Showtime Announces Standalone Streaming Service For iOS and Apple TV

Apple TV is great for streaming video. In fact, it is one of the things that this little black box does really well. If you enjoy shows that belong under the Showtime banner you will soon be able to watch them on iOS and Apple TV without the need for a cable subscription. This is fantastic news and this new streaming service will be available from the 12th of July.

We are still unsure as to whether Apple are going to unveil a new Apple TV or any media streaming deals at next week’s WWDC developer event as the reports that are coming in are mixed, but that hasn’t stopped any of their media partners from cranking out new apps for Apple existing devices. Showtime, the people behind Ray Donovan and other high profile shows, has announced a subscription service that will allow anyone across the United States to watch its content without the need for a cable subscription.

The new subscription is going to be called “Showtime” and will include live TV as well as a back catalog of content. This means that users will be able to watch content on their iPhones, iPads and Apple TV. Subscription costs are really great too at just $10.99 per month and will be available to purchase via Apple’s App Store payment systems.

In a statement on the new partnership with Showtime, Apple’s SVP of Internet Software and Services said that “iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Apple TV customers will now be able to subscribe to Showtime directly and instantly start viewing their favorite programming with the same simplicity as buying an app.” Showtime has also confirmed that users will be able to take advantage of a free trial for 30 days if they sign up before the end of July.

Showtime will be making their way to other platforms at a future date but their timed exclusive to Apple really does show the strength of the Cupertino giant, its customer base and its app ecosystem. If the likes of HBO and Showtime are happy to launch apps and streaming services in this manner though, why can’t Apple put something a little more comprehensive together in order to truly take on the cable companies?

Have a look at the video below for the new Showtime offering and see what you think. National Geographic made its debut on Apple TV yesterday and we are certain that the list is going to continue growing with time.

How To Live Stream the Apple WWDC 2015 Keynote

If you own an Apple TV device, you may have noticed that the Apple Events app has just been updated. It now includes a new entry detailing the date and time as well as the streaming information for the upcoming WWDC 2015 Keynote. Apple’s keynote is scheduled to take place on Monday, 8th June at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern time. In this post we want to tell you how you can steam it live if you want to watch the event live and know exactly what to expect from Apple for the rest of the year.

Apple’s official website doesn’t yet have any information on how to live stream the even but we imagine the website will be updated shortly to reveal this information for all the iOS and OS X users that will be running Safari. We do advise that you keep an eye on the official website so that you can take note of the live steaming links for iOS and Mac once they become available. In this post we are going to reveal how you can stream the keynote live on your Apple TV.

The first thing you will need to do is make sure that you Apple TV is up to date. If it isn’t, you will need to go to settings > General > Software Updates, and then press on Update Software. Once your Apple TV has been updated, you just have to wait while the brand new Apple Events app with the WWDC 2015 logo is installed on your main screen. A new “Play” button will automatically appear in this app at the correct time on the day of the event so all you will have to do is hit the play button and sit back and enjoy the WWDC 2015 Keynote.

In order to live steam the keynote using your Apple TV, you will need to have a second or third generation model that is using firmware version 6.2 or over.

Apple is expected to unveil iOS 9, OS X 10.11, Watch OS 2.0, a new subscription based music streaming service and Apple TV 4. We can’t wait to see what hidden gems will also be revealed and of course report back and let you all know about the announcements that Tim Cook and company make on stage. With less than a week to go now, the excitement is building and we really can’t wait to find out what Apple have in store for us this year.

New iOS 9 Leak Reveals New Proactive Feature Similar to Google Now

There really hasn’t been that much to report about the upcoming iOS 9 which has led quite a lot of people to assume that it is going to be bland and not that spectacular. In fact, I don’t think we have mentioned anything about iOS 9 here on the blog before now. Well anyway, a new report has suggested that it might not be as bland as we thought. Apple is looking at introducing a new feature called “Proactive” which is similar to Google Now on Android devices.

According to 9to5Mac this new Proactive feature is an evolution of the old Spotlight feature that was recently updated so that it can now grab search results from Wikipedia as well as its other sources. It seems though that this was just a little step in the revamp process and Spotlight has now been transformed into the powerful Proactive feature that will also integrate with third-party apps.

Proactive is going to replace Spotlight and we may see it move back to the left of the home screen the way it used to be in iOS 6. There are however hints that Apple will also allow for calling up the feature by swiping down on the home screen as is right now. It’s said that the design of Proactive will be fairly similar to Spotlight and will retain the search bar at the top so existing users will find things familiar. Of course, users will be able to make standardized search here just like in Spotlight, but Proactive will include a greater emphasis on displaying news stories as search results and will more reliably display news results when you search for information including news on current topics and famous people.

We have also heard that Apple will be looking to give Proactive a much deeper integration into third-party apps while also giving Siri some leverage. Apple has a full Siri API which will allow the service access to third-party apps as well. There is also talk about a limited Siri API for developers being released codenamed Breadcrumbs and that will be interesting if it surfaces.

It is also being suggested that Maps will be integrated into Proactive which will mean that users will now be offered automated updates and data depending on their schedule and how they travel as was seen with Google Now. Meanwhile a bolder, augmented reality feature will show you points of interest through your camera, and a simpler “browse around me” feature will also be available for displaying local points of interest too.

This all sounds really interesting and we do hope that is not just a rumor and that we will see the Proactive feature when iOS 9 is released. As always, we will bring you any further information as we get it and if any more interesting iOS 9 reports fall on our desk, we will be sure to let you know abou them.

20 Things You Can With Your Apple Watch On WiFi Without Your iPhone in Bluetooth Range

Most people assume that without your iPhone the Apple Watch can’t do anything so in this post we want to tell you all about what your Apple Watch can do on WiFi with or without your iPhone connected in its Bluetooth range. All the features listed here don’t require an iPhone to be connected via Bluetooth or the same WiFi network. In short, Apple Watch can do all these things on its own without having to have an iPhone at all.

Timekeeping

This is kind of obvious but the Apple Watch can tell the local and world time without an iPhone. It also supports alarm, timer and stopwatch functions too.

Tracking Activities

The Apple Watch can monitor and track how many steps you take, how much you stand up, climb stairs and more. The data is all presented to you in the Activity App. The Watch keeps tracking these activities even without an iPhone connected and when you do connect an iPhone, the data is all synced with the Health App on your iPhone automatically.

Track Workouts

The Workout app on your Watch can be used to track your workouts. Just set your exercise and goal and off you go without having to connect to your iPhone. The watch’s built in sensors will track your heart rate, strides and more. Even better, the Apple Watch can also measure the distance ran on its own thanks to a feature in the watch that stores accurate information about your stride so that it can measure distance. You will have to run a few times with both your Watch and iPhone so that the Workout app can use the iPhones GPS to calibrate you stride first.

Monitor Heart Rate

The Apple Watch measures your heart rate every 10 minutes and this data is then synced to your iPhone whenever you connect it.

Music Playback

When you first connect your iPhone and Apple Watch you can sync music tracks so that you can play music directly from your Watch over a pair of Bluetooth connected headphones.

View Photos

The Apple Watch is designed to sync all photos on your iPhone that have been marked as favorites. This means that you can carry your favorite photos on your wrist all the time.

Apple Pay

If you have Apple Pay set up you can make payments at contactless payment terminals even if you don’t have your iPhone with you at the time. This feature doesn’t require any internet connection either.

Passbook

The Passbook feature for the Apple Watch lets you store electronic tickets, boarding passes, etc., and all of these will work independently of your iPhone.

iMesasge

If you are on WiFi you will be able to use Apple Watch to send and receive iMessages. This is great if your iPhone is on charge in another room or out of Bluetooth range.

Digital Touch

Just like iMessages, you can use Digital Touch to send scribbles, taps or your heart rate to your favorite contacts using your WiFi connection.

Siri

Even if you are not connected to your iPhone but are on a WiFi network you will be able to use Siri. Siri’s functionality is limited if your iPhone is turned off.

There are a number of other features but these will require your iPhone to be connected to the same WiFi network and include the sending and receiving of SMS messages, the weather app, maps, mail, stocks, making and receiving calls, and notifications.

So as you can see, there are plenty of great things that you can do with your Apple Watch even if you don’t happen to have your iPhone with you.

Top Tips for Freeing up Space On iPhone and iPad

In today’s post we want to share with you some of the top tips for freeing up space on your iPhone or iPad. This is going to be particularly useful is you own one of the 16GB iOS devices. Space is something that every iPhone and iPad user is always looking for and if you find that your device is running low, take a look at our top tips and see how much space you can retrieve.

Clear Safari History and Website Data

First up we target Safari. If you haven’t cleared Safari data in a while you may be surprised to find that you can retrieve up to 1GB or more of storage space on your device. To clear it all you have to do is go to Settings > Safari > Clear History and Website data > Clear History and Data. That’s it, free space.

Turn OFF My Photo Stream

Photo Stream automatically saves your last 1,000 photos from your Camera Roll and then pushes them to other iCloud enabled devices. In some cases, Photo Stream can also take up some space on your device too. You can turn it off if you need to save valuable storage space. Do this by going to Settings > iCloud > Photos > My Photo Stream

Turn on iCloud Photo Library

The new iCloud Photo Library saves everything in your Camera Roll to iCloud so you can choose whether or not to keep the original version of your photos on your device or not. Turn on iCloud Photo Library and move all your photos to the cloud by going to Settings > iCloud > Photos > iCloud Photo Library. It is important to be aware of the fact that each account only gets around 5GB of free space on iCloud and after that you will have to upgrade your iCloud storage plan.

Delete and Reinstall Apps

There are lots of apps that cache files to help them load content faster. This may sound like a good thing but the negative effect is that the cache files often use up space on your device. The likes of Spotify and Facebook can use a lot of data so it is no harm to delete and reinstall these every once in a while. Also just so you know, if you do delete and reinstall any of these apps, you don’t lose any of your information. If you have Spotify and you delete the app, when you reinstall it all your playlists and preferences will still be there. Deleting the apps only clears all the temporary cache files so you get your storage space back.

Delete Music and Stream Via Cloud

Apple allows you to stream all the music you have bought on iTunes from iCloud without having to download them to your device. To do this, you will first need to delete all the music stored locally. Once done, you will see all your music titles from iTunes showing up in your Music app ready to stream via iCloud. Alternatively, you can also switch to one of the many music services such as Spotify, Beats Music or Sound Cloud and more.

Delete Large iMessage Threads

If you share lots of photos and videos via iMessage it can take up lots of storage space. Deleting large threads and those with lots of photos and videos will help free up space.

Update to the Latest Version of iOS

If you are not concerned about jailbreaking and you are running an earlier version of iOS, then it really is time to update. Earlier versions of iOS 8.x are known to take away lots of storage space and Apple has since fixed this problem in their latest firmware releases. You can update to the latest iOS firmware via OTA by going to Settings > General > Software Update.

By going through your devices on a regular basis and doing some general tidying you should be able to free up a lot of storage space. Delete apps that you no longer use. It doesn’t matter because if you want to use them again they will be listed in your purchased apps on the App store. We hope you found these tips useful and if you have any that you would like to share please do so in the comments below.