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Take a video tour around the iOS 9 beta

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CREENSHOT

Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac Get to know iOS 9 ahead of it's release.

The iOS 9 beta has been out long enough for me to give it a fair test drive and discover all that it has to offer. So in today’s video, I’m going to give you a rundown of all the new features coming to your iPhone this fall.

A day with Beats 1: Eclectic, star-studded, but slightly meh

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Screenshot shows Beats 1 radio on Apple Music on an iPhone.
Beats 1 Radio is live on Apple Music, but is it worth your time?
Photo: Apple

Open your iOS 8.4 Music app and start listening. Beats 1 radio went live today at 9 a.m. Pacific time or 12 p.m. Eastern time, one hour after the launch of Apple Music itself. But is it any good? I’m your fellow music lover here to answer that question in as much depth as possible based on some first impressions.

First, a little background: Apple’s own radio station billed as “programs from people who love music” will stay live 24/7, broadcasting in over 100 countries. The station promises interviews with A-list celebrities and even radio shows hosted by the celebrities themselves every so often. They’ll create their own playlists and mixes and broadcast some of their favorite tunes. Jaden Smith will have his own show, so prepare to have an existential crisis.

ProTip: Get your Apple Music username before someone else does

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Add your unique username for Apple Music Connect before someone else snags it.
Add your unique username for Apple Music Connect before someone else snags it.
Screen: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

When you sign in to Apple Music, you have access to Apple’s new music-centric sharing and socializing system, Connect.

While Ping may have come to an an ignominious end, Connect has the advantage of being integrated into the new, exciting Apple Music to the very core, and will let everyone signed into an Apple ID account (not just Apple Music members) use the system to follow their favorite artist.

When you comment on a Connect post, though, you’ll be known by a user name, which uses the @ symbol just like Twitter.

If you want to have something unique, though, you’ll need to act quickly and enter it now, before the service gets clogged up with all the other people that might want your specific user name. Here’s how to do just that.

Apple Music’s setup screen is short a few bubbles

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Apple Music bubbles
Some things are missing from this picture.
Photo: Evan Killham/Cult of Mac

Apple Music launched today, and so far people seem pretty happy with the new platform. But that isn’t to say that we haven’t found a few complaints to pick out.

We don’t like the new app icon, for one. And some of us are having trouble finding the music we own mixed in with all the streaming stuff. But probably the biggest issue we — and a reader or two — have had concerns the taste-selection screen when you first set up Apple Music.

Here are some of the important bubbles we couldn’t find when we first opened the new app.

How to not get auto-charged for your Apple Music subscription

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You'll still get your three months, just not charged for the fourth automatically.
You'll still get your three months, just not charged for the fourth automatically.
Screen: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

So, you’ve gotten the three month trial subscription for Apple Music, right? How exciting!

Chances are, you’ll forget all about it and, whether you love the service or not, you’ll get auto-charged in September for the $10 to $15 you chose when you signed up for your Apple Music subscription.

If you want to make sure that you aren’t automatically charged again, here’s how to turn that function off.

Twitter’s response to Apple Music reads like a eulogy for Spotify

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Excitement for Apple Music came with an enthusiastic farewell to Spotify for some on Twitter.
Excitement for Apple Music came with an enthusiastic farewell to Spotify for some on Twitter.
Photo: Twitter

Two minutes after Apple Music launched Tuesday, Hans Metzke was listening to it on his device. He hit pause on his excitement to send out this Tweet: “And we’re live! Awesome! Bye Spotify.”

Apple Music users immediately took to social media to sing the praises of Apple’s new music streaming service. At the same time, many were saying farewell to music streaming’s current king, Spotify.

Whether Apple Music, which is currently free for the three months, will usurp Spotify or the other big player, Pandora, remains to be seen.

A focus on discovery makes Apple Music a serious contender

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Even Taylor Swift loves Apple Music.
Discover stuff large and small with Apple's new Music service.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

I’m a streaming music junky. I gave up collecting, owning, and maintaining music files on my own Mac years ago and I’ve never looked back. It’s the only sensible way to have access to millions of songs without having to worry about storing them.

I’ve used and tested Rdio, Spotify, Beats Music, and other on-demand streaming services over the past few years, so it made sense to check out Apple Music, the new on-demand service to come out of Cupertino.

It’s going to take some time to dig in deep, but so far, Apple Music is proving to be an amazingly comprehensive streaming music product that focuses on discovery, something that the competition struggles with. Within minutes of downloading iOS 8.4, I’m already listening to a playlist of artists I know as well as those I don’t – a perfect blend of old and new.

I’ve found a new streaming service to love in Apple Music, and I think you will, too.

Ends tonight: last chance to pay whatever you want for a killer bundle of iOS design lessons and assets [deals]

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original_1553-PWUW_iOSDesignerBundle_MF2

So you want to design apps for iOS. Good choice! Of course getting started can be tough, but today’s your lucky day: right now the iOS Designer Bundle is on sale for whatever you want to pay, but only until Midnight. It includes a slew of of lessons and tools that’ll bring you up to ninja level in no time.

The wait is over, Apple Music now live

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Iovine
Jimmy Iovine talks up Apple Music at WWDC 2015.
Photo: Apple

After months of speculation, Apple Music has officially launched — with the Beats 1 radio station also kicking off one hour from now at 12pm ET/9am PT.

Apple Music, which received positive first-look reviews earlier today, is initially available for a free three-month trial, after which it will set users back $9.99 per month — or $14.99 if you want to share with up to six members of your family.

Irish newspaper refuses to give Taylor Swift free publicity photos

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post-327723-image-bea46cf9445da7bb4742d7f0fbd5e036-jpg
An Irish newspaper said no thanks to signing Taylor Swift's photo agreement.

One of Ireland’s largest newspapers told readers Tuesday morning not to expect any photos of Taylor Swift performing during her two sold-out concerts in Dublin.

The Irish Times passed on photographing her shows because of a restrictive contract Swift’s people ask shooters to sign. The contract gives the photographer a “one-time-only” use on the photos yet allows Swift unlimited rights to use the images for publicity and promotion.

Such contracts by entertainment figures are nothing new, except Swift famously called out Apple for initially withholding royalties to musicians during the free three-month trial period of the new Apple Music service.

Aluminum-attacking chemical poured over iPhone 6 is Jony Ive’s worst nightmare

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Yep, this is pretty much a horror movie for any Apple designer.
Yep, this is pretty much a horror movie for any Apple designer.
Photo: TechRax/YouTube

Next to his favorite Bentley getting into a scrape, there can be few things which sound more likely to give Jony Ive nightmares than a chemical element capable of causing the catastrophic structural failure of aluminum.

Unfortunately for Jony, that chemical — referred to as gallium — not only exists, but has somehow gotten into the hands of oddball YouTube stress tester TechRax. All in the name of clicks science, TechRax has previously established himself as enemy number one to Apple’s Industrial Design team — doing everything from assaulting new iPhones with DeWalt angle grinders to crushing an Apple Watch Edition between two magnets.

Check out the video below to see how the aluminum iPhone 6 manages against its toughest challenge yet.

Apple Music review roundup: Cupertino is hitting all the right notes

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Apple-Music-iPhone
Apple Music sounds like a game changer.
Photo: Apple

Apple Music is set to launch at 11am ET/8am PT today, alongside the release of iOS 8.4. As we count down the minutes, however, we can entertain ourselves with the first batch of “early impression” reviews for Apple’s new streaming music service.

Has Apple done it again? With minor quibbles, the answer certainly seems to be a resounding “yes.” Check out some of the review highlights below:

Ask Siri to divide zero by zero and get ready for an hilarious insult

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Siri will answer your questions, but that doesn't mean he/she has to like them.
Siri will answer your questions, but that doesn't mean he/she has to like them.
Photo: Apple

Compared to more sedate virtual assistants like Google Now, Siri has always had a reputation for snark — whether it’s answering every annoying hypothetical question we can throw at it with equally sarcastic answers, or getting amusingly annoyed when we confuse him/her with rival AI assistants.

A newly-discovered Siri Easter Egg swept the Twittersphere on Monday, however. Asking Siri to divide zero by zero may sound like a basic math question, but the result is pure offbeat hilarity.

And just a bit mean, too.

Apple interns earn $7,000 per month, plus benefits

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internship
Apple internships are a bit more serious than those portrayed in the horrendous movie The Internship.
Photo: 20th Century Fox

Is there a better place to intern than Apple? Quite possibly not, according to the claims of one former intern who recently broke confidentiality to speak out about his experiences with the company.

Forget about hopefully making enough to cover your bus fare, “Brad” says Apple offers interns around $6,700 per month, plus the opportunity to work paid overtime at time-and-a-half.

And when it comes to perks, that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Designers beef up farming tech with wearables for cows

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Moo Cows by Matt Northam
Some dumb cows are getting some smart wearables.
Photo: Matt Northam/Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Design firm Cambridge Industrial Design herd that dairy farmers might want to track their cows’ moo-vements, so they went ahead and developed some udderly clever smart collars to help keep an eye on the beasts.

That’s right: Even cattle are starting to horn in on the wearables scene.

Apple Camp returns to teach tech to kids

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Apple Camp
Apple Camp is a free, three-day program that guides kids through a project.
Photo: Apple

Parents looking to keep their creative kids busy this summer might want to look into Apple Camp, a free, three-day workshop at select Apple retail stores.

As in previous years, sessions will occur throughout July and August and will guide campers ages 8 to 12 through one of two cool projects.

Apple wins over more customers than Samsung, report says

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iLove by Lis Ferla
Apple users love their Apple stuff.
Photo: Lis Ferla/Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

You can call it customer loyalty, brand stickiness, or whatever other terms the cool marketing kids are using these days, but it all means the same thing in this case: Apple is doing a better job than Samsung of retaining customers and winning over new ones.

This is according to a report from RBC Capital Markets, which polled Apple and Samsung customers about their current and future purchases.

That future where we fly around with jetpacks will arrive soon

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First responders could be flying in and out of hot spots with the Martin Jetpack by next year.
First responders could be flying in and out of hot spots with the Martin Jetpack by next year.
Photo: Martin Aircraft Company

We’ve been promised jetpacks since the 1950s and dreaming about them even longer. Just hang on a couple more years.

Plenty of time to save the $150,000 it will cost to buy the Martin Jetpack, which promises to be the first practical jetpack ready for vertical liftoff.

The Martin Aircraft Company has been conducting research and development on personal jet packs for a couple of decades. Even before it became a privately funded company, its founder Glenn Martin had been tinkering with the idea of something that can fly longer than 30 seconds since the early 1980s.

Everything you need to know ahead of Apple Music’s launch tomorrow

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Apple Music
All of your questions and answers ahead of Apple Music's big debut.
Photo: Apple

Apple Music makes its big debut tomorrow, June 30, at 8 a.m. PST. It’s going to be a very big day for the music industry, and for us listeners. It’s the day streaming goes truly mainstream. From tomorrow on, it’s officially the streaming era.

But how does it work? What artists are going to be available? You probably have a lot of questions about what Apple Music’s launch means for you — and we’ve got answers.

How to reset and re-pair your Apple Watch

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Apple Watch reset
Apple Watch reset
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

If your Apple Watch stops responding to your iPhone, you can reboot it or you can turn the Bluetooth connection off and on. If that doesn’t work to reconnect your Watch, you might need to reset it, and then you’ll need to re-pair it.

Here’s how.

Plan better stories to make your iPhone videos come alive

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Mobile editing is much easier when you have a plan.
Mobile editing is much easier when you have a plan.
Photo: Apple

We’ve all done it before: we head to the family reunion, the wedding, the kid’s birthday party and we just shoot everything. We have no plan except that we think we’ll have time later to edit it down to something interesting.

Unfortunately, that just leads to a bloated iPhone with too many unnecessary video files. Plus, you know you’re never going to get around to sitting down and looking through all that footage again. Ugh.

With a good plan, however, and a firm grasp of one simple storytelling technique, you’ll avoid this problem and create some amazing videos without a whole lot of extra work.

Here’s how.

Apple Music coming to Sonos, but there’s bad news

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Soon you'll be able to blast Apple Music through your Sonos speakers.
Soon you'll be able to blast Apple Music through your Sonos speakers.
Photo: Sonos

There’s good news and bad news for Beats Music and future Apple Music users alike. Apple has confirmed that the new music service will arrive for Sonos apps and speakers, but unfortunately not right away. It turns out integration won’t be ready in time for the big launch tomorrow, June 30, but the two companies are working together to bring Apple Music to Sonos as soon as possible.