iPhone Atlas

Google's latest update to its Gmail iOS app fixes a glitch in the first version, but many users are still giving the app a collective thumbs-down over its limited functionality.

Released yesterday, the new 1.0.2 version of Gmail for iOS squashes the original bug that broke notifications and displayed an error message upon launch. The update also sizes images from HTML messages so that they properly fit the screen.

Users still running the original version are advised to uninstall or at least log out of it before installing the new version.

The app now launches smoothly without … Read more

There are tons of photo-editing apps in the iTunes App Store, but a recent update to an old favorite might be one of the best yet. It's called Photogene 2 and it offers so many tools that it's almost like it does the job of multiple apps.

Photogene 2 (99 cents until November 17) is the successor of a favorite photo-editing app of ours on iOS, and this completely rebuilt version is definitely worth checking out. To start off, a redesigned interface offers intuitive controls for exploring Photogene2's many editing options.… Read more

According to German Web site Macerkopf.de, iOS 5.1, the first major update to Apple's mobile operating system, will give Apple's voice-controlled assistant Siri the capability to access certain hardware features of the iPhone 4S.

The Web site's source is listed as an Apple developer commenting on a forthcoming iOS 5.0.2 update that will address battery issues yet again, as well as the future iOS 5.1 update that will contain the Siri updates.

If you're a power user, this news should be fairly exciting. Giving Siri the capability to adjust hardware settings … Read more

The security protocol that enables Siri to communicate with Apple's servers and return information via speech recognition has been cracked by developer Applidium.

What does that mean?

In a nutshell, according to Applidium, "anyone could now write an Android app that uses the real Siri!" The technology that Siri uses to communicate with Apple servers is not HTTP, as many developers may suspect. In fact, Apple uses TCP to connect with Siri.

After some more digging, Applidium had discovered the server name and address that Siri uses. After finding the server, a valid certificate was needed. By … Read more

Apple's iOS 5.0.1 seems to have created a glitch with the Contacts app for certain users, according to various sources and several posts on the Apple Support Forums.

Startup Foundry founder Paul Hontz reported late last week that after updating to 5.0.1, the iPhone was no longer able to associate address book contacts with other apps. Opening the Contacts app would display all the right names. But using the iMessage texting app or even making a phone call would fail to remember the name of a contact and just display the person's phone number.… Read more

All of us, at one time or another, probably wished we could swing from building to building like Spider-Man, but the laws of physics (and lack of web-shooting glands on our wrists) make that dream impossible.

Fortunately there are iOS games that let you use ropes and grappling hooks to go for the greatest distance. Each has different objectives and skills you'll need to master, but the swinging mechanic is what sets them apart from other games in the iTunes App Store.

This week's app collection is all about swinging games. The first lets you methodically swing for … Read more

According to a report at The Next Web, Apple's iOS devices, including iPhones and iPads, account for at least 39 percent of the photo traffic on Twitter. Photo search engine Skylines has constructed a breakdown of the various platforms and clients that post photos to Twitter, showing that despite iOS 5's relatively young lifespan it is already the seventh-largest Twitter client.

Combining the 5 percent of photos that come directly from iOS 5 with statistics from Twitter for iPhone at 21 percent, and Instagram (an iPhone-only photo sharing app) at 13 percent, the 39 percent figure is reached. … Read more

FaceTime is potentially one of Apple's game-changing products.

It provides users with an easily accessible way to video chat with anyone on an iOS device or a Mac. Here are some great tips to get the most out of this great technology.

FaceTime is a proprietary, open-source video communications device developed by Apple and released in June 2010. It is, however, not as complete of a product as most Apple-shipped software, especially when organizing a large contact list is concerned.

In a great collection of tips by GigaOm's Geoffrey Goetz, some extra ways to access FaceTime are uncovered.… Read more

Lots of great iOS games routinely sell for 99 cents, but some of the higher-profile titles run as high as $4.99, $6.99, and even $9.99.

Today, I've rounded up five really good games that typically have high price tags, but are currently on sale for just a buck. I'm not sure how long these price cuts will last, so if an app catches your eye, grab it pronto!

All these games are available in the App Store, natch. Where possible, the links below lead to related posts so you can "read all about it" before plunking down your dollar.… Read more