Review + Giveaway: Abstergo jailbreak tweak finally fixes iOS notifications

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Posted on : 04-21-2013 | By : Mike Beasley | In : 9 to 5 Mac

When Apple introduced Notification Center in iOS 5, they changed the way most people manage notification on their iOS devices. For the most part, they were right. Unfortunately, Notification Center introduced its own deficiencies and now people are looking for changes once again.

Today, change has finally come in the form of a jailbreak tweak called Abstergo, and we’ve got five free copies for our readers. Keep reading for a full breakdown of the tweak and more information about how you can win a copy.

The problem with push

Abstergo (derived from the Latin word for “to wipe away”) is a new approach to dealing with individual push notifications. Currently with stock iOS, you can either clear an application’s notifications all at once from the Notification Center. If your phone is locked, you have even fewer options. You can get a notification off of your lockscreen only by unlocking the phone, and then all of the other notifications that were there disappear as well. Abstergo fixes all of that and more.

Lockscreen

With Abstergo, when notifications come in on the lockscreen, you can swipe across the body the message to to delete it just like you would an email or text message thread. On the lockscreen, you can also clear all of your notifications at once without having to unlock the phone by pulling the list of messages down to reveal another banner at the top. This banner looks like a regular notification, but swiping the icon from left to right will clear away all of your other notifications.

Notification Center

Like the lockscreen functions, Abstergo lets you delete individual items from your Notification Center. The tweak is smart, and will let you clear calendar alerts from here as well, without allowing you to accidentally remove an actual event from the calendar section. Anything that isn’t affected by the “clear all” button above a given section isn’t affected by Abstergo (unlike some other previous attempts at similar tweaks which allowed you to delete anything and caused problems). From the notification center, you can also add a notification back to the lockscreen with the same tap-and-hold gesture.

Reminders

If you want to keep the message around but don’t want to deal with it right now, you tap and hold the notification can also set a reminder. This isn’t an entry in the Reminders app, but rather a timer that causes the message to reappear as if it were new after a selected amount of time. Even if you clear the notification from Notification Center or lockscreen, Abstergo will remember to re-trigger it.

Even better, you can trigger reminders for text messages and iMessages by tapping and holding on the message itself inside the Messages app. It even works with the popular Messages replacement app BiteSMS. Tapping and holding a received message in one of these apps reveals the regular copy/paste menu, which contains an extra button to create a reminder.

Conclusion

Abstergo has changed the way I personally deal with my push notifications for the better. I don’t know how we managed to make it this long without a tweak like this being developed, and I’m actually surprised Apple hasn’t already put this feature into iOS natively. If you’re tired of the “all-or-nothing” approach that the current push system takes, you should absolutely give this tweak a try.

Abstergo is $1.99 and is available on the BigBoss repo today.

Giveaway (ends 1PM EST, Tuesday 4/23)

Want to win a copy of Abstergo for yourself? We’ve teamed up with the developers to give away five copies to our readers. Here’s what you’ll need to do:

  • Share this post on Twitter with the hashtag #AbstergoSunday
  • Comment below with a link to your tweet and your Cydia account number

Make sure your Twitter account isn’t set as private. We won’t be able to verify the tweet if it is.

OR

facebook

Make sure when sharing on Facebook that you set the privacy options for this one story to “Public” so that we can see your name on the list of people who shared it. Otherwise we won’t have a way to verify.

You can find your Cydia account number by opening Cydia, selecting “Manage Account” from the front page, and logging into your Cydia account. When you reach the page with your name and “Installable Purchases,” look at the last line of text on the page. Include that number in your comment here. Don’t worry, no one can do anything nefarious with this number (unless giving you free tweaks is considered nefarious).

lockscreen-clear lockscreen-clearall lockscreen-reminder lockscreen-single-clear notificationcenter-clear notificationcenter-reminder reminder-cancel reminder-text


This post was written by Mike Beasley from 9to5Mac.
You can view the original post by clicking here.

Starbucks launches digital in-app Pick of the Week cards

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Posted on : 04-10-2013 | By : Zac Hall | In : 9 to 5 Mac
via macgasm.net

via macgasm.net

Starbucks today launched the next iteration of its iconic Pick of the Week promotion.

Previously, customers could pick up a physical card featuring a promo code to redeem the Pick of the Week app, but starting today customers have the additional option to make a free Starbucks account and redeem the app directly from the free Starbucks for iPhone app, circumventing a trip to a physical location.

The promotion showcases and gives away a paid app from the App Store, much like Apple’s own App of the Week campaign.

Check out 9to5Toys for the latest App of the Week, Angry Birds Star Wars.



This post was written by Zac Hall from 9to5Mac.
You can view the original post by clicking here.

These Are All The Things Your iPhone Replaces [Contest Winners]

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Posted on : 03-22-2013 | By : Buster Heine | In : Cult of Mac

instagrammedshiz

Ever since the iPhone was released in 2007 it has slowly made a slew of other devices and accessories obsolete. At the very least, you probably have a bit less clutter in your life thanks to it.

To celebrate the utilitarian powers of the iPhone, for our latest contest we asked readers to Instagram the things their iPhone has made obsolete. Watches, camera, Gameboys, and even graphing calculators made the list. After some deliberation, we chose five winners who will get a free InstaThis 10-inch printing of their choice.

Here are all the winning entries for things your iPhone replaces:

 

Film Cameras, iPod, Notebook, Gameboyapolloblanccontest

by Apolloblanc

 

Straight To The Dumpster

envisionwithjustincontest

by Envisionwithjustin

 

 

 

 

Itching For Vinyl righteousd00dcontest

by RighteousD00d

 

Instagram – The New Disposable Camera

shloime14contest

by Shloime14

 

Scrabbled

thejimp

 

by Thejimp




This post was written by Buster Heine from Cult of Mac.
You can view the original post by clicking here.

Giveaway: 3 newly launched Scosche Lightning cable accessories

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Posted on : 02-14-2013 | By : Dan DeSilva | In : 9 to 5 Mac

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The iPhone 5 debuted last October and along with it so did the Lightning port.  Since its launch there have been few third party accessories created due to Apple’s tight control over the the new technology.  Today, the popular consumer electronics and car audio company, Scosche, officially launched their line of Apple approved Lightning accessories.  While other companies are already offering official Lightning cables, this launch by Scosche is of particular interest because they are the first to offer both car chargers and wall chargers (5W and 10W) as well as a retractable cable.

Some Apple users have been quick to jump on generic Lightning cables to save a couple bucks, but given what we learned today it seems that the best route is to buy an Apple approved Lightning cable.  Supported devices include the iPhone 5, iPad mini, iPad 4, and 5th Gen. iPod Touch.  Schosche’s Lightning accessories are available online from Schosche (10% coupon here) and from major retailers such as AT&T, Wal-Mart, Staples, and Fry’s.  Skip below if you’d prefer to just win some cables…

strikeDRIVE Plug

Giveaway

If you haven’t stepped out and bought any Lightning accessories you’re in luck because we are giving away 3 of Scosche’s brand new products.  First up is the strikeDRIVE 12W car charger which features “… a 3 foot coiled cable that provides the freedom to use a device as it charges without tangles and clutter.”  The second giveaway is a strikeBASE, “wall charger [that] features a 3 foot long cable and flush folding wall prongs for added portability.”  Lastly, we will be giving away the retractable strikeLINE PRO, which extends up to 3 ft.  To be entered to win any of these items all you need to do is comment (helps if you follow 9to5Mac on Facebook and Twitter – 9to5Toys too ;) on this post and we will select 3 random winners this Sunday evening.  All winners will be contacted via a private message and Scosche will handle the deliveries..



This post was written by Dan DeSilva from 9to5Mac.
You can view the original post by clicking here.

Win the iOS 6 device of your dreams from iMore! Enter now!

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Posted on : 06-29-2012 | By : Rene Ritchie | In : TiPB

Win the iOS 6 device of your dreams from iMore!

We'll keep this short and sweet. iOS 6 is coming this fall and iMore wants to make sure you have the latest and greatest device(s) possible to load it on, so you get the absolute best experience possible. So we're giving you the chance to win the iOS 6 device(s) of your dreams!

Well, technically iMore is giving away a $600 U.S. Apple Store gift certificate so you can buy, or put it towards, any Apple gear you want. A new iPhone 4S or shiny new iPad just for you. A couple of iPod touches or a handful of Apple TVs for friends and family. Maybe even an iPhone 5 or mythical iPad mini if and when they're released. Whatever you choose!

How to enter: Simply head on over to our YouTube channel, http://www.youtube.com/imorevideo and subscribe, then leave a comment on the video for the iMore show 300. Make it something sassy, something sweet, something funny, something insightful, something daring, something delightful -- make it something uniquely you.

The giveaway starts now and the winner will be announced live on the iMore show on July 11, 2012.

Enter now. Heck, get everyone you know signed up and entered now!




This post was written by Rene Ritchie from iMore - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch blog.
You can view the original post by clicking here.