investigate the

rumoured new features to help give you an idea of

what to expect.

Screen size

First things fi rst let’s talk about screen size. Expect

bigger from the iPhone 6, that’s for sure.

iPhone 5s vs iPhone 6


The 5s has a 4in display, which for a fl agship

smartphone in 2014 is actually pretty tiny. Even

mini versions of fl agship phones from Samsung, LG

and HTC have displays bigger than 4in. It’s widely

expected that the iPhone 6 will have a 4.7in display.

There’s also talk of a second new iPhone coming

this year, this one dubbed iPhone Air with a 5.5in

display. The screen of the 6 could also be higher

resolution than the 5s. The 5s has a 326ppi display,

but it’s possible that the 6’s display could have a

pixel density of up to 538ppi like the LG G3.

Design

Not only is the iPhone 6 expected to have a bigger

screen, it’s also expected to have a signifi cantly

diff erent design to the iPhone 5s. The 5s has straight

edges, but it looks like the iPhone 6’s edges will be

rounded, a bit like the iPad Air and iPod touch. It’s

also expected to be thinner than the iPhone 5s’s

7.6mm. Apple could achieve this thinner and lighter


design through the use of super-durable sapphire

glass for the display, combined with lightweight and

strong Liquidmetal, which Apple has exclusive rights

to use. This means that, not only will the iPhone 6

be lighter and thinner than the iPhone 5s, it should

also be less likely to scratch, crack or shatter.

Several allegedly leaked photographs of the

iPhone 6’s back seem to suggest that it will have an

illuminated Apple logo on the back. The iPhone 5s’s

Apple logo is made of metal. It’s thought that the

iPhone 6’s power button might be on the side of the

device instead of on the top like it is in the 5s.

Features and specifi cations

In addition to the changes we can expect to see on

the outside of the iPhone 6, you can also expect

signifi cantly improved internal specs. The iPhone 5s

has a powerful A7 processor, so we’re expecting an

even better A8 processor in the iPhone 6. There’s


an M7 coprocessor in the iPhone 5s that’s expected

to carry across to the iPhone 6, and both iPhones

will share the Touch ID fi ngerprint sensor. We’ve

heard rumours about a bigger and better battery in

the iPhone 6, but some of that extra power could be

used up by the iPhone 6’s bigger display.

Other additions that we could see in the iPhone

6 include wireless charging, an NFC chip, 802.11ac

Wi-Fi and a new 128GB option, none of which are

available in the iPhone 5s.

Camera

The camera in the iPhone 6 is likely to represent a

signifi cant improvement over the iPhone 5s. The

iPhone 5s has an 8Mp camera with an f/2.2 aperture,

but rumour has it that Apple is planning on boosting

that to a 10Mp camera with an f/1.8 aperture and an

improved fi lter. Image stabilisation and other image

editing enhancements are expected, too.

Price and availability

The iPhone 5s is available to buy from Apple

now, with a starting price of £549. The iPhone 6 is

expected to become available in September, and

will probably have a similar starting price.


How do the two compact tablets measure up?

Samsung has unveiled its Galaxy Tab S

8.4, a compact Android 4.4 KitKat tablet

with an 8.4in screen. Here we compare

the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 and key rival the

Apple iPad mini 2 (aka Apple iPad mini with Retina

display) to fi nd out whether Apple or Samsung

makes the best compact tablet.

Price and UK availability

Apple’s iPad mini 2 is already on sale in the UK,

priced from £319 for the base model with 16GB

of storage to £659 for the 128GB model with 4G

connectivity.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 vs iPad mini 2


Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S 8.4 will go on

sale in the UK on 4 July, matching the

iPad mini at £319 with 16GB of storage,

or £419 with 4G LTE connectivity. A

32GB model will also be available. Full

details are available in our Samsung

Galaxy Tab S 8.4 release date, UK price

and specs article. Also check out its

bigger brother in our Samsung Galaxy

Tab S 10.5 hands-on review.

When the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4

was fi rst announced we were surprised

to learn it was to be more expensive

than the iPad mini. Yes, more expensive

versions of the iPad mini 2 are available,

but at their comparable points – 16GB

with and without 4G connectivity – the iPad was to

come in £30 cheaper. But as we said at the time:

“Whereas the iPad mini will retain its price until the

next version is unveiled by Apple, Samsung’s Galaxy

Tab S 8.4 will quickly fall in price – even by its 4 July

launch it could well be available at a lower price

than the iPad mini.” Indeed, a week before its 4 July

launch Samsung has matched Apple’s pricing.

Design and build

Apple’s iPad mini 2 is available in Space Grey and

Silver, while the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.4 will

come in Titanium Bronze and Dazzling White.

Despite featuring a larger 8.4in screen, Samsung’s

Galaxy Tab S 8.4 is the more compact tablet, both

thinner and lighter than the 7.9in-screen iPad mini 2.

It’s just 6.6mm thick and 294g (298g with 4G) to the


iPad’s 7.5mm and 331g. The iPad mini 2 is also wider,

at 134.7mm versus the Tab’s 125.6mm, but the Galaxy

tablet is taller, at 212.8mm versus the iPad’s 200mm.

Display

Apple is well known for the quality of its amazing

Retina displays, the idea behind which is that they

are suffi ciently high-res that the human eye is unable

to distinguish between individual pixels and there is

no need to go any higher. Actually, LG proved at its

recent LG G3 launch that we can tell the diff erence,

and its Quad HD screen is more true to life than

anything we’ve seen from Apple.

But back to Apple and Samsung. Apple has fi tted

its iPad mini 2 with a 7.9in IPS multitouch panel with

2048x1536 pixels, which equates to a pixel density

of 326ppi. Samsung instead plumps for a Super

AMOLED panel in its Galaxy Tab, but it’s both larger

and higher in resolution: 8.4in, 2560x1600, 359ppi.


Processor and memory

It’s diffi cult to compare the performance of the

Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 and Apple iPad mini with

Retina display without getting them into our lab and

running some benchmarks, particularly given the fact

the two are running diff erent operating systems.

Whereas the iPad mini 2 is fi tted with the 1.3GHz

Apple A7 chip, the same 64-bit chip with motion

co-processor featured in the iPhone 5s and Apple

iPad Air, Samsung has fi tted its own Eynos Octa-core

chip, which pairs four 1.9GHz cores with four 1.3GHz

cores. Samsung also supplies 3GB of memory to the

iPad mini’s 1GB. Note that this does not necessarily

mean the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 will be faster –

software plays a huge part in performance.

Storage

Apple might win on the storage

front in terms of how much usable

storage is available out of the box,

but Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S 8.4

features a microSDXC slot that

lets you add cards up to 128GB

in capacity. And we’re pretty sure

it won’t cost you £240 to buy a

128GB memory card, which is the

price diff erence between Apple’s

16- and 128GB iPad minis.

Connectivity

Both iPad mini 2 and Samsung

Galaxy Tab S 8.4 feature

Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac


Wi-Fi with MIMO and GPS, and

are available in versions with 4G

LTE connectivity. The Samsung

also supports IR and Wi-Fi Direct

but, more importantly, uses the

industry-standard Micro-USB port

for charging or connecting to a

PC; Apple uses its proprietary

Lightning port. Plus, the Galaxy

Tab S has a fi ngerprint scanner.

Cameras

The Samsung Galaxy Tab’s

cameras off er more megapixels

both front and back, although

we’re unlikely to make use of

either tablet’s 5- (Apple) and 8Mp

(Samsung) rear cameras. Even if they

do both support full-HD video recording at 30fps,

and the Galaxy Tab benefi ts from an LED fl ash. Let’s

face it, we’d look pretty stupid.

More likely is we might want to use the front-

facing camera for video chat – probably Skype

on the Tab, and both that and FaceTime on the

iPad. Here the Samsung’s camera is slightly better

on paper, at 2.1Mp versus the iPad’s 1.2Mp iSight

camera. Of course, neither will take mind-blowing

photos, and both will do the job.

Software

Right now the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 runs

Android 4.4 KitKat and the iPad mini 2 runs iOS 7.

Both will be upgraded when the next versions of


each platform are released – Android possibly later

this month at Google I/O, and iOS 8 is expected in

September.

The software each tablet runs is likely to be the

most important factor in which device you choose to

buy, so it makes no sense to brush over it here. Read

more about Android KitKat, and what you can expect

from Android Lollipop (or whatever it ends up being

called), iOS 7 and the forthcoming iOS 8.

Battery life

We can’t properly measure battery life until we

have the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 in our lab. All

we know is that it’s fi tted with a 4,900mAh battery.

Meanwhile, Apple claims that its iPad mini 2 will last

10 hours of web browsing.

iPad & iPhone User’s verdict

It’s diffi cult to decide which tablet is best without

having both devices in our lab for thorough testing. I

am an iOS user, we would always take the iPad over

the Galaxy Tab. Samsung’s tablet is still a very good

device, it’s just that Apple’s is better.


We put the UK’s 3G and 4G networks to the test

Choosing a smartphone or tablet is just the

start. In this world of constant connectivity,

the quality and speed of your chosen

network is critical to your ability to work and play

on the hoof. But which mobile network is best?

Connectivity can vary from locale to locale, and day

to day. Visit the websites of the major players and

Mobile networks

IN ASSOCIATION WITH


they will tell you that they have great coverage,

everywhere. The truth is more nuanced.

So in the interests of providing excellent

independent data, we teamed up with Broadband

Genie and set out to test mobile broadband under

real-world conditions over most of the length of

the UK. We travelled from London to Edinburgh to

discover which 3G and 4G networks are best for

speed, and for reliability.

We tested 3G- and 4G mobile broadband on

the four main networks, with a selection of tasks

designed to emulate actual usage and push

performance to the limit.

The contenders, and how we tested

The major mobile broadband providers who

agreed to take part in our test were: 3, EE,

O2 and Vodafone. EE incorporates Orange

and T-Mobile, so we tested all of the UK’s

nationally available networks.


We asked each vendor to furnish us with a 3G

and a 4G dongle, and over the course of two days

we took a train from London to Edinburgh and

back, carrying out 39 tests along the way. Each

network was evaluated by a dedicated individual,

so each test took place at exactly the same time, in

the same location.

Our tests fell into three categories: speed, video,

and download and upload times. Speed tests

are straightforward: at the appointed time each

connection was put through Broadband Genie’s

own speed test, and the results recorded. For

video, we streamed a range of clips from a variety

of sources, recording what point in the clip each

connection allowed the viewer to reach, if they

allowed them to play at all. And for the fi nal category

of tests, each network was used to down- or upload

a specifi ed fi le to or from the internet. In each case,

we recorded whether the network succeeded or

failed, and if the latter how far it got.


UK’s best mobile network of 2014

We can reveal that 3 is the UK’s best mobile

network of 2014. Both on 3G and 4G, the provider

completed more tests than any other network. It was

the fastest, with excellent average and peak scores

in our speed tests up and down the country.

This year’s runner-up was EE. It wasn’t as reliable

as 3 as we traversed the country at high speed,

but it completed more tests than any of the other

providers. Moreover, as we shall see over the

following pages, it’s a fast network.

UK’s fastest 3G and 4G network 2014

Speed isn’t everything, of course, but being able to

surf the web, and download and upload at speed

is the mobile connectivity dream. Seventeen speed

tests were run across both legs of the route, at

speed and at many diff erent locations.

Three is the UK’s fastest mobile network, on

4G and 3G. Its 4G dongle managed an average


download of 6.19Mb/s and an upload speed of

1.54Mb/s, and gave us the single fastest speed test

result of the entire Road Trip with a rapid 19.53Mb/s.

The provider’s 3G service was also extremely

impressive thanks to an average 4.48Mb/s download

and 1.4Mb/s upload speed. That’s not only faster

than every other 3G network, but quicker than

almost all the rival 4G networks, too, with only

Vodafone’s 4G beating it on average upload speed.

Three’s 3G also recorded the second fastest top

speed (for both 3G and 4G) of 15.41Mb/s.

EE was once again the runner-up, being the

second fastest 3G and 4G network in the UK. EE’s

tested averages of 3.99- and 0.62Mb/s for 4G and

2.62- and 0.91Mb/s on 3G were consistent, and

peaked at 7.64Mb/s on 3G and 12.34Mb/s for 4G.

O2 isn’t far behind EE. The provider’s 4G

averaged 4.13Mb/s up and 0.89Mb/s down, while its

3G network scored 2.03- and 1.24Mb/s. In our tests,

we found that it peak speeds were slightly lower:

11.83Mb/s was the best on 4G, 4.27Mb/s for 3G.

Unfortunately, coverage issues adversely aff ected


O2’s speed scores – we could complete only seven

of the 17 speed scores. So although it’s possible O2

is faster than our results show, you need to be able

to get online in the fi rst place to measure speed.

Last but not least of the UK’s best 3G- and 4G

networks is Vodafone. Its 4G successfully completed

eight speed tests for averages of 3.2- and 1.49Mb/s,

with a top download of 7.92Mb/s and the overall

fastest upload of 7.23Mb/s. Not bad at all on 4G,

then. Unfortunately, it’s behind on 3G. Average

scores of 1.21Mb/s download and 0.66Mb/s upload

are disappointing. Just two successful speed tests

is poor. The average speed of all networks this

year was 3.48Mb/s download and 1.09Mb/s upload,

which is a big improvement on the average 1.24- and

0.72Mb/s of 2013.

UK’s best 3G and 4G network coverage 2014

We measured coverage and reliability based on

how many of the download, upload and video-

streaming tests each network completed. Three

came out top, fi nishing 90 percent of all tests – a

staggering result when you consider that most of

the time we were travelling through rural areas

at speed. We also found 90 percent completion

across both its 3G and 4G networks.

EE was again our runner-up, fi nishing a decent

total of 73 percent of the tests. Its 4G achieved 79

percent, while its 3G service enjoyed slightly less

coverage with a 67 percent success rate. A notable

diff erence between the two is that on tests where

both services failed, EE’s 4G almost always came

closer to fi nishing thanks to its faster speed.


There was then a big drop to O2

and Vodafone. 02 completed just

18 out of a possible 78 tasks. There

were no signifi cant diff erences

between 3G and 4G – both scored

23 percent and experienced long

periods with no connectivity at the

same time. Down at the bottom is

Vodafone, with a disappointing 17

percent completion rate. Its 3G was

only able to fi nish just four of 38 tasks,

and its 4G was marginally more successful with 23

percent. Both providers struggled outside of heavily

populated areas such as London and Edinburgh.

UK’s best 3G network 2014

Of the four 3G networks on test, 3 demonstrated

the best performance. We recorded an outstanding

top download speed of 15.41Mb/s, and average

speeds were 4.48Mb/s down and 1.4Mb/s up. The

provider maintained a connection throughout much

of the journey to complete 90 percent of all the

tests. A great 3G network.

EE was not as good, getting a reasonable average

download speed of 2.62Mb/s and a less impressive

0.91Mb/s average upload. It also had the second

fastest 3G result of 7.64Mb/s. Completing 67 percent

of tests on 3G is a decent result, too.

02’s 3G dongle gave a strong performance,

with an average 2.03- and 1.24Mb/s, and a peak

download speed of 4.27Mb/s. Again reliability was

an issue, with only nine out of 39 tests successful.

But at least it was better than Vodafone’s 3G


off ering, which completed just 10 percent of all the

tasks. The average speed was a meagre 1.21Mb/s

down and 0.66Mb/s up, with a top speed of just

1.95Mb/s down.

UK’s best 4G network 2014

Guess what: 3 was the best 4G network, too. It

completed 90 percent of tests, with average speed

test results of 6.19- and 1.54Mb/s. The provider’s 4G

top speed of 19.53Mb/s was also the single fastest

result recorded, and its peak upload of 2.89Mb/s

was impressive.

EE wasn’t able to match 3 on speed or coverage,

but still performed well. A success rate of 79 percent

in tests was good, as was an average download

time 3.99Mb/s. The 0.62Mb/s average upload

was disappointing, though, it managed a peak

downstream rate of 12.34Mb/s.

O2’s 4G beat EE in average speeds, as our speed

testing recorded 4.13Mb/s download and

0.89Mb upload. It also came close on

top speeds with 11.83Mb/s download.

Unfortunately, with only a 23 percent

test completion rate it appears

O2’s network lacks the reach of EE.

Vodafone 4G made up for the weak

results of the 3G service by hitting an

average 3.2Mb/s down and 1.49Mb/s

up, and peak speeds of 7.92- and

7.23Mb/s, which was the fastest

upload speed overall. Unfortunately,

it struggled to hold on to a signal and

managed just 23 percent of the 39 tasks.


Is it worth buying an older iPhone?

Although Android and Windows phones are

every bit as good as iPhones, for many

smartphone users the word ‘iPhone’ remains

a potent label. For a time ‘iPhone’ was to high-end

smartphone as ‘Hoover’ is to vacuum cleaner. And

that means that there is still good resale value in

older iPhones, right back to the iPhone 3G and the

iPhone 3GS. We examine this, fi nding out how much

it costs to buy an iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS, and

then assessing what sort of value that off ers in the

smartphone world of 2014. Here’s our iPhone 3G

and iPhone 3GS buying advice.

iPhone 3G and 3GS


iPhone 3G price

Some research online shows that you can pick up a

used or refurbished iPhone 3G for around £50-£100.

Some stores will charge you around £100-£150 for a

new SIM-free 16GB or 32GB iPhone 3G. We do have

to ask, however, that where are these ‘new’ iPhone

3G’s coming from? This phone was discontinued in

2009, after all.

It’s also worth noting that there is no solid

accepted price for the iPhone 3G, so shop around

for a bargain and don’t accept the fi rst deal you see.

Other things to consider: you could buy a

brand new Lumia 520 or Moto G for £80 or

£150 respectively, so you’d have to really want

an iPhone to shell our similar amounts for a six-

year-old spec phone.

iPhone 3G display

Age does not treat well smartphone displays.

The iPhone 3G sports a 3.5in TFT capacitive

touchscreen, with 16M colours. It has

what now seems a paltry 320x480-pixel

resolution. That makes for a 165ppi pixel

density. Compared to similarly priced

modern budget phones this is not an

impressive display.

iPhone 3G performance

Again we see that

performance has moved

on, a lot, since 2008. The

iPhone 3G sports a 412MHz

ARM 11 chip and just 128MB


RAM. This would be laughed out of town in a new

phone for 2014 – the Moto E has a Dual-core 1.2GHz

Cortex-A7 and 1GB RAM. And that phone costs

just £80. You can see the aff ect in the iPhone 3G’s

performance. A single-core GeekBench 2 score of

140 would look good on a 2014 phone only with a 0

on the end. One other hardware specifi cation that

puts the iPhone 3G into perspective: you get a 2Mp

camera. That was quite impressive in 2008.

iPhone 3G software, compatibility

Here’s the real problem with buying an older

generation smartphone. Current iPhones are running

iOS 7, and looking forward to the full release of iOS

8. The iPhone 3G came with the original iOS, that

was in time upgradable to iOS 4.2.1. To put it bluntly,

without jailbreaking your iPhone 3G you will be able

to install virtually no apps.

It’s also worth pointing out that Apple’s proprietary

connector has changed since the iPhone 3G, too.

There’s no Lightning cable which, perversely, is good


for older peripherals of which there are many that

require Lightning adaptors. But that is not so good

for newer, current devices and cables.

Remember that you have a Mini SIM, too, not a

Micro- or Nano SIM.

iPhone 3G: what we said in 2008

“The iPhone 3G improves on the original iPhone’s

audio quality, off ers access to a faster data network,

and sports built-in GPS functionality. You’ll also be

getting in on the ground fl oor of the exciting new

world of third-party software written for the iPhone.

And business users will appreciate the iPhone’s new

Exchange syncing features.

“If you’re an existing iPhone user, the fact that

your current phone will be able to take advantage

of all the iPhone 2.0 software features, including

Exchange syncing and third-party applications,

blunts some of the excitement of

this upgrade. If you live in an area

with a 3G network and fi nd yourself

chafi ng at the comparatively slow

speeds of the EDGE network all

the time, it’s probably worth the

upgrade. But if you don’t mind

the internet experience on your

current phone, you’d be better

off installing the 2.0 software

update and holding on to

your existing device.”

Not that much better than

the original iPhone, which is

now a museum piece.


Overall then? I wouldn’t be shelling out more than

£50 for an iPhone 3G. And even then it would be

mainly for curiosity value, or to use it as an iPod.

iPhone 3GS price

We can fi nd the iPhone 3GS for sale online for

around £130-£190. These are mostly used or

‘refurbished’, but again we see some ‘new’ iPhone

3GS handsets. Intriguing.

As with the iPhone 3G there is no accepted

price for these handsets so shop around to fi nd

the cheapest. As we mention above you could

buy a brand new Moto E, Lumia 520 or Moto G for

between £80 and £150. So how does the fi ve-year-

old 3GS match up to current budget phones.

iPhone 3GS display

Stop me if this sounds familiar: the iPhone 3GS’

display is a 3.5in TFT capacitive touchscreen, with


16M colours. It is a 320x480-pixel display with a pixel

density of 165ppi. Not brilliant.

iPhone 3GS performance

Things have improved a little from the iPhone 3G

to the iPhone 3GS. You get a Cortex-A8 chip now

running at a faster 600MHz. This is paired with a

still less-than-respectable 256MB RAM. Again the

benchmarks show how far we have gone, with a

GeekBench 3 (single core) score of 150, GeekBench

2: 288. Don’t expect super fast performance from a

fi ve-year-old phone.

Other improvements Apple made between iPhone

3G and 3GS included the upgrading of the camera

to 3.2Mp from 2Mp.

iPhone 3GS software, compatibility

Again you are restricted to a Mini, rather than Micro-

nor Nano-SIM. The iPhone 3GS fi rst came with iOS 3,

but is upgradable to iOS 6.1.3. It can’t of course run

iOS 7, so lots of apps won’t work. But you’ve got a

better chance with the iPhone 3GS than you do with

the iPhone 3G, which will run very few apps.

Again there is no Lightning cable – good for older

peripherals – not so good for newer devices.

iPhone 3GS: what we said in 2009

“The iPhone 3GS addresses most of the

fundamental weaknesses of the previous models,

adding raw speed, voice-activated phone and music

navigation, an improved autofocus camera, and

video-recording features. With two major revisions

in the past year, the iPhone platform has also


progressed a long way. Beyond the wide variety of

third-party apps, the base system has added copy-

and-paste support; support for Microsoft Exchange

calendars, contacts, and email; built-in voice

recording; and search capabilities.

“All of it works together to produce a more refi ned

iPhone that fi rst-time buyers will love and upgraders

will appreciate.

“If you’re upgrading from the iPhone 3G, you’ll

appreciate the speed, although unless you qualify

for a discount or have a friend or family member

to give your iPhone 3G to, the upgrade price might

make you consider waiting for what Apple’s

2010 iPhone might have to off er.

“Users of the original iPhone will be

fl oored by the speed of the phone and

of the 3G wireless network, though they

may fi nd the phone’s shiny plastic back

a step down from the original, elegant

brushed-aluminium edition.

“If you’ve never had an iPhone

before, but are considering the

purchase of a smartphone for the

fi rst time, you will not fi nd a better

internet-connected phone than

the iPhone 3GS.”

Or, at least, that was the

case in 2009. These days

there are far better iPhones

out there, as well as the

upcoming iPhone 6, so we

recommend taking a look at

these new models instead.


Strange ways to kill your iPhone

We take our smartphones everywhere,

so it’s no wonder that they end up in all

manner of sorry states when we drop

them, leave them in a taxi or plain old lose them.

However, there are some extraordinary tales leading

to some rather amusing insurance claims.

Water damage

Electronics’ number one enemy is liquid: water

and iPhones do not mix. It’s not too surprising that

gadget insurer Protect Your Bubble says that almost

10 percent of claims in 2013 were for liquid damage.

One of our very own offi ce iPhones died when

its owner (who shall remain nameless) dropped

Extraordinary tales


their 4s into the toilet bowl. It’s a more common

insurance claim than you might imagine – the

books or magazines we used to read on the throne

are quickly being substituted by their electronic

equivalents.

It isn’t just water that’s a problem, though. One of

Protect Your Bubble’s customers claimed:

“I was decorating our living room and had my

phone in my breast pocket. As I leant over to dip a

brush in a fi ve-litre pot of paint, the phone fell out

and into the bottom of it.”

Forgetfulness is one of the main reasons that

smartphones get drenched and destroyed:

“I was on holiday in Egypt and I decided to go for

a swim in the ocean, forgetting I had put my mobile

phone in my cleavage for safekeeping. I didn’t notice

until I’d been in the sea for 10 minutes, and by that

time my phone had stopped working.”


But phones can also be trashed by distraction.

“I jumped into a swimming pool to escape a wasp,

unfortunately with my mobile in my hand,” one

reader told us, while revealed that “I dunked my

phone in my tea because I got distracted and

thought it was a biscuit.”

It’s important to put your gadgets out of reach of

children and pets, too:

“I couldn’t fi nd my phone indoors anywhere. I

went into the garden later on to fi nd that my dog had

put it in the birdbath.”

Beer and smartphones don’t mix, but it isn’t

always the situation you’d expect. While a fair few

handsets get accidentally dunked, one phones

arrived in a plastic bag for inspection at US-based

insurer Worth Avenue Group after someone who had

too much to drink vomited on it. Urgh.

Smashed screen

Glass screens are the norm these days, which is

slightly baffl ing given how easily they shatter when

dropped. Some people use screen protectors,

while others – reassured by the improved scratch

resistance on modern LCDs – don’t.

One hapless customer managed to destroy his

iPhone’s screen after owning the handset for just

six days: “I went to see Tottenham play at White

Hart Lane. Gareth Bale scored and I jumped up to

celebrate while grabbing my phone to text my wife,

dropped it and smashed the screen.”

Pets (again) are a threat to your smartphone’s

health. One Worth Avenue Group customer made

a claim which started with an iPhone and a cat


sitting peacefully on a table. The iPhone was in

silent mode. When the iPhone received a message,

it began vibrating. The surprised cat swatted at

the iPhone, sending it fl ying across the room and

shattering the screen.

Total annihilation

Not everyone claims for a damaged smartphone,

with plenty of people – 16 percent according to

Protect Your Bubble’s data – making do with a

cracked screen or a scratched or dented device.

Sometimes, though, there’s no option but to get

a new phone, as was the case for these unfortunate

customers. “My grandson thought it was not right for

my phone to be left out on a cold day on the kitchen

table, so he put it in the microwave to warm it up. He

set the microwave on full power for an hour but it

blew up long before that.”

“My little brother took my mobile phone and

destroyed it with a hammer.”


One particularly careless owner put their phone

on their car’s roof and absentmindedly drove off .

That’s happened to the best of us, but she went one

better: she realised what had happened when she

heard it hit the road, tried to turn the car around and

promptly drove over it. Game over, iPhone.

Yet another clumsy customer was taking photos

during a hot air balloon ride when they lost their

grip and dropped their smartphone over the edge

of the basket. Needless to say, it wasn’t a happy

ending for the phone.

Finally, you should always put your phone on

silent when it would otherwise be a distraction.

The consequences of failing to do this can be

catastrophic. “I was out shooting one day when my

mobile phone rang. The gamekeeper confi scated it,

threw it into the air and gave it both barrels of a 12-

bore shotgun,” one reader told us.


Is it the end of the road for Apple’s ‘c’ smartphone

In September 2013, Apple launched not one but

two new iPhones, its fl agship iPhone 5s and the

new, cheaper, plastic-backed 5c. The success of

the 5c is the subject of much debate, and therefore

begs the question: will Apple ever make an iPhone

6c? Here, we explore the evidence to decide

whether an iPhone 6c is coming in 2014.

Will an iPhone 6c come out this year?

Everybody is talking about the upcoming iPhone

6, and it’s looking likely that a September release

date is on the cards. There’s talk of another double

iPhone launch, but this time it’s thought that Apple

will be releasing two new sizes of iPhone, both

iPhone 6c rumours

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bigger than the iPhone 5s’s 4in. But there’s very little

talk of a successor to the 5c, and that’s why we don’t

think there’s going to be one this year.

Ahead of the launch of the 5c last year, we

saw numerous leaked parts showing off the new,

colourful chassis of the device. This year, we’ve

seen nothing of the sort. We’ve been inundated

with iPhone 6 leaked parts and dummy models, but

nothing colourful or plastic that could be destined for

the iPhone 6c.

However, there are several theories about what

Apple is planning to do with the iPhone 5c. After

all, during Apple’s Q3 2014 earnings call on 22 July,

Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that the iPhone 5c

has seen the highest growth in the mid-range iPhone

market, so it’s certainly not a failed product. Right

now, Apple’s iPhone line-up looks like this:


Low-end model: iPhone 4s

Mid-range model: iPhone 5c

Flagship model: iPhone 5s

The iPhone 5c replaced the iPhone 5 completely,

which came as a bit of a surprise, but if you look

closely, the iPhone 5c is pretty much an iPhone 5 a

new exterior.

When Apple releases the iPhone 6 later this

year, what will the line-up look like? The two main

theories are as follows:

Low-end model: iPhone 5c

Mid-range model: iPhone 6c (iPhone 5s with a

plastic exterior)

Flagship model: iPhone 6

Flagship model #2: iPhone Air (5.5in iPhone)

OR

Low-end model: iPhone 5c

Mid-range model: iPhone 5s

Flagship model: iPhone 6

Flagship model #2: iPhone Air


The problem with the fi rst theory, which would

mean Apple launches a successor to the 5c this

year, is that the 5c and 6c will look almost identical.

Of course, that hasn’t stopped Apple from launching

a new phone that looks almost identical to its

predecessor before. The 4s looked just like the

iPhone 4, and the 5s looked very similar to the

iPhone 5 aside from the new gold colour option and

the Touch ID fi ngerprint sensor.

But we still think that the second theory is more

likely. The people buying Apple’s 5c aren’t early

adopters or keen technology enthusiasts looking for

the best possible specs, which is where they diff er

from the fl agship iPhone buyers. They’re Android

switchers, young people, and smartphone buyers

who simply want a good-looking phone that can do

all of the things they want it to. They don’t need the

fancy fi ngerprint sensor or extra processing power,

so it would seem like a strange move from Apple.

Plus, by going with the

second theory, Apple would

be leaving two 4in iPhones

in its line-up that appeal

to diff erent markets. Not

everyone is a fan of the

colourful iPhone 5c design, so

having the aluminium design

of the iPhone 5s in the line-up

would make more sense.

Apple has always focused

on ensuring that the iPhone

can be used one-handed, and

there are many Apple fans that


aren’t keen on the idea of the iPhone getting bigger,

so keeping the 5s available for those who don’t want

a 4.7in or 5.5in smartphone would be wise.

With the iPhone 5c continuing on into 2015, it’s

possible that Apple will turn the internals of the 5s

into a 6c in 2015 when it launches what we presume

will be called the 6s.

iPhone 6c rumours

While there’s no solid evidence to suggest that an

iPhone 6c is coming, or isn’t coming as the case may

be, that hasn’t stopped analysts and Apple watchers

from talking about the possibility.


In fact, some suggest that the iPhone 5c is going

to be discontinued this year. “I would expect them

to cancel the product after the iPhone 6,” said Piper

Jaff ray analyst Gene Munster. “Price cuts are not

what Apple does. They build products they are

passionate about and then charge accordingly.”

We’re not sure we agree with Munster here,

particularly when he talks about price cuts. Recently,

Apple has reduced the price of several of its Macs,

and also the Apple TV.

He said: “Demand [for the iPhone 5c] has not

been good. [Apple] will discount it and use that as a

lever to improve unit growth. I don’t think they will

get rid of it completely.”

In January, The Wall Street Journal published

a report that suggested that the iPhone 5c would

be ditched this year, too, with the plastic design

being removed from Apple’s line-up when two new

iPhones arrive in September.

We’re not convinced that Apple will ditch the

iPhone 5c completely, but we certainly think a

price cut is on the cards to make it the low-end

smartphone off ering from the company.


Why Sapphire screens could be Apple’s next big thing

Many years ago, when Apple’s idea of a

smartphone was the Rokr and the company

wasn’t yet racking in billions of dollars by

the bucketful, a friend of mine came to me with a

rather unique problem: The plastic screen of his iPod

classic – back then, still just ‘an iPod’ – had melted.

A few pointed questions revealed that this was

actually my friend’s second iPod; having grown

frustrated with the scratches on the front plate of

his fi rst unit, he decided to pawn the latter off to his

teenage daughter, buy a new one, and use a bit of

clear packing tap as a makeshift cover to protect the

music player’s screen from being damaged.

Eventually, the tape, too, got scratched; to boot,

when my friend tried peeling it off , it left a nasty

The big screen


residue that resisted every cleaning fl uid he would

throw at it – until he tried paint thinner, and ended

up with an iPod that would have looked perfectly at

home in a Salvador Dalí painting. I helped him fi nd a

reputable repair shop, and, after a few stern words

of warning, he was back in business with a brand

new aftermarket screen plate.

The plastic not so fantastic

As it turns out, the problem of plastic screens getting

too easily damaged was, at the time, on the mind

of another man – none other than Steve Jobs. As

Apple was readying its plans for the launch of the

fi rst-generation iPhone, Jobs realised that a phone

would spend most of its time jiggling around its

users’ pockets alongside keys and change, all of

which would, in short order, turn a plastic screen

into an unreadable mess of dents and scratches.

Readily available and easy to manufacture in

just about any shape, plastic is so versatile that

it’s become the material of choice for all kinds of

mass-produced electronics, from wall clocks to

portable music players. Plastic is also very fl exible

and tends to bend, rather than break, when

subjected to the abuses of everyday life.

This same fl exibility is also its Achilles heel. On

the Mohs Scale, which is used to measure the

hardness of materials, the most commonly used

polycarbonates clock in at a meagre value of three,

about as hard as copper, but three times softer

than iron or nickel, both of which are materials you

are likely to fi nd, in the form of coins and keys, in a

person’s pocket.


Through the looking glass

Jobs knew that to avoid scratches Apple would have

to turn to glass, a material that is, in many ways,

the opposite of plastic. Its relatively high hardness

translates into much better scratch resistance, but at

the cost of much lower fl exibility. At Mohs values that

reach as high as six, a glass-plated screen can easily

survive alongside other trinkets in a pocket, but will

shatter in a hundred pieces when subjected to the

slightest bump or fall.

This problem is traditionally solved by making

glass thicker, or – ironically – interleaving it with

panes of plastic, as is the case, for example, with

most modern car windshields. This approach,

however, wouldn’t help much in the case of a

smartphone, since nobody would presumably want

to carry around (or buy) a device protected by a one-

inch pane of heavy glass.

As told in Walter Isaacson’s biography, Jobs’s

quest for an iPhone-worthy glass took him all the

way to Corning, a small city of 12,000 in south-


central New York state that was named after the

railroad tycoon who funded most of its original

development in the nineteenth century – and is also

home to a glass manufacturer that shares its name.

Corning (the company) knew a thing a thing

or two about making glass tough. It had built

the windows for the Space Shuttle, and spent

decades researching and developing special glass

that would retain high degrees of strength even

when laid out in thin sheets for applications like

car racing and aerospace manufacturing, where

weight comes at a premium.

Gorilla on a diet

At Corning, Jobs found – and eventually convinced

CEO Wendell Weeks to mass produce – a material

that the company had dubbed ‘Gorilla glass’. As

clear as plate glass, Gorilla sported a higher Mohs

value and much better strength, making it perfect

for Apple’s upcoming family of smartphones.

Gorilla glass begins its life with a composition

that is similar to regular glass: a brew that

includes aluminium, silicon, oxygen, and

alkali like sodium is melted together into

a substance that lacks a specifi c overall

structure – what chemists call an

amorphous solid. This is

then cooled and fl oated into

sheets of arbitrary thickness.

Unlike regular glass,

however, Gorilla undergoes

a further chemical

process, during which it is


submerged in potassium nitrate – a salt you may

better know as one of the compounds that give

bacon its pink colour and keep it from spoiling into

a cesspool of harmful bacteria.

This is no ordinary brine, however: The nitrate

is heated to more than 300Cº, at which point it

melts. When the plain glass comes into contact with

the molten salt, a process known as ion exchange

causes the sodium ions inside the glass to be

replaced by the potassium in the nitrate.

Because potassium atoms are much bigger than

their sodium counterparts, when the glass cools

down again, they push harder against each other,

creating a layer of compression stress in the fi nished

material that helps prevent cracks from forming,

thus making Gorilla glass more shock resistant

while retaining the imperviousness to scratches

that makes glass screens more desirable than

those made of plastic.


Jewel in your hand(set)

Since the introduction of the iPhone, Corning has

made a number of improvements to Gorilla glass,

which Apple reportedly still uses in today’s devices.

The third version of the material, for example,

was designed with a process that models its

composition down to the atomic level, and results,

according to Corning, in more than three times

more resistance to damage than the original.

Still, if you own an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad,

chances are that cracks and scratches are still very

much on your mind – which, perhaps, explains the

healthy number of cases and screen protectors that

are widely available from third-party manufacturers. If

you’re like me, you may have even taken to carrying

your phone in a dedicated pocket, cramming your

change and house keys in the other just so that the

two don’t accidentally come into contact.

It’s likely this fact hasn’t escaped Apple’s design

team, either, which may have led the company to

look beyond glass and into the manufacture of a

diff erent medium for its screens: sapphire.

Although its name may evoke the image of

beautiful blue gemstones – the colour is the result

of iron and titanium impurities –pure sapphire is

actually transparent, and an excellent conductor

of all the wavelengths that make up visible light.

Made primarily of aluminium and oxygen molecules

arranged in a crystalline structure called corundum,

it sports a Mohs value of nine, making it the third-

hardest known material after diamonds and an

exotic mineral called moissanite – both of which are

far too expensive for use in a mass-market product.


Time and pressure

Alas, Apple can’t go mining ‘natural’ sapphires big

enough to cover an entire iPhone screen – even if

they did exist, they would likely present any number

of defects and impurities that would make them

completely unsuitable for mass production.

Instead, Apple has built a facility in Arizona that

will allow the company to manufacture synthetic

sapphires; although the exact process used by

Apple isn’t known, sapphire production usually

involves either ‘growing’ it from a seed crystal

(a technique for which the company already

owns a patent), or forming it by subjecting its

base components – aluminium and oxygen – to

extremely high pressure from all sides until they

coalesce into the fi nished material.

Interestingly, sapphire is actually heavier than

Gorilla glass – given two panes of the same

thickness and size, the former will weigh roughly 60

percent more than the latter. However, because of its


higher strength, one needs far less sapphire, which

could make devices that use it both lighter and

thinner.

Sapphire is already widely used in a number of

common applications; for example, the front plates

of many high-end watches are made with it, and

even Apple has been employing it to cover the

camera lens of recent iPhone and iPad models,

as well as the Touch ID sensor on the iPhone

5s. As a material, it adapts without problems to

industrial automation and its characteristics have

been widely researched.

Still, it’s too early to say whether Apple will

switch to all-sapphire screens for any of the

models in the iPhone’s sixth generation; certainly,

there are a number of indicators that the company

is, at the very least, investing heavily in the

gemstone: In addition to the aforementioned

factory, Apple has fi led a number of patents that

cover everything from sandwiching glass and

sapphire together – a combination that would

give future devices the protection of the latter at

a fraction of the price – to covering a sapphire

screen with a special oleophobic coating that

repels fi ngerprints and smudges.

Leaks and early reports notwithstanding, we

will likely have to wait until the offi cial launch of

the iPhone 6, which is widely expected to happen

sometime this fall, to fi nd out whether gemstone

screens are in our future. Until then, we’ll just

have to continue to be extra careful whenever we

pocket our phone or lay it down on a fl at surface

– or suff er the, uh, scratchy consequences.


How Apple continues to beat the competition

If you judge Apple’s performance by what analysts,

industry observers and some reporters say, you

might think that the company is failing. Of course

we know that Apple is more successful than ever

and the future remains bright. Here we look at the

products that mean the most to Apple right now and

assess whether the company is in trouble.

iPhone market share

Apple has just reported that it sold 35.2 million

iPhones in the quarter ending 30 June 2014. That’s

an increase of 3.962 million compared to the same

Market share


quarter last year, 13 percent growth and a new

third-quarter record. iPhone sales are also quite

a revenue spinner for Apple, generating $19.751

billion in revenues in the quarter, compared to

$18.154bn in the same quarter a year ago.

Of course this doesn’t stop reports suggesting

that iPhone sales are in decline, that Apple is

losing market share, and that Apple is too reliant

on the cash cow that is the iPhone and failure

to innovate in the smartphone space will be

detrimental to the company’s future.

We all expect that Apple will launch a new

iPhone 6 soon, and that the newest iPhone will

feature the much called for bigger screen. If the lack

of a big screen is the reason why Apple’s growth has

slowed, then this new iPhone should address the

issue. Indeed, there is said to be pent up demand for

this larger iPhone, so sales are expected

to be high in the run up to Christmas.

Despite this, the latest smartphone

data from July 2014 suggests that Apple

is still in the lead, regardless of calls

for bigger iPhones. Apple’s biggest

competitor, Samsung, has been missing

analyst expectations, and sales of the

fl agship Galaxy S5 phone are lagging.

In the UK the iPhone 5s is the best

selling phone, according to research

from Counterpoint. In May, sales of the

iPhone 5s accounted for 11.1 percent

while the iPhone 5c sales were 11 percent

while the just-launched Samsung Galaxy

S5 saw nine percent.


Looking at Counterpoint’s worldwide data, the

iPhone 5s is still out in front, although the Samsung

Galaxy S5 moves into second place above the

iPhone 5c. According to ComScore, Apple has a 41.9

percent share of US cellphone users while Samsung

has 27.8 percent. LG is in third place with 6.5 percent

and LG has 6.3 percent and HTC with 5.1 percent.

Despite suggestions that the iPhone 5c has been

a ‘fl op’ it has proven to be a popular alternative

to the iPhone 5s and iPhone 4s. Apple revealed

that the strategy of selling what is essentially a

repackaged iPhone 5 in a new season’s colours has

been successful, with Apple seeing more sales of

the iPhone 5c than it saw of the iPhone 4s last year

when that was the alternative to the iPhone 5.

Mac market share

The most interesting revelation in Apple’s fi nancial

results for its quarter that ended on 30 June wasn’t

iPhone sales (Apple sold 35.2 million iPhones, that’s

3.962 million more than the same quarter last year.

The day that iPhone sales decline year-on-year

will be the day that everyone starts to predict

Apple’s downfall, although that hasn’t stopped

some observers predicting that…)

No, what was really interesting was the fact

that Mac sales are continuing to increase, and

that while iPad sales are seen to be declining

slightly, compared to the same quarter of 2013,

it you clump Mac and iPad sales together, as

some analysts do, Apple is the

leading vender of PCs, and it still

has plenty of room to grow.


I’ll start by focusing on Mac sales, which according

to Apple, are on the up. Apple said it sold 4.413

million Macs in the quarter just gone, compared to

3.754 million in the year ago quarter.

It was, according to Apple “A record June quarter

for Mac sales,” amid: “growth of 18 percent year-

over-year in a market that is shrinking by two

percent according to IDC’s latest estimate.”

Speaking in the conference call with analysts

that followed the results announcement, Apple’s

CEO Tim Cook stated that Apple: “Achieved strong

double digit Mac growth across many countries,

including the US, Canada, Mexico, the UK, Germany,

France, Australia, China, India and the Middle East.”

Indeed, in China, Mac sales increased 39 percent,

according to the company.

Apple’s claim that it saw double digit growth for

Mac sales in the US, contradicted both IDC and

Gartner’s fi gures from earlier that week, which

suggested sales had fallen year-on-year, calling into

question the analyst house’s methodology.

According to IDC’s fi gures, the top 5 US PC

vendors in the second quarter of 2014 (that’s the

same as Apple’s fi scal third quarter) were: HP with


27.3 percent market share in the US, Dell (25.7

percent), Lenovo (11.5 percent), Apple (10 percent),

and Toshiba (6.1 percent).

IDC states that Apple shipped 1,676,600 Macs

in the US during the quarter. On the basis of its

fi gures, IDC claimed that Apple had lost Mac

market share compared to the previous year. “In US

shipments, Apple slipped to become the number

four PC maker, dropping from the number three

spot to come in at 10 percent market share, a 1.7

percent decline,” claimed IDC.

According to Gartner, the top 5 PC vendors in

the same quarter were: HP with 27.7 percent market

share in the US, Dell (25 percent), Lenovo (11.5

percent), Apple (10.6 percent), and Toshiba (6.4

percent). Gartner says Apple shipped 1,681,600 Macs

in the second quarter of 2014 (Apple’s third quarter).

There is one thing to bear in mind when looking

at these fi gures (apart from the fact that Apple’s

own fi gures suggest that IDC and Gartner’s data

is wrong): as pointed out by Apple Insider, when

calculating their PC market share both IDC and

Gartner include netbooks and hybrid two-in-one


devices and Windows tablets (IDC even includes

Chromebook web browser devices). Neither fi rm

includes iPad sales in their PC sales fi gures.

If IDC and Gartner included iPads and other

tablets in the fi gures, Apple would be the largest

computer maker by some margin, notes Apple

Insider, referring to Canalys’ fi gures, which includes

tablet sales in their PC worldwide shipment fi gures.

According to Canalys, Apple was in fi rst place in

the fi rst quarter of this year; indeed, Apple has been

in fi rst place since the last quarter of 2011.

Canalys fi gures showed Apple to be in fi rst

place with 20,486,640 unit sales in the fi rst quarter

of 2014, compared to 23,443,350 in the same

quarter of 2013. In second place was Lenovo with

14,978,320 in Q1 2014, compared to 12,337,550 in

the same quarter the previous year; in third was HP

with 12,939,750 in 2014 and 12,183,280 in Q1 2013;

and Samsung was in fourth with 11,225,800 and

12,572,690 in 2013.


It’s interesting to note that both Apple and

Samsung saw a decline, year-on-year, while Lenovo

and HP saw an increase. These fi gures are from

the fi rst quarter of 2014, rather than the quarter that

Apple reported on, in which, according to CEO Tim

Cook, Apple saw increased interest in the MacBook

Air following the price drop in June.

In the battle for PC market share, including tablet

sales, Mac sales seem to be making up for any

retraction in iPad sales.

iPad market share

Are iPad sales declining? Amid the increase in Mac

sales, there was disappointment that iPad sales were

down compared to the same quarter of 2013. Apple

shipped 13.276 million iPads during the quarter that

ended on 30 June, compared to 14.617 million iPads

in the same quarter of 2013.

During the third quarter fi nancial

results announcement Cook

noted that iPad sales are

declining, and admitted

that: “iPad sales met

our expectations, but

we realize they didn’t

meet many of yours.” He

added that: “Our sales

were gated in part by

a reduction in channel

inventory, and in part by

market softness in certain

parts of the world. For

example, IDC’s latest


estimate indicates a fi ve

percent overall decline

in the US tablet market

as well as a decline in

the western European

tablet market in the June

quarter.” This contrasts

somewhat with the

worldwide tablet market,

which, according to

IDC fi gures, has grown

11 percent year-over-year, with worldwide tablet

shipments totalling 49.3 million units.

Despite the apparent declines in market share,

Apple is still the world’s leading vendor of tablets.

IDC research suggests that in the second quarter

of 2014 (Apple’s fi scal third quarter) Apple was in

fi rst place with 26.9 percent of the tablet market,

down from 33 percent in the same quarter last year.

Samsung was in second place with 17.2 percent,

compared to 18.8 percent last year. According to

IBC’s fi gures, Apple sold 13.3 million iPads in the

quarter (not too far off Apple’s fi gure), down from

14.6 in the same quarter last year, while Samsung

sold 8.5 million, up from 8.4 million last year.

This is where it gets interesting. In third place

was Lenovo with 2.4 million sales (4.9 percent of

the market) and in forth, Asus with 2.3 million (4.5

percent market share). Acer sold 1 million tablets for

two percent market share. IDC’s categorisation of

tablets includes slates and two-in-one tablets, but it

isn’t clear about the companies it is including in the

Other category that saw 21.9 million sales and 44.4


percent of the market. Another reason to be weary

of analyst fi gures.

It is worth noting that the iPad’s drop was not

Samsung’s gain. Apple sold 1.3 fewer iPads in the

quarter than it did at the same time last year, but

Samsung only sold 100,000 units more than last

year. Both Apple and Samsung lost market share.

The biggest gainer was Lenovo, which shipped

2.4 million units, compared to 1.5 million last year.

The company’s Android, Windows and two-in-

one convertible PCs are being counted in this

category, suggesting again that the distinction

between tablet and PC diff ers depending on the

manufacturer (and perhaps the clients that the

analyst house is representing.

During the conference call with analysts Cook

addressed concerns about slowing iPad sales,

noting that Apple is seeing increasing growth

internationally. Cook noted that the market for iPads

is: ‘Bifurcated’ or divided. He noted that there has

been growth in “emerging countries” especially

BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China).


Who is buying/isn’t buying iPads?

If Cook is correct then these emerging countries

are responsible for much of the current growth –

although price may be a factor against Apple in

these markets. Indeed, if this is where the growth is

coming from then cheaper tablets are likely to mop

up most of the market share here.

Luckily, while it looks like sales may have

plateaued in western markets including the US

and UK, this appears to be because people aren’t

purchasing new iPads every other year in the way

they would a smartphone. If that is true then as the

early adopter’s iPads reach four years old, it is likely

that they will be looking to update. Even those with

a pre-Retina iPad model may be looking to update

to the next iPad, especially if the new unit brings

features such as the Touch ID fi ngerprint scanner.

Of course not everyone owns an iPad yet, and

according to Cook, 50 percent of the iPads being

sold are to fi rst time buyers.

Another factor slowing sales of iPads is the high

numbers of low cost tablets available, some of which

are being given away to entice people to sign up for

various services. It may also be the

case that while a smartphone

is very much a personal

device, a tablet can be

shared by a whole family.

This not only means

fewer units sold, but

if a second tablet is

bought, it may be

a cheaper version


for the kids, and that’s where the cheaper tablets

come in. Apple is unlikely to address this market

with a low-cost iPad.

The other factor slowing tablet sales is the rise

in large-screen smartphones. Some of the bigger

phablet-style phones are on a par with the iPad

mini and it looks like some consumers are opting

for a phablet rather than a tablet. Should the

rumours prove true and Apple launches a bigger

iPhone, there will be even less reason to buy an

iPad mini. It will be interesting to see how Apple

markets the two devices.

iPad Halo eff ect

Rather than worrying about whether sales of a larger

iPhone will cannibalise sales of the iPad, we’ll get

back to wondering whether iPad sales will slow

down Mac sales, or if the opposite is true.

It seems likely that the two may complement

each other; with a purchase of a Mac following a

purchase of an iPad, and vice versa. The launch

of Yosemite and iOS 8 with the Continuity features

will serve to amplify this.

Equally, iPads are becoming increasingly popular

in the enterprise, where they are being used to run

custom apps, and these enterprises are buying Macs

as a platform on which to develop these apps.

Expect to see even more demand from the

enterprise in the next quarter, following the Apple


and IBM partnership. In the call with analysts, Cook

noted that Apple’s partnership with IBM should help

Apple grow iPad penetration into big business and

corporate market, through which Apple will win

back market share. Apple and IBM announced in

July that they have struck a deal to jointly sell

the iPhone and iPad to big businesses. This

appears to be Apple’s strategy for winning

back market share.

One last thing: We often focus on

the number of units sold but there is

an interesting story in the revenue

generated by the sales. From those

4.41 million Macs sold in Apple’s

fi scal third quarter of 2014, Apple saw

$5.5bn in revenue. That’s close to the

$5.9bn in revenue from the 13.3 million

iPads sold in the same quarter. Steve

Jobs may have predicted the demise

if the PC, but in this post-Steve Jobs

world there is still plenty of money to

be made from Mac sales.

Apple is selling more tablets and

with higher margins than anyone

else. Still, according to Cook the tablet

is “in its infancy” and Apple intends

to bring “signifi cant innovation” to

the category. It may be a product in

its infancy, but Apple has sold 225

million iPads since it launched in 2010,

that’s not far off the number of iPhones

Apple sold in the fi rst fi ve years after the

iPhone launched (250 million).


How to deliver an app to the App Store

Apple’s new Swift development language,

and the impending release of iOS have

reinvigorated app developers. Once again

it’s going to be a great time for app developers.

There’s a lot to be said for iPhone and iPad

app development. Unlike building a website you

get much better access to the full features of the

iPhone and iPad, and Apple is opening up even

more of the iPhone and iPad to developers in iOS

8. More importantly, you can charge for apps. Build

a good app, and you could strike gold (or at least

make a good living).

Create an iOS app


In this feature, we’re going to look at fi ve steps to

get started with app development. Building an app

isn’t easy (although it’s going to get easier with

Apple’s new programming language, Swift) but it is

worthwhile.

Step 1:

Sign up with Apple Developer Connection

The fi rst thing you need to do is to head over to

the Apple Developer Connection and click Member

Center and Register. Registering as an Apple

developer will give you access to support materials,

and enable you to register iOS devices with Apple

so they can run your test apps. You can sign in with

your own Apple ID (recommended if you’re a single

developer), or you can Create an Apple ID just for

the developer account (recommended if you are

developing for a company).


You don’t have to pay Apple to register as a

Developer. You can sign up and gain access to all

the developer tools for the current retail version of

iOS. The basic registration is fi ne for developing

and testing an app, although you will need to sign

up with Apple for Membership (£69 per year) if you

want to sell apps. Apple Developer Membership also

give you access to beta versions of software such as

iOS 8 and Xcode 6.

Step 2:

Have a plan before you create your app

Before you dive into app development, it’s important

to plan out the app. While there isn’t any set way to

build a plan for the app, here are some things you

(and any other people involved) should put in writing:

The goal: What is the app ultimately designed to

do? Keep it as simple and to the point as possible,

The Camera app takes photos, enables simple

edits, and shares them. The Music app plays

music from iTunes Match (or synced with iTunes).

Write down a single sentence that describes what

the app does

The scope: Agree on all the features that the

app is going to include. Beware of feature creep

(putting in new ideas) as you go. Decide what

features are in, and what are out, before you start

Theme and strategy: What’s the app’s theme and

strategy going to be like? Is it a happy, friendly app;

or a stark and effi cient business tool. Decide on

your marketing strategy, and ensure that the app

style matches your strategy up front


Sketch out the interface: It’s vital that

you sketch out each display and map out the

interaction of each button

Gather assets: Apple provides a lot of stock

buttons and icons (you should use these) but you

will need logos, graphics and maybe audio assets

Think about the technologies you need: Can

you just get by on Xcode and the App Store? Or

will the app need server and other technologies.

You need to think this through fi rst

Step 3:

Coding your own app

If you’re looking to move into app development

then you may want to code your own app. How

easy this is for you depend on your level of coding


experience. Apple is set to lower the barrier with

iOS 8 and the new Swift programming language.

You create Apps for iPhone and iPad using a

Mac program called Xcode. Xcode is Apple’s own

IDE (Integrated Development Environment). Paying

for Apple Developer membership will enable you

to download the Xcode 6 beta which supports

Swift. Otherwise, you can start using Objective-C

(the current programming language) or wait until

September (when Xcode 6 is expected to be

offi cially released).

Step 4:

Hiring an app developer

If you don’t fancy yourself as a developer, then

you can either hire (or team up with) a developer.

Hiring professional developers to build apps can be

expensive (prices typically start from around £20k

up). But if you have an interesting enough project

it can be worth teaming up with a developer who

wants to hone their skills.

It’s worth using a site such as Meetup (tinyurl.com/

k9a8y5L) to fi nd where coders are meeting up in your

http://tinyurl.com/k9a8y5L

http://tinyurl.com/k9a8y5L


area, and then heading over to say hello. You can

also use a service like LinkedIn to fi nd developers,

although this is more useful if you have fi nancial

backing for your project. There’s some good advice

on Mashable for hiring a lead developer.

Step 5:

Submitting your app to

the App Store with iTunes Connect

Once you app is ready you can submit it to Apple

via iTunes Connect. You sign up for iTunes Connect

separately from the Apple Developer Membership.

It’s worth noting that Apple often rejects apps for

one reason, or another. Typically because they use

undocumented SDK features, or because of worries

about nudity and pornography. There are some

technical issues to watch out for, though. The iMore

blog (tinyurl.com/L737j4d) has a good list of rejected

apps and the reasons behind their rejections.

http://tinyurl.com/L737j4d


Upload a preview video of you app to the App Store

One great new feature announced by Apple

in iOS 8 is the ability to add video previews

of apps to iTunes Connect. The addition of

video to screenshots will allow users to see what

your app looks like in action, hopefully leading to

bigger sales.

If you are an app developer, we think you should

already be preparing a good sales video for your

app. We believe video previews will be a big feature

for driving the sales of apps. In this feature, we’re

going to look at how to record a video of your app

and upload it to iTunes Connect.

App Store video


Record a video preview

The fi rst thing you should do is record a video

preview of your App. If you’re running the OS X

Yosemite preview you can attach your iPhone to the

Mac, and record a video using QuickTime Player.

Note that the iPhone or iPad device needs to be

running iOS 8. Here’s how to record a video of

your app in Yosemite:

Connect an iPhone or iPad to the computer using

the Lightning cable

Open QuickTime Player

Click File → New Movie Recording

Click the small Select icon (to the right of the red

Record button)

Choose your iOS device from the Camera section

of the list

Click record to start recording the screen


Now as you use your app, QuickTime Player will

record a video of it. Click Stop to end the recording

If you are running OS X Mavericks, or want a

direct capture of the video you should invest in

a device like the Elgato Game Capture. You can

connect your iPhone to the Elgato Game Capture

using an Apple HD adaptor.

While you can just upload a video demonstrating

gameplay, it’s probably a good idea to talk people

through the features of your app. You can also add

some titles and annotations (often called Lower

Thirds) to the app.

The easiest way to add these eff ects is to

use iMovie (or Final Cut Pro if you’ve got editing

experience). Here are some tips for creating a

demonstration video of your app:

Write a script. Some games can be demonstrated

visually, but for other apps you should write a script

and record a voice-over.

Create a concept. Do you want to just show

your app in action? Or would you rather add an

informative voice-over? Do you want to create a

fast-paced advert; or soft and emotional narrative?

Do you want to tell the story behind the app, or do


the hard sell about features? Take some time to

think about the kind of video you want to make.

Sketch out a storyboard. You don’t have to be an

artist to sketch out the things you want to show.

Just create rough boxes from A to B to C that go

over the features you want to cover.

Add a voice-over. You can click the Microphone

icon in iMovie to quickly add a voice-over to your

movie. Or you can use the New Audio Recording

option in QuickTime Player to record a voice track.

Consider background music. You can fi nd royalty

free music on sites such as PremiumBeat.com.

Submitting your preview

video to iTunes Connect

When you have fi nished the video, you will be able

to upload it to iTunes using iTunes connect. When

you submit your app you are able to correctly upload

screenshots, prior to the launch of iOS 8 Apple will

include the video option here. When Apple switches

on video upload, you will be able to add a video to

iTunes Connect. Here’s how:

Go to iTunes Connect (tinyurl.com/6Ltndu)

Enter your Apple ID and password and sign in

Click Manage Your Apps → View Details → Edit →

Choose File

Select a fi le and click Choose → Save

Apple hasn’t announced what format videos

will be accepted, but we expect they will be in the

standard iPhone or iPad resolution and QuickTime

.MOV fi le format.

http://PremiumBeat.com

http://tinyurl.com/6Ltndu


Permanently delete Instagram from your iPhone

If you’ve decided that the funky eff ects of

Instagram are no longer for you, or that iOS now

does the eff ects for you, then you might want to

delete your Instagram account.

Permanently deleting your Instagram account

is easy, just follow the right steps. Here is how to

quickly and fully delete your Instagram account.

Back up your photos

Before you delete Instagram, you should decide

whether you want to backup all your photos. You

can login to the Instagram website and drag your

photos one at a time to a Finder folder, but there is

Delete Instagram


also a website called Instaport.me that automatically

downloads all your photos. Follow these steps:

Open Safari and log on to Instaport.me

Click Sign In with Instagram

Enter your Instagram username and password,

and click Authorize → Start Export

The Instaport site starts gathering all of your fi les.

When it is fi nished click Download Only.

Delete your account from the website

Sadly there is no way to delete your Instagram

account directly from the iPhone app. Instead you

need to open a web browser on your Mac and

delete your Instagram account from there. Here are

the steps you need to take to delete Instagram:

Open Safari and visit Instagram.com

Enter your username and password and log in

Click on your name in the top right-hand corner

of the screen and choose Edit Profi le

Click I’d like to delete my account

Choose an option from the Before You Go,

Please Tell Us Why option

Enter your password in the To Continue,

Please Enter Your Password fi eld

Click Permanently Deactivate My Account → OK

That’s it. Your Instagram account is now

permanently deleted. All of the photos you have

added to this account have been deleted, and there

is no way to reactivate your account.

http://Instagram.com

ipad & iphone user issue 87 - 2014 uk.pdf

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