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Keep your phone germ-free with UV light [Deals]

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UV Shield Portable Smart Phone Sanitizer
Eliminate harmful bacteria in minutes by UV-sanitizing your phone and other portable items.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

We’re all thinking about germs a lot these days. But even so, you might not realize that your phone is a prime vector for viruses and other bugs.

Remember: Anything your hands touch, your screen touches, too. This ultraviolet sanitizer offers an easy way to instantly keep your phone and other gear germ-free.

Forza Street will speed into the App Store next month

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Forza Street
Remember to socially distance while you street race. And wash your hands afterwards.
Photo: Forza Street

Microsoft and Turn 10 Studios’ Forza Street racing game is coming to iOS on May 5. The free-to-play street racing game originally debuted for Windows 10 as Miami Street back in May 2018. It was then officially brought under the acclaimed Forza franchise banner last year, when it was promised for a future mobile release.

Forza Street features a diverse range of real-world cars and a cool night setting. Its approach to racing certainly sounds a little… different, though.

Check out the trailer below.

Apple TV 3 owners plagued by YouTube errors

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Apple TV
There is a workaround.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

A growing number of third-generation Apple TV owners are experiencing errors when attempting to watch YouTube content.

It seems the problems occur when watching certain videos, while others play just fine. One user who contacted Apple was told that the problem is on Google’s end — not with Apple TV.

Clips update adds mouse, trackpad, and Bluetooth keyboard support for iPad users

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Clips
Update adds biggest changes for iPad. But iPhone users benefit, too!
Photo: Apple

Apple has updated its Clips video creation app, adding mouse, trackpad and Bluetooth keyboard support for iPad users running iPadOS 13.4 or later.

While iPadOS 13 introduced basic mouse support, iPadOS 13.4 added much improved cursor control. And Apple’s Clips app, which lets users combine video clips, photos and music into sharable videos, has reaped the benefits!

Apple supplier Foxconn will start building ventilators in the United States

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iPhone sales drive Apple’s biggest supplier to big profits
Foxconn is doing its part in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo: CBS

Apple contract manufacturer Foxconn is going to join the fight against the coronavirus by developing and manufacturing ventilators in the United States, a Wednesday report by Bloomberg and Reuters claims.

Foxconn has confirmed the news, although it has not said where it will make the medical equipment. According to Medtronic, Foxconn’s partner in the endeavor, they will be built in Foxconn’s controversial Wisconsin plant.

Bite-sized video subscription service Quibi racks up 300,000 downloads on day 1

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Quibi
Move over Netflix? Here comes Quibi!
Photo: Quibi

Original streaming video platform Quibi racked up 300,000 downloads on day one, claims a report from leading app analytics platform Sensor Tower.

In a market overloaded with subscription streaming services, Quibi’s twist on the formula is to offer snack-sized shows running 10 minutes or less. These are designed to be watched primarily on mobile.

Apple’s first earnings report during COVID-19 pandemic set for April 30th

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Apple earnings
Circle April 30, 2020 on your calendar.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Investors won’t get their first glimpse at just how badly the COVID-19 pandemic hurt Apple’s business until the very end of April.

April revealed this afternoon that it will host a conference call with investors on Thursday, April 30, at 2 p.m. Pacific. The company said in February that it expects revenues to come in lower than its guidance due to the coronavirus outbreak that shut down Apple’s stores and production pipeline during the quarter.

iPad ventilator simulators play crucial role training doctors during COVID-19 crisis

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hamilton.medical.ipad.simulator.1
An iPad and Mac simulator is helping medical workers learn to use ventilators during the coronavirus pandemic.
Photo: Hamilton Medical

A ventilator simulator app for iPad and Mac is helping medical workers quickly learn how to use the life-saving machines during the coronavirus pandemic. The software, originally developed for classroom use, is now being used to train doctors on the fly as demand for ventilators — and professionals who can operate them — soars due to COVID-19.

The free simulator software looks and operates just like the Hamilton-C6, a state-of-the-art ventilator sold by Switzerland-based Hamilton Medical AG, one of the world’s largest medical ventilator manufacturers. Much like a flight simulator for pilots, the iPad app allows medical professionals unfamiliar with mechanical ventilators, or simply rusty after years of not using them, to practice adjusting settings without endangering lives.

“You don’t want to practice on a real patient, so that’s why we developed this simulator that basically provides that interaction,” Alexander Starcevic, director of marketing at Hamilton Medical AG, told Cult of Mac. “It provides you with a real interface that you have on the real ventilator. In addition, you have behind this a patient model that actually responds to what you’re setting.”

How to lock your Netflix profile with a PIN

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netflix.logo
Netflix just added a bunch of new profile and parental controls.
Photo: Brad Gibson / Cult of Mac

Netflix finally made it possible to keep your personal profile private from other people using your account with a new update today that lets users create individual pins.

The new feature is part of a larger update that improves on parental controls, allowing content to be filtered based on age and other criteria. If you have kids and don’t want them to have access to your profile and the content on it, or you just got a roommate who always messes up your “Continue Watching” queue, you’ll find the new pin feature to be extra useful.

Apple pledges $50 million to bail out indie record labels

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Apple Music is preparing for invasion
Apple is ready to help its indie music partners hurt by COVID-19 shutdowns.
Photo: Apple

Apple has created a $50 million advance fund to help independent music labels and distributors pay their artists and keep operations afloat.

The global lockdown in an effort to slow the COVID-19 outbreak has been particularly brutal to independent labels. Music stores, in-person venues and TV/movie productions are all closed, killing sales, licensing income and anticipated revenues from shows now canceled.

iPhone-controlled LED face mask is the apocalyptic tech we deserve

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face-mask
You can make your own LED face mask if you don't want to buy it.
Photo: Lumen Coutre

Face masks are the hottest trend of 2020 whether we like it or not. If you’re looking to level up your mask game while also supporting a good cause, Lumen Couture’s new LED Matrix Face Mask is exactly what you need.

Lumen Couture founder Chelsea Klukas —  who is also a product design manager at Oculus — revealed her iPhone-controlled LED mask this week. The device lets wearers draw their own designs and text that are displayed on the front of the mask using a flexible LED panel to unlock endless possibilities.

Facebook’s mushy chat app Tuned lets couples privately document their love story

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screenshots of Tuned
Aww, isn't that adorable?
Screenshot: Facebook/Apple App Store

Facebook wants to give you and your boo some space, so it created a chat app for iPhone users in love.

Tuned is the product of Facebook’s New Product Experimentation Team. The engineers designed the new iOS app to give couples the tools to build a “digital scrapbook.” This is not a dating app, but an app for two people who are already dating.

5 Ableton Live tips for GarageBand users

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ableton live at home
Who needs to leave the house any more?
Photo: Ableton

If you’re a stuck-at-home musician, or just someone who would like to learn to make music with their Mac, then maybe you’ve just downloaded the generous, lockdown-era, three-month free trial of Ableton Live. And if you’re a GarageBand (or Logic Pro X) user, you may be feeling a little lost.

Fear not. I did the same thing last year. At first I was overwhelmed just trying to do basic stuff, like routing my guitar into Ableton or trying to work out why the app offers at least three record buttons.

So, as a relatively fresh Ableton user, I thought I’d make a list of handy tips for new users coming from Apple’s music apps.

Apple Maps highlights food deliveries and pharmacies

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Apple Maps helps you find food and medicine in the COVID-19 crisis.
Apple Maps helps you find food and medicine during the COVID-19 crisis.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple Maps has been tweaked to make it easier to find businesses people are more likely to need during a shelter-in-place order. The default navigation app for iPhone now gives greater prominence to grocery stores and food delivery than it does to restaurants and fast food chains.

Data disaster? Save the day with Remo Mac Data Recovery Software

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Remo Software
Remo Mac Data Recovery Software lets you preview results before you buy.
Photo: Remo Software

This Mac data recovery post is presented by Remo Software.

You may prize your Mac for its security and reliability, but that doesn’t mean you’ll never face a need to recover data. Damaged and corrupted hard drives happen. And sometimes it pays to supplement Apple functionality with third-party choices. That’s why you need an award-winning product like Remo Mac Data Recovery Software.

Apple’s IS&T division sounds like a chaotic war zone

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apple-hq
Not everyone loves working at Apple.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s Information Systems & Technology division (IS&T) has come under scrutiny in a new book that analyzes the business practices and cultures of America’s biggest tech companies.

Scoring a coding job at Apple is a dream gig for most developers, but an excerpt from Alex Kantrowitz’s book, Always Day One, reveals that if you accept a job on the IS&T team, you better be ready for “a Game of Thrones nightmare.”

iPadOS concept imagines spectacular ‘main menu’ for iPad

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iPadOS-main-menu-concept
A new way to interact with apps.
Photo: Alexander Käßner

This brilliant new iPadOS concept imagines a spectacular “main menu” concept that would change the way we interact with iPad apps.

The feature, designed by Alexander Käßner, would allow for cleaner apps and a standardized method of accessing common functions. It works much like the toolbar every Mac user is familiar with.

How to wear a mask without your glasses fogging up

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Better get used to wearing a mask.
Better get used to wearing a mask.
Photo: Liam Burnett-Blue/Unsplash

I wore a tubular scarf to the grocery store the other day, and spent most of the time breathing shallowly so my glasses wouldn’t steam up. On the bike it was fine, because the wind kept everything clear. But as soon as I stopped, the mask funneled my hot, moist breath onto my specs, and I couldn’t see.

Luckily, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department knows a thing or two about keeping your spectacles clear while you wear a mask. Here’s how to do it.

Apple reveals COVID-19 Face Shield details in new support doc

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Apple-shield
Apple's designers are joining the fight against COVID-19.
Photo: Apple

A new support document gives a detailed look at the face shields Apple designed for medical workers fighting the coronavirus pandemic. In true Apple design fashion, the shields are minimalist yet highly functional.

Apple says the shields are fully adjustable and can be assembled in just two minutes. That means workers can spend less time fussing with protective gear and more time helping COVID-19 patients.

Action-packed iOS 14 concept crams tons of new features on iPhone

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iOS-14
We hope Apple adds this much new stuff to iOS 14.
Photo: Stijn van Oosterwijk

With all the iOS 14 leaks dropping ahead of WWDC 2020 we already have a pretty solid idea which new features will make the cut, but concept designer Stijn van Oosterwijk has a couple dozen other ideas that would make iOS 14 the biggest iPhone update ever.

Oosterwijk’s new iOS 14 concept video is jammed with new features. The video starts with a new incoming call screen and keeps pouring on other goodies. There’s lock screen widgets, a completely new Tools app, a translate app, an AR experience within the Maps app and so much more.

How many new features can you count?

Apple readies new headphones, AirPods X; plans to ‘phase out Beats’

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Beats-Powerbeats
Is this the beginning of the end for the Beats brand?
Photo: Apple

Apple is readying new over-ear headphones and “AirPods X” for 2020 as it plans to slowly “phase out Beats,” a tipster claimed Tuesday.

We could see the company’s new over-ear headphones during the online-only Worldwide Developers Conference this June. However, the company’s sportier take on AirPods is expected to come in the fall. Currently, Apple is supposedly working to clear out Beats inventory.

Germany launches smartwatch app for tracking COVID-19 pandemic

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Germany smartwatch app 1
The app could help monitor spread of COVID-19.
Photo: Robert Koch Institute

Germany is launching a smartwatch app to help monitor the spread of the coronavirus.

The app, created by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), is called Corona Datenspende, which translates as the Corona Data Donation. It allows users with devices like Apple Watch or fitness trackers such as Fitbit to share data about coronavirus symptoms to track the spread of the pandemic in Germany.

WhatsApp outlines its mission to keep you safe during COVID-19

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whatsapp-logo
It includes tighter restrictions on message forwarding.
Photo: WhatsApp

WhatsApp on Tuesday outlined measures to keep its more than 2 billion users safe and secure during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The measures include tighter limits on message forwarding, and working with organizations and governments like the World Health Organization to help connect user with more accurate information.

“We believe that now more than ever people need to be able to connect privately,” WhatsApp said. “Our teams are hard at work to keep WhatsApp running reliably during this unprecedented global crisis.”