Apple customers spent a record $540 million-plus in a single day on digital goods and services on New Year’s Day, Apple said Wednesday.

This followed a monster holiday season in which App Store customers splurged $1.8 billion in the App Store between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. Users spent much of this astonishing amount of money on games.

There’s no better time than the new year to start thinking about a new skill to learn. And while you might be considering changing careers by learning how to code, or developing a passion side project in photography, don’t count out learning a new language.

Mastering a second language can open up all kinds of doors, from getting you a new job (possibly even in a new country) or earning you a promotion. This lifetime subscription to Babbel Language Learning gives you access to 14 different languages and more than 10,000 hours of intuitive lessons.

One of the big new features of iOS 14 is a privacy focused one that lets users know which apps are tracking them. But while it’s starting to roll out to beta users, developers are trying to find ways to continue tracking users without them necessarily being clued in.

According to a Wednesday report for the Financial Times, some devs are so concerned about the possible financial impact of Apple’s new feature that they will try and find ways around restrictions — even though being caught could result in them being booted off the App Store.

Need an affordable Apple notebook? Check out Woot’s spectacular one-day sale on a range of refurbished MacBook models. Prices start at just $499.99, but stock is selling fast. Don’t miss out!

Prototype “Apple Glass” augmented reality glasses are reportedly set to enter the second phase of testing, Digitimes reported Wednesday.

The paywalled report cites “industry sources” but doesn’t reveal how many phases are involved in Apple’s testing of its AR glasses. However, since Digitimes’ sources are seemingly located predominantly in the supply chain, rather than inside Apple, this suggests that the long-rumored AR specs have moved beyond Cupertino’s initial internal mockups.

TikTok, the ultra-popular short-form video app, finished 2020 on a high note as December’s top-grossing non-gaming app. According to app analytics platform Sensor Tower, TikTok pulled in $142 million that month across iOS and Android.

That’s 3.3 times the revenue TikTok produced in December 2019. The overwhelming majority of this money (86%) came from China, where TikTok is known as Douyin. The United States ranked second for TikTok spending, accounting for 7% of revenue.

Apple CEO Tim Cook’s pay rose by a massive 28% in the company’s fiscal 2020, a regulatory filing reveals.

Cook took home the same $3 million basic salary he earned in 2018 and 2019. However, his non-equity incentive plan compensation increased from $7.7 million last year to $10.7 million. That brought his earnings for the year to $14.8 million — on the back of a spectacular year for Apple.

Apple plans to announce on January 27 the financial results from last quarter. This includes the launch of the iPhone 12 series, so it’ll offer the first hard numbers on how well the latest iOS handsets are selling.

The quarter also contains the holiday-shopping season, which traditionally adds enormously to Apple’s bottom line. But 2020 wasn’t a normal year and it’s not yet known how the COVID-19 pandemic affected gifting of Mac, iPad and other products. Apple financial results should clear away the mystery.

Apple made it clear to executives that it won’t be enough to simply talk about protecting the environment. Starting in 2021, the amount of cash bonuses will be impacted by how well each executive lives up Apple’s values.

Tile reportedly will move beyond Bluetooth for its future item-tracking tags, which will add support for ultra-wideband tech. The move could be prompted by a need to compete with Apple AirTags, the long-rumored item trackers that supposedly will employ UWB.

The upgrade also could signal that Tile joined a new Apple program that allows third-party trackers to connect to the Find My‌ network created by iPhones, Macs and other Apple devices.

Are you constantly being ignored by the HomePod that’s closest to you when asking Siri for assistance? Sadly, Apple doesn’t make it completely obvious how to manually specify which HomePod listens to you when you’re using more than one. But it is possible — and super-simple.

We’ll show you how.

Who said great video editing software had to come with a high price tag? You can easily create videos on your Mac with the two top-rated apps included in The Essential Filmage Mac Bundle. And right now, lifetime subscriptions are on sale for just $19.99 — that’s 50% off the regular price of $39.

You might someday be able to recharge an iPhone just by putting it down on your laptop. MacBook wireless charging an idea with obvious advantages … but real drawbacks, too.

It’s definitely something Apple has been looking into. On Tuesday, the company received a patent for a scheme to build wireless chargers into notebooks, tablets and handsets so they could charge each other (or an Apple Watch).

Pick up Apple’s brilliant Smart Keyboard Folio for iPad Pro today and you can save up to $50 on Amazon. It offers a full-size keyboard whenever you need it, and protects your pricey iPad while you’re on the go.

The Cult of Mac Store’s big January sale is in full swing, offering big discounts of up to 72% on must-have accessories. We’re now expanding it by adding all products from Laut, which are now available at 20% off the usual price.

You’ll find iPhone cases and screen protectors, stands for all your Apple devices, and lots more. Bag yours before the sale ends!

Those eager for the next iPad Pro might not have long to wait. The first Apple tablet with a gorgeous mini-LED display will launch before the end of March, according to an unconfirmed report.

If true, it’ll mean the 2020 iPad Pro will have an unusually short product run.

What pandemic? According to a new report from app analytics firm Sensor Tower, global spending on mobile apps across both iOS and Android hit an astonishing $111 billion in 2020. That’s a massive 30% growth from 2019.

The overwhelming spend — $72.3 billion — was on iOS, despite the larger number of Android devices. Google Play revenue, meanwhile, came in at $38.6 billion. Both app stores showed approximately the same level of growth over the year.

Monica Lozano, the president and CEO of College Futures Foundation, has joined Apple’s board of directors. Lozano is also on the boards of Target and Bank of America Corporation.

It’s time for a new year, and a new you! There’s no better way to get your heart pumping and your Apple Watch working to its full potential than with innovative fitness app Auro. And right now, a one-year subscription is on sale at 50% off.

Want to take iPadOS 14’s keyboard and mouse support for a gaming spin? Pascal’s Wager has you covered.

The dark fantasy action RPG, showcased at Apple’s 2019 iPhone event, is reportedly the first iPad game to benefit from this treatment. Apple said it would bring keyboard and mouse support to iOS devices at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference.

Apple temporarily closed all its brick-and-mortar stores in the United Kingdom on Tuesday as a result of new COVID-19 lockdown measures imposed by the government.

Twenty of the 38 U.K. Apple stores were already closed due to coronavirus. However, new national lockdown measures that came into place Tuesday shuttered the other 18.

A designer’s radical new concept shows what future Macs could look like if augmented reality glasses replaced the computers’ physical screens.

Dominik Hofacker, a 24-year-old designer who just landed a job at Facebook, calls his well-thought-out virtual Mac concept “macOS reality.”

“With AR glasses on the verge of release, and eventually replacing our smartphones for almost all tasks, I asked myself, ‘How does productivity look like in the future?'” he told Cult of Mac. “GlassOS that runs on Apple Glasses is one thing, but nobody has ever thought about the next generation of Macs.”

At long last, Adobe Flash Player is finally dead. Not only do you no longer need to have it installed on your Mac, but as of January 12, Adobe will actually begin blocking Flash Player content from working at all.

We’ll show you how to remove Flash Player from your Mac right away.

So you managed to get your hands on one of the iPhone 12 models? That’s great news! Now you just need a phone mount that keeps your iPhone in view while using it for navigation. Luckily, we rounded up two deals on robust phone mounts that will keep obstructions out of the way and your eyes on the road — and they each cost less than $20.

MacBook users might be getting a charger from Apple that’s less of a brick. At last! The Mac-maker reportedly will start sourcing power adapters made with gallium nitride. GaN semiconductors allow these vital accessories to be significantly smaller than the old silicon ones.

That should be welcome news to Mac users, as the power adapters that come with MacBooks now are noticeably bulkier than third-party options.