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Invasion gets gory as the alien mystery deepens [Apple TV+ recap]

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Invasion recap: We learn some interesting things about Trevante (Shamier Anderson) this week.
We learn some interesting things about Trevante (played by Shamier Anderson) this week.
Photo: Apple TV+

This week on Invasion, the humans and the aliens seem just moments away from some kind of break in their standoff, but fate is about to throw an 18-car pileup between them.

The Apple TV+ sci-fi series is about to bring back the fireworks in a big way. The Maliks are being shuffled to the Defense Department, Trevante is off to the hospital with Caspar and Jamila, and Mitsuki has to think hard about what’s floating in space.

Start the holiday season right with Mariah’s Christmas: The Magic Continues [Apple TV+ review]

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She's back for Mariah’s Christmas: The Magic Continues
Mariah Carey, aka the "Queen of Christmas," returns with a breezy holiday special.
Photo: Apple TV+

Last Christmas, Apple TV+ made an important play for the hearts and minds of viewers: It gave Mariah Carey a Christmas special. This year, amidst a host of new original Christmas programs, Apple TV+ brings her back to sprinkle more of her magic on the holiday season.

Mariah’s Christmas: The Magic Continues is a short but definitely stream-worthy follow-up to last year’s charmingly chintzy special. Honestly, can anyone get enough Mariah?

I was going to delete all my pictures and start over — then I found iMazing

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iMazing saved all of my data, and made me comfortable managing it.
iMazing saved all my iPhone data, and made me comfortable managing it.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

By Mike Wilson

I enjoy my iPhone, and I’ve used one for quite a long time. I like taking pictures with it and downloading music to it, and up until about a year ago, that was always an easy and stress-free process. But around that time, I started getting frequent notifications and messages on my phone about my storage being full. I’m sure you can relate. There were always upsells for cloud storage, this, that and the other, but I couldn’t make sense of any of them.

My favorite place to take pictures was on long hikes, and it was there that I’d listen to the latest album I downloaded. As these problems with storage persisted, my hikes began to lose their magic. So I decided to finally do something about it.

Dr. Brain plunges deeper into conspiracy and sci-fi [Apple TV+ recap]

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Dr. Brain recap: The truth is getting closer, and weirder, in this South Korean sci-fi show.
The truth is getting closer, and weirder, in this brain-melting South Korean sci-fi show.
Photo: Apple TV+

Dr. Brain, Apple TV+’s new series from visionary genre specialist Kim Jee-Woon, drives headlong toward answers, both disappointing and cathartic, in the second-to-last episode of the exciting first season.

Can brain-syncing scientist Sewon stop the far-reaching forces at work to destroy him before they succeed? Can Hong redeem himself after causing so much chaos and hurt? Apple TV+’s first South Korean series is poised for a strong close.

Last chance to get top-rated language app Babbel for just $179

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This best-selling language app, Babbel is 60% off.
Get a lifetime sub to all 14 languages in this astonishingly effective educational app.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

With full-blown winter right around the corner, you might find yourself daydreaming about warmer weather and white sand beaches — or even considering a longer stay in a different city in a new country. You can chat up the locals with ease with this Babbel Language Learning: Lifetime Subscription (All Languages).

It’s one of the best-selling language learning apps out there, earning 4.6 out of 5 stars on the App Store from almost 300,0000 reviewers. And it’s on sale for $179 — but only for one more day.

Time travel and weed take Dickinson to interesting new places [Apple TV+ recap]

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Dickinson recap: High times lead to laughs this week.
High times lead to laughs this week.
Photo: Apple TV+

Emily and Lavinia visit the future in this very special episode of Dickinson, Apple TV+s alt-history romp about the great poet. They head to 1955 while Austin gets desperate, Betty gets lonely, Henry gets creative, and Mr. and Mrs. Dickinson get high.

It’s a wild episode this week, rootless and maybe a little too cute, but that’s not unusual for Dickinson.

Good deals: Get Windows 10 Pro for $13, Office 2021 Pro for $41 and Windows 11 for free!

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At CDKeylord.com, not only can you get great deals on software activation keys, you can get a free upgrade to Windows 11.
At CDKeylord.com, not only can you get great deals on software activation keys, you can get a free upgrade to Windows 11.
Photo: CDKeylord.com

This post on discount software activation keys is brought to you by CDKeylord.com.

With the recent Black Friday sale extended, the discounts keep coming at CDKeylord.com. Cult of Mac readers can take 35% off the regular price of a Genuine Lifetime Windows 10 Pro key and numerous other software product-activation keys. And you can also get a free upgrade to Windows 11 when you buy a Windows 10 key! Just enter the discount code CULT at checkout. See all the super discounts in the links below.

Award-winning, Viking-themed platformer Oddmar+ makes the jump to Apple Arcade

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Oddmar from Senri & Mobge
Oddmar+ is one of a pair of classic App Store games joining the extensive collection on Apple Arcade
Photo: Senri & Mobge

Oddmar won the Apple Design Award in 2018, and the Viking-themed platformer is now available on Apple Arcade. Friday’s other addition is Dandara: Trials of Fear, also a platformer.

Both games have been in the App Store for years, but have now joined hundreds of other titles in Apple’s gaming subscription service.

Swagger builds up to the big game [Apple TV+ recap]

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Swagger recap: Jace (played by Isaiah Hill) flies high as his team faces challenges.
Jace (played by Isaiah Hill) flies high as his team faces challenges.
Photo: Apple TV+

This week’s Swagger finds Jace, Ike, Jenna and Crystal at crossroads. The Apple TV+ basketball drama is all business this episode, showing us what the raised profile of their activism has done for the kids on Swagger, good and ill.

Jenna feels like coach Ike is letting her son down — and takes some drastic measures to try and take him off the pedestal on which Jace has placed him. But at what cost?

Bulky but brilliant iPhone case stops people flicking through your nudes

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iPhone Swiper Stopper case
A smart and simple fix.
Photo: Unnecessary Inventions

Don’t you just hate it when you show someone a photo on your iPhone and they rudely assume it’s okay to start flicking through your gallery? This bulky but brilliant iPhone case was designed to prevent that from happening.

The 3D-printed accessory features a detachable screen cover that blocks touch input, so you don’t have to worry about other people accidentally stumbling across your nudes — and then having to work through that trauma.

Lululook stand makes your iPad Pro into a tiny iMac [Review]

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Lululook Urban Magnetic iPad Stand review
Lululook’s iPad stand does an amazing job of turning an iPad into a desktop.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

iPad Pro is the best tablet on the market, but it can be more. Add a stand and you have a pretty good desktop. And you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better option for that than the Lululook Urban Magnetic iPad Pro Stand.

Read on to see why I freaking love this accessory.

FTC wants to put a stop to Nvidia’s $40 billion acquisition of Arm

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FTC moves to block Nvidia's acquisition of Arm
The move would "distort Arm's incentives," the FTC said.
Image: Arm/Nvidia/Cult of Mac

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has filed a lawsuit to block Nvidia from acquiring Arm. It believes the move would “distort Arm’s incentives in chip markets” and allow the combined firm to “unfairly undermine Nvidia’s rivals.”

Nvidia is already one of the largest chip companies in the world, while Arm’s technology is licensed to some of the biggest and most powerful brands, including Apple, Samsung, and Qualcomm.

How a $40 Mac utility kept my digital marketing startup afloat

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My business would've died year one without this Mac app.
This Mac app saved my digital marketing startup from failure.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

By Adam Weinstein

I’m not a digitally savvy person, which is why people I’ve known and loved looked at me like I was crazy when I said I wanted to start a digital marketing agency. But truthfully, I didn’t think I would ever need to get into the weeds in terms of the technical stuff. That mindset almost killed my chances from the get-go, but luckily I found MacPilot — a $40 app that unlocks the power of your Mac — instead.

The Shrink Next Door craps out a real party pooper [Apple TV+ recap]

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The Shrink Next Door recap: Sometimes parties are no fun at all.
Sometimes parties are no fun at all.
Photo: Apple TV+

Apple TV+’s true comedy The Shrink Next Door heads into its endgame this week. Manipulative psychiatrist Ike has all but moved into his patient Marty’s house in the Hamptons. And the bad doctor has started professionally throwing parties.

However, the longer the party goes on, the less fun it feels. The same is true of this show, which increasingly feels like it should have been a two-hour movie — if it needed to exist at all.

Prince William is the next guest on Time to Walk for Apple Fitness+

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Prince William on Time to Walk
Tune in on December 6.
Photo: Apple

His Royal Highness Prince William will be the next guest on Time to Walk for Apple Fitness+. It will be a “special holiday episode” that closes out the series on December 6, Apple said on Friday. A free version will also be available.

During the episode, Prince William reflects on “a lighthearted moment when he was drawn out of his comfort zone, the value of listening as a way to empower others, and an experience that led him to prioritize mental health.”

Apple Music subscribers get ‘exclusive gifts’ over the holidays

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Apple Music offers exclusive gifts for the holidays
Starting with a special EP from Coldplay.
Image: Apple

Apple Music subscribers will receive “exclusive gifts” as part of a new holiday promotion. The gifts include a special EP from Coldplay — exclusive to Apple Music — as well as playlists and other “goodies” from A-list artists.

Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, Elton John, and DJ Khaled are a few of the names who are onboard. Gifts will be rolled out every day over the next week, and you must have a valid Apple Music subscription to receive them.

2021’s most popular emoji will leave you crying with joy

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2021’s most popular emoji will have you crying with joy
The two most used emoji are way ahead by a wide margin.
Graphic: Unicode Consortium

People like to laugh. And that leads to Tears of Joy accounting for over 5% of all emoji use in 2021. We also love to love. That put the heart in second place.

The Unicode Consortium compiled a list of all the most popular emoji for the year. And also shared data on the different types of emoji that get used the most.

Horrible at organization, I finally got a handle on my business with this scanning app

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Horrible at organization, I was finally got a handle on my business admin with this tool.
This tool helped me clean up my mess of a business.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

By Mike Goodman

I’m confident in my ability to sell delicious snacks. Before the pandemic, I was an unhappy line cook working at a chain restaurant in a big city. When things closed down, I was honestly relieved to take a break from the sweaty kitchen and monotony. And, after taking some time to reflect on the world and what was going down, I started to get my energy back and decided to revisit my passion.

As it turns out, exploring your passion comes with some chaos. But as they say, there’s an app for that — and the one that made a world of difference for me, believe it or not, is a $40 scanning app for iPhone and iPad.

Enjoy up to 60% off essential Just Mobile accessories for iPhone and Apple Watch

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Just-Mobile-AluBase
Get the AluBase wireless charger and more at a big discount.
Photo: Just Mobile

Looking for big discounts on great accessories for the holidays? Just Mobile has slashed up to 60% off all its essentials for iPhone and Apple Watch for a limited time.

You can save on cases, screen protectors, charging pads, and portable power banks for a limited time only.

How to use the calculator hidden in your iPad

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How to use the calculator hidden in your iPad
There’s no Calculator app in the iPad, but that doesn’t mean there’s no calculator.
Photo: Cult of Mac

There is a full-featured calculator hidden in your iPad, even though Apple never ported the iPhone Calculator app to its tablets. Actually, there are two of them.

Here’s how to use the iPad calculator

Scott Forstall told Pandora to jailbreak iPhone to build a native app

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Scott Forstall told Pandora to jailbreak iPhone
Pandora become one of the first third-party iPhone apps.
Photo: Pandora

Scott Forstall, a former senior vice president at Apple, allegedly encouraged Pandora to jailbreak the original iPhone so it could get a head start on building a native music streaming app, according to a new report.

Forstall met with Pandora co-founder and CEO Tim Westergren during iPhone’s early days — before it had an official App Store — and encouraged the company to use “back door toolkits” while “we get our act together at Apple.”

Get speedy iPhone top-ups with Nomad’s new 30W USB-C charger and Sport Cables

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Nomad's new 30W GaN charger and Sport Cables offer iPhone fast-charging support.
Nomad's new 30W GaN charger and Sport Cables offer iPhone fast-charging support.
Photo: Nomad

If you’re tired of the meh charging speeds you’re currently getting for your iPhone and other gadgets, you might consider Nomad’s pair of new products. The company rolled out a new USB-C PD wall adapter with iPhone fast-charging support and a collection of braided Sport Cables on Wednesday.