The HomePod is a smarter speaker than you might think. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
The HomePod takes a lot of flak for being the dumbest smart speaker around, but it can do more than you might think. In today’s video, I’ll show you 20 HomePod tips you need to know.
(Just a quick heads-up: I’m going to be saying “Hey Siri” a few times in this video.)
Siri -- not just good to talk to. Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac
Type to Siri isn’t just for iOS 11. You can also turn on this super-useful feature on your Mac if it’s running macOS High Sierra. Type to Siri lets you do everything you can with normal Siri — call people, send iMessages, look stuff up on the web, do math, set reminders, and so on — only you type the command into a box instead of saying it. Type to Siri is classified as an accessibility feature, but it’s useful for anyone who works in a busy office, or just feels like a dork when they talk to their Mac.
iOS 11.3 adds Messages on iCloud, new animojis and more. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple developers received a fresh batch of new beta builds this morning, including the third beta of iOS 11.3, which is set to bring a host of new features and emoji to the public later this year.
Other new beta builds seeded today includes macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 beta 3 and tvOS 11.3 beta 3, both contain a number of bug fixes, under-the-hood improvements and other changes for the Mac and Apple TV.
Paragon's new Retrofit Kit for Mac. Photo: Paragon Software
Paragon Software today unveiled its free Retrofit Kit that allows users to access Apple File System (APFS) volumes on older versions of macOS and Mac OS X. It works with traditional spinning hard disks, solid-state drives, and USB flash sticks.
Twitter is crushing dreams in 2020. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Twitter just killed off its official app for Mac.
The company says it is focusing its efforts on an experience that is consistent across platforms, so users on macOS will be forced to use Twitter in their web browsers.
This dress was created with an Epson printer. Photo: Epson
Epson held a fashion show in New York City this week to showcase its crazy fabric printing technology.
With the help of 13 designers, and its special SureColor F-Series printers, the company put together a huge range of wild and lively outfits that could soon be available on a high street near you.
It took Apple six years to create the HomePod. Photo: Apple
Apple’s quest to build the perfect sounding speaker could also give a huge boost to audio quality on future iPhones, iPads and Macs.
To promote the launch of its new HomePod speaker, Apple gave journalists a behind-the-scenes look inside the custom audio lab it built to fine-tune every aspect of HomePod’s sound. Not only did Apple one of the best audio teams in the world, but it also gave them tools no company in the world can match.
Apple's Q1 earnings are going to be huge! Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
The first Apple earnings report of 2018 is already here. Based on analysts’ expectations, it will probably be Apple’s biggest earnings ever.
Thanks to the high price of the iPhone X and the holiday shopping season, Apple is set to rake in record-setting profits this quarter. Wall Street is eager to know what Apple plans to do with all its cash, especially now that it is bringing more than $200 billion back home from overseas.
Tim Cook and Apple CFO Luca Maestri are set to get on the phone with investors at 2 p.m. Pacific to talk about all the numbers. Per usual, we’ll be right here live-blogging all the action with up-to-the-minute analysis on all of the juicy new nuggets.
Is HomePod finally sold out in the U.K.? Photo: Apple
With HomePod just over one week away from making its debut, Apple has confirmed which audio sources are officially supported. Apple Music and AirPlay are obviously on the list, but there are some big omissions.
Your iPad apps could also run on macOS this year. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple’s primary focus for its software updates this year is on improving performance and stability. But there’s a big new feature that the company is still working to bring to macOS, according to a new report. That’s the ability to run iPad apps.
Johny Srouji’s team is in charge of modem development. Photo: Apple
Apple is said to be planning “at least three” new Macs with custom security co-processors for 2018. Two of the machines will be updated MacBooks, while the other will be a desktop, according to a source familiar with the plans.
'Appy weekend, everyone! Image: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
A game in which you stick to surfaces in order to capture slices of pizza, while avoiding enemies? Yep, it’s another oddball (but brilliant) iOS puzzle game.
That’s just one of the picks we’ve highlighted for this week’s “Awesome Apps” roundup. We’ve also got major upgrades of Logic Pro X and Apple’s educational Swift Playgrounds, and a Friday the 13th title which really shouldn’t work, but totally does. Check out our picks below.
Steve Jobs called iCloud Apple's hard disk in the sky. Photo: Apple
One of the key features Apple left out of iOS 11 is finally entering the beta testing phase among developers.
Apple added iCloud support for Messages to iOS 11.3 beta 1 today, which should be a huge help in saving space on most iPhones once it finally launches for the public.
Share the workload with collaborative working in Microsoft Office. Photo: Cult of Mac
Microsoft just rolled out a big update for Office 2016 on macOS, adding real-time collaboration that makes it easier to share the workload with colleagues. The feature is available in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint — and there are improvements for Outlook, too.
Mackie's Blackjack works equally well with iOS and Mac. Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac
If you want to listen to music on your Mac, you either suffer its built-in speakers, or you plug a speaker into the headphone jack. But what if you want to get sound into you Mac? Or you have some fancy speakers hooked up to a fancy mixer, and the little headphone output doesn’t cut it, quality-wise? Then you should switch to USB. And don’t worry — you won’t have to install drivers, or any of the other crap that makes PC use so painful. In fact, using a USB audio interface is as easy as plugging in a pair of headphones, only better.
Another strange bug has been discovered in Messages for Mac and iOS. Following a certain URL causes all kinds of issues on both platforms, including freezes, restarts, and even battery issues. You don’t even have to open the link to suffer the problems.
Nintendo’s newest console was by far the hottest product. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
Nintendo Switch games could soon be popping up on macOS.
The team behind a popular Nintendo 3DS emulator for Mac is hard at work on a new Switch emulator called Yuzu. It will eventually allow fans to enjoy franchises like Super Mario and Zelda on platforms that aren’t officially supported by Nintendo.
Your FaceTime camera could be spying on you. Photo: Travis Isaacs/Flickr
Mac malware was the secret key behind an Ohio man’s 13-year spree of creating child pornography, according to inditement filed by the US Department of Justice.
By using the Mac malware known as Fruitfly, 28-year-old Phillip Durachinsky allegedly produced child pornography after tapping into his victim’s webcams and other personal information completely without them knowing.
IK Multimedia’s new iRig Keys is the single perfect accessory for an iOS musician. It combines everything you need into one box, but not in a Homer’s Car kind of way. It’s more like the iPhone itself, which managed to combine a computer with a camera with a mini touch-sensitive movie screen into something better than a mere collection of parts.
Your antivirus won't save you from OSX/MaMi. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
The first nasty bit of undetectable malware of 2018 has been unearthed after it was found targeting Macs this week.
Security researchers revealed info about the new OSX/MaMi malware which is a lot like the popular DNSChanger malware from 2012 that infected millions of machines.
Isn't it time you swapped that dusty old Mac for a new one? Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Mac shipments rose in a competitive computer market last year to give Apple a greater market share. The company, alongside HP, enjoyed impressive growth year-over-year, while big players like Asus and Acer saw their shares fall.
New Mac and iOS app will debut in the first half of 2018. Photo: Philips
At CES, Philips has announced that it will debut a brand new Hue 3.0 app for iOS, along with a Hue Sync app for Mac.
Both apps will arrive in Q2 2018. The redesigned Hue 3.0 app will offer owners of Hue lights the ability to alter the color of their smart lights with a color picker. They will also be able to instantly access their last used scenes, and to group lights and more easily select their desired color temperature or color.
Developers received a fresh batch of new beta software updates from Apple this morning, including the fourth build of iOS 11.2.5.
Apple has also released the fourth builds of watchOS 4.2.2, tvOS 11.2.5 and macOS 10.13.3, all of which come with a number of bug fixes and performance improvements for Apple’s platforms.
Find out which iPhone apps have an iPhone X dark mode. Photo: Cult of Mac
Which apps have a proper dark mode? That’s the urgent question on the lips of every obsessive nerd who owns an iPhone X and wants to squeeze the best possible battery life out of it.
Dark Mode List answers that question. The site serves up a list of apps that support dark mode, and not just on the iPhone. It couldn’t be simpler.