It seems like iOS 9.3 has been in beta for years now, but Apple isn’t quite done fine-tuning its biggest software update of the year.
Apple released iOS 9.3 beta 7 to developers this afternoon, exactly a week after the last version was seeded to devs and public testers. iOS 9.3 adds new features such as Night Shift mode, multiple Apple Watch pairings on one iPhone, improved Apple News and Apple Music apps, and some great education features for iPad.
Developers can grab the new beta directly from the Apple Developer Center portal or via an over-the-air update if you have the previous beta installed.
The iPhone SE isn’t an official Apple product yet, but if you’re lucky enough to live in Shenzhen, China, you can already get your hands on a new 4-inch iPhone that looks like the love child of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 5s.
Small shops at the infamous Huaqiangbei market are selling the closest thing to a real iPhone SE. In a new video claiming to spot an alleged iPhone SE in the wild, a Chinese YouTuber shows just how easy it is to roam the corridors of China’s “Silicon Valley of Hardware” and buy the new iPhone before it’s even been announced.
Leave it to a comedian to do one of the best mainstream reports on iPhone encryption yet. Photo: Last Week Tonight
John Oliver took on Apple’s continuing privacy standoff with the FBI during Sunday’s Last Week Tonight — describing how crucial encryption is when it comes to protecting important data such as, “our financial information, health records, dick pics, trade secrets, classified government records, [and] dick pics.”
And you know what? As well as being very funny, it’s actually one of the best mainstream news reports I’ve yet seen on the whole issue.
The brief has been successful despite support from big companies. Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr CC
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump’s bid to make America great again by boycotting its most valuable company has already failed.
Three weeks ago Trump called for a boycott of all Apple products because the company has refused to comply with a federal order to unlock the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone 5c, but it looks like his love for iPhone ultimately won.
This morning, Trump unleashed a flurry of tweets. Only instead of going with an Android, his itsy-bitsy hands embraced the iPhone once again:
Toy-making giant Hasbro wants to bring its kiddy-friendly offerings into the twenty-first century with a nifty smartphone accessory, which would let people scan their favorite toys using their iPhone.
So why wouldn’t Alphabet chairman and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt use an iPhone to document his recent trip to South Korea? Makes perfect sense to us!
Cola's bubbles want to take over your texting experience. Photo: Cola.
Most iPhone users spend more time texting than in any other app. Everything from scheduling meetings to finding out what your buddies want to eat tonight is done through texting, the only problem is the experience really hasn’t evolved since iOS was first introduced.
Cola is a new messenger app that wants to fix that by streamlining your communication with little bubbles that let you do stuff like create polls, make a to-do list, and much more so you can spend less time texting and more time enjoying life.
Apple wants to keep everyone (even the feds) out of iOS. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a new motion in court today regarding its battle against Apple to compel the iPhone-maker to unlock the iPhone 5c that belonged to San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook.
In the new filing the feds argue that Apple has “deliberately raised technological barriers” on iOS to make it harder for the government and other attackers to hack Apple devices. They also claim that demanding Apple to unlock one iPhone won’t result in a security vulnerability for all users.
That iPhone in your pocket is much more well-traveled than you are. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple is expected to unveil a brand new iPhone in a little over a week, only instead of going big, the first new iPhone of 2016 will be perfect for people with tiny hands and those who don’t want to spend a lot on a new smartphone.
The rumor mill has been serving up juicy bits of gossip on Apple’s upcoming handset for over a year, so as the big day approaches we have some pretty solid clues about the next iPhone’s design, hardware, price, name and much more.
Here are the probable answers to all your iPhone SE questions.
Your iPhone will always need to be recharged everyday. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Every year Apple introduces a new iPhone, and every year I get my hopes up that this will finally be the model that can go two or three days without needing to be recharged. But according to a lithium-ion battery expert, the odds of Apple adding a power source capable of boosting iPhone battery life like that are practically zero.
Dee Strand, chief scientific officer at battery research firm Wildcat Discovery Technology, says the throughput on smartphone batteries is rapidly improving every year. The problem is, new features are bogging them down.
No stereo? No problem. AmpMe app creates a sound system with all the phones at a party. Photo: AmpMe
AmpMe, the magical app that syncs multiple phones together to create one giant speaker, is getting a much needed update today that lets you take the party anywhere, even if you don’t have internet.
The Montreal-based startup revealed today that it has added a new ‘Offline Mode’ that will let users sync an unlimited number of phones together regardless of whether or not you have a data connection. And to make it easier to get the party started, the app has add a new ‘Auto-Join’ mode that makes it easier than ever to get the music listening party started.
A young man in China was found guilty of selling his 18-day old daughter in exchange for enough money to buy himself a new motorcycle and iPhone.
The 19 year-old man identified as ‘A Duan’ by local Chinese media reportedly found a buyer for his newborn through the popular messaging app QQ and negotiated the entire deal without the consent of the child’s biological mother.
Does the iPhone really need to get bigger? Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
If the iPhone 6s Plus seems just a little bit too small in your monstrous hands, fret not dear giant friends: Apple may be planning to go even bigger with a super-sized iPhone 7s Pro.
Apple is looking to add a 5.8-inch OLED display to the iPhone in 2017 or 2018, according to a new rumor that claims Samsung is already on board to supply the screens.
Paying at the pump is about to get a lot easier. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Filling up your car with gasoline is about to get a lot quicker, now that the world’s biggest oil company is finally adding Apple Pay to its pumps.
Starting today, ExxonMobil is activating Apple Pay at more than 6,000 gas stations across the U.S., allowing customers to buy gas or a car wash without having to bust out their wallets.
The government would have gotten away with it, too, if it wasn't for those meddling iKids. Photo: Olly Browning/Pixabay
The U.S. Justice Department is seeking to overturn a ruling protecting Apple from unlocking the iPhone at the center of a New York drug case. The recent ruling from a New York magistrate judge stated that the government can’t compel Apple to unlock an iPhone involved in a criminal investigation, using the All Writs Act.
Add a mouse (and other peripherals) to your iPad or iPhone. Photo: DoBox
The development team at DoBox wants to make your iPad even more useful. This wireless box will let you connect a mouse, a wired keyboard, or even a printer to your iOS device (or Mac) and let you turn your iPad into even more of a productivity workhorse.
Less than a week after dropping a big batch of new software on developers and public testers, Apple is back with a sixth beta build of iOS 9.3 as well as new betas for watchOS, tvOS, and OS X El Capitan.
The software updates bring a host of new features to developers and public testers the iPhone like NightShift mode, folders on Apple TV, multiple Apple Watch pairings on one iPhone, improved Apple News and Apple Music apps, and some great education features for iPad.
Making it sound like the 2016 version of a souped-up getaway car, NYPD counter-terrorism chief John Miller described iOS as the perfect tool for “kidnappers, robbers and murderers” in a recent interview — all due to its uncrackable privacy policy.
“You are actually providing aid to [felons] who have actually been recorded on the telephones in Riker’s Island telling their compatriots on the outside, ‘You gotta get iOS 8. It’s a gift from God,’ — and that’s a quote — ‘because the cops can’t crack it,’” he said — referring to Apple’s current privacy standoff with the FBI.
Received any emails from the '70s lately? Photo: Ste Smith
A strange iOS glitch has some iPhone and iPad users complaining after they received undeletable emails dated January 1, 1970.
The emails in question are blank, with no subject or content — which means that sadly we’re not in line for scalper messages about tickets to the farewell concert of Diana Ross and The Supremes (which took place that month), or reminders about meetings we’re very, very late to.
There are plenty of ways the FBI's demands hurt the U.S. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
There’s no shortage of possible repercussions to Apple’s current standoff with the FBI, regarding whether or not the company should create a backdoor to help unlock iPhones involved with potential terrorist or criminal cases.
But while Apple (and others) have argued that this represents a damaging blow against privacy, a recently-filed amacus brief in support of Apple by former secure technology company Lavabit has a more direct example of how the FBI’s demands may hurt America: by driving tech companies offshore to avoid having their reputations damaged.
France’s lower house of parliament has passed an amendment which could see Apple charged heavy fines, and even handed out jail time, if it fails to hand over encrypted data as part of government investigations.
The amendment affects both tech and telecoms companies. The punishment could reach up to €350,000 ($385,000) and five years in jail, although a proposed amendment asking the French government to hand out fines of €1 million was rejected.
Apple wants to get more iPhones into customers' hands. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Apple is planning to import and sell refurbished iPhones in India as a way of getting its handsets into more people’s hands.
“An application from Apple regarding import of certified pre-owned iPhones for sale in India and manufacturing certified pre-owned iPhones for sale in India has been received in the ministry of environment and forests,” telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said today.
Bruce Schneier thinks the FBI isn't going to stop fighting any time soon. Photo: Ste Smith
The FBI is unlikely to give up trying to pry its way into iPhones even if it loses the current standoff with Apple over encryption, says security expert Bruce Schneier.
Schneier, who is one of the leading experts on modern cryptography, says it is “clear that the San Bernardino case was preselected as a legal precedent case” by the bureau — despite the fact that FBI Director James Comey has claimed this is not the case (only to later contradict himself.)