Apple is showing interest in making a clip-on iPhone or iPad game controller. It filed a patent application for various permutations of exactly that sort of accessory on Thursday.

This would be a new product category for the company. But it could be a boon for Apple Arcade subscribers.

Popular microphone brand Rode, based in Australia, dropped the mic Tuesday with major news: It’s getting into the premium headphones business.

The company rolled out its first pair of high-end cans, the Rode NTH-100 Professional Over-Ear Headphones.

Anyone who works in event management — weddings, conferences, film sets — knows that fluid communications are key. But rather than run around with your iPhone glued to the side of your head while everything goes to pieces, why not invest in a wireless intercom headset system? Hollyland launched a new set Thursday that could fit the bill.

That way, you and your team can keep in constant touch and you’ll look super-important, too.

Apple introduced bug fix updates for every one of its operating systems on Thursday. These updates should improve the battery life on iPhone and iPad. And for Mac users, the new version fixes well-publicized bugs recently introduced by macOS 12.3.

However, there are no new features in macOS Monterey 12.3.1, iOS 15.4.1, iPadOS 15.4.1, watchOS 8.5.1 and tvOS 15.4.1 — Apple just fixed small problems. All five updates are available to download immediately.

It’s the Small Things, Charlie Brown, the first-ever Peanuts Earth Day special, premieres April 15 on Apple TV+. It tells the story of how a single flower inspires the Peanuts gang to start caring for the environment, and features an original song by American singer-songwriter Ben Folds.

A trailer for the upcoming special debuted Thursday.

Most of us take pictures with our phones, but if you walk around with one or more actual cameras from your fancy collection, a boutique camera maker has a new strap that could change your life.

The Goodman Camera Strap with Mag-Lock takes the tensile strength of Kevlar cord and marries it to a quick-release magnetic locking harness system attached to a handmade leather camera strap.

Keychron launched its Q3 80% tenkeyless (TKL) full metal custom mechanical keyboard on Tuesday. Following sold-out initial runs of its Q1 and Q2 customizable keebs, the Q3 is a full aluminum mechanical keyboard with gasket mount design. It features hot-swappable switches, a high-grade aluminum case, QMK/VIA mapping support and more, the company said.

Choosing between Mac and Windows isn’t hard: Mac is clearly better. Apple’s computers have an intuitive user interface, fantastic apps and much better hardware. But Windows is ubiquitous, and there are a ton of Windows-only apps that Mac users sometimes need.

Fortunately, you don’t need to choose between Mac and Windows because Parallels Desktop Pro Edition lets you run Windows and macOS at the same time. And right now, it’s on sale for just $32 (regularly $99) if you use Cult of Mac Deals’ exclusive discount code GET60NOW.

But hurry: This outrageous deal must end at 11:59 p.m. PDT on March 31, 2022.

WhatsApp on Thursday revealed significant improvements to voice messaging across Android and iOS. The update adds the ability to change the speed of audio playback, pause and resume recording, and more.

It also allows voice message playback to continue when users back out of a conversation to catch up with another. Users can look forward to seeing the changes “in the coming weeks,” WhatsApp said.

So much time is lost when you’re constantly moving between spreadsheets and databases. When you must use one app to organize information and another to analyze it, things can get clunky and overly complicated.

Stackby is a unique app that combines the ease of a good spreadsheet with the analysis and sharing tools of a database. For a limited time, a lifetime subscription to the Stackby Personal Plan is also on sale for $69 (regularly $300).

Apple this week revealed slightly more relaxed rules for Dutch dating apps that will make it easier for them to offer third-party payment options. It comes after months of fighting with Dutch regulators over new app laws.

One thing Cupertino won’t give up, however, is its 27% commission.

Apple on Wednesday confirmed a significant change to its App Store policy that finally allows “reader” apps like Netflix and Spotify to link to their own websites for things like creating and managing accounts.

Until now, including an external link for this kind of purpose was prohibited, and would have resulted in App Store expulsion. That meant a poor user experience for a whole bunch of popular services on iPhone and iPad.

That’s finally changing, but of course, Apple plans to make it as complicated as possible for developers to enjoy it.

Rather than letting existing financial companies handle all its payment processing, Apple wants to bring some of it in-house, according to an unconfirmed report. And the Mac-maker would also like to take on a range of other related services itself.

The goal is to reduce the amount of money Apple has to pay outside companies for financial services.

YouTube TV subscribers with an iPhone or iPad can now watch shows in a small window while another app is open. The feature is rolling out now.

However, picture-in-picture support is not yet available for all mobile users of the YouTube application, as has been promised.

In the middle of last year, Apple and Facebook parent company Meta Platforms gave customer data to hackers. They enticed the companies by pretending to be law enforcement officials, three people with knowledge of the matter said.

Convenient as they are, Apple TV, Chromecast and AirPlay 2 can’t do everything. Some videos don’t stream in high quality — or can’t stream at all. This lifetime subscription to the Airflow video streaming app lets you stream almost any video while keeping the quality high.

And right now, this app for Mac and Windows is on sale for $15.99 (regularly $19).

In the latest installment of a series in which Apple showcases artists and professionals using its devices, Chicago-based lettering artist Belinda  Kou explained how an iPad Air diverted her from studies in biopsychology to an art career.

iFixit showed people the interior of the new Apple Studio Display next to a partially disassembled iMac and asked them to pick which is which. You can play along at home by looking at the image above.

Most people got it wrong. Apple’s latest external monitor (on the left) is packed with features, and that’s reflected in its surprisingly complex internal design.

iFixit put the device through a full teardown and found that many of the most important components of the new external monitor showed up in previous Apple devices.

If weather apps were judged solely on snarky attitude, there would be one clear favorite: Carrot Weather. But even judged by factors like tracking the weather and variety of features, it’s a darned good app. And now, with a major update released Wednesday “to celebrate the triumphant return of allergy season,” it’s even better.

An in-screen fingerprint scanner won’t be part of any iPhone for at least three years, according to a trusted analyst. That raises the strong possibility that Touch ID will never again be part of Apple’s flagship smartphones — despite occasional rumors to the contrary.

Apple may have abandoned the idea after a recent improvement to Face ID.

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The Wiplabs Lift makes it easier to type on your MacBook by tilting the keyboard up. At the same time, it raises the display closer to eye level. And it offers these benefits anywhere you go because the rugged, aluminum stand folds so you can stow it away.

I put the portable stand to the test … and it really stood up.

We’ve written about storing a Mac mini in an upright rather than a flat position to save space. It’s OK to do if the machine’s intake and exhaust vents are not blocked. But what about using your Mac mini as a stand for a display, as in today’s featured computer setup?

It’s not necessarily quite as cut-and-dried as the upright mini question. Whether it’s totally fine or a little risky depends a little more on the specific Mac mini and the kind of monitor you use.

When Apple TV+ put out its first, brief trailer in February for its upcoming metaphysical-horror-thiller Shining Girls, it looked disturbing and disorienting. Now the streaming service has put out the first full trailer for the show, which stars Elisabeth Moss and premieres April 29.

If anything, Shining Girls looks even more unsettling — but almost to the point of absurdity.

German audio powerhouse Sennheiser rolled out its Ambeo operating system for Ambeo soundbars Tuesday, adding AirPlay 2 support and more. The company also distributed a major software update to its Smart Control app, adding new features.

The great thing about being an adult is deciding what you get to learn. You can pick up a new language, learn to code, figure out what marketing actually is — anything you want.

The Unlimited Lifetime Learning Subscription Bundle featuring Rosetta Stone consists of two complementary components. All together, it gives you the tools to learn loads of new languages and skills. And for a limited time, it costs just $169.15 (regularly $1,794) with coupon LEARN10NOW.