Square Cash is the world’s best coffee loyalty program — and it’s time you knew about it.
The Square Cash Coffee Reward program has been the highlight of my last six months. You can either take that as an indictment of my quality of life, or a resounding recommendation for this coffee cash-back program.
iTunes LPs won't make it out of 2018. Is the rest of iTunes next? Photo: Apple
Apple could kill off iTunes in the near future, a new report suggests.
It cites an email that Apple reportedly wrote to people in the music industry recently, announcing the “end of iTunes LPs.” The iTunes LP format was first introduced in 2009 and let publishers add interactive artwork, along with assorted iTunes Extras, with their content.
The LP format never achieved great popularity. However, the fact that Apple plans to ditch iTunes LPs in 2018 potentially hints at the possibility that Apple may stop selling iTunes music downloads in the near future.
Map and optimize your WiFi at home or at work with this powerful visualizer tool. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
Wi-Fi is everywhere, except when it’s not. At home or the office, few things are as inconvenient or frustrating as suddenly losing your connection to the internet. So the reason for getting an app like this is obvious.
Store had 200 products to sell. 11,000 people turned up. Photo: Switch
An Apple reseller in Malaysia had to temporarily close after 11,000 would-be customers turned up to buy a small selection of discounted iOS and Mac products.
The incident took place over the weekend after the Switch store announced that it was selling off its stock of demo products, including iPhone models 5s to 7, iPads, Apple TVs, MacBooks and more. These devices were discounted to as little as $25 and as much as $514. Unfortunately, it seems that someone underestimated demand.
iBooks may not be ready for a big revamp. Photo: Apple
The latest iOS 11.3 beta, rolled out to registered developers Monday, includes a small but significant change to one of Apple’s apps. “iBooks” has returned after briefly being renamed “Books.” The move could suggest a rumored revamp is currently on hold.
Google is using artificial intelligence to make it easier for you to find the files you need inside Google Drive. Its next update will add an interface that predicts the people and files you’re most likely to want and makes them more visible, speeding up your workflow.
A battery replacement can make a big difference. Photo: Apple
Want to know how much difference replacing the battery in an old iPhone makes to the overall speed of the handset? A new video posted online by Bennett Sorbo compares an iPhone 6s with depleted battery against one with a fresh battery.
The two iPhones are then put head to head as they run through a variety of CPU-intensive tasks, including opening apps, using the internet, playing games and videos, and more. Check out the video below.
Spike Jonze is the perfect fit for Apple. Photo: Apple
Spike Jonze’s surreal new short film about the HomePod is likely to go down as one of the year’s best Apple ads.
The Oscar-winning director’s four-minute creation is unabashedly joyful, which is a feeling that sometimes can get lost in all the Apple minimalism. Check out Jonze’s playful and creative HomePod ad below.
A blank row helps organize your home screen. Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac
Some of the most creative iPhone home screen designs we’ve ever seen use blank gaps to separate icons into groups or to create interesting stepped patterns. But how is that even possible? After all, if you delete a home screen icon, the others close ranks to fill in the space.
The answer is to add blank icons to create those gaps. Then, you can add a blank row to organize your iPhone home screen, or move all your apps the the bottom of the screen instead of the top.
The Google iOS app just added an iMessage extension that lets users conduct searches without leaving Apple’s chat app. Google also added a couple other features that should make life easier for Apple fans: a Safari plugin that serves up related content, and iPad drag-and-drop support.
Take back control of your Mac's media keys with BeardedSpice. Photo: Cult of Mac
Did you ever hit your macBook’s play/pause key to pause that YouTube video, only to have iTunes launch instead, and start playing that embarrassing tune from your last home workout session? Then you may be interested in a way to have your media keys control the site or app you want to control, instead of the app that Apple decides it will control. Luckily, there’s an app for that, called BeardedSpice.
The iPhone X is the new Apple flagship. But some like their old iPhones just fine. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
A Piper Jaffray survey of iPhone users who did not upgrade to the iPhone X came to a predictable conclusion: Most were satisfied with the performance of their current model and many find the X too expensive.
However, the financial services firm predicts Apple will coax some upgrades out of these users with a line of new iPhone models this fall, one of which is expected to be more affordable.
The iPad magician liked this woman's outfit, so he gave her an Oscar out of his iPad. Photo: Simon Pierro/YouTube
Simon Pierro presented an Oscar for a new category: best reaction to a magician pulling an actual golden statuette from an iPad.
Pierro, who travels the world as the iPad magician, capitalized on the buzz leading up to Sunday’s Academy Awards by strolling the Walk of Fame performing tricks for dumbfounded onlookers.
Cortana could be reading your emails soon. Photo: Cult of Mac
Microsoft is working to bring Cortana to its Outlook app for iOS. The virtual assistant will give users the ability to listen to their emails, which will be particularly useful in situations where you need to be hands-free.
Coming soon to an iPhone near you. Photo: Rome: Total War
The classic PC strategy game Rome: Total War is coming to iPhone, and we couldn’t be more excited. The bad news? Developers Feral Interactive have announced that it is taking them a bit longer than expected. The good news? They’ve shared a gameplay video to keep us sweet, and it looks pretty darn awesome.
Turn your iPhone into a game machine. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
There was a time when the little glowing bricks we carried around were called Game Boys. In those simpler days, passing time meant burning through Tetris, not swiping through Tinder. The graphics weren’t great, but the gameplay sure was.
With the Wanle Gamers Console, you can reclaim the nostalgia of portable gaming, and protect your iPhone at the same time.
Apple's relationship with Dialog Semiconductor will continue for now. Photo: Intel
Apple’s apparently not ready to produce its own power management chips, based on the fact that it has commissioned the design of new chips from partner Dialog Semiconductor, a new report claims.
That’s significant because a report from last year suggested that Apple planned to use its own chips starting 2018 or 2019. Instead, today’s news claims that Apple will continue using Dialog chips through 2019 or 2020.
Apple’s new headphones are guaranteed. Photo: Apple
Sources familiar with Apple’s plans have corroborated reports that the company is working on new over-the-ear headphones. The high-end cans are scheduled to launch later this year, but Apple is currently facing “challenges” in development that could lead to a delay.
Microsoft is planning new improvements for Office on iOS that will rollout this month.
The updates, which will be available to Office Insiders first, will improve collaborative working, make it easier to read documents on smaller screens, and more.
The EU is looking for a way to clamp down on tax avoidance. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple is among the tech giants which could be affected by a new European Union initiative that aims to tax tech multinationals at between 2 to 6 percent of their global revenue.
News of the massive potential tax shift was shared by French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire in a newspaper interview. Le Maire said that the total amount is likely to be “closer to 2 percent than 6 percent,” and will be announced in the coming weeks.
It’s about time we saw that new MacBook Air. Photo: Apple
Apple will deliver a “more affordable” MacBook Air this year, according to one reliable analyst.
The existing MacBook Air lineup remains pricey, despite being incredibly outdated. Apple asks customers to cough up at least $999 for fifth-generation Intel processors and a low-resolution display.
Transcripts have been released for three of the emergency calls made earlier this year as the result of employees at Apple Park injuring themselves by walking into glass doors and walls.
More than 3,000 gigantic curved glass panes have been used to form the walls on both side of Apple’s four-story campus, measuring over a mile around. In all, Apple Park uses more than six kilometers of curved glass, in addition to interior glass accessories like doors.