Because phones are small, it’s easy to underestimate how powerful they are. Give an iPhone a larger display and it would make a fine desktop PC. Case in point: A new video shows an iPhone X running Mac OS 8.1 as well as a couple of games.
How to use Files app with Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive
The Files app can reach documents stored on more than just iCloud Drive. It gives access a whole range of cloud-storage solutions. A new video from Apple shows how to set this up, but it’s a simple process.
This is part of a series demonstrating ways to get more out of an iPad, but this guide applies equally well to iPhone users.
Twitter won’t break third-party apps (at least not yet)
Twitter today pushed back a change to its service that will prevent third-party applications from offering notifications to their users. The services that Talon, Tweetbot, Tweetings, and Twitterrific depend on will still be shut down. It just won’t happen when originally planned.
The replacement Twitter is working on might be completely unsuited for the needs of these third-party developers. And deliberately so. They’re trying to get the company to change course.
iPad keyboard gives up its secrets in new Apple video
The iPad keyboard can quickly enter over a hundred characters, if you know all the tricks. A new video from Apple shows how to type numbers without switching keyboards. It also demonstrates how to access letters with accents. Plus, it shows how to use the keyboard as a trackpad.
Apple headphones concept mashes AirPod with HomePod
It’s an open secret that Apple is developing its own over-the-ear headphones, separate from Beats’ products. Well-known designer Martin Hajek dreamed up suggestions for how these super-size AirPods might look.
His concept art shows a heavy influence from Apple’s HomePod smart speaker, and the headphones function in somewhat the same ways.
Apple says repealing Obama’s Clean Power Plan is bad for business
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Trump administration wants to get rid of the Clean Power Plan, a move that Apple now publicly opposes.
A statement from Apple to the agency this morning asserts that the Obama era plan to require reductions in greenhouse gases from power plants spurs investment in clean energy. Repealing it makes companies less competitive in these technologies.
Developers create a touchscreen MacBook for just $1
There’s good news for everyone who wants a MacBook with a touchscreen. A group of developers came up with a way that cost them just $1 in hardware.
The process involves the laptop’s webcam, a mirror, and some programming. It’s just a proof of concept, but it shows potential.
Apple adds new alert when your iPhone battery is failing
iOS 11.3 has a new warning that users of older iPhones should dread. It’s a notification that the device shut down because the battery couldn’t provide peak power. Here’s what to do if this happens to you.
Apple will give shareholders $100 billion thanks to Trump
Apple stockpiled $252.3 billion overseas, but it’s bringing that money back to America. A market analysts predicts the company will spend $100 billion of it on its stock buyback and dividend program. This will directly benefit those with Apple shares.
The company decided to bring the money home from foreign banks after the new GOP tax law gave companies a limited time for cash repatriations at lower rates, possibly just 8 percent.
Apple proposes hybrid keyboard that’s also a trackpad
A future MacBook might have a hybrid keyboard that can sense when the. keys are lightly touched as well as when they’re pressed. This would allow the entire keyboard to function as a trackpad.
Apple wants to redesign the keyboard. It’s proposed various ways to make this classic input device more functional. Last month, it floated the idea of a replacing the keyboard with a flexible touch panel.
AirPort Express gets Air Play 2 support for whole-house audio
Air Play 2 in the first beta of iOS 11.4 lets users add AirPort Express base stations as speakers. Sort of. This could become a relatively inexpensive option for whole-house audio.
What makes this move surprising is that Apple hasn’t updated the AirPort Express since 2013. That said, the wireless router is still being sold on the company’s website.
New videos show off iPad’s best tricks
Apple wants to make sure iPad users know how to work with two apps at once, and also how an Apple Pencil can mark up screenshots. A couple of new videos walk users through each of these quickly and simply.
The video are likely timed to benefit people buying the new iPad, the first budget iOS tablet that supports the Apple Pencil.
Experimental iPhone app makes heart surgery safer
Medical advances don’t have to be dramatic. Even small changes can save lives. Take an app that uses an iPhone camera to determine if an artery is healthy enough to accept the catheter needed to restore blood flow to a patent’s heart. It’s still experimental, but is significantly better than the current method.
How to kick out companies that access your Facebook profile
Facebook now lists in one place all the companies that you’ve given access to your profile info. This makes deleting this access a snap, right from your iPhone or iPad.
You may have taken a silly Facebook quiz to find out which droid from Star Wars you most resemble. Just by doing so, you allowed the company that made up the quiz entry to your full profile info. And even if that was a decade ago, they still have access today.
First mobile phone call made 45 years ago today
A historic milestone occurred April 3, 1973: the very first call on a mobile phone. It was the phone equivalent of landing on the moon.
But that call wasn’t an inspirational message — some equivalent of “a giant leap for mankind.” Nope, Martin Cooper, who headed up Motorola’s team developing the cell phone, called Joel Engel, his equivalent at AT&T’s Bell Labs, to brag that his company had won the race to produce a working device.
Apple steals Google’s AI wiz to make Siri smarter
John Giannandrea used to run Google’s artificial intelligence division, but now he works for Apple. He’s leading the drive to make the company’s Siri voice assistant smarter, a goal many would agree is overdue.
This is the most high-profile move yet in Apple’s ongoing drive to hire more talent for the Siri team.
Apple Watch helps solve brutal murder
An Australian woman claims her mother-in-law was killed in their home by unknown assilants, but data from the victim’s Apple Watch contradicts that testimony.
An Apple Watch tracks the wearer’s heartbeat. This means it knows exactly when that heart stops, allowing Adelaide police to know precisely when this murder had taken place. And that was far earlier than claimed.
Media mogul Sumner Redstone lets iPad do his swearing
The elderly can be grumpy, and Sumner Redstone is a prime example. The man who owns most of CBS now lets an iPad do most of his talking, and the only responses are “yes,” “no,” and “f— you.”
iPhone shoppers prefer bargains to newest models
Buyers just aren’t going for the latest iPhone models. An industry analyst says nearly half the handsets Apple shipped last quarter were older devices, not the company’s latest.
Even worse, the Apple reportedly sold about 45 million devices, down about 13 percent from the same quarter a year ago.
Why Apple Watch apps are dying off in droves
Apple Watch sells very well, but apparently not strongly enough for some companies. A deadline requiring developers to base their apps on newer versions of watchOS just passed, and some businesses choose to pull their software rather than update it.
Instagram garnered the most attention, but there are surely other examples.
Sorry, Samsung: Latest iPhones beat Galaxy S9 on battery life
The iPhone X and iPhone 8 significantly outlast the Galaxy S9 on a single charge. Samsung once mocked the iPhone for its battery life, but the shoe is on the other foot now — benchmarks indicate that the the iPhone X goes more than an hour longer than the Galaxy S9.
Jony Ive is so design obsessed he sleeps on iPhone factory floors
Jony Ive designs all iPhones, iPads, and Macs, and he says in a new interview that he’s a hands-on part of the creation process all the way through, not just a guy who makes sketches. Apple’s top designer also talks about his relationship with former Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
Apple seeks an army of engineers to make Siri smarter
Apple wants to hire 142 people for Siri-related jobs, almost twice as many as this time last year. Clearly, the company is serious about turning around its troubled voice-driven digital assistant.
Apple augmented reality system could make us better drivers
Bad drivers may soon get some crucial tips on the road from Apple, if the company’s latest patent ever becomes a reality.
While everyone in tech is working on driverless car systems, it appears that Apple is looking into ways to make it safer for humans to get behind the wheel too. Apple filed for a patent this week that envisions an augmented reality system for cars that shows drivers more of what’s ahead of them than they can see with their naked eyes. And it could totally change the way we drive.
You can soon see (and delete) everything Apple knows about you
Apple will soon let you download all the information it has stored about you, modify it, or even delete it. The privacy change is required by a new European law, but is also in-line with Apple’s policy to not spy on its customers. This sets it apart from rivals like Google and Facebook.