Windows 8 Gaining Speed Among Desktop OS Web Traffic

Windows8 continues to claw its way up the OS ranks, while Windows XP keeps losing its grip.

Stats released Tuesday by Web tracker Net Applications gave Windows 8 an 8.02 percent slice of all desktop OS Web traffic for September. That number was up from 7.41 percent in August and 5.4 percent in July.

At the same time, Windows XP continues to shed its once-dominant position. For September, XP scored a 31.4 percent share, down from 33.6 percent in August and 37.1 percent in July.

In first place, Windows 7 has shown a resurgence in recent months, taking home a share of 46.4 percent in September, 45.6 percent in August, and 44.4 percent in July.

Windows8.1, which debuted as a preview edition in late June and will officially launch on October 18, accounted for 0.87 percent of September's desktop OS Web traffic. That was up from 0.24 percent the previous month.

In the mobile OS arena, Apple's iOS remained firmly on top last month with a 53.6 percent share. However, its hold on the market has been dropping steadily over the past year, according to Net Applications' data. In September of 2012, iOS's share was more than 63 percent.

Android has been moving slowly up the charts, especially during the past few months. For September, Google's mobile OS captured a share of 29.4 percent, up from 28.1 percent last month and 25.2 percent in July.

Source: http://news.cnet.com

Apple iPhone 5c Review: A Colourful iPhone 5 with Better Battery Life

iPhones have always been aspirational, high-end products, for which people have been prepared to pay a hefty price in order to join the (not particularly exclusive) club. With Apple's 2013 handset launches that approach has changed slightly: the flagship iPhone 5s occupies the traditional premium-product slot, while the iPhone 5c, reviewed here, and comes in for those with less money to spare.

However, pricing is still high compared to the iPhone 5c's many Android-based rivals, with the entry-level 16GB model costing £469 (inc. VAT; £390.83 ex. VAT) SIM-free, rising to £549 (inc. VAT; £457.50 ex. VAT) for the 32GB model. Two-year contract prices from Vodafone, supplier of our review sample, start at £42 a month for a 3G plan with a free handset, or £47 a month for a '4G-ready' plan.

The flagship iPhone 5s costs £549 (inc. VAT) for the 16GB model, £629 for 32GB and £709 for 64GB, while Google's Nexus 4 — perhaps the best-value Android smartphone of the past 12 months — costs £159 (inc. VAT) for the 8GB model and £199 with 16GB of internal storage.

The iPhone 5c may be a budget buy in Apple's terms, but it isn't really one in the broadest sense.

Design

The most obvious innovation in the iPhone 5c is the chassis build, which uses a seamless plastic shell over a steel-reinforced frame. The general design is immediately recognisable as an iPhone, with the telltale home button beneath the screen, rounded corners and Apple logo on the back.

But Apple has decided, for the first time, to produce a handset with a range of pastel-coloured casings in addition to white: you can opt for green, blue, yellow or pink alternatives. There's no black, though. We were sent the pink version, which is unlikely to find its way into many businesses. It's worth noting that the only other handset maker that dares to be as bold with its handset chassis colours is Nokia.

The plastic that's used for the outer shell has a shiny but grip-friendly finish that's not completely scratch resistant. As with previous iPhones, the battery is sealed in behind a non-removable backplate.

The silent-mode switch and volume buttons are on the left edge, while the power switch is on the top. The headset jack is on the bottom edge, alongside the microphone, Lightning connector and speaker. There's a caddy for a nano-SIM on the right edge of the chassis.

The 132g iPhone 5c feels solid and substantial in the hand, yet is quite comfortable to hold — even for people with small hands. It's quite thin at 8.97mm and has a moderate-sized footprint at 59.2mm by 124.4mm.

The Retina display measures just 4 inches across the diagonal, but its 1,136-by-640-pixel resolution makes for a sharp and clear 326-pixel-per-inch (ppi) image. The backlit IPS LCD screen is vibrant and content seems to jump out at you. The iOS 7 feature that sees application icons jiggle about slightly as the phone moves in your hand is a little disconcerting, but it lends a faux 3D appearance to things.

There's nothing new about the screen specification — it's the same as both the iPhone 5s and the now-discontinued iPhone 5. That sets the tone for much of what's on offer here, for the iPhone 5c is essentially a rebadged iPhone 5 in terms of its core specifications.

Features

The iPhone 5c uses the same A6 processor as the iPhone 5. It also sports the same 8-megapixel iSight camera at the back, the same 4-inch Retina screen and the same local- and personal-area wireless connectivity (dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4 respectively).

There are some differences between the iPhone 5 and 5c though. The sensor on the front-facing 1.2-megapixel FaceTime camera has bigger pixels for better low-light performance, for example. The 5c also supports a full set of LTE frequency bands, while the iPhone 5 has limited LTE support. Battery life is better, too, the 5c offering a claimed 10 hours of 3G talk and LTE internet use compared to the 8 hours of each on the iPhone 5. As ever, one person's average usage is another's light use, so it's difficult to be definitive about battery life. Still, if you're a current iPhone 5 user, you should go longer between battery charges with the 5c. During testing, we certainly didn't need to rush off and find mains power during a typical day's use.

The 5c may not be Apple's flagship handset, but its price sets it apart from mid-range offerings from other vendors — and for the money, its feature set is a little bland. Apple has saved its iTouch fingerprint scanner for the top-end iPhone 5s, for example, and we're surprised there's no place for Near Field Communications (NFC) here (or on the 5s for that matter). And while some people dislike the huge array of extras with which Samsung peppers its handsets, we'd have appreciated a little more innovation from Apple on the iPhone 5c.

OS upgrade: iOS 7

The main innovation work with this refresh cycle has gone into building iOS 7, of course — but that's not exclusive to the new iPhones. Apple's new mobile OS is downloadable to the iPhone 4 and later, iPad 2 and later, and the 5th-generation iPod Touch — although not all devices get the full gamut of features. This is not the place for a full review of iOS 7, but it's worth noting some key points.

iOS 7 has had a complete visual makeover. Apple follows the chassis colour through to the iOS 7 theme, and the overall design is flatter, cleaner and leaner. Third-party apps are already starting to follow suit. There are plenty of new features, including a swipe-up settings area that you can set to be accessible from the lock screen and which, among its features, lets you use the camera's LED flash as a torch.

A new app switcher appears when you double-tap the home key, letting you see everything that's running and sweep anything upwards off the screen to close it. There are many other changes under the surface that add new features and enhance older ones.

LTE ('4G') support is likely to be a key draw for some users, and if that's the case then it's worth checking your chosen operator's coverage. Our iPhone 5c review sample came from Vodafone, where it's available with Spotify or Sky Sports Mobile TV preinstalled. If you sign up for the handset before the end of October, you get 4GB of 4G data added to your contract for its duration. Vodafone's UK 4G rollout currently only covers London. At the end of September Birmingham, Coventry, Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield will be added. By the end of the year 4G coverage will also include Bradford, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle.

Conclusion

The iPhone 5c's colourful appearance puts it firmly in the consumer camp, although the relatively sober white version is certainly an option for business users. If you're an existing iPhone user and weren't tempted by the iPhone 5, then the 5c is worth considering as an upgrade. However, iPhone 5 owners should think carefully: there's very little difference between the core specifications of the two handsets, and iOS 7 is just a download away.

Source: http://www.zdnet.com

Turn Mobile Messages into Meetings with Klamr

Klamr, a new multi-task messaging app for iOS and Android debuted on the App StoreFriday. It's a Swiss Army knife type of service combining some of the most beloved social functions: messaging, social planning, location search, reviews, chat, and photo sharing.

To get started, sign in with your phone number. You then search for friends by their digits, and choose who to include in a meal, activity or event, specifying time and location. Reviews from Yelp, Foursquare and Facebook, and in-app suggestions of nearby venues and locations, help as a guide. Once you select who you want to meet up with and where, the app sends an SMS message with details and a URL to your companion (you can invite non-users to events).

Messages are private, so only you and your friends are in on the date (there is no simultaneous Facebook or Twitter posting). The point is to simplify a rendezvous down to a few clicks, explains founder and CEO Bryan Pelz.

"There needs to be a way to make it easier to go out with friends," he says, calling Klamr a solution for people who don't want to go out to the same places over and over, or cut and paste info from other apps. "We're just trying to scratch that one itch."

Right now Klamr is free, and there are no in-app ads. Pelz says he's more worried about user acquisition than monetization. Data will not be sold to third parties. Future revenue sources will come from brands interacting directly with users, but he won't say exactly how that will work.

In order to gain traction, his app will have to do everything it advertises as good or better than what's already on the market. That's because every functionality Klamr accomplishes treads into crowded territory.

Messaging is dominated by WhatsApp's 300 million active monthly users. Geolocation apps are burning hot right now; among the review sites, Yelp gobbles up more than 100 million users a month.

Pelz says he doesn't expect to replace these top services. Instead, he sees his app as a bridge merging the best features of each. Building a better mouse trap is the way to get user adoption, he says. But doing a little bit of everything has some competitors scratching their heads.

"Klamr needs something way more compelling as the core feature than social, messaging, and networking to enter today's mobile consumer market," says Spencer Chen, an executive at the mobile analytics site Mixpanel.

Chen points out that top social apps like Vine, the private networking service Circle, and Twitter and Facebook are all single-function. Offering buffet, instead of a la carte options, runs "counter to the usage patterns and the goals of mobile users," he says. Plus it's going to be tough to convince people to abandon their favorite apps.

Hunter Gray, the CEO and co-founder of the mobile calendar app Atlas agrees that too many features can confuse users.

"The 'Swiss Army' thing doesn't usually seem to work," Gray says.

Heather Meeker, the co-founder of the communications firm MeekerQuinn, and former vice-president at the free messaging service textPlus, says she understands Klamr is trying to streamline the user experience by providing feature options. But she agrees with Chen and Gray that it's a challenge to be all things to all people.

"The way for multiple-function apps to win is to provide an experience that is relevant, intuitive and elegant," she says. "Not cluttered."

Klamr's Pelz acknowledges that it is an ambitious play. But he's looking beyond the U.S. market for success. He's spent the last 13 years split between San Francisco and Vietnam, and says that experience taught him that the Asian market is ripe for a service like this. He says Asian mobile users could be his ace in the hole.

"People there are very comfortable having multiple messaging apps," he says.

Would you trade your favorite apps for this all-in-one service? Or use it in tandem? Let us know in the comments.

Source: http://mashable.com

Apple Buys Transit App Maker Embark

Apple's location startup buying spree isn't over yet — the company has acquired transit company Embark for an undisclosed sum.

The news, firstreported by Jessica Lessin, comes about a month after the acquisition of another transit app, HopStop.

Embark currently has transit apps for 10 different transit systems in the App Store. The startup has received money from Y Combinator, SV Angel and BMW.

According to Lessin, Apple will integrate some of Embark's subway mapping technology into the next version of Apple Maps. Direct transit map integration is a feature Apple declined to add to the initial version of Apple Maps that launched last fall. Instead, Apple made it possible for users to open third-party apps (including HopStop and Embark) from the main mapping interface.

As someone who uses public transit every day, I can say that the de-coupling of built-in transit directions is one reason I almost always use Google Maps for iOS.

Apple has had a busy summer on the location acquisition front. In addition to HopStop and Embark, the company also acquired location data company Locationary.

When reached for comment, Apple gave Mashable its boiler-plate statement about acquisitions:

"Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans."

It's interesting that Apple would acquire Embark in addition to HopStop, given the similarity in purpose (and considering HopStop has a much larger user base and supports more transit systems). We look forward to seeing how this will impact Apple's future mapping plans.

What do you think of Apple's Embark acquisition? Let us know in the comments.

Source:http://mashable.com

Apple Tries to Patch Up iPhone Charge Port Security Flaw Found by Researchers

Some Apple customers were annoyed when the company changed the shape of the charging port for the iPhone 5. Now, another grievance can be attributed to Apple's charging port, but this time it's not just an inconvenience. It's a security flaw.

Apple says its forthcoming operating system will address the flaw, but the researcher who discovered it questions whether Apple's approach so far truly fixes the problem.

Billy Lau, a research scientist at Georgia Institute of Technology, gave apresentation at the Black Hat USA conference that demonstrated how to hack iPhones and iPads. He and two of his colleagues, Yeongjin Jang and Chengyu Song, hid a miniscule computer in a charger. The computer was able to get access into the devices and install its own apps.

Normally, Apple users peruse the App Store to pick and choose the apps that they want. However, there are very few safeguards set up to prevent a malicious app from being installed without the user's knowledge.

"There's another channel that's normally accessed by iOS developers in order to test their app before it hits the market," Lau told ABC News.

When developers connect a device to the computer to test their particular app, the computer reads the device's Unique Identifier, or UDID. After reading the UDID, the device will generate what's known as a provisional profile.

"Then, they can install any of their own custom-made apps," Lau said.

While the UDID isn't public information, it can be easily accessed once a device is plugged into a computer.

"The computer reads the UDID from the device instantaneously," said Lau.

A hacker with less-than-noble intentions can hide a computer in a charging device or a bigger object, like a music docking station. Once connected, it can generate its own provisional profile and gain access to both iPhones and iPads.

SIM Hack Can Expose Cell Phones to Crooks

A hacker also isn't limited to a single device.

"There are Apple lounges with USB charging stations," said Lau. "It's a prime target that the [hacker] can use to reach many devices quickly."

If a charging station has been tampered with, then the hacker can gain access to many phones very quickly.

Lau and his colleagues notified Apple about the security flaw shortly after their presentation was approved for Black Hat back in May. Apple invited them to test their hack on a beta version of iOS7, the newest version of the operating system that is yet to be released.

"The device will now ask if you want to trust the computer you plug it into," said Lau.

However, Lau added that users might not know that the computer or peripheral they plugged into is an untrustworthy computer and can still be vulnerable to the hack.

"Fixes for the charger pairing vulnerability have been addressed in the latest beta of iOS7," Tom Neumayer, a spokesman for Apple, told ABC News. "We would like to thank the researchers for their valuable input."

Apple'sproactive effort to fix the bug surprised Lau.

"Most of the time, Apple just seems to not respond or pretend that there is no problem," he said. "We demonstrated the weakness and it seems that, this time, they are really trying to do something."

The hack and Apple's response was first reported by Reuters.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/

iOS 7 Beta Suggest Non-Retaina A6-Powered iPad Mini in Development

According to the iOS 7 beta, Apple is testing a new iPad mini model that includes an A6 chip -- the same as the current iPhone 5 -- and a non-retina display, reports 9to5Mac.

The information was sent to the site by developer Nick Frey, who found the details inside a file that lists all the iOS devices that support iOS7. The A6 processor would be a logical upgrade for the iPad mini, advancing its main processing chip to the next generation.

According to the provided information, Apple is considering three new iPad mini models: iPad “2,8,” iPad “2,9,” and iPad “2,10.” The respective code names for the devices are J75, J76, and J77. This points to one WiFi-only model and two cellular-compatible models (just like the current iPad minis).

[…]

As for what these new iPad minis will feature, the references state that the devices include the “s5l8950x” processor. This is the same A6 system-on-a-chip inside of Apple’s iPhone 5, and this would offer significant speed improvements for the iPad mini compared to the current A5-based model.

Current iPad mini models are nicknamed '2,5'; '2,6'; and '2,7'. 9to5Mac also notes that the models don't include references to '@2x' code that relates to Retina-display supported artwork -- that code is included in the iPhone 5 and the fourth-generation iPad, leading the site to conclude that the new mini will not include a Retina display.

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has vacillated in recent months over Apple's plans for the iPad mini, most recently saying that a Retina-equipped device would launch sometime in March or April of 2014, with Apple not planning to upgrade the device at all until that time.

It's possible that this non-retina iPad mini is merely a device in testing, but while Kuo has a strong track record, it's always possible that Apple could change product release plans at the last minute.

Source: http://www.macrumors.com

Apple Update To Tackle Charger Hack Attack

Apple plans to issue a software update to help its products avoid falling victim to booby-trapped chargers.

The update has been prepared in response to research that created malicious chargers that could upload code onto devices plugged into them.

The work by computer scientists at Georgia Tech in the US can compromise iOS devices in about 60 seconds.

Apple's pending update warns users to be sure they are using a trusted charging point when they plug in.

The custom built chargers include a small computer alongside the electronic components that pipe power into an Apple iOS device.

The tiny computer interrogates an iPhone or tablet and copies a unique ID number that identifies that phone.

This is then used on an Apple website to take advantage of an uploading tool usually used by developers to test their software on an iOS gadget.

Instead of uploading a program in development, the trio of researchers, Billy Lau, Yeongjin Jang, and Chengyu Song, managed to upload an application that stole data.

The malicious chargers and their associated data-stealing application were demonstrated at the Black Hat hacker conference currently under way in Las Vegas.

In the demo, the trio showed off a fake Facebook app that could grab screenshots of passwords and make calls on behalf of an attacker.

The limited nature of the attack, which requires phones to be unlocked and for attackers to be a registered developer with Apple, were noted by tech news site Ars Technica.

The researchers from Georgia Tech's Information Security Center gave some details about their attack in June and this prompted Apple to prepare an update for devices running version seven of its iOS operating system. The update is currently part of the beta release for iOS 7. The final version of iOS7 will be released in the Autumn.

The update asks users if they are sure they can trust the device they are using to charge their phone or tablet.

Untrusted devices get no access to the internals of an iOS gadget.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk

New iOS 7 Beta Supports Fingerprint Recognition In Next iPhone's Home Button

A London programmer named Hamza Sood has found evidence of support for fingerprint recognition through the home button in the latest version (V4) of the iOS 7 beta released yesterday to developers. Sood found a BiometricKitUI folder within the AccessibilityBundles in the Library directory of the new OS that contains the code in the above image.

Sood told 9to5Mac that the text in the <string> tags in the image “are what an iPhone with VoiceOver on would read to a user.”  9to5Mac also reported that another source told them that “the user-interface for the fingerprint scanning system has been complete.” If this is to be believed, then these text strings describe the images in an on-screen tutorial instructing users how to touch the home button on an iPhone to scan their fingerprint to unlock the phone. Apparently the image of a fingerprint (whether generic or particular) appears on the screen and changes color during the recognition process (Sood, being in London ostensibly has the UK version of iOS that spells this as “colour.”) This second source also told 9to5Mac that “the technology is focused around unlocking the phone, so it is unclear if it is built for a payment system (as rumored) in the next iPhone.”

That next iPhone has been rumored to make use of the fingerprint recognition technology that Applehas acquired from AuthenTec. If iOS 7 supports fingerprint recognition using the home button, that would further suggest that this rumor is true.

But it’s potentially even more interesting than that. As Bulgarian designer/developer Pavel Simeonovjust tweeted, “Fingerprint sensor in iPhone 5S is much more than a gimmick. This + iCloud keychain = end of passwords.” So this is not just about security, but also convenience. If iCloud keychain converts and safeguards all of your passwords that you—and only you—can access via your iPhone, then Apple will have scored a tremendous usability coup that potentially makes its phone the key to your life—quite literally. These 14 lines of code could indeed have big implications!

Source: http://www.forbes.com

Hopstop iOS App Gets Refresh After Apple Purchase

It's still unclear what Apple has in store for its recently acquired HopStop public transportation navigation service, but it looks like the iOS app isn't going away — at least for now.
An update for the iOS version of HopStop rolled out this weekend, bringing support for cities in the U.K., Germany, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, Ireland, and Israel, as well as a new user interface and other helpful changes. Android users unfortunately did not get the same update, while the Windows Phone version was killed off shortly after the Apple purchase.
Hopstop for iOS version 2.6 now lets you report real-time delays, crowds, incidents, service changes, station closures, broken elevators, as well as suggestions and complaints. You can also save your home and work addresses from the Settings menu for easy access when you need directions.
For additional convenience, the app now lets you view your saved trips directly from the search screen, so you can more quickly access directions you call upon often. Plus, there's an updated user interface and new font, presumably to bring the app more in line with Apple's aesthetic.
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Apple purchased HopStop last week following an acquisition of the crowdsourced location data company Locationary. The move to purchase both companies is likely intended to boost Apple's struggling Maps product, which does not currently include public transportation information like bus, subway, and train schedules.
Following the acquisition, Apple quickly pulled the Windows Phone version of HopStop, causing some to worry about the future of other platforms. At this point, HopStop is still available for Android devices through the Google Play store. The updated iOS app is available in the App Store.
Launched in 2004, HopStop offers door-to-door transit, walking, biking, and taxi directions for more than 300 cities worldwide through its website and free mobile apps.
Source: http://www.pcmag.com

iOS 7 Beta 4: Full Change Log Now Available

Apple released iOS 7 beta 4 for the iPhone, iPad, iPad mini and iPod touch to developers on Monday and as is always the case, the updates were made available over the air before Apple’s troubled online developer site was updated with all of the new download files. The iOS developer portal has now been updated though, and BGR has been sent the full change log published alongside iOS 7 beta 4 by a friend of the site. Curious to see what changes Apple pushed out with its fourth iOS 7 beta? Apple’s full iOS 7 beta 4 change log follows below.
Notes and Known Issues
The following issues relate to using iOS SDK 7.0 to develop code.
Address Book Notes
Privacy support for the AddressBookUI framework is reenabled for apps linked against the iOS 7 SDK. Apps linked against older SDKs are not changed. If your app uses any of the Address Book view controllers, you should verify that it still behaves as expected.
AirDrop
Notes
AirDrop in iOS 7 Seed 2 or later is not compatible with AirDrop in iOS 7 Seed 1. Contacts Only support requires that:
You are logged in to iCloud.
The sender and receiver have each other’s Apple ID email addresses in Contacts on their devices.
Known Issues
Contact Only currently requires that you have an active Internet connection.
The App Store should support the ability to find an app capable of opening a received document based on the document’s Uniform Type Identifier (UTI). Currently, just a blank screen is displayed.
AV Foundation Notes
AVCaptureSession now uses your app’s AVAudioSession by default.
Calendar
Fixed in Seed 4
iCloud calendar events may not sync through fetch, push, or manual refresh as expected. iCloud calendars or reminders may be duplicated after adding new events.
Car Display
Known Issues
Support for Car Display will be provided once compatible systems are available.

 Fixed in Seed 4
Some high-resolution photos will not sync (via iCloud and other services) when set as a Contact’s Caller ID photo.
Core Animation Notes
When the UIViewGroupOpacity key is not present, the default value is now YES. The default was previously NO.
This means that subviews of a transparent view will first be composited onto that transparent view, then the precomposited subtree will be drawn as a whole onto the background. A NO setting results in less expensive, but also less accurate, compositing: each view in the transparent subtree is composited onto what’s underneath it, according to the parent’s opacity, in the normal painter’s algorithm order.
Exchange
Notes
The Exchange DeviceIdentifier has been changed back to the behavior of iOS 6 where it uses the serial number.
Fonts
Notes
Font line heights have changed from previous seeds. If you had previously manually aligned your font, it may move slightly up vertically with this seed.
Foundation Notes
An NSMetadataQuery with ubiquitous scope can now use kMDItemContentTypeTree in predicates. For example:

      NSPredicate *p = [NSComparisonPredicate

predicateWithLeftExpression:[NSExpression

expressionForKeyPath:@"kMDItemContentTypeTree"]

rightExpression:[NSExpression

expressionForConstantValue:@"public.rtf"]

modifier: NSAnyPredicateModifier

type:NSLikePredicateOperatorType

options:0];

 When called on results returned by queries with ubiquitous scopes, -[NSMetadataItem valueForAttribute:NSMetadataItemDisplayNameKey] now produces the same value as -
[NSURL getResourceValue: forKey: NSURLLocalizedNameKey], matching nonubiquitous queries.

iCloud Notes
If you use iCloud Keychain with recovery, you may see a dialog indicating recovery has been disabled due to a server change. This is intentional. To reenable functionality, follow the instructions in the notification. If you see multiple alerts or observe issues with reenabling recovery, please file a bug report.

iCloud Keychain in iOS 7 Seed 3 or later is not backward compatible with iOS 7 Seed 2 or OS X Mavericks Seed 2.

If you had iCloud Keychain and/or Keychain Restore enabled from iOS 7 Seed 2, both features are disabled upon updating to iOS 7 Seed 3 or later.
After updating to iOS 7 Seed 3 or later, go to Settings > iCloud > Keychain and reenable iCloud Keychain on your devices.
See OS X v10.9 Release Notes for more details.
Activation Lock, a new feature of Find My iPhone, is turned on automatically when Find My iPhone is enabled on any device running iOS 7. Activation Lock requires users to enter their Apple ID and password to turn off Find My iPhone, sign out of iCloud, erase the device, or reactivate the device after an erase. It’s important to do one of the following before transferring a device to a new user:
Sign out of iCloud.
Turn off Activation Lock in Settings > iCloud > Find My iPhone.
Fixed in Seed 4
Users who have a single device with iCloud Keychain on will not be presented with the correct iCloud Keychain setup screens after restoring from a backup.
Users signing out of iCloud by deleting their iCloud account, erasing all contents and settings, or erasing the device via Find My iPhone and signing back in will not be presented with the correct iCloud Keychain setup screens.
Credit cards deleted in Safari Settings > AutoFill are removed from the device, but not from other devices.
Sometimes when you disable iCloud Keychain you may not be able to reenable it.
Keychains are not synced among devices when they are on a wireless network with WEP security.
When setting up iCloud Keychain in Setup Assistant on iPhone 4 and iPhone 4s, the keyboard covers the iCloud Security Code entry field and the Advanced Options link.
Nonpurchased ePubs and PDFs will not be restored when iCloud-restoring an iOS 7 device with a pre-iOS 7 backup. Purchased content will be restored without issue.
Known Issues
Voice Memos are not restored from iCloud Backups.
Workaround: Make sure to sync Voice Memos off of your device before restoring from iCloud.
Users in Switzerland, France, Spain, Germany, Poland, Finland, and possibly some other countries, will be unable to restore their keychains using phone number validation.
Workaround: Use Random Security Code.
MapKit Notes
If the calls to renderInContext on the layer backing an MKMapView are made off the main thread, they should be eliminated or moved to the main thread. Failure to do so can cause an app crash. Instead of using renderInContext, use the new MKMapSnapshotter APIs.
Media
Notes
iOS now remembers the last used media app across reboot and app crashes. Media apps that can receive remote control events should be prepared to be launched in the background and potentially receive a remote control event to begin playback. Additionally, it’s important that media apps monitor and handle the media server reset event, since the media app may receive a remote request to resume playback after a reset. Notifications to monitor these media server events are available in AVAudioSession and proper handling is described in General recommendations for handling kAudioSessionProperty_ServerDied.

Multipeer Connectivity Notes

Many updates to the MCSession APIs are included in this seed. The APIs now function as they were presented at WWDC. Major changes and enhancements include:

The following new method on MCSession has been implemented:

This delegate method has been implemented:

The following new method on MCSession has been implemented:

      - (NSOutputStream *)startStreamWithName:(NSString *)streamName toPeer:(MCPeerID

*)peerID error:(NSError **)error

     - (void)session:(MCSession *)session didReceiveStream:(NSInputStream *)stream

withName:(NSString *)streamName fromPeer:(MCPeerID *)peerID

      - (NSProgress *)sendResourceAtURL:(NSURL *)resourceURL withName:(NSString

*)resourceName toPeer:(MCPeerID *)peerID withCompletionHandler:(void(^)(NSError

*error))completionHandler

 The delegate method to start receiving a resource from remote peer has been implemented as:

    - (void)session:(MCSession *)session didStartReceivingResourceWithName:(NSString

 The delegate method to finish receiving a resource from remote peer and save the content in a temporary location is implemented as:

MCAdvertiserAssistant is a convenience class for implementing an Advertiser, which handles invitations and connections to an MCSession.

MCSession has a new initWithPeer: method.
sendResource has added “with” to the completionHandler.
The timeout has been removed from connectPeer:withNearbyConnectionData.
For more information on these APIs, watch the video for WWDC 2013 Session 708, “Nearby Networking with Multipeer Connectivity.”
Multitasking
Notes
The policy for the task completion API has changed back to match the iOS 6 behavior, but the time limit for task completion has decreased from 10 minutes in iOS 6.
Networking Fixed in Seed 4
All NSURL session tasks now start suspended rather than running. This allows you to set up their state before the task is started.
Notes
Cellular fallback is a technology that will attempt to connect over the cellular interface when a connection over the Wi-Fi interface does not succeed. There are a number of cases where connection failures may occur over Wi-Fi, such as a cable modem in need of a reboot or a firewall that blocks access to certain resources.

If your app restricts network operations over the cellular network, verify that your code is using the proper API to implement that policy.

For example, if your app watches SCNetworkReachability for the kSCNetworkReachabilityFlagsIsWWAN to monitor when Wi-Fi is available, it may not behave correctly under cellular fallback.

If an app uses this method and then attempts to connect, thinking it will get a connection over Wi-

    - (void)session:(MCSession *)session didFinishReceivingResourceWithName:(NSString

*)resourceName fromPeer:(MCPeerID *)peerID atURL:(NSURL *)localURL withError:

(NSError *)error

    Note: The app is responsible for moving the file to a permanent location within its sandbox.

         *)resourceName fromPeer:(MCPeerID *)peerID withProgress:(NSProgress *)progress

 Fi, the app may inadvertently end up with a connection over the cellular network. The lack of the kSCNetworkReachabilityFlagsIsWWAN is not a guarantee that your connection will not go over cellular. If your code needs to enforce that a connection not go over cellular, it needs to specify that when making a networking request.

Instead, for CFNetwork code using CFSocketStream, CFHTTPStream, or similar APIs, set the kCFStreamPropertyNoCellular property to true on the CF object before connecting.

For NSURLRequests, call [request setAllowsCellularAccess: false].

In addition to making sure that your code will never be connected over cellular because of cellular fallback, this call ensures that your code will never be connected over cellular because of the VPN or convoluted routing problems (connecting to IPv6 over cellular because only IPv4 is available over Wi-Fi, etc.).

To verify that your app is behaving properly, you should test against a broken Wi-Fi network. The easiest way to set up a broken Wi-Fi network is to set up an Apple AirPort Base Station or other Wi- Fi access point to hand out a DHCP address and leave the access point disconnected from the Internet. Another simple way of testing is to unplug the cable or DSL line from your cable or DLS modem.

Two low-level networking APIs that used to return a MAC address now return the fixed value 02:00:00:00:00:00. The APIs in question are sysctl (NET_RT_IFLIST) and ioctl (SIOCGIFCONF). Developers using the value of the MAC address should migrate to identifiers such as -[UIDevice identifierForVendor]. This change affects all apps running on iOS 7.

Objective-C Runtime Notes
Due to changes in how the isa field is implemented, *self may change during enumeration (for example, if the container is retained).

Workaround: When implementing countByEnumeratingWithState, do not set state- >mutationsPtr = self.
Passbook
Notes
As of iOS 7 Seed 4, Passbook has added support for the major and minor fields to better match the rest of the iBeacon ecosystem. The new major and minor keys are independently variable optional alongside proximityUUID (required) in each dictionary in the beacons array.

In previous versions of the iOS SDK, Passbook did not validate the back fields on passes completely. The validation rules have not changed, but validation is now including back fields. Please check the console log for additional logs.

As of iOS 7 Seed 3, PKPassLibraryDidCancelAddPasses is a new status code in the PKPassLibraryAddPassesStatus enum. It signifies that the user tapped Cancel in an add-passes alert.
Safari
Fixed in Seed 4
Safari website credentials do not always autofill between mobile and desktop versions. Workaround: Use the desktop version if the site offers it.
Upgrading to iOS may reset Safari’s settings to their default values.
Security Notes

-[UIDevice uniqueIdentifier] is no longer accepted in submissions to the App Store. In iOS 7, apps that are already on the store or on users’ devices that call this removed API will no longer be returned the UDID. Instead, -[UIDevice uniqueIdentifier] will return a 40-character string starting with FFFFFFFF, followed by the hex value of -[UIDevice identifierForVendor]. It is important to consider how this will affect existing apps. Consider submitting updates that no longer access the UDID.

iOS now requests user consent for apps to use audio input on all iOS 7 devices. For devices sold in China, iOS will also request user consent for apps to use the camera hardware. The operating system will present the consent alert when you set the category of the instantiated AVAudioSession. The AVAudioSession categories that will present the alert are AVAudioSessionCategoryRecord and AVAudioSessionCategoryPlayAndRecord.

If the user doesn’t allow access, the audio session data will be all zeros (silence). For devices where camera access is requested and denied by the user, the video capture session is a black screen.
The API gethostuuid() has been removed and will not be accepted for submission to the store, regardless of the targeted OS. For existing apps running on iOS 7, the function will return a uuid_t representation of the vendor identifier (-[UIDevice identifierForVendor]).
Setup
Known Issue
The setup assistant may crash when setting up a new device with an existing email address.
Workaround: Continue through the setup assistant. Then go to Settings > iCloud and manually enable the services that are off.
Siri
Notes
This seed includes development versions of new male and female Siri voices for U.S. English and French, and a male voice for German.
Social Notes

       Through iOS 6, when using TWTweetComposeViewController and SLComposeViewController (the latter only for Twitter and Weibo, but not Facebook), if the caller supplies a completionHandler, the supplied completionHandler is responsible for dismissing the view controller. As of iOS 7, if the app links against the iOS 7 SDK, the view controller will dismiss itself even if the caller supplies a completionHandler. To avoid this, the caller’s completionHandler should not dismiss the view controller.

Known Issue

When using the iOS 6.1 SDK on OS X v10.8 Mountain Lion, if you use the iOS 5.0 or iOS 5.1 Legacy SDK in iOS Simulator, you will not be able to use Twitter features: attempting to sign in to Twitter via the Settings pane will fail, and Twitter.framework will not work correctly. If you need to test Twitter features, you will need to choose either an iOS 6.1 or iOS 6.0 Simulator run destination, or you can test with iOS 5.x on a device.
Springboard
Notes
Active touches are no longer canceled when the user takes a screenshot. Dynamic wallpaper is not available on iPhone 4.
Fixed in Seed 4
Springboard crashes when accessing some web clips in the App Switcher.
When restoring from an iCloud backup on a device with hundreds of apps, Springboard may crash repeatedly.
Passwords with diacritical marks are not supported in this seed. If you have diacritical marks in your password, change it before upgrading to Seed 3 as you will be unable to unlock your device.
Sprite Kit Known Issue
+[AVPlayer playerWithPlayerItem:] returns an AVPlayer object, but the current item will return nil if the player was created on another thread.
Stores
Known Issue
Some iPhone 4 devices are unable to download content from the App Store and the iTunes Store.
Sync
Fixed in Seed 4
The Wi-Fi sync option in iTunes is checked, but Wi-Fi devices do not appear in iTunes.
UIKit
Notes
In previous seeds, the snapshot API (snapshotView and resizableSnapshotViewFromRect:withCapInsets:) would defer taking the snapshot if the view had never been committed or had been added to the view hierarchy in the current transaction. This behavior has changed.
Snapshots now always represent the current, committed state of the view. Attempting to snapshot a view that has never been committed logs a message and now returns nil.
Snapshotting methods have been updated and now take an argument: afterUpdates. When set to YES, this instructs the snapshot to wait until all pending changes to the hierarchy have been committed. To maintain the pre-Seed 4 behavior, pass NO and the snapshot will capture what is currently on screen. See UIView.h for more details.
When there isn’t enough room in the navigation bar layout for the full text of the back button title, the navigation bar will substitute a generic short back title (in English, “Back”). If even that string is too long, the bar will show the back indicator chevron with no title.
+[UIPasteboard pasteboardWithName:create:] and +[UIPasteboard pasteboardWithUniqueName] now unique the given name to allow only those apps in the same application group to access the pasteboard. If the developer attempts to create a pasteboard with a name that already exists and they are not part of the same app suite, they will get their own unique and private pasteboard. Note that this does not affect the system provided pasteboards, general, and find.
Starting with Seed 2, apps default to using the new view controller-based status bar management system. To opt out of this, add a value of NO for the UIViewControllerBasedStatusBarAppearance key to your Info.plist.
When using Auto Layout to position a UIButton, if you set the content compression resistance or content hugging priority to minimum, the button will have ambiguous layout.
Workaround: Don’t use a content compression resistance or content hugging priority of less than 2 for UIButton.
UIScreenEdgePanGestureRecognizer allows you to perform actions in response to swipes over the edge of the screen using the same heuristics that the system uses for its own gestures. Use this if you have a navigation semantic of your own that doesn’t use UINavigationController but should include this gesture (e.g., Safari).
This gesture recognizer has a property that describes the edges on which it’s active. UIRectEdge is a new enum type that this property and -[UIViewController edgesForExtendedLayout] can share. UIRectEdge replaces UIExtendedEdge, which will be removed. The members of both have the same values. Use Xcode to replace all instances of “UIExtendedEdge” in your project with “UIRectEdge”.
UIButtonTypeInfoLight, UIButtonTypeInfoDark, and UIButtonTypeDetailDisclosure buttons all look the same.
Blurred layers are not available on iPhone 4. Parallax is not available on iPhone 4. Letterpress text is not available on iPhone 4.
Fixed in Seed 4
The UIImagePickerController does not show a live preview when using custom overlays. UIPickerView with custom views doesn’t show the views in the selection indicator.
UIRefreshControl and the associated table view are hidden under the navigation bar when setTranslucent: is NO.
IB support for -topLayoutGuide and -bottomLayoutGuide is not functional in this seed. The title of the UIRefreshControl appears below the navigation bar.
Known Issue
Your app’s UI may move slightly after using a media player in landscape mode.
Weather
Notes
Weather conditions are not animated on iPhone 4.
WebKit
Notes
Previously, when the viewport parameters were modified, the old parameters were never discarded. This caused the viewport parameters to be additive.
For example, if you started with width=device-width and then changed it to initial-scale=1.0, you ended up with a computed viewport of width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0.
In iOS 7, this has been addressed. Now you end up with with a computed viewport of initial- scale=1.0.
Previously, when using <meta name=”viewport” content=”initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=1″>, the scale could be incorrect after rotation.
Now, if a user has not scaled the page explicitly, the page is restored to its initial scale. Also, the current scale is now correctly restricted within the min-scale, max-scale bounds.
Some images for Retina display devices appear at twice the size that they should instead of being scaled down 50%. This issue can also occur with any image to be scaled that is larger than its container and that uses either the background-size property or the -webkit-background-size property. This issue affects both native apps that display web content and web pages viewed in Safari for iPhone.
The background CSS shorthand property now resets the value of the background-size property to auto when background size is not specified. This new behavior is per the CSS spec, and the old behavior is available only for apps linked to an SDK prior to iOS 7.0 when running on iOS 7 or later.
Workaround: Specify the background-size property or the -webkit-background-size property after the background shorthand property in the CSS stylesheet for the web content being displayed.

         
Known Issue

Web apps and web clips created in previous seeds will not stay in folders across reboot.
Workaround: Delete the old web app or web clip and recreate it in this seed by loading the content in Safari, tapping the Action button, and then “Add to Home Screen.”
Wi-Fi
Notes
This seed introduces changes to AWDL so that technologies that use it—such as AirDrop and the MultiPeerConnectivity APIs—will not work properly with older seeds.
Source: http://bgr.com