In a tiny workshop in Austin, Texas, one of my all-time-favorite leather straps for Apple Watch is made carefully by hand. The Triple Tour Band by Arrow & Board is a “split” version of the ubiquitous Double Tour strap — popularized by the beautiful albeit monstrously-priced Hermès version.
Consumer Reports has pulled the “recommendation” rating it awarded to four Microsoft Surface devices.
The publication says the change was made as a result of “poor predicated reliability,” and said the estimated breakage rate for Microsoft tablets and notebooks was higher than that for most other brands.
Streaming videos have made our favorite content available pretty much anywhere we go. It’s also made the loss of an internet connection cause for disappointment and frustration. Luckily, it’s real easy to download your favorite streaming video from basically any site straight to your hard drive.
What better way to close out the week than by reliving the glory days of 1995 with Ristar, a newly released iOS port of the classic Sega Genesis game?
Released as part of the retro Sega Forever collection, the free-to-download game is a classic side-scrolling platformer in the Sonic the Hedgehog mold — only with less focus on speed, and more on utilizing the hero’s stretchy arms in a variety of ways.
Google has updated its Gmail app for iOS to introduce anti-phishing security checks. The app automatically detects suspicious links in your emails, then warns you that they might be dangerous when you tap them.
This week on The CultCast: What does Apple have in store for the next generation of Watch? We round up the current rumors and reveal our Series 3 wish list. Then: Could Face ID actually replace Touch ID on iPhone 8? We have concerns. Plus: Proof that a 4K Apple TV is right around the corner; more incredible demos of ARKit; and we share our favorite new shows, movies and board games in an all-new What We’re Into!
Our thanks to EERO for supporting this episode. The EERO router system will blanket your home in hyper-fast, reliable Wi-Fi, and you can score free overnight shipping with code CULTCAST at checkout.
After several months in beta, game streaming platform Twitch’s desktop app for both Mac and Windows is finally available in its complete full version.
The app includes all the features you’d expend to find in Twitch’s web browser version, such as voice and video calling. However, it also includes a few features that you’ll only find in the app version. In other words, what are you waiting for, gamers?
We’re likely to get our first glimpse of the iPhone 8 next month, but for now designers are having some fun showing off not just how they think the new handset will look — but how it could be marketed as well.
These renders come from South African born designer Quinton Theron, which combine the design elements rumored about the iPhone 8 with some nifty ad-style backdrops.
SoundCloud faces a do-or-die vote Friday. If you uploaded a bunch of your own music to the service, and have no idea where your original copies are, you should probably download your SoundCloud music now, just to be safe.
Incredibly, there’s no built-in way to quickly grab your own files from SoundCloud. Thankfully, though, somebody built an easy-to-use tool to get the job done. Today we’re going to see how to use it.
This week, it’s out with the old and in with the new. Get rid of your old MacBook in exchange for a Best Buy gift card and/or get a dirt-cheap new iPhone or iPad.
If you’re hanging out on the beach this summer, or kicking back on the porch with a beer and one of Cult of Mac’s amazing how-to articles, you might notice how hard it is to see the iPhone or iPad’s screen in the sunlight. How about sending that long article to you Kindle instead? Not only is the e-ink screen perfect for reading in bright light, but the battery lasts forever, saving you from burning through your iPhone’s juice even faster than usual because you have the screen brightness all the way up.
Happily, it is now easier than ever to send an article to you Kindle from your iPhone. Today we’ll see two ways to do it.
iOS 11’s Notes app is fantastic, and can probably replace apps like OneNote or Evernote for many people. In iOS 11, it mostly catches up with the Mac version — and adds a bunch more neat features only possible on the iPad, like sketching with the Apple Pencil.
Today, we’re going to see how to pin notes to the top of the list; how to swipe to delete, password-protect or move a note to a folder; and how to pick a stationery background for a new note.
Sick of those annoying bars that follow you around certain websites, urging you to share a story on Facebook? A new iOS app called Unobstruct lets you banish those “dickbars” forever.
The creator of the $1 app says he hopes it sends a clear message to web designers: Nobody wants these weapons of messy distraction.
Apple has been urged to bring an emergency location feature that could save countless lives to the iPhone.
Advanced Mobile Location (AML), a technology that allows the emergency services to more accurately locate a person in danger, was brought to Android over a year ago — but it still isn’t available in iOS.
When you think portable audio, Bluetooth box or pill-shaped Bluetooth speaker probably comes to mind. Although these popular personal audio devices are great, they’re hardly immersive. But when you turn one speaker into two, you can take immersive stereo sound on the road.
Apple is being sued by 28 developers in China for allegedly breaching antitrust regulations. According to the complaint, Apple charged excessive fees and removed apps from the App Store without a proper explanation.
In the past, Cupertino said its guidelines for allowable apps are consistent across countries. The lawsuit comes as Apple expands its developer relations team in China.
Ikea’s smart lighting range is now compatible with HomeKit. The company rolled out an update for its wireless hub today that adds the feature, as well as Google Home and Amazon Alexa integration.
iPhone 8’s new facial recognition functionality will be just as versatile as Touch ID, giving users the ability to authorize Apple Pay transactions, unlock third-party apps, and more.
Apple’s code suggests “Face ID” will even support multiple faces for different users.
Apple’s new Carpool Karaoke series may not have found favor with critics, but it’s still stuffed full of musical celebrities — ranging from Metallica to Ariana Grande to Will Smith.
One name you might not find among them, however, is Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington — who recorded an episode of the show last month, just six days before his untimely death at the age of 41. However, according to Apple it might not run.
Facebook is expanding its focus on video by introducing a new service called Watch, which will see the company enter the world of original content for the first time.
Available for desktop, mobile and TV apps, the new Watch tab will appear on users’ newsfeeds. It will include links to a variety of shows — including comedy, reality TV and live sport — some of which will be created by Facebook. The move puts Facebook into more direct competition with services like YouTube, as well as Netflix, Amazon, and Apple.
Apple is 0-2 when it comes to critical acclaim for its original series, after early reviews for its Carpool Karaoke spinoff show have been largely negative. The show debuted this week for Apple Music subscribers.
While it’s still early days for Apple’s original content, between this and Planet of the Apps, things aren’t exactly looking good!
Bidding goodbye to the iPhone’s physical Home button won’t be easy, but there are some advantages to going virtual for iPhone 8.
Not only will it allow for a larger edge-to-edge display, but it also means you’ll be able customize the virtual button. Apple code suggests we’ll have the option to resize it and hide it away if we don’t want it to be displayed on screen at all times.
Did you ever try to take a photo of something flat on the ground, and spend ages trying to line it up right so that it is square in the frame? No, well, humor me here, because Apple just granted everyone’s biggest iOS camera wish: The camera app now has a level that kicks in when you hold the iPhone horizontally, and which will tell you when you’re holding the iPhone, uh, level.
Samsung may have finally worked out how to rip off 3D Touch.
A new report claims its upcoming Galaxy Note 8 will be the first to offer the feature, which will recognize presses as well as touches — just like the iPhone.
The Files app is iOS 11’s Finder. You can use it to browse the files in your iCloud Drive, along with files and folders in your Dropbox, and inside other apps that open up their file systems to iOS. Apple has also added some keyboard shortcuts to the Files app. This lets you carry out many common tasks without touching the screen when you have a hardware keyboard attached.
Most of the new keyboard shortcuts are great, and show how serious Apple is about the new user-accessible iOS file system. But some serious limitations mean you’ll still need to reach up and tap the screen to do the most basic things.