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TikTok was the top iOS app worldwide in Q4 2019

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TikTok 1
TikTok had a great fourth quarter.
Photo: TikTok

TikTok was the most popular iOS app worldwide in Q4 2019, as measured by total number of downloads. In both the App Store and Google Play, TikTok downloads hit an all-time high of almost 220 million installs. On iOS alone, it racked up 42 million.

In the United States, TikTok ranked no. 2 after the newly launched Disney+.

Apple TV+ comedy Mythic Quest coming to PAX South gaming expo

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Apple TV+ comedy Mythic Quest coming to PAX South gaming expo
Mythic Quest could be a pitch-perfect parody of the games industry.
Photo: Apple

Apple Original comedy series Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet is coming to Apple TV+ on February 7. But before then, Mythic Quest is stopping off at the PAX South gaming expo in Texas, possibly for an early advance screening.

The Apple TV+ show was co-created by It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia stars Rob McElhenney and Charlie Day. It follows a team of video game developers as they work on an epic sequel to the biggest multiplayer video game of all time. Think Silicon Valley for the gaming world!

What Apple TV+ needs to be a big player in 2020

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What Apple TV+ needs to be a big player in 2020
What changes should Apple make to Apple TV+?
Photo: Apple

Apple TV+ is great. I think it’s done a whole lot right in the sub-3 months since it launched. But, right now, Apple TV+ is what Apple was to Microsoft in the 1990s. Sure, the quality is there, but it’s a tiny bit player next to the likes of Netflix and Disney+. To truly live up to its potential, Apple TV+ needs to make some big strides forward in 2020.

Here’s what I think needs to change.

Mac shipments fall in 2019 despite impressive growth for PCs

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macBookpro
Bag yours before it's too late!
Photo: Apple

A big MacBook Pro refresh and a long-awaited Mac Pro overhaul couldn’t prevent Apple computer shipments from suffering another decline in 2019, according to new data.

Both IDC and Gartner say Mac shipments fell during the final quarter of 2019, and for 2019 as a whole. That’s despite decent growth for PCs, which enjoyed the highest single-quarter shipment volume in four years during Q4.

Apple denies AG Barr’s calls of no help to unlock Pensacola killer’s iPhones

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Tim Cook & Apple stand behind its stance that iPhone encryption is "vital to protecting our country and our users' data."

Apple denied late Monday that it has not cooperated with U.S. federal authorities to help unlock a pair of iPhone’s believed to have belonged to a Saudi aviation student that killed three people at a Florida Navy base in December, saying it always works with law enforcement in their investigations and directly contradicting claims by the U.S. Attorney General that it had not given “substantive assistance.”

Apple’s Reality Converter simplifies creating 3D augmented reality objects

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Adobe Aero on an iPad Pro
Augmented reality has the potential to revolutionize education, driving, shopping, medicine, and many other fields.
Photo: Adobe

Apple’s Reality Converter gives developers a free tool to convert, view, and customize 3D objects into USDZ, the file format Apple uses for augmented reality content. This is clearly part of the company’s drive to play a significant role in AR development.

US Attorney General demands Apple unlock Pensacola shooter’s iPhones

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slide to unlock lock screen
Apple is embroiled in another unlocking controversy.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Apple could be headed for another collision course with U.S. federal law enforcement, similar to the spat it had with the FBI over creating backdoors into iOS.

Attorney General William Barr has asked Apple to provide access to two phones used by the gunman at the Pensacola Naval Air Station shooting last month. Barr said this morning that Apple has provided no “substantive assistance” so far and indicated that he’s ready for a fight regarding the issue.

Unreleased ‘Pro Mode’ may bring performance boost to MacBooks

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macBookpro
Bag yours before it's too late!
Photo: Apple

Apple is working on a new software feature for macOS that can crank Macs’ processing powers into overdrive. References spotted by 9to5Mac in the latest macOS Catalina beta mention a new “Pro Mode.” Details on how Pro Mode will work remain hazy. However, a few lines of code hint that it might only be available on MacBooks.

Instagram begins flying flags over fake photos

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new policy at Instagram flagging fake photos
Heavily altered photos on Instagram are now being policed.
Screenshot: mixsociety/Instagram

Instagram users are starting to see blurred-out posts the platform’s fact-checkers have flagged as potential fakes.

The popular photosharing app now owned by Facebook announced last month it was ramping up efforts to combat false information in photographs.

These tips make text-selection on iPhone and iPad far less frustrating

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Text-selection on the iPad can feel pretty clunky.
Text-selection on the iPad can feel pretty clunky.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

iOS 13 (and iPadOS) fixed the frustrating text-selection tools on the iPhone and iPad, but only if you know how to use them. Selecting a single word or sentence is still way easier on a Mac, because you have a mouse and keyboard permanently attached. On the iPad, though, you can still find the text selection slipping and jumping like an oiled fish.

Use these iPhone and iPad text-selection tips to highlight words and paragraphs the easy way in iOS.

Truth be Told featurette reconsiders this Apple TV+ crime drama

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Truth Be Told on Apple TV+
Truth Be Told is a fictionalized version of a true-crime drama.
Photo: Apple

An investigative reporter reconsiders whether she helped put an innocent man in prison in the Apple TV+ drama series Truth be Told. A featurette video with commentary from cast and crew of this ongoing show discusses what it means to reconsider something so important.

Watch it now:

Leaked Samsung Galaxy S20 images reveal giant four-lens camera bump

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Galaxys20
No notch to see here.
Photo: XDA

Samsung is ready to one-up the iPhone 11 Pro camera system by adding four lenses to the back of its next flagship smartphone.

Leaked images surfaced online this weekend giving a full view of the upcoming Galaxy S20 (yes, you read that right, Samsung is skipping ahead a few numbers). Samsung is set to unveil the S20 during a live-streamed keynote next. We’ve seen a couple of renders of the S20 leading up to the event, but this is these are the first real images of the iPhone’s next big rival.

Take a look at this huge camera bump:

Mystery MacBook spilled in new filing ahead of release

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13-inch MacBook Pro from 2019
It's about time!
Photo: Apple

Apple has filed for approval of a new MacBook ahead of the laptop’s official debut. A listing in the Eurasian Economic Commission database reveals a model number of “A2289.” Its description confirms the device is a portable Mac.

Is this the new 13-inch MacBook Pro we’ve been waiting for?

How to view your Apple Card transactions in a spreadsheet

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App makes it easy to view Apple Card transactions in a spreadsheet
Let's face it: Very few people love spreadsheets. But they're pretty darn useful.
Photo: Craig Chew-Moulding/Flickr CC

Apple Card advertises itself as being just about the most user-friendly credit card in the history of finance. But, surprisingly, it doesn’t let you easily upload your transaction history into a spreadsheet.

Fortunately, New York-based developer Jed Schmidt has created a tool that changes that. And you can start using it right now.

Oprah and Apple scrap plans for sexual assault documentary

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Oprah Winfrey says Apple TV+ can have a genuine impact on humanity.
It will still debut later this month, but not on Apple TV+.
Photo: Apple

Oprah Winfrey is stepping away from a new documentary based on the Time’s Up movement. The high-profile film will go ahead, with a premiere scheduled for the Sundance Film Festival this month. But it will no longer hit Apple TV+.

Oprah says she believes and supports the women featured in the documentary. But she feels the project is incomplete and says “it has become clear that the filmmakers and I are not aligned in … creative vision.”

The first iPod went from pitch to shipped product in 7 months

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The first iPod went from pitch to shipped product in 7 months
The first iPod was a massive hit for Apple.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Whether it’s smartwatches or smart speakers, Apple rarely rushes to be the first company to move into a new product category. But once Apple’s decided to commit, it moves pretty darn quickly — as an iPod anecdote shared (indirectly) by former Apple exec Tony Fadell makes clear.

In a tweet made by the CEO of Stripe, Patrick Collison, Tony “Podfather” Fadell reveals the timeline of the original iPod. And it was pretty mind-blowingly intensive.

The Morning Show‘s Billy Crudup earns Apple TV+ its first major awards win

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The Morning Show's Billy Crudup earns Apple TV+ its first major awards win
Billy Crudup alongside Jennifer Aniston in The Morning Show.
Photo: Apple

Less than three months after Apple TV+ launched, it has picked up its first major awards win. At the Critics Choice Awards on Sunday, Billy Crudup won the Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series gong for his role as Cory Ellison in The Morning Show.

Crudup was up against Asante Blackk from This Is Us, Asia Kate Dillon from Billions, Peter Dinklage from Game of Thrones, and Tim Blake Nelson from Watchmen.

Apple asked to provide iPhone evidence in college campus attack investigation

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Foxconn moving additional iPhone production to India as coronavirus disrupts work
Apple is one of the tech companies named in petition.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple is among the parties named in a notice issued by the Delhi High Court, regarding evidence concerning a recent assault on a campus at India’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).

Apple is being asked to hand over user data that may include messages, pictures, video, and more. In other words, this sounds like another potential privacy headache for Apple.

Analysts bullish that 5G and budget iPhones will give Apple very strong 2020

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Apple boots smelter and refiners in crackdown on conflict minerals
Analysts from several market-analysis firms say the iPhone SE 2 will help propel the company to a strong year.
Render: OnLeaks/iGeeksBlog

Apple’s share price is more than double what it was this time last year. Cult of Mac asked prominent market-analysis firms to explain this meteoric rise. Several of them listed not just the upcoming debut of the 5G iPhone for investor optimism, but also the imminent launch of a budget model.