Siri Shortcuts are the iOS way to automate actions you do over and over. The WWDC 2018 keynote gave an examples of chaining together a bunch of these actions into one shortcut — order your favorite “coffee,” and give you directions to work, or switch on the lights at home one whole hour before you get there in order to, I don’t know, waste electricity? To trigger these little automations, you just tell Siri, using a pre-chosen keyword/name.

However, you don’t alway want to put together lots of steps. Sometimes you just want Siri to carry out a single action with a Shortcut. For instance, opening up your favorite news site in Safari, or sending a message to your spouse, or viewing your most recent photos. The good news is, you can do all of these right now, even without the fancy new Siri Shortcuts app.

When Tim Cook wants to know how Apple is doing, it’s doubtful he turns to some research group’s published rankings of brands and companies with the most value, most love or most intimacy with its customers.

So for what it’s worth to the CEO or, for that matter anyone else, Apple is the second-most valuable U.S. brand, according to a new report published today by the group Brand Finance.

Android owners are still ditching their handsets for an iPhone at an impressive rate.

New research reveals that up to 20 percent of iPhone buyers each quarter are switching from Google devices. The iPhone SE is one of the most popular models among former Android fans, but there’s a lot of love for larger Apple devices, too.

Apple’s free Schoolwork app, which lets students and teachers collaborate on school assignments, is available now.

Schoolwork makes it easy to create assignments, take advantage of third-party apps for learning, and view student progress. It will work alongside the Classroom app to provide teachers around the world with the tools they need to “enhance the learning experience.”

In today’s edition of Deals & Steals, we have select models on the latest MacBook Air for a phenomenal deal. Plus, you can get an (ugh) Galaxy S9, FIFA 18 and a pair of Bose wireless earphones — all at neat discounts.

Apple’s upcoming AirPods case will offer more than just wireless charging for your headphones, according to a sketchy new report.

A source familiar with Apple’s plans claims the case will double as an iPhone charger that will give you a boost in battery life when you’re in a pinch. The device could be available before the end of this year.

Keeping a clear mind takes discipline and practice. And in the age of smartphones and constant distractions, mindfulness is more of a challenge than ever. So it makes sense that your phone might also offer a solution.

In three years’ time, Apple could bring in an extra $10 to $12 billion in annual revenue through its original video content and Apple Music, analyst Amit Daryanani of RBC Capital Markets argued in a note to clients this week.

In terms of Apple’s share price, that would add up to 75 cents to the company’s earnings per share.

Apple supplier Wistron has started production of the iPhone 6s at its factory in Bengaluru, India.

This marks the second iPhone to be produced in India. Last year, Wistron began producing the iPhone SE in India. The iPhone 6s, which launched in 2015, is a logical choice as a follow-up due to the popularity of the handset in India, thanks to its cheaper price.

Epic Games is suing a former employee for spilling Fortnite secrets.

Thomas Hannah is alleged to have broken his non-disclosure agreement by leaking details of season four’s meteor story. The news surfaced last month, just days before Epic rolled out its big content update.

Apple is among the tech companies which recently met with members of the U.S. intelligence community to discuss the upcoming midterm elections.

Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Oath, Snap and Twitter were approached because of continued concerns about the way that tech platforms were allegedly used for spreading fake news during the 2016 Presidential elections.

Whenever Apple CEO Tim Cook weighs in on a social issue, like his recent disparaging comments about U.S. immigration policy, there are always voices urging him to be quiet and concentrate on making great products.

Speaking at a forum in San Francisco this evening, Cook said that changing the world is in his job description.

Parental controls are a hot item. Apple is building them into iOS 12, kid-friendly apps have them, and T-Mobile just unveiled its solution: Family Mode.

This includes iOS and Android apps than can limit what children do online. And the Family Mode Home Base connects to the home Wi-Fi router and lets parents put restrictions on every device in the house.

You no longer need to be a developer to try Apple’s biggest software updates of 2018.

Public testers can now get their hands on the first public beta builds of iOS 12 and tvOS 12 that bring tons of UI changes and feature improvements to the iPhone, iPad and Apple TV.

It’s pretty hard to run a business today without accounting for the devices your employees use to do their jobs. We’re all pretty technically savvy here at Cult of Mac, but as a distributed team, there is a huge need for us to agree on apps, settings and tools that we use.

Mobile device management products are designed to solve exactly this problem, and today we’re announcing Jamf Now as our official Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution.

CBS has been struggling to find stand-out content for its All Access streaming service beside Star Trek: Discovery. That problem has been solved. 

The entire 2018 NFL ON CBS schedule, including Super Bowl LIII, will be streamed live on All Access. That includes smartphones and tablets, a significant development.

With the demise of Instapaper — in Europe at least — you may be looking for a good way to save web pages for offline reading. The obvious built-in tool for this is Safari’s Reading list, but it’s very limited. Instead, consider turning the web page into a PDF. This lets you read the page anywhere, as well as mark it up with highlights, and search its entire content using Spotlight.

The thing is, there are three different way to save a webpage as a PDF, all of them built-in to iOS. Let’s take a look at how to use them, what the differences are, and which one is best for you.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell if something is real or was dreamed up by a Batman villain. That’s the case with the WiSpear iPhone hacking van.

This tool supposedly can be used to install malware on an iOS or Android device from a third of a mile away.

Edit is just about the simplest notes app possible. It doesn’t have search, it doesn’t even have multiple notes. It’s just a single page onto which you can write or paste text, and almost nothing more.

Normal is the single-most used filter on Instagram, which means exactly what you think: Normal is not really a filter.

Still, because it lines up alongside Instagram’s 40 native filters, it came out on top, according to a database of 790,000 Instagram users. This is still considered a small sample for a user base that just surpassed 1 billion active users.

The Information Technology Industry Council will meet on Wednesday. This trade group, made up of Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and others, will discuss consumer privacy.

The proceedings are likely to be contentious, as these companies have very different views on the subject.

Managing a busy schedule is something we all deal with from time to time. Relying on a calendar app makes it easier, but entering every meeting, project, or appointment can be a hassle. Fantastical is the best calendar app for adding events to your calendar and managing your schedule.

Apple placed sixth on the NetBase report of Most Loved Brands of 2018 while the five that scored higher wouldn’t get so much love without Apple devices.

In NetBase’s fourth-annual survey, Instagram was No. 1, followed by YouTube, Facebook, Amazon, and Google. The four brands rounding out the top 10 were Disney at No. 7, followed by Snapchat, Spotify, and Netflix.

Samsung has long been a crucial part of Apple’s supply chain, but it wants to muscle in on the company’s A-series processor orders as well.

According to a new report, Samsung is looking to regain the A-series orders that it received from Apple until TSMC took over several years ago. Previously Samsung held the exclusive order contract for these mobile A-series chips, which are used to power the iPhone and iPad.

Samsung might have beaten Apple to iris scanning and facial recognition, but it certainly isn’t doing a better job.

Face ID is considered to be far more advanced than anything available on Android today. A new report claims Samsung is actually giving up on competing technology and returning to fingerprint scanners for the Galaxy S10.