Plenty of third-party iPhone applications outperform Apple’s own on the App Store. That’s the conclusion of a report commissioned by Apple itself. The iPhone-maker’s offerings don’t even come in second place in categories like music streaming, navigation and instant messaging.
This might sound embarrassing for Apple, but the company has a reason to tout the strength of rival software.
The just-released Pages 12.0, Numbers 12.0 and Keynote 12.0 offer a variety of new features, including much finer control over font sizes in the iPad and iPhone versions.
And there are additional new features available in all versions of the iWork suite, including the one for Mac.
Looks like YouTube might have begun rolling out picture-in-picture support for all users of its iOS app. A Cult of Mac reader reports the feature started working on his iPhone on Wednesday, and he’s not a YouTube Premium subscriber.
Beta testing for the PiP feature is scheduled to end April 8, so it wouldn’t be surprising if the rollout had already begun.
Block, the parent company of Cash App, has confirmed that user accounts have been compromised by an internal data breach. It has 8.2 million current and former customers.
The incident, which involved a former employee who downloaded reports after leaving the company, was reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April 4. Block said it has begun notifying Cash App users.
Hulu today joined the list of third-party video streaming services that offer SharePlay support on iPhone and iPad.
Its latest app update gives viewers the ability to enjoy movies and TV shows with their friends over FaceTime while everyone stays in sync. It also adds the ability to easily switch between channels for Live TV users.
WhatsApp on Thursday revealed significant improvements to voice messaging across Android and iOS. The update adds the ability to change the speed of audio playback, pause and resume recording, and more.
It also allows voice message playback to continue when users back out of a conversation to catch up with another. Users can look forward to seeing the changes “in the coming weeks,” WhatsApp said.
YouTube TV subscribers with an iPhone or iPad can now watch shows in a small window while another app is open. The feature is rolling out now.
However, picture-in-picture support is not yet available for all mobile users of the YouTube application, as has been promised.
Twitter made creating a GIF as easy as posting an image. Using the iPhone camera, users can capture a short video in the social-networking service’s app that is automatically converted into a GIF.
Here’s how to make your own GIFs with the Twitter app. It’s easy and fun.
Disney is taking many of its classic characters in a darker direction with Disney Mirrorverse, an RPG for mobile devices. Alternate-reality versions of these screen icons will have to team up face a “dark, unrelenting threat.”
Disney revealed Monday that the game will launch June 23. There’s also a trailer to whet players’ appetites.
A new version of VLC Media Player for iPhone, iPad and Apple TV includes some much-requested features, including support for accessing files from connected drives as well as spatial audio with AirPods Pro and Max
This is a popular — and free — choice for playing video and audio, and updates are fairly rare. That said, VLC Media Player 3.3 appears to be worth the wait.
YouTube has once again pushed back the date when it will apparently follow through on its promise to allow all iPhone users to watch video from its application in a small window while another app is open. The feature is already available for YouTube Premium subscribers, but it in beta testing, and that is scheduled to end on April 8. So that’s that next date that picture-in-picture could become available for all iPhone users.
When it finally launches, PiP will make YouTube videos easier to enjoy because they’ll allow people to use their iPhone to multitask while also watching.
Nintendo on Sunday rolled out a somewhat significant update to its Switch Online app that makes it a lot less rubbish than it was before. The version 2.0.0 release brings a refreshed design and the ability to see which friends are online.
Switch Online, which is required if you want to use voice chat inside some Nintendo Switch games, is still nowhere near as useful as its counterparts for PlayStation and Xbox. But it is at least better than it was.
A group of software engineers have joined forces to form the Open Web Advocacy (OWA), which will fight Apple’s “anti-competitive” web browser restrictions on iPhone and iPad.
The OWA says that Apple’s tight controls, which prevent third-party browsers from using their own engines on iOS, has stalled innovation for the past 10 years and “prevented web apps from taking off on mobile.”
Instagram addicts will have to rely on self control if they want to keep their browsing time to under 30 minutes a day after the photo sharing platform quietly made its usage limits less limiting.
It was previously possible to restrict yourself to just 10 minutes of Instagram per day within the iPhone app. Now 30 minutes is the smallest time limit.
WhatsApp for iPhone just got a big improvement to voice messaging that means you no longer have to put other replies on hold. The app now continues to play a voice message you’ve already started even if you jump into another chat.
It’s part of a bunch of improvements WhatsApp plans for audio notes, which also include the ability to replay a message you’ve recorded before sending it.
YouTube has again extended its Picture in Picture test on iPhone and iPad. The test was originally supposed to end last October, but after multiple extensions, it is now scheduled to conclude on March 14.
It means you still cannot enjoy the feature without a YouTube Premium subscription.
YouTube TV is finally giving users the ability to use Picture in Picture on iPhone and iPad. The feature, which has long been available inside YouTube TV on Android, will roll out “hopefully in the next few months.”
And that’s not all users can look forward to. YouTube chief product officer Neal Mohan this week also promised expanded surround sound support.
WhatsApp is readying message reactions on iOS and Android that will roll out in a future app update. Screenshots of the feature have appeared ahead of its release, showing the ability to react to messages with select emoji.
It’s much like the message reactions feature already available to iPhone users inside iMessage. WhatsApp seems to be following Apple’s lead by only making certain emoji available, rather than allowing all of them, like Instagram.
Apple has confirmed that developers can now release unlisted apps on iPhone, iPad and Mac that cannot be found without a direct link.
Unlisted apps — which do not appear in App Store search results, categories, recommendations, or other listings — will developers to distribute their titles to limited audiences, such as employees and students.
Apple says it has eliminated the iCloud sync issue that has been causing all kinds of disruption inside third-party apps.
The problem first surfaced late last year, soon after iOS 15 made its debut, and sporadically prevented many apps from syncing data through iCloud — much to the frustration of users and developers. But it is said to be eliminated now.
A growing number of developers report persistent CloudKit connectivity issues that break iCloud syncing inside their apps.
It seems the problem has been ongoing since at least November. Many developers say they reported the situation to Apple but have yet to see improvements — or even a response in some cases.
The latest WhatsApp update on iPhone brings a number of neat improvements for those who have updated to iOS 15. The app is now fully compatible with Focus mode, while contact photos now appear in notifications.
WhatsApp has also made it possible to pause and resume while recording voice messages. The version 22.2.75 is now available to all, though it could be a few weeks before the improvements are rolled out to everyone.
A future WhatsApp update will bring contact photos to your notifications on iPhone. The feature, which requires iOS 15 or later, is already being tested among beta users in version 2.22.1.1 of the app.
This is just one of many improvements WhatsApp has started working on for its iPhone app. Others include revamped contact pages, and a Community feature that gives admins more control over their groups.
Searching for a new house with someone who’s not right next to you just got a lot easier. The Zillow app on iPhone or iPad now supports SharePlay, so multiple people can look at the same home listings simultaneously on different devices.
Use it with loved ones or your real estate agent.
With Home Widget, it’s now possible to control your HomeKit accessories directly from your iPhone’s Home screen. Turn on and off lights or even run automated scenes with the quick push of a button. With the new app, you can make a bunch of HomeKit widgets to meet your needs.
I put Home Widget to the test in my smart house. I’m generally pleased with its usability.