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News - page 566

Spotify has 48 million more paying subscribers than Apple Music

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Spotify app now playing screen
Spotify is still leading the way among streaming music services.
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

In its latest quarterly earnings, Spotify has revealed that it currently has 108 million paying subscribers. That’s approaching 2x the number who subscribe to Apple Music, which is around 60 million at present.

That’s an increase of 31% year-on-year, although it’s slightly below what the streaming music giant had been aiming for.

Chrome update brings better Incognito, kills Flash by default

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Google-Chrome
It's now possible to bypass certain paywalls.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Google Chrome just got a big new update that improves upon two important features.

The version 76 release disables Flash by default to improve browsing performance, while Incognito Mode has been tweaked to prevent websites from detecting it.

The change means that you will now be able to bypass paywalls on some websites.

Apple Watch Activity Challenge celebrates China’s National Fitness Day

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National Fitness Day
Competition is only available in China, sadly. But don't let that stop you exercising!
Photo: Apple

Apple is celebrating China’s National Fitness Day with a new Apple Watch Activity challenge. August 8 was first named National Fitness day in 2009, commemorating the anniversary of the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening.

To complete the National Fitness Day challenge, users will need to record a workout of half an hour or longer.

AirPods and Apple Watch are now a bigger money-spinner than iPad

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Apple Watch Series 4
Wearables are big business for Apple.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s wearables division, including Apple Watch and AirPods, is now bigger than the company’s iPad business.

That’s a pretty astonishing statistic, and shows just how Apple continues to shift. Just a decade ago, Apple’s wearables division didn’t exist. Meanwhile, the iPad was the fastest-selling new product in Apple’s history.

8 key details from Apple’s upbeat earnings report

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European Commission could get even tougher on tech in 2020
European Commission could get even tougher on tech in 2020
Image: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple unleashed its best-ever Q3 earnings report today, and traders subsequently sent the company’s stock soaring in after-hours trading.

Thanks to record-breaking revenue from its services business and strong growth from wearables, Apple is heading into its most important period of the year ready to cash in. Investors had plenty of questions for CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri during today’s call. And the duo revealed some key tidbits we actually weren’t expecting.

Apple wants to build new Mac Pro in US

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Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR orders start Tuesday
Who knew?
Photo: Apple

Apple would prefer to build the upcoming Mac Pro in the United States. In fact, the company is trying to make it happen, CEO Tim Cook said Tuesday.

“We’ve been making the Mac Pro in the United States and we want to continue doing that,” Cook said during Apple’s earnings call. “We’re working and investing currently in the capacity to do so. We want to continue to be there.”

Apple’s record-breaking earnings report by the numbers

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Apple financial results on an iPad Pro
A dive into Apple’s most recent financial results shows what’s really happening with the company.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

After several rocky quarters, Apple set a new record for third-quarter revenue. Plus there’s good news in iPad and Mac sales. However, iPhone revenue slipped considerably.

Check out these charts that demonstrate with a glance how the company did last quarter.

Services fuel Apple to historic June quarter

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European Commission could get even tougher on tech in 2020
Apple shares are trading up on the good news.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Record-breaking revenue put Apple right in line with Wall Street expectations as the company released its Q3 2019 earnings report today.

The iPhone-maker brought in $53.8 billion in revenue, a number within range of its own guidance and most analysts’ predictions. That set a new record for Apple third-quarter revenue — a slight gain from Q3 2018’s $53.3 billion. CEO Tim Cook touted the company’s subscription offerings for fueling the new all-time high.

iOS 13 and iPadOS 13 move closer with fourth public betas

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iOS 13
iOS 13 is probably less than two months away.
Screen capture: Apple

Anyone brave enough to install onto their iPhone or iPad pre-release versions of Apple’s next operating systems can grab the latest betas. Everyone has access to iOS 13 and iPad OS 13 Public beta 4 just a day after developers got their own new version.

In addition, developers received their fifth beta of watchOS 6.

Apple hires Xbox creator and VR expert Nat Brown

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Original Xbox
Nat Brown is one of the people who convinced Bill Gates to make the original Xbox.
Photo: Microsoft

Apple just snapped up Nat Brown, who most recently was part of Valve’s Virtual Reality team. Before that, he was one of the gang-of-five that convinced Microsoft to create a little device called Xbox.

Whether he’s joining the team running Apple Arcade or will be part of the company’s Augmented Reality efforts is anyone guess.

Notchless iPhone XI concept is too futuristic to be real

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iphone concept
An alternative take on the iPhone XI.
Photo: Bassam Nasser

The grand unveiling of the iPhone 11 is less than two months away and even though we pretty much already know the new design, that’s not stopping some concept designers of dreaming what could be.

Notchless front displays have already made their way onto Android phones. This year’s iPhone is still expected to have a notch, so Bassam Nasser imagined what it would look like if Apple was ahead of the competition. His gorgeous concept also packs a horizontal three-lens camera and an embossed Apple logo that makes the iPhone look more futuristic than ever.

Too bad this can’t be real:

Why you need to install iOS 12.4 right now

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iOS 12.4
It’s high time you installed iOS 12.4 on your iPhone or iPad.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Details of five security bugs fixed by last-week’s iOS 12.4 update have been published. This means hackers now have what they need to use them on any device that hasn’t been updated.

Now would be a good time for anyone who’d been procrastinating to install this update on their iPhone or iPad.

Everything new in iOS 13 beta 5

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Windows, next to a window.
Windows, next to a window.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

The big news in iOS 13 developer beta 5 is that the share sheet has finally been fixed up. Previously, it has been almost impossible to use in the iOS 13 beta, thanks to pretty much every share option being lumped into one never-ending list.

We have a post all about the new share sheet in iOS 13. Check it out to see what’s new on that front. For everything else, keep reading here.

Google Chrome’s clever dark mode is coming to macOS

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Chrome dark mode Mac
Speedy sites will get a "reward."
Photo: Cult of Mac

Google Chrome’s brilliant dark mode, which makes your favorite websites easier to read at night, is coming to macOS.

The feature is currently available only on Android, but the flag that enables it will soon be supported cross-platform. You’ll be able to enjoy it on your Mac, Windows PC, and on Chrome OS devices.

New Shot on iPhone ads go behind the scenes with your favorite musicians

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Florence and the Machine
Apple pulled back the curtain in its latest ads.
Photo: Apple

Apple hit the road with some of the most popular bands touring the world for its latest round of ‘Shot on iPhone’ ads.

The new one minute spots offer an intimate look at what goes on backstage before Florence and the Machine, FKA Twigs and Kamasi Washington make their appearances at concerts in Colorado, New York and London. Each of the three ads were shot by a different director giving them a unique feel.

Watch all three right here:

Apple kicks off mind-bending augmented reality art sessions

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Today-at-Apple-ART-Walk
Sign up for the [AR]T Walk today.
Photo: Apple

You can now sign up to enjoy a series of art-based augmented reality experiences at your local Apple Store.

The new Today at Apple sessions, called [AR]T, will take place around the world. They will include an interactive walk featuring works by some of the world’s leading contemporary artists.

Rockers Tool are finally bringing their music to streaming services

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Tool
Tool performing a headline slot during their "10,000 Days" tour.
Photo: Denuo/Wikipedia CC

Tool, the American rock band which was a staple of alternative music in the 1990s and early 2000s, is finally bringing its back catalog to streaming services.

The exact services the album will be available on haven’t been named. However, it seems incredibly likely that Apple Music — one of the most popular streaming services — will be among them.

Apple hints at 2 new Japanese Apple Stores opening this year

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Apple Stores Japan
Apple's new logos for its Japa
Image: Apple

New images posted to Apple’s website reveal the opening of two new stores in Japan for later this year. The stylized logos are accompanied by text reading “planned for 2019.”

One of the logos uses the colors of Apple’s iconic rainbow logo. The other is a slightly retro-style logo showing the Apple logo as a series of lines with a sun-hued gradient.

Epic reveals exciting teasers for Fortnite season 10

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Fortnite-10-Dusty-Depot
Season 10 will stick around for one more week.
Photo: Epic Games

Epic Games is rolling out brand new teaser images for Fortnite season 10 — and one of them is hugely exciting for long-time fans of the free-to-play battle royale game.

It looks like the new season, which kicks off in just a couple of days, will take us back in time with original locations like Dusty Divot finally making a comeback.