Apple yesterday made the fifth public and developer betas of iOS 13.4 available to testers, and now it is releasing watchOS 6.2 beta 5 to developers as well. watchOS 6.2 doesn’t include any major user-facing changes. Instead, the update focuses on performance improvements and under-the-hood bug fixes. Apple doesn’t offer a public beta of watchOS because there is no way to revert back to a previous version if there are bugs....
Following this morning’s Tim Cook interview with Kara Swisher that focused on privacy, Apple has reminded developers to update their apps with the new AppTrackingTransparency framework before the release of iOS 14.5. AppTrackingTransparency, or ATT, is a new tool Apple is introducing to protect users’ data and prevent unwanted apps from tracking you across other websites and apps. During Tim Cook’s interview with Kara Swisher, he noted that ATT is “several weeks” away....
In the last day or so, Apple has updated its list of HomeKit accessories with some seemingly bad news: all references to HomeKit doorbells have been removed. The page previously featured the August Doorbell Cam as ‘coming soon’. Infamously, August first promised HomeKit support in 2016, and the Ring Video Doorbell has said that it has been ‘testing’ HomeKit integration for many months. It’s not clear what has caused Apple to remove the listings....
Apple has lost another legal battle with Swiss watchmaker Swatch. As reported by The Sydney Morning Herald, Apple has failed in its quest to stop Swatch from using the phrase “one more thing” in Australia. Apple had argued with the Australian Trade Marks Office that Swatch should not be allowed to use the “one more thing” phrase as it was synonymous with Steve Jobs. Jobs, of course, used it regularly during Apple Keynotes while Tim Cook has also used it....
The Apple Music festival in London has been always been a staple of the fall pop music scene, but never has it been more integral to Apple’s operations than this year – when Apple Music is locked in a battle for supremacy among streaming services and Tim Cook is pushing services revenue as a replacement for Apple’s sagging hardware unit sales. This year’s event will not only be available on Apple’s product lineup but also PCs, and for the first time through the Apple Music App on Android which launched in November of last year....
After first being announced and previewed at WWDC in June of last year, Apple launched its music streaming platform on Android on November 10th. Now, after almost a year of being available to the public (and only a month since it finally exited beta), the app has garnered more than 10 million downloads on the Google Play Store… Since the app first became available, Apple has slowly been adding features and improving the experience....
Apple Music today launched a new curated playlist on the service, called “New Music Daily”. Unlike most Apple Music human editorial playlists, New Music Daily is refreshed every single day. The debut lead single on the playlist is Taylor Swift’s “The Man,” from her brand-new album, and the cover art also features a photo of the singer. Presumably, Apple will be featuring lead artists in the artwork on a rolling basis....
A drone pilot who has been making regular flights over Apple Park says he believes that the company is tracking all flights over the campus, and thinks it’s only a matter of time before counter-measures are used to block future flights … Duncan Sinfield made the comments in a new video posted today (below), noting that it usually takes Apple security no more than ten minutes to reach him, no matter where his take-off point is....
A Bloomberg piece today argues that Apple product design has improved since former design chief Jony Ive left the company. It says that without Steve Jobs’s moderating influence, Ive went too far in prioritizing form over function, and that this has since been corrected … Jony Ive initially stepped back from product design leadership in 2015 to focus on the Apple Park campus, before returning to his original role two years later....
Apple today updated the MacBook Air with True Tone adaptive screen technology a lower price point. The Air now starts at $1099 (with $999 student pricing) down $100 from its $1199 retail price when it launched late last year. The price drop of the Retina MacBook Air to $1099 means that Apple has finally killed off the previous-gen non-Retina MacBook Air, which held the $999 price point for more than eight years....
You know how Leopard 10.5.2 introduced new ways of handling RAW files? Well once you have that going (don’t upgrade if you use linotype), Apple has some more goodness for you…in the form of Lightroom competin’ Aperture 2. Free trial and…exciting press release: “Many of the most respected photographers on assignment all over the world trust Aperture to organize, edit and deliver their images,” said Rob Schoeben, Apple’s vice president of Applications Product Marketing....
Apple will release the second developer beta of iOS 14 today, coming two weeks after the official debut at WWDC 2020. iOS 14 brings new features such as widgets, the App Library, and more. iOS 14 beta 2 will bring further refinements to the new features, as well as bug fixes and performance improvements. iOS 14 beta 2 details iOS 14 beta 2 is available to developers via an over-the-air update....
Just two days after the release of iOS 15.1 to the public, Apple is restarting the beta train yet again. The company today is rolling out the first developer betas of iOS 15.2, iPadOS 15.2, watchOS 8.3, and more. Head below for the details on these new betas rolling out now. Today’s new release of iOS 15.2 beta 1 is available to developers via an over-the-air update in the Settings app....
Billboard has a report out today claiming Apple is considering “the most dramatic overhaul of its iTunes music store in more than a decade” due to lack of traction with its new iTunes Radio service launched in September of last year. According to the report, which cites executives close to the project at Apple, some of things Apple is considering include new types of on-demand streaming services and “negotiating download sales windows that favor Apple....
Ferrari announced in a press release for its 2012 financials today that Apple’s Senior Vice President Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue is joining its board of directors. Ferrari chairperson Luca di Montezemolo made the announcement during a meeting of the company’s board of directors earlier today: Cue, who recently took on new responsibilities leading Siri and Maps following the departure of iOS chief Scott Forstall, also provided a statement regarding his nomination for the board:...
After officially bringing iTunes music and movies to India alongside a huge international rollout in December, Apple appears to have now launched Apple TV in the country. The Apple TV product page on Apple’s India website was first spotted by BGR India, but Apple has yet to issue an official press release announcing the product launch. The product page doesn’t include a “buy” button, and some reports claim stock has not yet made it to Apple resellers in the country....
According to a new report, after the first year of COVID-19, worldwide smartphone sales grew 6% in 2021. Apple saw a rise in market share as well as becoming the number-one vendor of smartphones to end users in 4Q21. Although Apple looks good in this report by Gartner, the analytics company said component shortages and supply chain issues disrupted smartphone sales in the second half of 2021. Apple maintained its position as the second company that sold the most smartphones to end users in 2021 with 239 million units, getting 16....
Apple Music is expanding on its popular real-time lyrics feature with an all-new karaoke-style mode. Called Apple Music Sing, this new feature “allows users to sing along to their favorite songs with adjustable vocals and real-time lyrics.” Apple Music Sing is integrated directly into the Music app, making it “fun and easy for anyone to participate.” Apple Music Sing is a new way to hum, rap, jam, or sing along with millions of your favorite songs....
Apple Music for Android has been updated today with several enhancements. This update first entered beta testing last month and is now available to all users through Google Play Store. The new version of Apple Music for Android brings some of the new features previously available for iPhone and iPad users with iOS 13, including time-synced lyrics, a redesigned Now Playing interface, and Dark Mode. It’s nice to see that Android users don’t have to wait for feature parity with Apple’s updates on their own devices....
AppleCare+ is one of the best solutions for those who plan to stick with an Apple product for more than a year. Although users only have 60 days after activating an iPhone or Mac to buy this extended warranty, the company is reportedly making it easier for customers to get a second chance. According to an internal memo seen by MacRumors, Apple users who get their iPhone or Mac repaired on the Apple Store or Authorized Service Provider can get a second chance to buy AppleCare+....
