What’s on your main iPad home screen? Is it organized so that you can find your most-used apps quickly? Or have you decided to arrange the icons by color? Or divided up the grid by adding a row of blank spaces? Those are pretty neat ideas, but today I’m going to suggest you do something even more radical. How about keeping your home screen entirely blank? No icons, no folders, nothing. Just the Dock, Spotlight search, and an easier-to-use iPad.

This week we map our minds with WriteMapper, check out the weather with new maps in Carrot Weather, and see who was sampled in that song playing on the radio in WhoSampled. And — if you can believe it — even more.

Anyone who travels – or just use their phones and tablets a lot – knows how important a portable battery can be. Unfortunately these clutch devices can also take up a good chunk of space in your bag.

Are you still tapping the little arrows to scroll through the sections on your iPhone’s tiny copy/paste menu? Forget about that nonsense. This is 2018, the year of living dangerously, so may as well join in with the world. Did you know that you can just swipe that menu? You’ll never have to tap a tiny arrow ever again.

Don’t expect to see the rumored folding Windows computer any time soon. In fact, Microsoft might have cancelled the device code named Andromeda.

This would have been small enough to be pocketable, but then unfold to become a tablet about the size of an iPad mini.

In this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine: If running and swimming with Apple Watch don’t rock your boat, you should give rowing a try. It combines all the benefits of cardio and strength training. Whether you get in a boat or use a rowing machine, it’s a great way to get in shape.

You’ll find that story and more in this issue. Get your free subscription to Cult of Mac Magazine from iTunes. Or read on for this week’s top stories.

If you’ve visited this site before, first of all, thanks. Second, you probably know that we endorse getting online through a virtual private network (VPN). It’s a scary place out there on the web, and using a VPN helps protect your privacy and data.

There are tons of ways to give money to a friend or family member. You could mail a check, hand them a stack of cash, or send it digitally. With the Cash App, sending money to someone is as easy as entering an amount, dropping in their $cashtag, and hitting send. While this is very similar to Apple Pay Cash, the Cash App packs a few extra perks that make it awesome.

A few months ago, Apple surprised everyone by announcing its latest smartphone was a huge hit, resulting in better than expected earnings and a big jump in company shares. That didn’t happen to Samsung.

Instead, the Korean company missed analysts’ profit expectations, partially because of sluggish demand for the Galaxy S9.

Looking for something to do this weekend? Been meaning to try Fortnite‘s Playground mode on your Mac or iPad? You should combine those because this training level is getting pulled down in a few days.

The good news is Epic Games already has big plans for the next version.

The next dramatic shift in smartphone design is expected to be folding displays. An industry source in Asia says that Apple is developing a foldable iPhone but it won’t be out before 2020 and possibly even later.

This means Samsung could beat Apple to the punch. The foldable Galaxy X is rumored for release in the first half of 2019.

Apple Music now boasts more paying subscribers that Spotify in the United States.

Both services have more than 20 million subscribers, but Apple Music is finally “a hair ahead” after creeping up on Spotify for months, according to a new report. Apple’s service is expected to widen the gap in the coming months as it continues to enjoy a faster growth rate than its biggest rival.

Do you love your AirPods but wish they looked like they came out in the 80’s?

ColorWare has come out with a new customization of Apple’s AirPods that look like the could have been paired with the original Macintosh. The Pantone 453 finish makes the buds look more retro, but they’re anything but cheap.

It hasn’t escaped Apple’s attention that the FIFA World Cup is going on. As part of the celebration, it’s released a trio of “Shot on iPhone” videos of people playing football/soccer on three continents.

This long-running campaign demonstrates the capabilities of iPhone cameras.

You see yourself as a budding star of the vertical screen but so far you’re spending more time off-camera in post-production editing and formatting your IGTV videos.

Wedding filmmaker and YouTuber Matt Johnson has wasted no time figuring out how to get your vertical videos – and if you’re stubborn, the horizontal ones – ready for posting to Instagram’s new IGTV video platform.

Microsoft is developing a “Movies & TV” app for Android and iOS in an effort to boost downloads from the Microsoft Store, according to a new report.

Customers can enjoy content purchased from Microsoft only on Windows platforms for now. The company hopes that by supporting new platforms, it will encourage more people to use its store over competitors like iTunes.

This week on The CultCast: Finally — new evidence shows that a Mac refresh is right around the corner. Plus: MacBook Pro is about to get the feature we’ve all been wanting; Apple is rebuilding its Maps app from the ground up, and it looks magnificent; Apple’s new Seattle flagship store is stunning; and we pitch a wood-wrapped iPhone case, waterproof camping lights, and a great new reading app in an all-new Under Review!

Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. It’s simple to accept Apple Pay and sell your wares with your very own Squarespace website. Enter offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off your first hosting plan or domain.

The 10.5-inch iPad Pro is officially my primary computing device.

For the past five months, I’ve used it for everything from browsing the web and watching YouTube videos at night, to researching and writing stories for Cult of Mac during the day. I can’t remember the last time I turned on my PC — it’s been a long time.

I wouldn’t have been able to use the iPad Pro for all of this without a great physical keyboard. I’ve tried a bunch of them. And for the past two months or so, I’ve been using Zagg’s excellent Slim Book.

Here’s why it’s my favorite keyboard case for iPad.

Nature is truly present in the Teton Wood Apple Watch band in Zebrawood by Wood Mark Watches. The wood for this special band comes from a species of tree found and sourced in Central Africa. Known for its richly veined, zebra-like stripes and pale golden yellow wood, zebrawood is a beautifully exotic material.

Read on to learn a bit more about these unique bands for Apple Watch, and the many surprising benefits of wearing wood. Wood Mark’s entire lineup of wood bands is now available in Cult of Mac’s Watch Store.

Note: Wood Mark does not ship internationally!

We’re all accustomed to paying a simple, one-time fee for our iOS apps. But developers are increasingly turning to subscriptions. In fact, there were billions paid in app subscription fees in the past year.

Apple reported today that revenue from subscriptions is up 95 percent over last year.

Israel’s NSO Group makes a business of hacking iPhones and Android devices.  In a reversal of roles, it was hacked by one of its own employees and valuable intellectual property was stolen.

While its tempting to lean back an enjoy this company’s discomfiture, the stolen property was NSO’s phone hacking tools, which were then offered on the dark web.

The first ever Lightning-charged power bank has finally arrived thanks to the folks at Belkin.

Say goodbye to that Micro-USB cable you’ve been carrying around.

Apple said Siri would be smarter with iOS 12. The digital assistant will also multitask with the help of a native app.

A single command will kick Siri into high gear through an app called Siri Shortcuts, now available in a beta version to developers through the TestFlight platform.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how about a video? The dating service Tinder now lets you upload a very short video along with pictures. The idea is these Tinder Loops will better reflect your personality.

Sorry Android, tut this feature is only available for iOS devices.

You may remember Oilist, a iOS app that takes your photos and turns them into paintings. This isn’t your usual lame-o filters app, either. Oilist actually makes images that really do look like they’ve been painted — with brushwork, paint texture, and more.

And now, the developer is working on version 2.0 of this great app, and he wants you to help.