Paid content is coming to the News app. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Apple’s News app that came preinstalled with iOS 9 hasn’t exactly taken off like the company hoped it would, but a new report claims Apple is planning to give the app and publishers a big boost by adding subscription-only content.
Sometimes people get it right. Photo: LynnMarie Rink
When LynnMarie Rink and her son, James, got to the Nashville Apple Store to replace his broken iPad last week, they weren’t expecting anything unusual. Of course, for James and his mom, atypical is their way of life.
James has Down syndrome and autism, and uses his iPad to communicate. When he got to the Apple Store last Thursday, he got excited at something out in the mall and ran out of the store at top speed. Unfortunately, there was a big glass wall instead of a door in front of him, and he ran into it face first, causing a little scene with tears and a fat lip.
It was just then that an Apple Store employee came up and offered to help them get their new iPad — and did something amazingly gracious.
Goldgenie offers the iPhone 6s with a couple of additional upgrades, diamonds and gold. Photo: Goldgenie
Sure you can get you MacBook or iPhone in gold or rose gold colors. Or for a few bucks more – OK, several thousand dollars more – you can get your Apple products plated with real 24K gold.
Maybe the bitten Apple logo on your devices is enough status symbol for you, but Goldgenie, with offices in London and Dubai, is betting there are a few Apple fans drawn to the hypnotic shine of the precious metal.
Google’s awesome Inbox app just got a heck of a lot more useful for those who leave all the important information they’ll need later inside their emails.
Starting today, Inbox can seek out addresses, contact information, bills, directions, bookings, package tracking numbers and more effectively than any other mail app.
With the Lithic ski gloves from Arc'teryx, there's no need to sacrifice dexterity for warmth. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Best List: Lithic ski gloves by Arc’teryx
It is hard to write an unbiased review about some of the greatest ski gloves I have ever pulled on.
The Arc’teryx Lithic gloves skip leather in the palm and instead use thermoplastic polyurethane, or TPU. Its hydrophobic properties keep the gloves from taking on moisture, which in turn keeps your hands from getting cold.
Get hands-on practice with the inner workings of iOS 9 by building 10 working apps. Photo: Cult of Mac Deals
iOS 9 is a wide open landscape for building profitable apps and services, but you can’t set out to do so unless you know where you’re going and what you’re doing. This course from Makers Cabin teaches the skills you’ll need to build beautiful things on Apple devices, taking you through hands-on examples by building 10 apps. It’s invaluable, tangible experience that’ll give you the confidence to see your own development ideas come to life, and right now you can get access for just $39.
The JIC case for iPhone lets you instantly begin recording a phone conversation with the touch of a button. Photo: JIC
There’s no great way to record phone conversations. Apps and recording services come with fees and limitations. There’s my clunky way – putting the phone on speaker with my digital recorder nearby – but I will often lose a good quote from some sudden outside noise.
A company in Israel wants to mass produce a simple solution with an iPhone case that has a built-in recorder to pick up both sides of the conversation with the press of a button.
Here's how to animate iOS app icons on your homescreen. Photo: Apple
By default, iOS doesn’t support animated icons, although there are a few exceptions: the Clock app, for example, or the way the Settings icon used to animate when you were downloading an OTA update. But wouldn’t it be great if every icon on your homescreen animated? Yes, it would … but unfortunately, only jailbreakers can make that happen.
I'm not famous enough to lose promoted tweets. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android
Our Twitter timelines have become swamped with ads and sponsored tweets, but if you’re famous enough, you don’t have to see them.
To provide its “VIP” users with a greater experience, and to prevent them from wandering to rival services, Twitter has all but stopped injecting ads into their timelines.
Night Shift mode is a must in iOS 9.3. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
iOS 9.3 might not look like much of an upgrade, but there’s one feature you should definitely be excited about. It’s called Night Shift, and it makes using your iPhone or iPad before bed more comfortable, more enjoyable and healthier by banishing blue light.
Here’s why you should use it once iOS 9.3 becomes available.
Barclays was the last major U.K. holdout for Apple Pay. Photo: Apple
Apple Pay has added the last of the U.K. holdout banks, with Barclays revealing that it will start offering Apple’s mobile payment service to customers in the United Kingdom, “within the next 60 to 75 days.”
Although there’s no definite day given, that would put the date somewhere between March 12 and 27, which is slightly later than the “very early 2016” launch the bank had mentioned last year.
Microsoft's iOS keyboard has a one-hand mode. Photo: The Verge
The other day, we learned that Microsoft’s next app would be an iOS keyboard called Word Flow. But today, we can do one better. We can show you what it looks like running on an iPhone! And it turns out to have a really cool mode for one-handed texting.
Yeah. Someone did this again. Screenshot: Killian Bell, Esq.
If you had asked me in the 1990s, I’d never have thought I’d one day feel sorry for Microsoft, but right now it’s pretty hard.
Two days after Microsoft finally got NFL announcers to stop calling the Surface an iPad, just in time for Microsoft’s tablet to stop working during a game, Microsoft VP Joe Belfiore, a.k.a. the long-time face of Windows Phone, has been spotted tweeting on an iPhone.
Apple is constantly pushing the boundaries with its cameras. Photo: iFixit
Apple has invented a camera lens that would yield higher-resolution images and would be even tinier than the cameras used in today’s super-slim iPhones.
How tiny would it be? Imagine a total axial length of just 2 mm or even less, making this potentially perfect for the long-awaited FaceTime camera of the next-gen Apple Watch 2.
Apple Watch 2 may not be the big seller some are predicting. Photo: Eric Heisuman
The Apple Watch 2 is expected to be a notable improvement on the original, but according to a new report Apple’s not expecting to see a big sales bump for the next-gen device.
In fact, Apple’s weaker-than-expected predicted numbers are a major reason why it opted to stick with Quanta Computer for production, rather than shifting manufacturing over to Foxconn, which builds the (much) higher volume iPhone.
Apple's best Apple TV 4 price yet! Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Apple rarely reduces its prices, but if you’re looking to grab the company’s fourth-generation Apple TV for a bargain this is your lucky day — because Apple just added refurbished TV 4 models to its online store.
The basic 32GB set-top box will set you back $129, which represents a saving of $20 from the regular price of $149. The 64GB model, meanwhile, carries a price tag of $169, which equals $30 off the normal $199.
Apple may have an unexpected payout on its hands. Photo: Breaking Bad
Apple could owe up to $532 million for infringing on secure communication patents, used for both its FaceTime and its iMessage services — or at least it will if patent-holding entity VirnetX Holding Corporation has its way.
A lawyer for the firm told a court in (where else?) the Eastern District of Texas that, “Apple hasn’t played fair. They have taken Virnetx’s intellectual property without permission.”
Samsung and Apple have been bitter smartphone rivals for nearly a decade now, but it appears that Samsung may be ready to finally embrace iOS.
Some of Samsung’s best apps (if not all) are coming to iOS soon, according to a new report that claims the Galaxy-maker plans to pull a Microsoft and bring its apps to Apple’s platform as part of its effort to increase adoption of its connected devices.
A new beta is out for OS X El Capitan. Photo: Apple
Apple has dished out a brand new batch of beta software updates today for developers, bringing new software to OS X, Apple TV and Apple Watch.
The new software updates come exactly two weeks after Apple served up the first beta versions of iOS 9.3, watchOS 2.2, tvOS 9.2, and OS X 10.11.4, all of which bring a host of new features to your favorite Apple products.
iOS 9.3 beta 2, now available for download. Image: Oliver Haslam/Cult of Mac
Apple just seeded the latest build of iOS 9.3 to developers, with beta 2 now available to download via an over-the-air update on devices with either a current iOS 9.3 beta build installed or Apple’s developer profile configured.
The download, the third beta release of iOS 9.3 following beta 1 and the subsequent beta 1.1, doesn’t yet appear to be available via Apple’s online developer portal.
For when the stock Camera app just doesn't cut it. Photo: Unsplash.com
Manual camera apps for iPhone offer better control over settings like exposure, focus, ISO and shutter speed. If you’ve ever shot photos in an environment where the light wasn’t ideal or had a rough time balancing shadows and light, you would benefit from a manual camera app.
While these kinds of apps aren’t always necessary, a great one is a good tool to have in your app arsenal. These are currently the best manual camera apps for iPhone.
tvOS just got another new update. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Owners of the new fourth-gen Apple TV can finally play podcasts on the big screen thanks to a new software update that was seeded to users this morning.
iPad Air 3 will pick up some tricks from the iPad Pro. Photo: Apple
The upcoming iPad Air 3 might look a lot like the new iPad Pro, only a bit smaller, according to a purported new leak.
The update to the Air line could be coming down the pipeline as soon as March, and it appears that the refreshed tablet could come with four-speaker audio.
Sprint isn't satisfied with Verizon's ballsy claims. Photo: SprintSprint isn’t satisfied with Verizon’s ballsy claims. Photo: Sprint
The war between mobile carriers in the U.S. continues to heat up and with the latest battle, it’s personal. Sprint came out with a new ad that directly targets Verizon’s from just a few weeks ago. Using big, colorful balls to symbolize network quality and performance, Sprint claims Verizon’s ad is rubbish and outdated while the yellow network is the true champion.
Apple raked in the cash last quarter. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Apple is set to reveal how much money it made over the 2015 holiday shopping season, and per usual, it’s expected to be a record-breaker.
Tim Cook and Luca Maestri will dive into all the details of Apple’s Q1 2016 earnings report tomorrow at 2 p.m. Pacific but there’s really only one number Wall Street really wants to know: total iPhones sales. Even though Apple may record its highest earnings ever, some analysts are predicting that iPhone sales may have declined for the first time, which could send Apple’s stock price sinking.
Here are six things to watch for during Apple’s Q1 2016 earnings call: