The first big Apple media event of 2019 has supposedly gotten an official date.
Apple reportedly scheduled a keynote at Steve Jobs Theater for the end of March, but don’t expect to see any major hardware announcements.
Apple is reportedly taking a hard line with publishers during its negotiations for a proposed news subscription service.
Aiming to become the “Netflix of news,” Apple’s as-yet-unannounced service would give customers unlimited access to articles from popular publishers for just $10 per month. However, news organizations are reportedly balking at Apple’s proposed revenue split, which sounds downright greedy.
Valentine’s Day is fast-approaching, which means it’s time to start shopping for that special someone in your life. If they’re a fan of Apple products and awesome gadgets to go with them, Cult of Mac is here to help.
Our Valentine’s Day gift guide is full of great gift ideas that are guaranteed to put a smile on their face. We have beautiful books about Apple’s most iconic devices, the coolest cushions and T-shirts, and must-have accessories.
No matter what your budget, you’ll find something they’ll love almost as much as you. (Maybe even more?)
Spotify is closing in on 100 million paying users, hammering home its position as the No. 1 company in streaming music.
In its latest quarterly earnings, the streaming company revealed that it now has 96 million paying subscribers around the world. That’s up 8 million in three months, and 36 percent year-over-year. The company also made its first ever quarterly operating profit. But not all the news is good.
Some iOS 11 users are having trouble accessing the App Store and Apple Music, according to online reports.
The services have been unusable for over a day for a number of users who are yet to upgrade to the latest software — despite being shown as online on Apple’s System Status page. There is a weird workaround that has proven useful for some, however.
Starting Friday, Apple Music subscribers can enjoy the service on domestic flights with American Airlines without purchasing Wi-Fi.
Complete access to the service and its more than 50 million songs will be available on flights equipped with Viasat satellite Wi-Fi. American Airlines is the first commercial airline to offer the service.
Tim Cook sounded confident about Apple’s future when he got on today’s Q1 2019 earnings call with investors this afternoon. Despite slumping iPhone sales and declining revenues, Cook told investors that his company is being managed for the long-haul instead of short-term gains.
Wall Street is already responding positively to Apple’s earnings report with shares trading up in after-hours trading. The company has 1.4 billion active Apple devices in the world, positioning Apple to continue raking in money as no other company can. However, today’s call revealed some new challenges Apple faces going forward.
When Apple unveils its earnings report for last year’s crucial holiday quarter, the entire world will be watching for signs of the company’s long-rumored impending doom.
Several factors will make Tuesday’s Q1 2019 earnings call Apple’s most important in years. Depending on how it goes, it could have an enormous impact on the company’s stock’s performance in 2019 and beyond.
Apple has shared a special video to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
The heartfelt short film, directed by Jia Zhangke, is titled “The Bucket,” and it’s about remembering loved ones when away from home. Apple has also published another two videos in which Zhangke showcases Depth Control and Slo-mo on the iPhone XS.
Apple Music is finally compatible with Android tablets, more than three years after it launched on Android phones. Apple started beta testing the larger interface last month, and now it’s rolling out to everyone in the latest Play Store update.
A new service allows Apple Music access through a web site without requiring any new software to be installed on the computer. Musish is free to use, and is far more secure than one might think.
The simple design of this portal is reminiscent of the Apple Music app.
Update: Verizon has officially confirmed this offer.
“When we introduced six months free of Apple Music to Verizon Unlimited subscribers, we said it was just the beginning of a great collaboration between Verizon and Apple to bring music streaming to our loyal customers,” said Angie Klein, vice president of marketing at Verizon. “Our customers loved the offer, so we’re expanding the value of our Beyond Unlimited and Above Unlimited plans by including Apple Music at the same plan price. You can stream more of the music you love on the network you deserve.”
According to a new report, Verizon is set to offer Apple Music as a freebie service to customers on two of its “unlimited” cell phone plans. This would, in essence, reduce Apple’s $9.99 per month subscription costs to zero — while boosting Apple’s subscriber numbers as well.
Former BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra DJ Charlie Sloth has officially joined Apple. The Charlie Sloth Rap Show on Beats 1 starts 12pm PT/3pm ET on Saturday January 19.
“I feel that U.K. music is in a place that it’s never been in my whole time supporting the culture in the way that I have,” Sloth told Beats presenter Zane Lowe in an interview. “I feel that it’s desired in a way it’s never been before globally — and with Apple Music and Beats 1 I feel that I offer something to these artists in the UK that no other platform can offer at the moment.”
If you want to stream different tracks on different devices from Apple Music, you’ll need two subscriptions. It was previously possible to listen to one track on your iPhone while enjoying another on HomePod in a different room, but not anymore.
Apple says this was a bug — not a feature — and it has finally been fixed.
Do you have a snippet of a song in your head, and it’s driving you crazy? Did you forget to Shazam it when you heard it playing in that hipster boutique vegan-boots-and-artisanal-ramen store? Then you need Apple Music’s search by lyrics feature, which lets you find a song based on a few vaguely remembered snatches of verse.
Sonos is about to add a new weapon to its smart speakers that will help make it even more competitive against Apple’s HomePod.
The company revealed today that it plans to bring Google Assistant to its smart speakers later this year. Beta testing for the new feature has already begun, allowing Google’s Siri-competitor to be the main voice input on some Sonos speaker models.
iTunes purchases have undergone a slight shakeup in Canada, as Apple Canada has started charging sales tax on top of its standard prices.
This applies to music, movie rentals, audiobooks, Apple Music subscriptions, and more. The move is in line with a new digital sales tax for non-resident suppliers which came into effect on January 1, 2019.
Beats 1 anchor Ebro Darden has been given a New Year’s promotion, being made Apple’s new global editorial head of hip-hop and R&B. In the role, Darden will manage a team of editors in developing editorial strategies for promoting artists, albums, and song releases.
This will be in addition to his Monday to Friday role as a host on Beats 1 and the Hot 97 show, Ebro in the Morning.
Want a summary of your year in Apple Music listening? A new app will help with that — although it’s not one that’s made by Apple.
Mimicking the concept behind Spotify’s yearly “Wrapped” feature, the free “Music Year in Review” app will delve into how many minutes you spent listening to your top artists on Apple Music. It will also tell you your top five songs and artists, along with your most listened genre.
Apple Music will make its way to third-party Alexa speakers eventually, Amazon has confirmed.
The streaming service finally joined Alexa earlier this week — you may have gotten an announcement notification on your iPhone — but it’s currently available only on Amazon’s own Echo devices.
Currently, there’s no officially sanctioned Apple way to play Apple Music in your web browser.
Enterprising software engineer Naveed Golafshani (a.k.a. Reddit user NaveedGol) has sprang to the rescue with a new — totally unofficial — web player at wwww.playapplemusic.com. It allows users to log in using Apple’s own authentication service, and then access their Apple Music libraries online.
Amazon’s Alexa speakers can finally connect to your Apple Music account.
Support for Apple Music on the Amazon Echo was rolled out today, giving iPhone and iPad owners the option to pump out their favorite jams without signing up for an Apple Music competitor like Spotify Premium.
Getting the new Apple Music integration up and running is ridiculously easy, but we’ll walk you through the entire process.
iPhone sales may be slowing down, but investors have held onto promising data points like Apple’s impressively growing Services division. According to some, this burgeoning part of Apple’s business even has the potential to make up 40 percent of the company’s gross profits by fiscal 2020.
Macquarie Research analyst Benjamin Schachter isn’t quite so smitten, however. In a new note to clients, Schachter claims that growth in the Services division is about to start slowing down.
Apple is offering promo codes to Apple Music customers, giving them money off the HomePod smart speaker in time for the holidays.
So far, users in the U.K. have reported receiving the offer for 50 British pounds ($63) off the full price of a HomePod. The offer runs through December 16, giving would-be purchasers until the end of the week to take advantage. It’s not clear how many markets Apple will offer the discount in.
With the holidays right around the corner, you should have started your shopping by now. And if you’re anything like the rest of us, you’re already fed up of it. That’s why Cult of Mac is here to help.
Our handy holiday gift guides will help you pick out the perfect present for friends and loves ones. We’ve hand-picked all kinds of awesome accessories and gadgets that are worthy of your hard-earned cash — and guaranteed to fetch a smile.
This guide is for the iPhone fans in your life, and it includes something to suit every budget.