iTunes Allowance let parents set a monthly spending limit for their iTunes-loving kids. Photo: Jason Cipriani/Apple
Apple has announced that it is dropping its iTunes Allowance feature, which allowed users to limit the amount of money that could be spent by their kids (or themselves!) on iTunes games, apps, movies and music.
Get ready to delete your unwanted Apple apps. Photo: Sam Mills/Cult of Mac
Get ready to say goodbye to that folder on your iPhone holding all the stock iOS apps you never use.
Code found in iTunes suggests Apple finally plans to give iPhone and iPad users the tools to delete unwanted iOS apps that come pre-installed on devices like the Compass, Tips, Stocks, Voice Memos, and more.
Alex Gale joins Apple Music. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Festivities for Apple’s 40th birthday have spilled over onto Apple Music this week, with an all-new playlist that celebrates songs from the company’s iconic ads over the years.
The 40-song playlist spotlights some of the best tunes of the present and the past. It’s available to all Apple Music subscribers, and includes hits from The Beatles, Rolling Stone, Eminem, Adele, Daft Punk, Lauryn Hill, Coldyplay, U2 and Bob Dylan.
Get your iOS device up to date fast and easy. Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac
iOS 9.3 is perhaps the biggest “dot” upgrade Apple has created for its mobile platform. Apple usually doesn’t show off incremental iOS upgrades at its carefully staged keynotes, but iOS 9.3 clocked some time at Monday’s iPhone SE event, and you should update right now.
If nothing else, you’ll get some great new features like Night Shift to make your mobile digital life just a bit better. Here’s how to get iOS 9.3 on your iPhone or iPad.
I recently expressed my frustrations with Apple Music and why I didn’t plan to continue using the service. I want to love Apple Music. Siri integration and the ability to have a singular place to listen to all my music, both streamed and purchased, would be a dream come true.
Unfortunately, Apple Music currently has far too many shortcomings and quirks for me to take it seriously. However, with the help of these third-party apps, I’ve found using Apple Music to be far less painful — and, in some cases, even enjoyable.
If you used an iPod on PC, you can thank Walt Mossberg. Photo: Apple
Bringing the iPod to the PC was one of the keys to making Apple’s breakthrough music player the ubiquitous mega-hit that it became. But, as with the decision to allow an App Store on iOS, then-CEO Steve Jobs wasn’t exactly on-board with the idea from the start.
In fact, according to a new interview with Nest CEO (and former Apple executive) Tony Fadell, it virtually turned into a “knock-down, drag-out” battle between the pro-PC camp at Apple and Jobs.
Until Walt Mossberg, of all people, managed to break the deadlock.
ReiBoot is free software that makes it possible to rescue your phone's OS no matter what kind of trouble it runs into. Photo: Tenorshare
This post is brought to you by Tenorshare, maker of ReiBoot and iPhone Care Pro.
Too many of us know the sense of powerlessness that comes with staring at a red Apple logo on an iPhone screen for minutes on end, or seeing the device stuck in an endless restart loop. When the time comes to restore a corrupted or compromised iPhone, the simplicity of an iOS device can turn into an imposing, tangled mess as you use iTunes to wake it up from its digital coma.
Microsoft's professionally-focused news app, News Pro. Photo: Microsoft
As rumors swirl that Apple is considering subscription-only content for its News app, Microsoft is also looking to get in on the iOS news game. On Tuesday, they released a new app called News Pro, which boasts the tagline “hyper-relevant news for your work.”
iPhone Care Pro does what iTunes does for our iOS devices, only better and easier. Photo: Tenorshare
This post is brought to you by Tenorshare, maker of iPhone Care Pro.
Oh, iTunes. We gave it a good run, but I finally realized I’ve just been using you to take care of my iPhone. And that I can do better.
After finding my iPhone never quite properly synced, waiting through lengthy backups and updates, and putting up with your strange behavior because “that’s just the way you were designed,” it’s time to move on.
Apple brings carrier billing for app purchases to Germany. Photo: Cult of Mac
You may soon be able to make purchases in the iTunes store without a credit or debit card.
Apple has been working with a phone carrier in Germany on an agreement that would let people pay for items as part of their phone bills. Users’ phone numbers, rather than credit cards or bank account numbers, will be used to make purchases that will show up on the next bill.
Apple revealed some new iPod colors in the iTunes 12.2 update. Photo: Apple
You may have written off the iPod as something Apple doesn’t care to breathe new life into by this point, but the iPod is exactly what appears to be getting an update. Alongside the release of iTunes 12.2 to support Apple Music, some users quickly discovered that images of the iPod family within the app feature new, unreleased colors.
Former Guns N’ Roses lead guitarist Slash has praised U2’s poorly received iTunes album giveaway as a clever marketing strategy.
“There’s a lot less opportunities in the record business to get a deal and get a record out there, and there’s not a lot of radio play for it,” he told Ultimate Classic Rock magazine.
Describing the music business in 2014 as “like the wild, wild west,” he continued that this was “one of those kind of tactics that only U2 could really get away with doing.”
Alongside the fall release of OS X Yosemite, iTunes will be getting its own new look and feel. In today’s video, we show you exactly what to expect in the upcoming iTunes 12.
Check out the video above to see the sleek new design of the latest iTunes beta and some of its new features in action.
With so many people in the world having iPhones with the same ringtones, hearing a ringer go off can be irritating and confusing. The iTunes Store sells ringtones, but they can become quite expensive if you like switching things up a lot.
In today’s video, we show you how to solve this annoying problem by creating your own free ringtones in iTunes. Just follow these simple steps to separate yourself from the crowd instantly.
iTunes Radio quickly became known as an underdog after its release last fall, with Apple facing an uphill battle against established services like Spotify and Pandora. In today’s video, we take an in-depth look at iTunes Radio, its features, its future — and why it deserves your attention.
The native iTunes application offers many features and controls for handling your songs and movies, but sometimes it can seem too overwhelming to understand. In today’s video, we give you five quick tips that will help you master iTunes. You’ll learn how to customize your store settings, access a convenient mini player and so much more in just seconds.
For the moment, the Apple doom-mongers have been silenced by another record quarter. But there’s one area where things are down, and still dropping. It’s the iPod division, and it’s the closest thing Apple has to a dead man walking.
Sales of the music player continue to plummet as more people buy iPhones than ever, and listeners move away from music downloads toward streaming services like Spotify, Pandora and iTunes Radio.
Should Apple ditch the iconic product line that first signaled Apple’s expansion beyond computers — or is there some way the business can be turned around?
The app store is notoriously known for having tons of endless runner games. While some developers are sticking to the running genre, others have taken to jumping. The new app Jumping Jaxx is an endless jumper where players must swipe platforms on the screen to keep the character from falling into a giant wave. Dodge piranhas, catch powerful boosts and collect as many flowers as possible to reach a new high-score and purchase upgrades. How high do you think you can help Jumping Jaxx reach?
Murky water and alligators may not exactly be something you see everyday. While some may live the swamp-life, others can get an entertaining feel of it in the new app Swamp Attack. Protect your home with your trusty weapons, tapping all incoming waves of enemies to progress from level to level. Do you think you can fight off all alligators, raccoons, turtles and more to keep your land safe?
One of the most popular trends in app store gaming is incorporating birds into gameplay. While developers have created games based off of angry and flappy birds, one of the newest additions Burds keeps it plain and simple. Swipe and remove like colored birds from the board while coming across bombs, coins and so much more. Do you think you can handle this fast-paced race against the clock?
Talk of the popular app Flappy Bird has still seemed to be far from fading out. As developers everywhere continue to fuel the craze with remakes and clones, players everywhere have seemed to grow bored of many new app store releases. Although in spite of common trends, some developers have managed to channel the joys of Flappy Bird into their own creations. The new app Lightspeed Hero is one of the latest releases to do this. Avoid asteroids for as long as you can and see how far you can make it without crashing your spaceship. Just how long do you think you can last before game-over?
Take a look at the video and find out what you think.
This is a Cult of Mac video review of the multi-platform application Lightspeed Hero – Squideo Games, brought to you by Joshua Smith of TechBytes W/ Jsmith.
When in a rush it can be easy to misplace something important. Next thing you know you’re looking everywhere trying to spot what you’ve lost. In the app What’s The Difference the objective is to spot five differences between two like pictures. Can you beat all levels and spot all differences before time runs out?
Take a look at the video and find out what you think.
From lakes to oceans, people everywhere can be found fishing. With busy workdays and full weekends, it can be hard to find the time to go out and cast your reel. The new app Ace Fishing: Wild Catch brings the thrill of fishing to all iPhones and iPads for free. Explore the world and catch over hundreds of different types of fish right away. Do you think you can catch even the most rare fish?
Take a look at the video and find out what you think.
While the app store is updated every week, many new addicting games come with it. With so many developers creating their own versions of popular apps, only some succeed at adding their own original twists. The new app Tiny Frog is an arcade game that takes a familiar popular style of gameplay and adapts it into a new form. Help the frog reach as many lily pads as possible in 15 seconds. Do you think you can tap quick enough to get the highest score of all your friends?
Take a look at the video and find out what you think.
This is a Cult of Mac video review of the iOS application Tiny Frog – redBit games, brought to you by Joshua Smith of TechBytes W/ Jsmith.