iOS 11 Bug: Typing 1+2+3 Quickly in the Calculator App Won’t Get You 6

A bug in the built-in Calculator app in iOS 11 is getting some major attention this week, despite the fact that it’s been around since iOS 11 was in beta testing.

At issue is a calculator animation that causes some symbols to be ignored when calculations are entered in rapid succession. You can try it for yourself: Type 1+2+3 and then the equals sign into the Calculator app quickly.

Due to animation lag introduced when adding two or more numbers together, your result is more likely to be 24 than 6.

The same goes for many other calculations — the Calculator ignores some inputs unless you’re entering numbers slowly enough to account for the light-up button animations that highlight the keys that are being pressed. Symbols do not register when tapped while a number button is still highlighted, resulting in incorrect calculations if you’re inputting numbers quickly. Reddit user cplr describes the problem:

Any iOS developers will see what is wrong here: the bug is that the animation that lights up the button is blocking touch events until the animation completes. This is the default behavior for animations, but to make an app feel responsive it’s best to find a way around that (it can be a one line fix, but sometimes it is complicated).

There are hundreds of complaints about the problem on reddit this week, but it’s an issue that’s been discussed on the MacRumors forums since the iOS 11 beta testing period. Throughout the beta testing process, the animation lag was not addressed, nor has it been fixed in any of the iOS 11 updates released so far. It’s also still present in iOS 11.1.

Some users have experienced similar issues when using older versions of iOS, but the animation lag is noticeable enough in iOS 11 to make the Calculator nearly unusable when attempting to make rapid calculations.

Apple seem to be aware of the issue, because as The Loop points out, Apple employee Chris Espinoza says more than 70 people have filed a Radar report on the bug, alerting Apple to the problem. With it receiving so much attention, we could potentially see a Calculator fix in the next iOS 11 update.

In case you’re tempted to write a Radar on this, 70+ people have beaten you to it. https://t.co/xrMwJHqHiH

— Chris Espinosa (@cdespinosa) October 24, 2017

In the meantime, iOS users who need a reliable alternative can use third-party apps like Calcbot and PCalc.

Related Roundup: iOS 11
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Mophie vs. RavPower vs. Belkin: Who has the best wireless charging pad?

Sure, wireless charging has been around for years, but Apple only added the technology to its very newest devices. By incorporating a glass back into the design of the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X, users can now ditch the Lightning cable in exchange for the clear convenience of a charging pad.

With the introduction of wireless charging for iPhones comes the influx of a slew of wireless chargers. It can be difficult to figure out which one actually works to the best of its ability. To help make it easier, we tested out three top wireless charging pads with the iPhone 8.

Wireless charging with the iPhone 8

For each charger, we used the respective wall adapter and a wall outlet as our power source. All three have a 7.5-watt output and support the Qi standard … but the iPhone 8 currently accepts only 5 watts of power from wireless charging. You’ll see manufacturers touting the higher value, but at present, using a charging pad capable of pushing 7.5 watts doesn’t mean your iPhone will charge any quicker than it would with a standard power cable.

Regardless, Apple does plan on releasing the ability for its iPhones to charge at 7.5 watts in an upcoming iOS update — so it’s worth planning for the future and figuring out which wireless charger you’d like to go with.

Of all three of the wireless charging pads mentioned below, both Mophie and Belkin have worked closely with Apple — but Mophie says it has the most efficient charger. Let’s see which one came out on top.

Specs and performance test

Mophie Wireless Charging Base
RavPower Alpha Series Fast Charge Wireless Charging Pad

Belkin BoostUp Wireless Charging Pad

Dimensions
0.45 × 3.82 × 3.82 inches
 3.5 × 3.5 × 0.6 inches
 7.5 × 1.75 × 5.5 inches
Weight
4.37g (124g)
N/A
N/A
Max Power Output
 7.5W
 10W (for Android devices)
 7.5W
Standard
 Qi
 Qi
 Qi
Cable included?
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
AC Adapter included?
 Yes
Yes
 Yes
Thermal protection sensor?
Yes
Yes
Yes
Foreign-object-detection sensor?
Yes
Yes
Yes
Reached 50 percent at:
1 hour and 27 minutes
 1 hour and 15 minutes
 1 hour and 51 minutes
Total time to 100 percent:
3 hours and 12 minutes
2 hours and 36 minutes
3 hours and 53 minutes

Mophie Wireless Charging Base ($60)

On the outside, the Mophie is a sleek-looking puck-shaped charger with a rubberized finish. A thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) coating covers it entirely, which allows you to drop your iPhone on the charger without having to worry about scratching or damaging the glass back. On the bottom, there’s an LED light to indicate the device is charging. Measuring in at 0.45 × 3.82 × 3.82 inches and weighing 4.37 ounces, it’s small enough to throw in your bag or backpack for use on-the-go.

The iPhone 8 began charging at 2 PM, and after three minutes it powered up at four percent. By 3 PM, it was halfway charged at 50 percent. By 5 PM, the device was at 100 percent — which means it took about three hours to fully charge the device. The rubber coating did keep the device from sliding around, and we didn’t feel like the charger itself was going to slide off the desk.

When using a wireless charger, it’s important to pay attention to how you place your phone down. Even though one of the pros to the Mophie is that it’s small and easy to carry around, this also means there’s more room for the iPhone to hang off and not line up on the charger correctly. We didn’t have any issues placing it down, but because the LED light is placed at the bottom of the device it’s not as easy to see that it’s charging at a glance.

Fail-safe circuitry recognizes when your phone is fully charged to prevent it from overcharging, Mophie claims. This also means it controls temperature to prevent your iPhone from overheating. You can charge your iPhone with a case on, which is nice, as long as it’s no thicker than 3 millimeters — otherwise it might not work. But it is compatible with any of Mophie’s wireless charging cases.

RAVPower Alpha Series Fast Charge Wireless Charging Pad ($42)

The RavPower Wireless Fast Charging Pad is the smallest of all three wireless chargers we tried, measuring in at 3.5 × 3.5 × 0.6 inches. Along the perimeter, there’s a silicone anti-skid design to make sure your phone doesn’t slide. On the front, there’s a multi-purpose smart indicator that lights up. Depending on the color, it will alert you of your current battery status — which will then automatically shut off after turning solid for a few seconds once your phone is fully charged.

With the iPhone 8, RavPower took the least amount of time to charge completely. We started at 1:30 PM with a drained battery and were at 50 percent by 2:40 PM. By 4 PM the device was at 100 percent which — only two and a half hours overall. Although it’s a small detail, we also noticed it took only two minutes for the iPhone to power up after connecting to the charging pad where the Mophie and Belkin took four minutes.

Since it’s extremely small, you’ll have to pay extra attention to lining up your phone in the middle of the pad. And beware, the silicone material is definitely a magnet for dust, and you might find yourself cleaning it often. But it took up the least room on our desk and was light enough that it didn’t feel heavy in our bag. We especially liked the rugged feel to the USB to Micro USB cable, which felt like it would last much longer than standard cables. The RavPower also includes over-current, over-temperature, and over-voltage protection.

Belkin BoostUp Wireless Charging Pad ($60)

When it comes to design, the BoostUp is larger than the other two chargers we tested — coming in at 7.5 × 1.75 × 5.5 — but is still capable of fitting inside your bag. While the charger itself has a sleek and circular design, the wall adapter is bulky and not very comfortable to carry around. But it’s still removable for easier storage. Similar to the Mophie, the Belkin BoostUp has a non-slip surface on both the top and the bottom, with plastic surrounding the outer sides of it.

When we charged our iPhone 8 with the BoostUp, we started at 11:00 AM from zero percent and reached 50 percent by 1 PM. Once it hit 3 PM, the phone was completely charged at 100 percent. Overall, the Belkin took about four hours to charge our device fully. We did like the larger space to be able to drop our phone down, knowing there was extra room to line up correctly and charge. The LED indicator is also in a spot on the front that’s easy to see without having to lift up the charger or move it.

While it’s not too large, it’s still much bigger than the RavPower and Mophie, which makes it more suitable to keep at home. Plus it has an extremely sleek look that looks more aesthetically pleasing. As with the previous two chargers we tested, the Belkin has foreign-object detection and a thermal protection sensor to keep your device safe.  But in comparison to the Mophie and RavPower chargers, not only did it take longer to charge, but it’s on the pricier side at $60. With it also being bulkier — both the charging pad and AC adapter — it’s a lot to carry at once if you’re looking for one that’s more portable.

Winner: RAVPower Alpha Series Fast Charge Wireless Charging Pad

Of all three wireless chargers, the RavPower wireless charging pad was our favorite. It includes all of the same features as the Mophie and Belkin with a non-slip coating, LED light indicator, and fail-safe circuitry to protect the device. But it also charges the quickest, is the easiest to transport, and has an unbeatable price at $42. The Ravpower’s 10 watt max power output appears to tap into Apple’s promised faster charging speeds. We have reached out to Apple and RAVpower for more info and will update this post if we learn more.

In the meantime, if it charges this quickly with the iPhone 8’s 5-watt intake, the Ravpower unit could only be quicker when Apple rolls out its update. You can purchase the RavPower wireless charging pad on Amazon.

We will update this review when Apple releases its iOS update with 7.5-watt charging capabilities.

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Samsung patent filing reveals interest in a dual wireless charging mat

Why it matters to you

Looking for a way to more easily charge your devices? Samsung may be working on its own dual wireless charging pad.

Apple made some pretty big headlines a few months ago when it announced that the iPhone would adopt wireless charging and that it was developing a charging pad that could charge multiple devices, to be called AirPower, but it’s not the only company working on wireless charging tech — Samsung may be working on developing the tech, too.

That’s according to a patent leak which was picked up by Patently Mobile, and that describes a “Dual Wireless Charging Pad” that will presumably work much like the AirPower charging pad — offering the ability to charge multiple devices at a time. That’s different from today’s wireless charging technology, which only allows for one device to be charged at a time.

According to the patent, the charging pad will make use of both inductive and resonate wireless charging — both of which work with the Qi standard of wireless charging. Not only that, but the pad could use inductive charging for one device and resonate charging for another, according to the patent filing. What that means is that the charging pad could be used to charge any Qi-compatible device — not just Samsung’s devices. That’s good news for those looking for a decent charging pad for more than one device.

By the looks of it, the charging pad will feature a puck-shaped design similar to its previous charging pads, only boasting enough room to charge two phones or to charge a phone and a watch.

We don’t yet know when Samsung plans on launching the wireless charging pad, and because we only have a patent it’s entirely possible that it won’t ever be released. Still, if we had to speculate, it would make sense for Samsung to launch it in an effort to compete with Apple, and it would make sense for it to launch alongside the Samsung Galaxy S9.

Many expect wireless charging to become much more prominent in mobile technology over the next few years, and while Android manufacturers have been taking advantage of it for some time now, nothing puts a technology into consumer consciousness like adoption by Apple. Of course, we’re still hoping that wireless charging tech gets better, such as what we’ve seen from companies like Energous.

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Of course the world needs this noise-canceling fork that masks noodle slurping

Why it matters to you

A noise cancelling fork is the latest smart home product you didn’t know you needed, drowning out slurping noises when eating ramen.

We’ve all been annoyed by a someone slurping their soup or ramen before, but chances are you’ve never thought someone would create a product that serves as a solution for this vile sound. Well, we’re happy to announce that a Japanese instant-noodle titan Nissin has stepped up and created a noise-canceling fork designed to drown out the sounds from slurping ramen and other noodles.

 The Otohiko, as it’s called, is a ramen utensil that’s designed to create a bridge between the “cultural friction” that exists among cultures that allow slurping and cultures that don’t.

To illustrate this friction, Nissin rolled out a video that features three Japanese people sitting across from a group of Westerners at a table. One of the Japanese men — a businessman wearing a suit — offers a cup of ramen to the Westerners.

The Westerners start eating the ramen quietly, enjoying their treat. The Japanese then start eating their own ramen, making slurping noises while consuming them. The Westerners find the sound off-putting — which kicks off a series of events that ultimately lead to the creation of the Otohiko fork.

Nissin says it collected vast amounts of data by recording slurping noises while people ate ramen noodles. The company then mined the data from the recordings to identify the key elements of the slurping sound.

Then came Otohiko: a fork that looks vaguely like an electric toothbrush, and is equipped with a highly directional microphone that recognizes the slurping noise. A signal is sent to the device, which immediately emits a loud, electronic noise that sounds like waves washing ashore combined with futuristic space sounds.

Nissin has started a crowdfunding campaign for the Otohiko fork in which the company will start manufacturing the product if more than 5,000 people pre-order the noise-cancelling ramen fork. It will retail for 14,800 JPY (US$130) per fork.

Although many of us in the Western world do not understand the slurping of ramen noodles, the Japanese argue that slurping is the right way to consume them as you can draw out more of the flavors in the noodles. In fact, slurping is encouraged in Japanese restaurants as it is considered the polite way of consuming noodles. Burping, however, is discouraged.

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Instagram now lets you livestream with a friend

Instagram is continuously adding more and more features to its app to make sharing your moments as fun and easy as possible, and while it can feel bloated at times, some of the updates are actually pretty neat. Instagram is now rolling out version 20 of its official application, and the big new feature this time around is the ability to livestream with a friend.

When hosting a livestream on Instagram, you’ll now see a new “Add” icon near the bottom right. Tapping on this will bring up a menu of people you can choose to go live with (people that are watching your livestream), and once you select the person you’d like to join you, they’ll receive an invite to livestream right along with you.

Once your friend joins, your screen will split in two to show your stream on one half and your friend’s on the other. Your friend can leave whenever they’d like, and you also have the option to remove them and invite someone else. Also, if someone that you follow goes live and someone else joins their stream, you’ll see both of their profile photos next to each other so you can see exactly who’s livestreaming with who.

Instagram first started testing this feature back in August of this year, so while it isn’t a big surprise, it’s still one we’re happy to see. I personally haven’t jumped on the livestream bandwagon yet, but I imagine people that have will be ecstatic to play around with something like this.

Instagram taking new steps to reduce offensive and spammy comments using machine learning

Vimeo and Livestream reveal their new Mevo Plus live event camera

Following Vimeo’s acquisition of live video streaming platform Livestream earlier this month, the two are joining forces to debut the Mevo Plus — a smartphone-controlled live event camera that’s small enough to fit in your pocket.

The acquisition was announced in September and was finalized just last week, and its clear the companies didn’t want to wait long to unveil their first post-integration product, Mevo Plus. Mevo Plus is the newest iteration of Livestream’s Mevo, and is a pocket-sized camera meant for recording live events and streaming them directly to Vimeo Live, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Periscope.

While the new version includes all recent Mevo software updates (such as electronic image stabilization, Full HD 1080p streaming, and 4K recording), Mevo Plus is also said to feature the following:

• Stronger Wi-Fi performance: Mevo Plus is equipped with a powerful new 802.11ac Wi-Fi chip as well as Bluetooth 4.1, giving users optimal wireless connectivity so they can broadcast seamlessly.
• Faster transmission, increased range of use and less interference: Mevo Plus’ 2×2 MIMO antennas allow for faster data transmission speeds, strengthened connectivity in noisy environments and increased connection range.

Users operate Mevo Plus using the Mevo app on their smartphone, giving them full television studio-like control over what they capture. The app offers users a wide array of editing options, allowing them to cut, pan, and zoom between multiple live shots. Thanks to face detection technology and advanced scene analysis power, users can also choose to utilize Mevo’s autopilot mode, which will choose the most interesting shot and edit the footage for them.

Vimeo CEO Anjali Sud sang the praises of the new Mevo in a statement:

Mevo Plus is a remarkable tool that puts the power of a TV studio in your pocket, and is the first camera that integrates directly with the Vimeo platform. We are excited to launch deeper integrations in the coming months that will make live event production infinitely easier.”

Mevo Plus is priced at $499.99 for the camera alone (or $799.96 in a bundle with a Mevo Boost, case and tripod) and is currently available for purchase on the Mevo site. You can also get the first generation Memo camera while supplies last for $299.99.

See at Amazon

Misfit Vapor will finally be released on October 31 for $199

The Misfit Vapor packs a decent punch for $199, but it isn’t perfect.

Back at CES, Misfit announced the Vapor – a new smartwatch that aimed to be an attractive wearable for those not interested in spending a lot of cash. In March, Misfit decided to ax its own operating system in favor of Android Wear 2.0, and although the gadget was supposed to be released in the summer, that never happened. Thankfully, after months and months of waiting, the Misfit Vapor finally has a release date – October 31.

It’s been a while since we last talked about the Vapor, so let’s go through a quick refresher. The watch has a completely circular 1.39-inch AMOLED display, Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor, water resistance up to 50-meters, and a touch-sensitive side on the frame that you can use for navigating the UI without actually touching the display.

Unfortunately, the Vapor is missing some key features that a lot of people have come to expect in a smartwatch. There’s no built-in GPS despite Misfit previously saying that there was, no NFC (which means no Android Pay), and no speaker or LTE support.

Those are some hefty shortcomings when stacked together, but thankfully the Vapor somewhat justifies these omissions with a competitive price of just $199.99 when it launches on Misfit’s website.

5 reasons it’s worth buying an Android Wear watch right now

Video: Google Pixel 2 XL screen burn-in/persistence issues

So let’s talk Pixel 2 XL screen burn-in. This is the latest mini-controversy affecting the display of the larger Pixel phone. In our review we talked about some earlier complaints — color tuning, off-angle color shift, and shadow detail crushing. Bottom line: The XL doesn’t have the best-looking screen out there, and its LG-made display actually looks worse than the cheaper, smaller Pixel 2, which has a Samsung AMOLED panel.

But over the past couple days we’ve started noticing a more troubling issue with this screen: image burn-in. This is something which affects all OLED panels eventually. As the screen is used, the individual LEDs which make up each tiny pixel on the display start to get dimmer. And if the same image is shown on the same part of the screen over long periods of time, some pixels get dimmer at a different rate. As a result, you get burn-in: a kind of “shadow” or “ghost” image of what is usually on that part of the screen.

In today’s video, we’ll put our Pixel 2 XL’s screen to the test, and try to find out if it’s really experiencing screen burn-in, or whether the less serious image persistence is to blame.

• Android Central on YouTube
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‘Hey, Google’ command now rolling out to Assistant on Android phones

A welcome but possibly irritating addition.

Ever since the Google Assistant first launched on the 2016 Pixel and Home, there have been some differences between the AI on both platforms. Google Assistant can do certain things on Google Home that it can’t on phones and vice versa. Google’s been working hard at bridging that gap, and in the latest attempt to do this, users are now gaining the option to prompt the Assistant on their phone by saying “Hey, Google.”

You’ve been able to use this command on Google Home since its release, but the only way to get the Assistant’s attention on mobile has been the classic “Ok, Google” phrase. There’s nothing wrong with “Ok, Google”, but “Hey, Google” is a lot more natural and just rolls off the tongue better than the other option. As someone who uses “Hey, Google” about 99% of the time with my Google Home rather than “Ok, Google”, this is awesome news.

However, in that same breath, it’s also got some people concerned.

A lot of users (myself included) have taken to using “Ok, Google” for their phone and “Hey, Google” for Google Home as to not trigger both devices at the same time. With “Hey, Google” now coming to Assistant on phones, it’s much more likely that you’ll turn on the Assistant on your phone and Google Home when just trying to get the attention of one of them.

If this sounds like a nightmare, fret not. You’ll get a notification when the update reaches you saying that you can now train the Google Assitant to respond with the “Hey, Google” command, but you aren’t required to do so if you don’t want to. Use it if you want, or ignore it if you don’t.

I’ve already gotten the option to use the “Hey, Google” command on my Pixel 2 XL, so keep an eye out for it on your device if you haven’t seen it yet.

How to set up and customize Google Assistant

Google Lens integration with Assistant to be available in ‘a few weeks’

There’s still no word when Lens will be available for all, but this is a giant step forward.

Screen burn-in issues aside, the Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL are filled to the brim with incredible software features that help the phones stand apart from the competition. This includes the likes of Now Playing, improvements to the already great HDR+, and (of course) Google Lens. Lens is still in a preview state on the Pixel 2 and 2016 Pixel tucked away into Google Photos, but Google will soon be making it much easier to use with direct integration in Google Assistant.

We already knew that Lens would be coming to Assistant at some point in the future, but the date for when that would happen wasn’t very clear. However, thanks to a couple of Googlers on Twitter, we now know that Lens will make its way to Assistant within “a few weeks.”

We’re adding Lens into Assistant in the next few weeks. All still a preview – start narrow, will beef up as we go. Thnx for playing with it!

— Aparna Chennapragada (@aparnacd) October 20, 2017

We’re bring Lens to the Assistant in a few weeks. Polishing the UI a bit and ensuring that the assistant specific features work well.

— Rajan Patel (@rajanpatel) October 20, 2017

In order to use Lens on the Pixel and Pixel 2 right now, you need to take a photo with the camera, let the image process, go to said image, and then tap the Lens icon. Even for Lens being in a preview mode, this is still far too clunky for legit real-world use. Thankfully, when Lens comes to Assistant, you’ll be able to use the feature by prompting the Assistant and then tapping the Lens icon. A viewfinder within Google Assistant will pop up, and you’ll be able to get results from Lens in real-time.

“A few weeks” isn’t the most precise release window in the world, but it’s still a light at the end of the tunnel.

Google Lens: Everything you need to know