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The vice-like grip of the iOS and Android operating systems is only getting tighter, according to new sales figures published late last week.


New data from Comscore, released on Friday, showed Android leading the way at the end of May 2013 with 52.4 per cent of all US sales, up from 51.7 per cent at the end of February.

iOS share of the US market rose 0.3 per cent to 39.2 percent during same time period.

Despite the launch of BlackBerrys new BB10 operating system and the best selection of Windows Phone 8 devices yet, both of those platforms saw their share fall to 4.8 and 3.0 per cent respectively.

Numbers dont lie

It was a similar story for hardware sales. Apples iPhone led the way with the 32.9 per cent, closely followed by Samsung which enjoyed a sizeable 1.7 per cent jump to 23 per cent of sales.

The next three, HTC, Motorola and LG all endured a fall in sales during the three month period, all of which remain under 10 per cent.

Samsungs continued rise will have been fuelled by the launch of its new flagship Galaxy S4 handset but, worryingly for HTC, its critically acclaimed HTC One release couldnt stem the the drop-off in its share.

There is, of course, hope for those competing operating systems and manufacturers, but until the numbers start going in the other direction, its difficult to be too positive. They have to start gaining at some point, right?

Later this year, iOS 8 could give new meaning to the phrase "an Apple a day keeps the doctor away," as the iPhone maker is reportedly focusing on health tracking technology.


Apple executives met with directors of the US Food and Drug Administration to discuss mobile medical applications last month, The New York Times discovered in the FDAs public calendar.

The talks involved high-level Apple employees, including Jeff Williams, senior vice president of operations, Bud Tribble, vice president of software technology, and Michael OReilly, a medical doctor in Apples government affairs department.

The FDA meeting details havent been disclosed, but combined with a report today about iOS 8, it suggests that Apple is going all-in with health monitoring in its next iOS update.

What is Healthbook?

Healthbook is supposed to be a pre-installed iOS 8 app that monitors and stores fitness metrics, according to unnamed sources who spoke to 9to5Mac.

Its interface is said to match Passbook, but instead of accumulating digital tickets and coupons, it calculates steps taken, calories burned, miles walked and weight loss.

These are pretty standard stat-tracking features that can be obtained from current wearables like the NikeFuel Band SE and Fitbit Force.

iWatch and Healthbook

The Healthbook report contains a "one more thing" style surprise when you factor in the unconfirmed iWatch, which is said to enhance this software with vital signs the iPhone is incapable of tracking.

Blood pressure, hydration levels, heart rate, and possibly glucose levels are additional metrics that could be introduced, according to 9to5Macs sources.

Were not sure how wearable can keep track of hydration outside of a user manually logging every drink consumed, but when it comes to glucose levels, Google found a way in its smart lens prototype.

Logging medication information is said to initiate helpful pill-taking reminders at scheduled times, a feature that could tie into the existing iOS 7 Reminders app.

iPhone 5S was just the beginning

Apples first foray into health monitoring came last year when it introduced iPhone 5S and its M7 coprocessor that could keep track of steps.

The company showed how Nike was integrating its Nike Fuel metric into the new phone and Fitbit has since expanded its app to use the M7 processor to log steps walked even without a Fitbit tracker.

Itll be interesting to see if Apple works with or against Nike in realizing its health monitoring ambitions.

Apple CEO Tim Cook is still on the sneaker companys board and Apple snagged at least Nike employee last year.

Either way, this blip on Apples radar last year could become the highlight of iOS 8 this fall if development of Healthbook gets into shape and joins the rumored iPhone 6 and iWatch in time.

Computers used to be all about expandability. Essentially you owned a box that could be tailored to your needs as your requirements evolved. A popular upgrade path was storage, adding new hard drives as your files grew in size and number. But with Apples touchscreen revolution, everything changed.


The iPhone, iPad and iPod touch are more like appliances than traditional computers - theyre sealed boxes that forever remain as they were the moment you purchased them. You can no more extend their storage capabilities than you can add a new compartment to your fridge-freezer.

A quick look at Apples modern hardware suggests its entire line-up is heading in the same direction, but iOS devices are more restricted than Apples desktops and notebooks. After all, if you need more storage for a MacBook Air, you at least have the option of offloading large documents to an external hard drive (and, of course, then sensibly backing up that data along with the internal drives, either locally or to an online service such as CrashPlan).

But iOS devices arent designed that way. They dont have a USB port or a user-accessible file structure. The intention is that you store everything on the device itself (well, almost everything - services like iTunes Match enable you to grab your music from the cloud).

Therefore, an important tip when it comes to better iOS device storage and management comes at the moment of purchase: buy the model with the most storage that you can afford, unless youre absolutely convinced you wont need it.

Even then, reconsider; be mindful that as technology evolves, demands for storage increase. Retina screens require larger applications, and iOS cameras can shoot HD video, which requires a huge amount of space.

Also, demands on iOS devices are increasing purely on the basis of what they can now do. People frequently shoot and edit video, work with photography, read magazines and compose music on iPads and iPhones. All these things require lots of storage.

If your device gets really full, it alerts you. Also, things stop working. You wont be able to install new apps or shoot video new footage. You may find that updating apps becomes problematic, because the device doesnt have enough space to download, unpack and install updates before deleting older versions.

We offer advice for dealing with such a situation, along with managing iOS storage in general. Note that this isnt intended as a start-to-finish walkthrough, more a series of ideas that can be utilised to free up space.
As ever, we should stress the importance of back-ups before making major changes to iOS devices. Even if youre backing up to iCloud, make the occasional local back-up (select your device in iTunes and click Back Up Now on the Summary page).

Local backups are also useful when it comes to dealing with app data, because you can later use iExplorer to fish out settings and other documents from such a backup, even if those things have long been removed from your device. Also ensure before making any major changes in terms of deleting content that you dont only have said content on your iOS device.

For music, sync your device with iTunes to transfer tracks to your Mac (although you can grab previous purchases from iTunes, if necessary). For photos and movies, transfer them across by attaching your device to your Mac via USB, launching iPhoto, selecting the device and clicking the Import button.

How to manage iOS device storage

1. Check device capacity in iTunes

Although iOS devices no longer require iTunes, Apples desktop app remains useful from a device management standpoint. Connect your device (via USB or over Wi-Fi) and select it from the Devices button. Across the bottom of the window, you see a chart detailing whats taking up room: audio, photos, apps, books and other.

If storage is an issue, you could free some up. For example, if youve lots of music or photos on your device, select the relevant tab, uncheck the sync box and then sync your device. The relevant media is removed. You can then perform updates and manage your apps, perhaps free up more space, and later restore your media by resyncing it.

Occasionally, you might find the other section becomes massive. In our experience, this is usually down to you having a lot of in-app data (see Step 3) or failed app updates, which can happen on trying to update without enough free space. Resyncing should help; if not, a restore from a local backup.

2. Discover app sizes 

Apps can be massive. Sizes are shown in iTunes and the App Store, but thats the size of the compressed download. Once installed, an apps size can balloon.

In iTunes, check app sizes by clicking on the Apps tab and selecting Sort by Size from the pop-up menu at the top of the apps list. Peruse the list, and if there are apps or games you no longer use, consider deleting them. You can do so by clicking Remove in iTunes; when youve done so for all apps youd like to delete, click Sync.

Alternatively, tap-hold an app on your device to make all the icons jiggle and, for each, tap the cross icon and then Delete to remove it.

3. Examine app data

Open the Settings app on your device and in the General category, select Usage. You see available and used storage and a list of apps. These are ordered by the total amount of space they require, including app data.

Newsstand and similar apps tend to be storage-hungry. Their containers might be small, but the actual magazines rarely are. If you want to see how much space an apps data is using, tap the app in the list and look at the Documents & Data figure.

If youve several such apps taking up loads of room you need, consider deleting data. For example, if you subscribe to magazines, delete old issues from within each app. You can usually redownload issues later if you need to. If you fancy taking a speedy option and dont have a capped broadband connection, deleting a Newsstand app takes all its data with it. You can then download a fresh copy from the App Store and the latest issue.

Magazine and book apps arent the only storage culprits, note. Dropbox can (optionally) store documents locally (by flagging them as favourites) and some video apps have download capability, so check those too.

4. Back-up app content

Should you no longer use a game or creative app, but think you might one day return to it, download its data to your Mac using the free version of iExplorer (macroplant.com/iexplorer).

Connect your device to your Mac via USB, select Apps from iExplorers sidebar and select the app in question. Select the Documents and Library folders, Ctrl-click and select Export to Folder. (Alternatively drag them to a Finder folder.)

The contents of these folders can later be sideloaded into a fresh install of the app, meaning you wont lose your progress in a game that doesnt support iCloud, or could get saved compositions from a music-app back to your device with a minimum of fuss.

5. Use last-chance folders

If you tend to frequently download new apps, chances are some fall out of favour, but you might not necessarily know which. Create date-based folders (07-2013, say) and place apps within that you dont think you use any more. If you find yourself using one, rescue it from the folder. Otherwise, delete the folders contents after a few months, first backing up app data as necessary.

(Note: if you dont download apps to iTunes on your Mac, sync with it before deleting the apps, so youve a back-up you can later install to your device. You can of course redownload apps from the App Store, but only if they are still made available to you.)

This is a fairly ruthless app-management method, but its useful for keeping installs current and ensuring you have space.

Google is rolling out an update for its Chrome browser app on Android and iOS to make it more efficient on data, and to be able to translate foreign languages within web pages.

Flappy Bird developer Dong Nguyen has suggested that the hugely popular app-based game will be removed from the iOS and Android stores later today.


Despite reportedly generating more than $50,000 (£30,469) per day in ad revenues, the Vietnamese developer has Tweeted that Flappy Bird is to be pulled from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store within a matter of hours, stating “I can’t take it anymore.”

“I am sorry Flappy Bird users, 22 hours from now, I will take Flappy Bird down. I cannot take this anymore,” Nguyen Tweeted 19 hours ago, giving the game just three hours of life left at the time of writing.

Having become the latest global app sensation, Nguyen appears to have grown weary of Flappy Bird’s success stating: “Press people are overrating the success of my games. It is something I never want. Please give me peace."

Flappy Bird, an 8-bit inspired game which requires users to navigate a series of gaps formed by Mario-esque green tunnels, by tapping the screen to flap the bird’s wings is currently atop both the iOS and Android free download charts.

Although questions have been raised around Flappy Bird’s similarities with Mario, and former app hit Tiny Wings, independent developer Nguyen has insisted that the decision to remove the app is not based on legal pressures.

“It is not anything related to legal issues. I just cannot keep it anymore,” Nguyen stated via his official Twitter feed.

He added: “I also dont sell Flappy Bird, please dont ask.”

Although promising to remove Flappy Bird from sale later today, Nguyen has insisted this will not be his last app-based effort, stating: “I still make games.”

Earlier this week it was revealed that a Flappy Bird Windows Phone app would be released next week, a launch that now looks to be in jeopardy.

Microsoft-owned VoIP app Skype has updated its wares for iOS users, allowing them to send unlimited free video messages to fellow users.


The newly-tuned app lifts restrictions on video clips, which had previously limited users to just 20 free videos a month unless they upgraded to the $4.99 Skype Premium subscription.

The update comes just over a week after Skype announced it would be making video messages completely free on all platforms.

In a blog post at the time the company said: "Video messaging is now available to all Skype users. You can send and receive as many video messages as you want – completely free of charge. Video messages can be received and viewed on any platform or device running Skype."

The functionality allows users to send video messages up to three minutes in length from Skypes smartphone, tablets and Windows and Mac apps.

Its proved popular for those wishing to send personal video messages quickly and easily, while its also a good alternative if users are unable to make contact when attempting to make a live voice and video call.

As well as some general fixes and improvements, the app also improves video and audio call stability and brings more reliable photo sharing.

Earlier this month the company had rolled out the video message feature, which first appeared for iOS, Android and Mac users in February, to BlackBerry, Windows 8 and Windows desktop users.

Strangely, considering Microsoft owns the company, the feature is yet to hit Windows Phone.

A number of top iOS apps and games have seen their prices slashed to zero, coinciding with the App Stores fifth birthday.


While Apple hasnt made any official announcement yet, its clear that some special celebrations are in store to mark the iOS App Store hitting five this week.

To kick things off, some apps and games have already been made free to download. These are some premium offerings, too.

On the games front, the likes of Tiny Wings (both the iPhone and iPad versions), Infinity Blade II, Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP, Wheres My Water? and Badland can all be picked up for nothing.

The Unreal Engine-powered Infinity Blade II in particular is a bit of a steal, as it usually costs £4.99. Badland formerly cost £2.49.

When it comes to apps, there are some even more generous offers. Traktor DJ, an acclaimed pro music mixing app, normally costs £13.99, but is now free.

Day One, a polished journal app; Over, which lets you overlay your photos with professional-looking text; and Barefoot World Atlas, an interactive 3D globe for kids, have also gone free.

None of these apps or games have any blurb to explain the price drop, but wed bet anything that Apple will announce something later this week - possibly on Wednesday, which will mark five years to the day since the iOS App Store first came online.

Pebble has confirmed that the Pebble Appstore will be launching on iOS devices today, Monday February 3.

An iOS 7.1 beta has been released by Apple, with the pre-release software issued to developers with a range of speed and design improvements in tow.