Microsoft today announced that desktop Apple TV and Apple Music apps will be available on Windows PCs next year, downloadable from the Microsoft Store. Early beta previews of these apps will launch on the Microsoft Store soon. The Apple partnership also expands to personal media, with the news that the Windows 11 Photos app is adding iCloud integration. This means Windows users can smoothly browse their iCloud Photo Library inside the stock Windows Photos app....

According to the Financial Times, Apple has passed 10 million paying subscribers for Apple Music. Apple Music launched in June 2015 with a three month free trial. Since the launch, Apple announced it has 6.5 million paying subscribers in October. In November, Apple launched Apple Music on Android which no doubt attracted a significant chunk of additional new users. Crossing ten million is a significant symbolic milestone, as it now means Apple Music is half as large as Spotify’s paid userbase....

This will be the shortest diary series I’ve ever written! After providing my first impressions of Apple News+ in its UK incarnation just over a week ago, I’ve already canceled my one-month free trial. Indeed, I was so confident in my decision that I canceled it without waiting for the trial period to end, despite the fact that this means immediate loss of access to the service. However, while Apple failed to gain a subscriber from my trial, it was still an enlightening and useful exercise for me…...

First, make sure you have Parallels Desktop 6 installed. Then verify you have the latest updates for the virtual machine (VM) you create it with it on your Mac OS X system. In this example I needed to download the latest build. Install the update like normal following the wizard. If you didn’t download the latest updates, you’ll run into errors when installing Chrome OS. This is the error I ran into because I didn’t update Parallels first....

Alongside the introduction of iOS 10.1 and watchOS 3.1, Apple has switched on support for Apple Pay in Japan. This makes the iPhone 7 and Apple Watch Series 2 compatible with the FeliCa contactless payment system used by almost two million payment terminals in the country. Supporting Apple Pay in Japan was not a trivial undertaking for Apple. Although FeliCa is an NFC-based contactless payment system, it’s not compatible with the systems used in most other countries....

Apple currently plans to use its next major release of the Mac operating system, known as OS X 10.12, this fall to continue to expand Siri across its product lines. Last year, Apple implemented Siri as cornerstone features of both the Apple Watch and new Apple TV, and for 2016, Siri is planned to finally make its way to the Mac. Apple had been testing versions of OS X internally with Siri integration since at least 2012, but sources now say that Apple has a clear vision for Siri on the Mac along with a polished user-interface and is nearly ready to launch the feature publicly....

Apple has published a new press release on its Newsroom website today underscoring the economic impact of the App Store. Ahead of the Worldwide Developers Conference kicking off next week, Apple touts that developers grow total billings and sales in the App Store ecosystem by 24% to $643 billion in 2020. Apple’s press release cites a new study from the Analysis Group, which it helped support. The study says that the number of “small developers” worldwide has increased by 40% since 2015 and now makes up more than 90% of total developers....

One of iOS 10’s cool new features is the ability for developers to create sticker pack animated emojis for iMessage using the Messages API. Apple is showing how it is done, so to speak… Apple last night released 4 apps for iOS 10 beta testers, most of which will look familiar to Apple Watch users. The Classic Mac sticker packs, originally designed by Susan Kare in the 80s was included with iOS 10 but is now there if you’ve uninstalled and want to reinstall....

Apple is rolling out the fourth iOS 10.3 beta for developer testing on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. The upcoming software update includes Find My AirPods support, CarPlay improvements, Apple’s new filesystem, and more. We’ll update and highlight any changes discovered below. iOS 10.3 is currently only available in beta for registered developers and public beta testers. The public beta version of each update usually follows a few days after the developer version if not the same day....

Apple is rolling out a new version of firmware to AirPods Pro 2 this afternoon, bringing Apple’s latest AirPods Pro to version 5.1.58 with build number 5B58 (up from 5A377). The update comes as users continue to complain of issues surrounding audio drifting and audio syncing. Audio drifting is an issue with headphones where the sound shifts between each side of the two earbuds. The audio will move back and forth between earbuds and can also get out of sync with videos....

It’s time for iOS 13 beta 3 — for developer build testers at least. Apple has released the third developer beta version of iOS 13 and iPadOS 13 alongside new seeds of watchOS 6, tvOS 13, and macOS Catalina. Apple’s public beta builds should follow at a later date after the latest developer beta has been tested for some time. Apple’s new software version won’t be complete until the fall, however, so testers should still expect performance and stability issues when running the iOS 13 beta on primary devices....

One week after the first tvOS 9.1 beta for Apple TV, developers now have access to an updated build of the software update to test. While the initial tvOS 9.1 beta contained no visual changes for users yet, Siri has since been enabled to work with Apple Music on the beta version of the software. Non-developer Apple TV users also recently saw the very first software update for Apple TV yesterday with the release of tvOS 9....

Bloomberg reports that representatives from Apple held meetings with suppliers of parts for augmented reality devices at CES 2018. The company is believed to be working on an AR headset of its own, with an approximate 2019 release timeframe. Apple famously doesn’t partake in public demos at the consumer electronics show, but always has engineers and managers in attendance to find potential future manufacturers for its products and keep abreast of new technologies....

Apple subsidiary FileMaker today introduced version 14, the first major update since 2013, of its popular iOS and Mac-based platform, which includes the FileMaker Pro, Go, and Server software suites. This new version focuses on separate enhancements for speed across the different software versions, with the Mac and Windows applications gaining improved features for productivity, and the iOS Go apps for iPad and iPhone receiving end-to-end redesigns for iOS 8. Below, we break down the most significant new features for the Pro, Go, and Server versions....

Apple released a new universal GarageBand iOS app ($4.99) today that brings iPhone and iPod touch support to the previously iPad only, scaled-down DAW. New in Version 1.1 is the ability to create custom chords for Smart instruments, and support for 6/8 and 3/4 time signatures. If you’re unfamiliar with the iOS app, which is a mobile version of the GarageBand app that ships with Mac OS X, here’s the description from the press release:...

As the coronavirus pandemics continues on, AAPL is seeing further declines along with the rest of the market. This morning with the opening bell, Apple’s stock dropped another 3% which put the company below a $1 trillion-dollar valuation. Update 3/24: The entire US market saw a boost with the opening bell this morning tied to a potential rescue bill for the economy. AAPL is up 5% at the time of writing at $235 a share, putting it back over the $1 trillion-dollar market cap mark....

Longtime Apple Veteran and now VP of Apple Music, Oliver Schusser is going to become the new head of Beats starting next month. He’ll continue on as the VP of Apple Music and the company’s international content division as well, as Apple says it “remains committed to the Beats brand.” Reported by CNET, the news was leaked by an email Apple VP Eddy Cue sent to employees this month and Beats confirmed to CNET that Schusser will be taking over as the current Beats head, Luke Wood departs at the end of April....

Apple today pushed a new update to Apple Music for Android that officially brings the app out of its extended public beta period. With the update, Apple Music for Android is now at version 1.0, nearly 10 months after its initial release to the Play Store. In addition to bringing the app out of beta, today’s update also adds equalizer settings, giving users more control over the playback of Apple Music and iTunes content....

Patently Apple today reveals a patent filed all the way back in 2009 that relates to Cloud music streaming with iTunes. Calling the service “seamless and invisible to the user,” Apple details how the service picks the location to retrive data whether it is local or stored on a server. So, that means Apple could decide to store the beginning of a song, for instance, locally while choosing to store the rest of the song in the Cloud....

Apple has just wrapped up its media event and has pushed several new pages online. The first is a new page dedicated to the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, and the second is a page for the Apple Watch. But Apple has gone even further, revealing a whole new look for its entire website that features a flattened navigation bar. A new page about the U2 “Songs of Innocence” album is also live, and includes details on how to redeem your free copy of the album....