Following the launch of iOS 13.3, watchOS 6.1.1, and tvOS 13.3, Apple today has released macOS Catalina 10.15.2. This update includes several improvements and bug fixes across the system, including some new features. An interesting feature included in this update is the return of iTunes Remote support, which no longer worked with the new Music and TV apps, and today’s update fixes this problem. Users can update to the latest version through System Preferences on a Mac....

One week after releasing tvOS 15.1 beta 2, Apple is now seeding the third beta of tvOS to developers. Here’s everything new with it. Today’s build is 19J5560d. With tvOS 15.1 beta, Apple reenabled SharePlay testing. This is one of the most important features announced during the WWDC21 keynote that was postponed. With SharePlay, users will be able to make a FaceTime call while listening to songs, watching movies and TV shows as well....

Apple has held talks to invest in a Softbank technology ‘vision’ fund worth a total of $100 billion, according to Dow Jones (via CNBC). President-elect Donald Trump announced last week that Softbank will use about half of that money, around $50 billion, to invest in American businesses. Apple’s cash pile is currently estimated to be worth more than $200 billion, with the majority kept outside of the United States. Apple does not have a history of investing in venture capital funds, so this is an interesting new direction for its capital....

Apple’s 30% cut of all in-app purchases is again making the news. Facebook said that when it tried to help out small businesses who’d lost income due to the coronavirus, Apple refused to waive its 30% commission on sales. Facebook itself takes no cut of the income. The social network then tried including a ‘transparency notice’ advising users that Apple would get 30% of the amount paid, and Apple blocked that …...

Apple recently kicked off a new iPad Pro ad campaign that highlights problems real people have with PCs and how iPads can be better solutions. So far Apple has shared seven installments in its ‘Real problems… answered’ series, but there are at least two (now four!) more ads in the wild that haven’t been published on YouTube. These ads follow the same format based on actual tweets from real people and target so-called Windows PC ‘switchers’ Apple wants to reach with the iPad Pro....

Apple subsidiary Claris has announced the release of ECF Records Manager. It’s an app created to help K-12 schools and libraries meet the requirements of a new $7 billion federal program to support remote learning. ECF Records Manager, created by iSolutions, is the first app launched as part of the Claris Smart Pack, a portfolio of Claris FileMaker apps, designed by premier Claris Partners, to help K-12 schools and libraries tackle a variety of challenges in addition to manual tasks, such as attendance tracking, transportation planning, event ticketing, and more....

After it was revealed that Apple paid an effective tax rate on its European profits of just 0.005% in 2014, a local tax and advisory firm has said that while other multinational companies had similar arrangements with Ireland, Apple’s deal was ‘the most brazen.’ The comment was made by Aisling Donohue, a partner at tax and business advisory firm MGPartners, reports Bloomberg. The European Commission yesterday ordered the Irish government to recover €13B ($15B) in taxation from Apple after it was ruled to have offered the company illegal tax breaks....

Apple Music for Android has received its second app update of the month — an uncommon occurrence for the rarely updated Apple Music client. Apple Music 2.4.1 for Android includes a fix for crashing and improved reliability for music playback: The reliability update comes after Apple Music for Android gained new music video features including background audio playback, PIP playback within the app, and music video playlist support. Apple Music is available on Apple’s macOS, iOS, tvOS, and watchOS platforms, with playback supported on Android and Sonos as well....

Apple Music and Spotify are the dominant players in the streaming music industry. Spotify just announced they have 75 million paid subscribers with 170 million total active users. Apple recently hit 40 million subscribers. It’s clear that both companies are a hit with consumers. In fact, the streaming music industry has revitalized the music business. I often get asked, how do I choose between Apple Music vs Spotify I’ve gone back and forth on that....

If there’s one thing worse than damaging your iPhone or iPad by dropping it, it’s when that damage is a cracked screen. While you might be able to ignore a scuff to the casing, you’re going to see cracks in the screen every time you use the device. Apple appears to be aiming to make screens more resistant to cracking by exploring a method of automatically detecting cracks, asking users to confirm them and then sending diagnostic data to the company to help it understand the type of impacts that cause them …...

On World Water Day, Apple and the Alliance for Water Stewardship are touting their long-term commitment to their work together. Apple and the alliance will continue to invest in Chinese industries and all around the world, according to a post in Apple’s newsroom. In the past year, the number of Apple’s supply chain partners that received certifications from the Alliance for Water Stewardship increased from 5 to 13. The Alliance for Water Stewardship is a global organization dedicated to promoting cooperation between businesses, governments, and nonprofit organizations to encourage the adoption of common system standards for sustainable water use....

Apple has released iOS 11.1 for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. The latest software update adds hundreds of new emoji characters including new expressions, vampires and zombies, breastfeeding, dinosaurs and many more. Other changes include the return of the 3D Touch gesture for multitasking, a smoother scroll-to-top animation, and other bug fixes and improvements. Apple first previewed these new emoji over the summer then teased them again in recent betas. Now iOS 11....

Apple has released iOS 6.0.1 to iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch users. Apple says that this update includes various improvements and bug fixes. Fixes a bug that prevents iPhone 5 from installing software updates wirelessly over the air Fixes a bug where horizontal lines may be displayed across the keyboard Fixes an issue that could cause camera flash to not go off Improves reliability of iPhone 5 and iPod touch (5th generation) when connected to encrypted WPA2 Wi-Fi networks Resolves an issue that prevents iPhone from using the cellular network in some instances Consolidated the Use Cellular Data switch for iTunes Match Fixes a Passcode Lock bug which sometimes allowed access to Passbook pass details from lock screen Fixes a bug affecting Exchange meetings The iPhone 5 apparently shipped with a bug that does not allow the device to receive over-the-air updates....

Following the release of OS X 10.10.3 to the public, Apple has also released iOS 8.3 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. The update, which has been in beta for several months, brings over 300 new emojis (including diversity options) as well as a new keyboard for inputting the symbols. The new keyboard features a scrolling UI, rather than the old page metaphor, to better accommodate the wider range of emojis available in the update....

[UPDATE: Apple’s system status page says the issues are now resolved after four hours.] If you’re currently experiencing issues with iCloud Mail or Notes, then you’re not alone. Apple is currently reporting an ongoing iCloud outage affecting a small percentage of users (which is probably still a lot of people at Apple’s scale) when sending and receiving email with iCloud Mail or using iCloud Notes. According to Apple’s System Status page, the small outage has been ongoing for almost two hours, although Apple typically acknowledges outages some time after they occur and not immediately....

Update: macOS Sierra GM is also now available for public beta testers. Like yesterday’s developer release, it requires a new promo code for the App Store to redeem. macOS Sierra will be released to everyone on September 20. Following yesterday’s release of iOS 10 GM for developers, Apple has released iOS 10 GM to public beta testers as well. iOS 10 is scheduled to be released to anyone not testing the beta version next week on Tuesday, September 13....

Apple today launched a redesigned version of its Apple Open Source website, on which the company provides access to open source data. The new website highlights not only Apple’s open source projects, but also those of third parties. The new website is divided into two different sections, which are “Apple Projects” and “Community Projects.” Apple’s open source projects include the Swift programming language, the WebKit engine for web browsers, the FoundationDB database, ResearchKit and CareKit for health-related content, and Password Manager Resources....

Apple’s iPhone and MacBook both made appearances in Beats’ new headphones ad celebrating the World Cup. Apple, of course, announced that it is buying Beats Electronics for $3 billion last week, a deal it expects to be approved by the end of September, and featured a Beats plug earlier this week at WWDC when Dr. Dre was phoned in to the keynote and Eddy Cue was photographed wearing Beats headphones…...

Following an enduring period of quality-testing and trial runs, Apple has finally chosen not one, not two, but three suppliers of LCD panels for iPad 3. The winners are LG Display, Samsung Electronics and Sharp who all apparently cut deals to supply LCD panels for the third-generation iPad, per DigiTimes story from this morning. LG Display will act as the leading supplier, while “Sharp stands a chance of overtaking the Korea competitor if it is able to run stable supplies of quality panels”....

According to a new report from Bloomberg today, the head of business for Apple News has stepped down less than than a year after the launch of Apple News+. Liz Schimel joined Apple in 2018 after having previously worked at Conde Nast. Today’s report cites “people familiar with the move” and says that Schimel was responsible for overseeing relationships with publishers and advertisers during her time with Apple News. Under Apple’s current organizational structure, Services are overseen by Peter Stern, a top lieutenant of Eddy Cue....