It used to be that the first-party iOS apps were only used by people who didn’t care enough to download something better. Mail, Notes, Contacts, the Calendar — all of these were immediately dumped into a junk folder by experienced users, to be replaced with a proper app. But something happened along the way to 2018. Now, Apple’s apps are every bit as good as third-party apps. (Well, mostly. The Contacts app is still awful.)
Today we’ll take a look at a few of Apple’s surprise hits.
Parents, worried their iPhone-carrying kids are addicted to their screens, likely rejoiced when iOS 12 was announced with a new feature that monitors screen time and allows users to set time limits.
Childless yet eager to test the feature, New York Times tech reporter Brian X. Chen borrowed a kid from an editor for a near-month-long test run of Screen Time – and it worked.
Apple is preparing to unleash some huge upgrades across its entire product line this fall, according to one of the most reliable analysts in the game.
Mac fans hoping for upgrades will be pleased to hear that the long-neglected Mac mini and iMac are set to get some much-needed updates, based on analyst Ming-Chi Kuo’s latest report. And most of Apple’s other products are going to get some love this fall, too.
Apple got a bit pushy with Japan’s wireless service providers, and was slapped down by regulators as a result.
The iPhone maker was requiring the carriers to put subsidies on iOS handsets. The Japanese Fair Trade Commission decided that was a violation of Japan’s antitrust rules.
Austria is set to become one of the next countries to get Apple Pay, months after Apple opened its first official Apple Store in the country.
A report describing the availability is relatively light on details, although it suggests that Bank Austria, one of the country’s biggest banks, will be among the initial card issuers.
It’s road trip season, and that means gas prices can have a big impact on your vacation. Sometimes what seems like a decent gas price is actually a ripoff because you don’t know about the local station around the corner that’s selling fuel for far less.
If you want to get the best gas price, use GasBuddy for iPhone. The app shows you where all the nearby gas stations are. Better still, GasBuddy helps you find the best prices on gas, wherever you are.
Sonos is opening its speakers to a new world of listening experiences today with the addition of AirPlay 2.
The smart speaker company teased AirPlay 2 support last month during the introduction of its Beam speaker. Now, just over a month after Apple added AirPlay 2 as part of iOS 11.4, Sonos is the first third-party speaker company to dive head first into the new tech. And the company added a few tricks your HomePod can’t match.
That buzzing you hear outside probably isn’t a swarm of bees. These days it’s way more likely to be a drone. They’re everywhere, big and small, so why not get in on the fun?
Sometimes software bugs can be awfully revealing. This week, a security researcher noted how an iPhone-crashing bug occurred whenever some users used the Taiwanese flag emoji in iOS 11.3.
The bug is seemingly an abortive attempt to acquiesce to China’s rules for tech companies to follow, which includes its refusal to accept Taiwan as an independent country. While Apple hasn’t commented on the case, this isn’t the first time it has caved to China’s requests.
You probably have a whole bunch of passwords saved in Firefox if it’s your web browser of choice. And now you can use those passwords anywhere in iOS with the new Lockbox app from Mozilla.
Lockbox is a password manager that promises strong encryption, syncing between multiple iOS devices, Face ID support, and more.
An Apple employee who downloaded blueprints for its self-driving car circuit board and then attempted to flee with them to China has been arrested.
Xiaolang Zhang supposedly told Apple of his plans to join a Chinese self-driving car startup, Xiaopeng Motors, shortly before booking his flight. He was arrested on July 7 after going through the security gates at San Jose airport.
Former Game of Thrones and current Aquaman actor Jason Momoa is set to star in another new Apple original series.
Called See, the show is an epic, world-building drama that’s set in the future. Momoa will play the lead role of Baba Voss, described by trade magazine Variety as, “a fearless warrior, leader and guardian.” So a totally different type of role for Momoa, then!
Four teens in hoodies brazenly snatched a bunch of MacBooks and iPhones from an Apple Store in California this weekend. The crime is very similar to one committed in New York last week.
The brazen thefts took place so close together it’s not impossible the second was inspired by the first.
Craig Federighi is no longer in charge of Siri. Responsibility for Apple’s troubled voice assistant has been given to John Giannandrea, who is now in charge of all Apple’s artificial intelligence efforts.
Siri is seen as poor competition for Amazon Alexa, Microsoft Cortana, and Google Assistant. Its weakness is hurting sales of Apple products, including the HomePod.
Buyers were slow to buy when the latest line of iPhones first launched. But new market research shows today’s shopper is more likely to slap down a credit card for a new model than the previous cycle.
The findings from the group M Science are in line with figures showing the popularity of the iPhone 8 and iPhone X.
Four years ago, I wrote a post explaining how to “add GPS to your dumb camera photos using your iOS device.” It was a pretty good how to, but things have moved on and it is now easier than ever to import a bunch of photos into your iPad, and then geotag them using an app.
Why would you do such a thing? Well, how about having all your vacation photos plotted on a map, so you can find where you took them, years, later? Or having your fancy-camera photos show up alongside your iPhone photos when you search for nearby pictures?
Paper’s great for some things, but when it comes to reading and taking notes, the traditional medium is mediocre at best. And when iPad apps try to replicate paper, things get even worse.
“It doesn’t work,” said Craig Tashman, developer of the LiquidText PDF Reader app, which Apple showcased in an iPad ad this week. “They end up inheriting the deficiencies of paper without really inheriting the things that make it work.”
Tashman talked with Cult of Mac about his quest to reinvent paper, and the massive benefit of having a $945 billion tech giant giving an indie developer some props.
A new feature in the Netflix app will automatically download episodes of your favorite shows. This means they’re waiting on your phone or tablet when you’re ready.
Netflix already allows users to download episodes to watch later. The improvement announced today just makes it easier.
Striking up a conversation on Instagram just became as easy as slapping a sticker on your Story.
Instagram revealed today that it has added a new feature called Question Stickers that gives users a new way to ask and receive questions from followers so you can get more acquainted with each other.
Augmented Reality (AR) is still an emerging technology, but Apple is poised to profit from it significantly. Or that’s the prediction of one analyst anyway.
And all the extra billions in revenue wouldn’t require the rumored Apple AR Glasses, though that would help.
One of the biggest password managers for iOS and Mac will not be acquired by Apple, despite rumors to the contrary.
1Password issued a response this morning to a report that Apple is in talks to acquire it saying the rumor is “completely false.” AgileBits, the developer studio behind 1Password, has been independent since its inception and the firm says it plans to remain so indefinitely.
The iPad Pro and Microsoft’s Surface Pro are serious competitors, but until now Redmond didn’t have anything to take on the $329 iPad. That changed with the reveal of the Surface Go.
This device is $70 more than Apple’s offering and includes a screen just a hair larger. Let’s take a look at how all of their specs compare.
Snapchat is building its focus on augmented reality Lenses, by giving users the ability to download those created by other users. This follows on from a feature Snap added at the end of last year, giving users the ability to build their own Lenses.
Foxconn Technologies is starting a new company in California’s Silicon Valley to concentrate on artificial intelligence for factory floor automation.
The plan comes as Foxconn looks for ways to deal with the slowdown of smartphone sales globally, demands for higher wages and a changing workforce that is sidestepping manufacturing. Foxconn assembles thousands of iPhones and iPads and is among Apple’s biggest contractors.
Last year, only Apple’s OLED iPhone X was the recipient of the edge-to-edge infinite display. Owners of the regular iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, meanwhile, had to endure the indignity of the old fashioned iPhone design, complete with bezel.
That appears set to change with the 2018-era iPhone refresh, however. And a new report reveals the technology that will make it all possible.