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News - page 252

How to make your own GIFs with Twitter app

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How to record a GIF with the Twitter iPhone app
Making a Gif with Twitter’s iPhone app is a snap.
Photo: Cult of Mac

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.

Studio Display kicks LG 5K monitor to the curb [Setups]

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The Mac Studio replaced an LG 5K monitor. So far, no complaints.
The Mac Studio replaced an LG 5K monitor. So far, no complaints.
Photo: [email protected]

The official release date for sales of Apple’s new Studio Display was Friday, March 18 — same as the Mac Studio desktop computer. Both are winning accolades — the desktop more than the display, actually — but in the days since launch we’ve seen quite a few more of the displays cropping up on social media site posts by new owners than the desktops.

There could be various reasons for that. It could mean more people are buying the displays. Or maybe display shipping has been more efficient. Or it could be that displays are simply a little faster and easier to add to a computer setup, so they’re showing up quicker.

Today’s featured setup pairs the new Studio Display — which ousted an LG 5K monitor — with a 14-inch M1 MacBook Pro.

Apple Wallet’s digital driver’s licenses and IDs go live in Arizona

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Apple Wallet digital IDs
A whole bunch of other states will also add support.
Image: Apple

Apple on Wednesday confirmed that digital driver’s licenses and IDs are now available inside the Wallet app in Arizona. Colorado, Hawaii, Mississippi, Ohio, and the territory of Puerto Rico have also pledged their support.

Cupertino first announced its latest Wallet upgrade at WWDC 2021 last June. This is the first time it has been made available to iPhone users.

iPhone 15 Pro could hide Face ID sensors beneath its screen

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iPhone 15 Pro could have hidden Face ID sensors
Samsung is already hiding cameras on its Z Fold3.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

iPhone 15 Pro, which is expected to make its debut in 2023, could be Apple’s first handset with Face ID sensors hidden beneath its screen. This would reduce the amount of display space the front-facing sensors require.

A new report claims Apple will use technology currently being developed by Samsung to make the upgrade possible. In the meantime, Cupertino is gearing up to replace iPhone’s notch with a number of smaller, more subtle cutouts.

Apple snaps up UK credit company, sparking Apple Card expansion rumors

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Apple acquires Credit Kudos
Credit Kudos is now an Apple subsidiary.
Image: Credit Kudos/Apple

Apple this week acquired Credit Kudos, a credit checking startup based in the United Kingdom, according to sources familiar with the matter. An update to the Credit Kudos website confirms it is now an Apple subsidiary.

The move has ignited rumors of an upcoming Apple Card expansion into the U.K. Apple fans on the other side of the pond have been eagerly anticipating its arrival since Apple Card first made its debut in the U.S. in 2019.

Dark Disney Mirrorverse RPG hits iPhone in June

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Dark ‘Disney Mirrorverse’ RPG hits iPhone in June
It’s a whole new world… of violence.
Photo: Disney

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.

Fake LinkedIn company profile sets the Severance record straight

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The LinkedIn profile for Lumon Industries takes issue with the recently released
The LinkedIn profile for Lumon Industries takes issue with the recently released "tell all" book about the fictitious evil company.
Photo: Red Hour Films

Every company doing perfectly reputable, above-board business today needs a crisp and descriptive LinkedIn profile. And yes, that includes harrowingly evil and entirely fictitious firms like “Lumon Industries.”

That’s right. Lumon, the ominous company that serves as a setting in the creepy drama Severance on Apple TV+, has a new LinkedIn profile. And it attempts to set the record straight about what some people are saying about the company.

Apple Podcasts finally lets creators access follower metrics

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Creators of Apple podcasts will soon be able to access metrics about their followers.
Creators of Apple podcasts will soon be able to access metrics about their followers.
Photo: Apple

Apple said Tuesday it’s rolling out a Podcasts update for creators, offering follower metrics and other features. That should help those who produce podcasts to monetize them, in part by tracking their audience through a variety of metrics.

This could be the ‘social companion robot’ you didn’t know you needed

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Enabot's slogan for the Ebo Air and Ebo SE robots is
Enabot's slogan for the Ebo Air and Ebo SE robots is "always together."
Photo: Enabot

 Talk of artificially intelligent personal robots may make some people think of Terminator and “the rise of the machines,” but relax, there’s likely plenty of time before they take over. All nervous kidding aside, in the meantime, companies like Enabot are putting out affordable robots with practical uses. The company launched one on Tuesday.

Following a successful Kickstarter campaign, the company released its Ebo Air “social companion robot.” The little rolling orb is designed to keep the home safe and loved ones entertained and connected, from pets to kids to grandparents, the company said. If you’re interested in learning more about the latest advancements, check out the Ebo robot and its enhanced features.

MacPaw’s SpyBuster helps you weed out Mac apps reporting to Russia

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SpyBuster stops apps reporting to Russia
It's completely free to use.
Image: MacPaw

Ukrainian developer MacPaw today released SpyBuster, a new (and completely free!) Mac app that identifies software built by and reporting to “undesirable countries of origin” — such as Russia and Belarus.

SpyBuster also lets you block those connections so that you can prevent additional data being sent to overseas servers, where it may not be protected by the same privacy laws that we’re accustomed to in other countries.

Studio Display adds ‘Hey Siri’ to older Mac models, has 64GB of storage

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Apple Studio Display
That seems like a lot of storage space for a monitor.
Photo: Apple

Studio Display’s surprisingly powerful internals allow it to enable “Hey Siri” on a number of older Mac models that don’t usually support the feature — including the 2019 Mac Pro and several Mac mini variants.

Users also discovered that Studio Display has a surprisingly large (64GB) amount of internal storage. We already knew that it runs the same version of iOS 15.4 as iPhone, but still, all that space seems pretty overkill.

Apple’s Shazam app adds detailed concert and ticket info

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Apple's Shazam app has added detailed concert and ticket notes to help artists.
Apple's Shazam app has added detailed concert and ticket notes to help artists.
Photo: Shazam

You may know the Shazam app, owned by Apple, for its ability to recognize songs and artists. But a new update to the app for iOS now also helps you “explore upcoming live music shows.” This comes from a Shazam integration with Bandsintown. Apple and Shazam said the new feature will help increase exposure for artists.

Nintendo ditches yet another of its mobile games

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Nintendo ditches Dragalia Lost
The game will get its last campaign update in July.
Image: Nintendo

Nintendo today confirmed plans to shut down Dragalia Lost, the free-to-play action RPG built exclusively for mobile devices. The game will get its final campaign update in July before service ceases sometime later.

Dragalia Lost joins a growing list of mobile games that Nintendo has given up on. The Japanese firm closed down Dr. Mario World last year, and threw in the towel on Miitomo and Pokémon Rumble Rush before that.

Apple opens free Learning Coach program for educators in the US

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Apple Learning Coach
Apple Education Community is also on the way this fall.
Photo: Apple

Apple just launched a new coaching program for teachers that’s designed to help educators make the most of Apple tech in the classroom. The free Apple Learning Coach program, slated to begin this fall, began accepting applications Tuesday.

Cupertino also promises a hub for Apple learning resources and a space for educators to connect and share ideas. The company also plans to integrate Apple IDs with Google Workspace, making it easier for users to keep accounts in sync.

Apple can change Studio Display stands after purchase

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Apple can change Studio Display stands
Apple can also remove its power cable with a special tool.
Photo: Apple

If you purchase an Apple Studio Display and decide you want a different stand later, you can get it upgraded at the Apple Store, according to a new report. That’s despite Cupertino warning that they’re “not interchangeable.”

Pricing varies depending on the stand or mount you want and your region. It is believed the upgrade kits are only available to Apple technicians and Authorized Service Providers, so you cannot carry out the swap yourself.

VLC Media Player update is packed with useful new features

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VLC Media Player update is packed with useful new features
VLC Media Player 3.3 has a re-written video playback interface. There are many other new features, too.
Photo: VideoLAN/Cult of Mac

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.

Odds of Apple TV+ film CODA winning Best Picture Oscar just increased

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Emilia Jones stars as a child of deaf adults (CODA) in the Apple TV+ film.
Emilia Jones stars as a child of deaf adults (CODA) in the Apple TV+ film.
Photo: Apple TV+

Taking the top film prize at Saturday’s Producers Guild of America (PGA) Awards puts Apple TV+ drama CODA in good stead to win the Best Picture prize at the upcoming Academy Awards. The prize the movie took has been a major predictor of Best Picture winners for decades.

Along with CODA’s win at the PGA Awards, the hit Apple TV+ comedy series Ted Lasso took home a prize.

Apple TV app blocks purchases and rentals on Android TV and Google TV

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Sony TV with Apple TV+
And they probably won't be coming back.
Photo: Sony

 It’s no longer possible to purchase or rent new content through the Apple TV app on Android TV and Google TV. The block comes less than a year after Apple’s service made the leap to Google’s big screen platforms.

It is believed Apple removed purchasing after failing to strike a deal with Google over in-app commission rates. However, if you’re wondering how to watch Apple TV on Android, you can still use the Apple TV app to access content you’ve already purchased.

Apple App Store, iCloud, other services go offline in major outage [Updated]

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Not just you: Several Apple online services are having ‘issues’
Many of Apple’s most-used services went offline early Monday, but things seem to be getting back to normal.
Photo: Cult of Mac/Mabel Amber/Pexels CC

Update: About two hours after various Apple services experienced widespread problems Monday, the company reported that things should be back online.

It’s not just you: Many Apple services are offline Monday. The outage affects 23 of Apple services, including many high-profile ones that users depend upon. The list of Apple services disrupted includes the App Store, iCloud, Apple Maps and Apple Music.

Mac Studio storage is removable but Apple blocks user upgrades

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Mac Studio storage is removable
Why, Apple?!
Photo: Luke Miani

Breaking open the new Mac Studio reveals that its solid-state storage modules are easily removable, but you can forget trying to upgrade them. Not only does Apple use a proprietary connector, but it also blocks user swaps in macOS.

YouTuber Luke Miani pulled apart two Mac Studio machines and discovered that even if you take an original SSD out of one and put it in another, it will simply refuse to boot up.

Here come the Mac Studio-powered workstations [Setups]

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A new Mac Studio desktop and Studio Display anchor this setup.
A new Mac Studio desktop and Studio Display anchor this setup.
Photo: [email protected]

With Apple’s big “Peek Performance” event only just past and deliveries of newly release products in progress, we see computer setups with new Mac Studio desktops and Studio Display monitors cropping up on social media sites.

Checking in with real people and their first impressions about the gear — and their answers to others’ questions about it — can be a pretty good early look at how things are going with Apple’s latest products.

Apple Watch Series 3 could finally get the boot this year

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Apple Watch Music
It's about time.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple might discontinue the Apple Watch Series 3 later this year, according to a new report.

The device stuck around this long — five years after its 2017 introduction — as a more-affordable alternative to newer Apple Watch models. But in recent years, performance and storage constraints caused all kinds of frustrations for Apple Watch Series 3 owners.