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You don’t need to know any code to build a beautiful website [Deals]

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SnapPages makes it easy to build a beautiful, responsive website with no coding knowledge.
SnapPages makes it easy to build a beautiful, responsive website with no coding knowledge.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

For many people interested in creating a place to express their ideas or work online, knowing how to code is a major impediment. SnapPages cuts the coding completely, making creating, designing and hosting a gorgeous website a simple matter of drag-and-drop. And right now you can get a lifetime subscription to SnapPages’s Pro Plan for only $49.

Sacré bleu! Apple Pay is on its way to France in 2016

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Apple Pay
Your mother was a hamster, and your father bought elderberries with Apple Pay.
Photo: Apple

Apple Pay is likely to launch in France by the end of 2016, according to a new report — claiming that it will be a gradual rollout over the course of several months.

There’s no exact date cited, but it is quite possible that it will take place by September, before Apple ships the iPhone 7.

Take a tour of the latest Apple Watch beta [Video]

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Easily find businesses near you thanks to the updated glances on WatchOS 2.2
Easily find businesses near you thanks to the updated glances on WatchOS 2.2
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The fourth beta for watchOS 2.2 adds cool new features that work with the latest version of iOS 9.3 as Apple continues its push to make Apple Watch even more powerful. In today’s video, we’re going to take a tour of all the new changes and improvements the latest beta has in store.

FBI vs. Apple heats up, Siri on OS X, new MacBooks and more on The CultCast

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Siri's coming to a Mac near you.
Siri's coming to a Mac near you.
Illustration: Aurélien Salomon

This week on The CultCast: With the FBI-versus-Apple privacy battle heating up, some lawyers say Tim Cook could land in jail; why Siri in the next version of OS X may point to redesigned MacBooks; and, just how much would you pay for a box of Steve Jobs’ old crap? Plus we pitch you our favorite tech and apps in an all-new Faves ‘N Raves!

Apple’s website becomes NSFW without this one line of code

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giphy
Apple's website, with and without the line of code added.
Photo: Ryan Ackermann/Twitter CC

Apple avoided a potentially embarrassing incident by altering OS X marketing materials on its website to make the word “click” in the slogan “There’s more to love with every click” look … well, less like a certain term for the male sexual apparatus that begins with a “D.”

Do-it-all video editing app goes free, just in time for the Oscars

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screen322x572
If you start work now, you'll be in line for "Best Picture" at next year's Academy Awards.
Photo: Appsolute Inc.

More and more videos are being shot on iPhones and iPads, and if you’re looking for a great video editing app to help you make the most out of your footage, you’ll find it with Videoshop — the ultra-popular movie editing app which currently carries a 4.5-star rating in the App Store, following more than 2,100 reviews.

The best news? Right now, it’s available for free, down from its usual price of $1.99.

Remembering Jef Raskin, the Mac’s other inventor

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Macintosh
Jef Raskin's original concept for the Mac was very different.
Photo: Apple

Everyone associates the Mac’s creation with Steve Jobs (with very good reason), but there is another person without whom we wouldn’t have Apple’s iconic home computers: user interface guru Jef Raskin, who passed away on February 26, 2005 — exactly 11 years ago today.

Raskin not only named the Macintosh — after his favorite type of apple, the McIntosh (even though that spelling was already being used by an audio company) — he also gave the lovable computer some of its lasting personality traits.

Check your privilege! iOS app will split bills based on your sex and race

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Screen Shot 2016-02-26 at 09.56.40
Dividing up the bill just got a whole lot less comfortable.
Screenshot: EquiPay

Anyone who eats out with friends has likely used their iPhone to split the bill at some point, perhaps making a few extra pluses or minuses according to whether your friend ordered the gold-plated lobster thermidor while you went for a salad and a glass of water.

But a new iOS app in the making promises to make bill-paying a whole lot more contentious: by splitting it based on the race and gender of those people eating at the same table.

Because why should billionaire Oprah Winfrey have to pay the same amount as my pallid white Cult of Android friend, Killian Bell?

All 5 GOP presidential candidates back FBI against Apple

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Keep your Amazon details safe with two-step verification.
Apple isn't getting the Republican vote.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Color us somewhat unsurprised, but all five remaining GOP presidential candidates are siding with the FBI over Apple in the ongoing disagreement over whether Apple should help hack the iPhone of one of the dead San Bernardino shooters — thereby setting a potential precedent regarding future user security.

Apple Watch scammers turn trash into cash

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Apple-Watch-scammers
If you've seen these two guys who may be scamming stores, there could be a reward in it for you.
Photo: Encinitas Sheriff's Department/Jim Merithew

We fully support efforts to reuse and recycle garbage, but two Apple Watch scammers are using their conservation powers for evil.

The Encinitas, California sheriff’s department is on the lookout for these men (pictured above), who have worked out an effective and completely infuriating way to convert a water bottle and a few paper towels into hundreds of dollars. And authorities are offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to their arrest.

New MacBook selfie sticks are a nightmare mashup of nope

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I'll take a double-shot half-caff soy latte with a side of massive MacBook selfie stick, please.
I'll take a double-shot half-caff soy latte with a side of massive MacBook selfie stick, please.
Photo: MacBook Selfie Stick

Selfie sticks are bad enough, and while we’ve not seen anyone taking photos with an iPad and a long stick yet, here’s something even wackier: a MacBook on the end of a stick.

Created by an artist collective and showing on the streets of New York City, the oversize selfie sticks seem to be making the point that perhaps the technology that serves our obsession with selfies should be as outsize as our egos.

Apple files official refusal to create ‘GovtOS’

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govtos
We doubt we'll see this at any WWDC keynotes. At least, we hope we won't.
Photo: Evan Killham/Cult of Mac

Apple has officially asked a judge to dismiss a court order requiring the company to unlock a terrorist’s iPhone at the FBI’s request.

We knew the legal filing was coming, but now we have the actual defenses Apple is using to defend its refusal to create what it calls a “GovtOS” that would let officials potentially bypass the security measures of millions of iPhones. The 65-page document released today details Apple’s history of assistance in the case — and the reasons it believes the original order is both bothersome and possibly illegal.

Apple’s biggest rivals come to its legal defense

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Tim Cook's tech friends are coming to Apple's defense.
Tim Cook's tech friends are coming to Apple's defense.
Photo: ABC News

The FBI’s demand that Apple build a backdoor into a terrorist’s iPhone has done the seemingly impossible by getting Microsoft, Google and Apple all on the same team.

Many of the country’s top tech firms have revealed that they will file friend-of-the court briefs in defense of Apple’s position that no company should be compelled by the government to break its own security and thus put the public safety of millions of users at risk.

Look at how Apple’s new flagship store is coming along

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apple-store-san-francisco
Yet another Apple Store is coming to SF.
Photo: Steve Rhodes/Flickr CC

The new Apple Store coming soon to San Francisco appears to be making decent progress. Leo Cheng snapped a nice photo from Solano Labs across the street from the new location and tweeted it at us. The store still looks like a hot mess, but the workers are apparently working on the glass doors for the entrance in this picture. Take a look.

How to get Apple’s latest software before everyone else

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Get the public betas for iOS and Mac before your friends do.
Get the public betas for iOS and Mac before your friends do.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Want to get your hands on the latest, greatest iOS and OS X features for your iPhone, iPad, and Mac before anyone else does? Do you love checking out all the new stuff in iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan so you can be the first to comment on them?

All you need to do is sign up for the Apple Beta Software Program, and you’ll be able to access the public betas of these flagship operating systems before they’re available to the rank and file.

Here’s how to sign up for (and install) Apple’s latest public betas.

Apple and FBI will duke it out at congressional hearing March 1

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encryption
The war on encryption ensues next week.
Photo: orangesparrow/Flickr CC

The U.S. House Judiciary Committee announced both FBI director James Comey and Apple’s general counsel Bruce Sewell are testifying at a congressional hearing on encryption March 1. The saga is far from over, since both will state their cases on the matter of whether the government should have access to users’ iPhone data.

The congressional hearing ultimately revolves around a single question: how can the FBI efficiently do what’s necessary to combat threats without invading users’ privacy and potentially making iOS a more vulnerable operating system? Right now there are two polar opposite positions.

The ultimate guide to iPhone and iPad password managers

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Using the same password over and over, or keeping track of passwords in the Notes app is bad practice. Here's how to manage all your passwords safely and conveniently!
You owe it to yourself to take control of your passwords. And it's easier than you might think.
Photo: Ally Kazmucha/The App Factor

app-factor-logo-thumbnailAs we store more and more of our information digitally, it becomes more important than ever to make sure our data is safeguarded. To ensure security, you should always use strong and unique passwords.

Password manager apps aren’t hard to use, and once you get started, they actually offer you more convenience than any other way of maintaining and storing passwords. Not convinced? Let me help you understand….

Your old Apple TV is ready for its update

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AppleTV_TV-Movies-PRINT
Third-gen owners deserve some love too.
Photo: Apple

Apple released a very small update for third-generation Apple TV owners today. The update still shows up as iOS 8.4.1 but has a new build number, so it’s probably just a bug fix update. If you plan to stick by your third-gen Apple TV for a while, it’s probably worth downloading.

Developer behind world’s most secure messaging app joins Apple

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Signal is the world's most secure messaging app.
Signal is the world's most secure messaging app.
Photo: Open Whisper Systems

Apple plans to make future versions of iOS so secure even it can’t hack it, and the company is wasting no time stocking up on talented developers that specialize in encryption.

One of the iPhone-maker’s most recent hires, Frederic Jacobs, was previously a lead developer for Signal, which has earned a name as one of the most secure messaging apps available. It’s so good, it’s become a favorite of former NSA-contractor Edward Snowden who says he uses it everyday.

Machine-washable headphones are no sweat to clean [Review]

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These headphones will stay fresh and ready to bust out the jams.
These headphones will stay fresh and ready to bust out the jams.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Urbanears Hellas Bluetooth washable headphones

You can’t beat the sound quality (or comfort) of a good pair of on-ear wireless headphones, but working out with most pairs can be an exercise in moisture management with a side of stink-appeal.

These new Hellas headphones from Urbanears solve that problem with a removable, machine-washable headband and ear cup. You simply pull off the mesh-covered bits, toss them in the provided net laundry bag, and drop them in your washing machine. You’ll never have to deal with smelly, sweaty headphones again.

Learn to make Apple TV apps with new tech talks

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Learn the basics of developing for Apple TV here.
Learn the basics of developing for Apple TV here.
Photo: Apple

Apple TV does apps, and you could be the next breakout star of the App Store with these new educational videos straight from the mothership.

Apple’s providing developers with 11 new video tech talks to help you understand how it all works, in hopes that even more developers and designers will choose Apple TV for their next project.

Reignite the iPad email experience with Spark [Reviews]

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spark-ipad-mail-4
The iPad app is even better than the already amazing iPhone app.
Photo: George Tinari/Cult of Mac

One of the best email clients for the iPhone just got even better. Spark, which promises that “you are going to like your email again,” is now available for the iPad as well. And this isn’t an all-too-common instance of developers just stretching out the iPhone version of their app and calling it a day. Spark is fully optimized for the iPad’s larger display.

FBI is still trying to convince us that hacking iPhones is OK

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iPhone 6s
Will hacking the iPhone set a precedent, or won't it?
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Caution: Weasel-words ahead! FBI director James Comey today defended iPhone hacking again, this time in front of a congressional panel — saying that it was absolutely a one-off case which wouldn’t set a precedent, only to acknowledge that the verdict “will be instructive for other courts” in future.

Comey also said that he thinks this question needs to be resolved by Congress — backing up an argument that Apple has made this week.

Protect your privacy with ephemeral email addresses [Deals]

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Blur
It's easier than you think to protect your identity.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Think of someone burning an address on a folded slip of flash paper and maybe you imagine a bad guy in a gangster movie. But it’s an approach that’s good for anybody who wants to keep their information private, and Blur does the digital equivalent.

It’s a surefire way to keep your digital dealing private and secure, and right now it’s only $29 for a two-year subscription.