Apple’s default apps could potentially be banned from coming preinstalled on new iPhone and iPads in Europe, according to draft European Union legislation.
The so-called Digital Services Act is intended to level the playing field for smaller companies wanting to compete with “gatekeeper platforms” (aka tech giants). The EU currently has two investigations into the App Store and one into Apple Pay.
TikTok may be facing a possible extinction-level event in the U.S., but that’s not stopping its worldwide success as the popular video-sharing app just racked up yet another month as the world’s most downloaded social media app.
According to analytics firm Sensor Tower, TikTok enjoyed 63.4 million installs worldwide in August 2020. That’s up 1.7 percent from August the previous year. TikTok was the no. 1 social media app in the App Store, Google Play store, and — unsurprisingly — both combined.
Since the days of the PlayStation 2’s in-built DVD player, for many people their games console has been the primary media hub for their TV. Despite this, Apple TV+ is not currently available on the top games platforms.
That may soon change, according to reports that claim that Apple is supposedly working with Microsoft and Sony to introduce its Apple TV app to Xbox and PlayStation.
Researchers from the Mayo Clinic are worried that false positives from the Apple Watch’s pulse-reading sensor could overburden medical services.
This is the pulse rate sensor available with all models of Apple Watch. It is not to be confused with the newer ECG heart rate feature on newer devices.
Apple has reportedly removed a pair of RSS reader apps, Reeder and Fiery Feeds, from the App Store in China due to their ability to allow users to access information the country would rather they not see.
It’s not clear exactly what prompted this particular banning, but China has been cracking down on RSS feeds since 2007. That year, it initiated a blanket ban on all web-based RSS feed aggregators. In 2017, Apple removed RSS reader app Inoreader from the App Store in China.
In other words, this may be less a case of “What did Reeder and Fiery Feeds do wrong?” than “how did they manage to survive as long as they did?”
Foxconn, Apple’s biggest manufacturing partner, is reportedly developing its own augmented reality (AR) smart glasses. These will be used in retail, smart factories, and smart medical care.
The AR glasses will utilize micro LED displays, one of the next-gen display technologies that Apple plans to use in future products. Apple is also said to be hard at work on its own AR glasses, tentatively dubbed “Apple Glass.”
Candy Crush Friends Saga has surpassed $200 million in lifetime player spending across both the iOS and Google Play app stores, a report from app intelligence first Sensor Tower claims.
In total, the Candy Crush franchise has earned more than $1 billion so far this year.
Tim Cook may well stay at the helm at Apple until at least 2025, according to SEC filings which detail the stock options that will vest in that time. Cook will receive 333,987 units of restricted stock options, vesting in thirds beginning April 1, 2023.
“For the first time in nearly a decade, we are awarding Tim a new stock grant that will vest over time in recognition of his outstanding leadership and with great optimism for Apple’s future as he carries these efforts forward,” Apple’s board of directors told Reuters.
A “minor code tweak” discovered in iOS 14.2 appears to confirm previous reports that Apple will not package EarPods with the iPhone 12.
The rumor was originally suggested by Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo back in May. This change in language, hidden in iOS 14.2, seems to lend credence to that idea.
Production is running full-tilt for the iPhone 12, the South China Morning Post reported Tuesday.
According to the publication, production is running 24 hours per day, with no vacations allowed and mandatory overtime. There are also “juicy bonuses” for employees who put in the time.
Russian company Caviar is known for producing blinged-out Apple devices that would make billionaire fat cats and 2000-era rappers say “that’s a bit over-the-top.”
But its latest creations, infinitely more humble and low-fi in appearance, are easily my favorite of its customized devices. Caviar will produce a pair of iPhone 12 models patterned after the original Apple-1 computer, as built in 1976.
The Apple vs. Epic Games antitrust lawsuit could come down to jurors to decide. According to a Monday report from Bloomberg, the federal judge overseeing the case has said that a jury trial could ultimately turn out to be the best way to resolve the case.
While U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of Oakland, California has not yet ordered such a case, she indicated that it might be a scenario where jurors are the ones best equipped to decide an outcome.
Don’t bid farewell to the 64GB storage option for the iPhone just yet! According to Apple leaker Jon Prosser, the 5.4-inch iPhone 12 mini and 6.1-inch iPhone 12 will come in 64GB, 128GB and 256GB options.
Previously, Prosser suggested the 2020 iPhones would start at 128GB. 64GB has been the lowest standard storage configuration for Apple smartphones since the iPhone 8 and iPhone X in 2017. However, there will be no 64GB iPhone 12 Pro.
Apple has continued its winning ways when it comes to acquiring A-list movie properties by snapping up worldwide rights to the first movie made by the Russo brothers since Avengers: Endgame, a.k.a. the highest grossing movie of all time.
Called Cherry, the movie stars Tom Holland and Ciara Bravo in what are being touted as incredibly impressive acting performances. The movie is an adaptation of a bestselling 2018 novel by Nico Walker.
Apple and Pixar CEO Steve Jobs had some advice for director Brad Bird when he was making decisions about merchandise on the 2004 movie The Incredibles: “fewer things, better things.”
Bird recalled the advice during a recent online chat with Training Day director Antoine Fuqua (who, incidentally, just had his last movie acquired by Apple). Bird also recalled speaking with Jobs about the Apple Store, around the time the company was busy opening the first ones.
Apple is giving businesses which host paid events online via the App Store reprieve on having to pay Apple a 30 percent cut.
Apple reversed the policy late last week, although it will reportedly only do so for three months as businesses reel to try and come up with new ways to make money during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Feeling like you missed out on proper summer vibes this year due to coronavirus, and it’s now too late to dream of soaking up some beach rays? Apple Music feels your pain, and has some appropriately party playlists to take you back to the 2020 summer vacation that never was. Including one by everyone’s favorite Luther star.
New playlists added to Apple Music include DJ sets from independent dance label Defected Records. One is from recent Glitterbox Virtual Festival and includes the likes of Idris Elba (yes, he DJs as well as acts), Jellybean Benitez, and Boys Noize. The other includes sets from Ibiza in 2019, featuring Roger Sanchez, Gorgon City, Sam Divine.
The TikTok story has taken another twist as a Washington judge has blocked the Trump administration’s ban on the popular short-form video app. The ban on the Chinese app would have kicked in at 11:59pm on Sunday. TikTok now has a stay of execution until at least November.
US district judge Carl Nichols granted a preliminary injunction to TikTok owners ByteDance. Nichols declined to block additional commerce department restrictions on the app “at this time.”
An image that reportedly shows iPhone case stickers seemingly adds more evidence that Apple will call its smallest iPhone 12 model the “iPhone 12 mini.”
The pictures, posted on Twitter Thursday evening by Apple leaker DuanRui, follow a recent report from @L0vetodream suggesting that this year’s models will be called the iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max.
Contrary to reports suggesting otherwise, the European Commission has revealed that it will appeal a recent court decision that went in Apple’s favor concerning a massive $14.8 billion tax bill.
The EC made the tax demand to Apple in 2016, accusing it of benefitting from illegal state aid from Ireland. However, Apple appealed the decision and, in a July hearing, had its objections upheld. Now the EC is asking another court to overturn that verdict.
It’s a packed day for Apple TV+ as the service debuted multiple episodes of new shows. The crown jewel of the bunch is Tehran, a new spy series about a Mossad hacker-agent who tries to infiltrate Tehran to destroy Iran’s nuclear reactor.
Apple TV+ dropped the first three episodes of the acclaimed show (check out Cult of Mac‘s effusive review) Friday. New episodes will debut each subsequent week.
Apple quietly snapped up podcasting app Scout FM, which tries to make podcasting sound more like tuning into radio stations, for an undisclosed amount earlier this year.
Scout FM worked by letting users choose particular topics, then automatically customizing a radio station-like podcasting listening experience for them. It was intended as a way to cut through the findability clutter of hundreds of thousands of available podcasts.
Spotify, Match, and Fortnite developer Epic Games have joined a nonprofit that advocates for regulatory and legal action against Apple for what they claim is it unfair control of the App Store.
Their main objection is the way that Apple charges up to 30 percent for in-app payments. Apple lays out a detailed set of rules which apps must follow in order to be allowed in the App Store.
Twitter user @laobaiTD, aka Mr-white, posted images late Wednesday of what he claims is the braided Lightning cable that will come with iPhone 12.
At present, the Mac Pro is the only Apple product to come with a more-durable braided cable, which also provides a premium look. Check out the images of the alleged iPhone 12 cable below.
After seeming to defy the general COVID-19 downturn, tech stocks have taken a dip as of late. Loup Ventures’ tech analyst Gene Munster thinks there is going to be a split in future fortunes — with some soaring back up to previous highs and others, well, not.
Apple, he believes, is going to be a big winner. And from my calculations he thinks it could be just a couple of years from another major financial milestone.