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macOS Catalina testers get a sneak peek at Apple Arcade

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Apple Arcade looks fantastic.
Apple Arcade games can already be played on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and — for a fortunate few — Mac.
Photo: Apple

Mac users can start enjoying Apple Arcade, but only if they’ve installed the latest pre-release version of macOS Catalina. This move seems to be preliminary step in launching this big macOS upgrade.

If it isn’t obvious, this also means that Catalina didn’t debut today, as had been rumored.

Learn the ins and outs of Logic Pro X with this complete bundle [Deals]

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turntable-top-view-audio-equipment-159376
Learn the basics and the details of recording and mixing audio with Logic Pro X.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

When it comes to music production, Logic Pro X is the industry standard. So if making music or working with sounds is something you want to do, you’ll want to get fluent with Apple’s incredibly powerful platform. With this massive lesson bundle, you can do just that.

Amazon Prime Video mysteriously disappears from App Store [Update: It’s back]

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Missing from App Store
For a while today, this was all you got if you tried to download the Amazon Prime Video app.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Update: The Amazon Prime Video app is back in the iOS App Store after mysteriously disappearing for much of the day. Why this high-profile app went missing for so much of the day remains unknown.

Whether its disappearance resulted from a simple glitch or some sort of quickly resolved dispute between Apple and Amazon isn’t yet clear.

Save 20% on this mountable charging pad + case for iPhone

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Xvida-mountable-charging-pad
Make your iPhone easily accessible while it's charging.
Photo: Xvida

Wouldn’t it be cool if you could slap your iPhone on the wall while it’s charging? You can with the magnificent mountable wireless charging pad from Xvida.

Built-in magnets inside the pad grab onto Xvida’s companion case for iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max to form a super-secure grip. And you can save big on both products today!

Congress asks Spotify for information on Apple’s antitrust behavior

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United States Capitol by Jens Junge
All the major tech companies are under investigation.
Photo: Jens June/Pixabay

Spotify is reportedly helping the feds with their antitrust investigation into Apple’s App Store.

U.S. lawmakers asked Spotify to submit information related to an ongoing antitrust investigation into whether Apple engages in anticompetitive behavior. As one of Apple’s biggest critics, Spotify already helped with probes in Europe. However, this is the first news we’ve had of the company assisting investigators in the United States.

How to check (and block) apps that track you on iPhone and iPad

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Protect iOS your privacy and data with a firewall app.
Protect iOS your privacy and data with a firewall app.
Photo: Capturing the Human Heart/Unsplash

Safari’s content blockers effectively block trackers and other Bad Stuff on the web, but that only works in Apple’s browser. Any other app you install on your iPhone or iPad can send all kinds of personal information to anyone, without you ever knowing. Your location, the details of your menstrual cycle, how long you spend asleep — pretty much anything.

So how do you stop this? Well, iOS 13 itself can help limit some abuses. But what you really need is an iOS firewall app that can detect and shut down any unauthorized connections.

Apple snaps up virtual reality experts to boost AR push

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iKinema motion capture
iKinema is expert in motion capture, and that expertise is headed for Apple.
Photo: iKinema

Apple confirms it purchased a company that makes virtual reality and motion capture.software. The acquisition of iKinema could bolster the iPhone maker’s augmented relativity offerings, especially with a set of AR glasses supposedly coming next year.

Why Apple CEO Tim Cook hates cryptocurrency

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Tim Cook earnings apple
Tim Cook likes his currency the old-fashioned way.
Illustration: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple is rapidly growing the list of services it provides to its customer base. Just don’t expect a cryptocurrency to come from Cupertino on Tim Cook’s watch.

The Apple CEO made his feelings crystal clear in an interview with a French newspaper published today.

M. Night Shyamalan spills plot details for Servant TV show

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servant
No knows anything about Rupert Grint's character Julian Pierce.
Photo: Apple

Details about M. Night Shyamalan’s mysterious series for Apple TV+ are finally starting to emerge ahead of its premiere later this year.

Speaking at a New York Comic Con panel, M. Night Shyamalan finally spilled some plot details about Servant, saying it all takes place in one room as a couple turn to a therapy doll to cope with the loss of their child.

Apple put out the first official teaser trailer for it too and it’s pretty short but also pretty creepy:

16-inch MacBook Pro could get Apple’s most powerful charger ever

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16-inch MacBook Pro concept
What does this mean for the 16-inch MacBook Pro?
Concept: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Details have leaked out of an Apple USB-C wall charger more powerful than any the company currently offers. This has spawned speculation that it‘s for the rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro expected to launch soon.

A power adapter that offers more current leads to faster recharges.

iPad is catching up with Mac, but it will never be as easy to use [Opinion]

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It’s not rocket science... oh wait, it is: Opening two files on an iPad.
Opening two files in the same app on an iPad requires rocket science.
Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac

Thanks to the recently launched iPadOS, I can finally do simple things on my iPad that I’ve always been able to do on my Mac. Like opening multiple documents in the same app, or installing fonts.

Trouble is, while these things are easy to do on a Mac, they’re fiendishly difficult with an iPad.

In the early days, everyone celebrated the iPad for being easier and more intuitive to use than a Mac. But as Apple crams in more features, that is no longer true. iPad is still easier to use for simple things, but it is much harder and more cumbersome for performing advanced tasks.

Life insurance firm offers Apple Watch Series 5 for just $25

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Next Apple Watch Activity challenge will take place on Veterans Day
Activity Rings help wearers form healthy habits.
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

John Hancock will start selling Apple Watch Series 5 for just $25 this fall.

The new wearable, which usually starts at $399, will be available to life insurance customers who vow to be more active. But you’ll need to stick to your promise of living a healthier lifestyle.

Apple increases iPhone 11 production to meet strong demand

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iPhone 11 continues to shine while iPhone 11 Pro Max sales flatten out
Don't believe the scaremongers.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Apple is reportedly ramping up iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro production to meet stronger-than-expected demand.

The 10% increase will result in around 8 million additional units entering the market this year. It will also push early iPhone 11 production numbers past those for iPhone XR and iPhone XS.

iPhone app spots eye cancer symptoms before doctors do

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baby-iphone
This app could help save your baby's life.
Photo: Tatsuo Yamashita/Flickr CC

Score a win for AI in its quest to replace all of our jobs, including doctors’.

Scientists have developed a machine learning app that is being used to detect early symptoms of eye disease by scanning through a collection of photos. The app, called White Eye Detector, uses an algorithm to look for signs of white eye reflections in photos pretty similar to the red eyes you sometimes see in photos. The app is so accurate that in some children it spotted symptoms up over a year before it was diagnosed by doctors.

All the ways to take a screenshot in iPadOS

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An iPad Pro case can prevent your Apple Pencil from charging.
The Apple Pencil can now take screenshots!
Photo: Apple

Like skinning a cat, there’s more than one way to take a screenshot on the iPhone and iPad. And with the launch of iPadOS 13, there’s now one more way to snap a picture of your screen on the iPad.

Let’s check out all the ways to take a screenshot on an iPad running iOS 13.

Here’s how to turn Live Photos into a video

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how-to for Live Photos video in iOS 13
iOS 13 lets you add more motion to your Live Photos by putting them in a video loop.
Screenshot: Apple Support/YouTube

Fans of Live Photos will be able to save one or more into a single video thanks to a new feature in iOS 13.

Apple Support rolled out a quick tutorial on its YouTube channel Wednesday that shows the easy steps to stitching a string of Live Photos into a fun little video loop.

CalDigit’s USB-C Pro Dock powers dual 4K monitors

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CalDigit Pro Dock with MacBooks
The CalDigit Pro Dock has two DisplayPort ports, and plenty of others too.
Photo: CalDigit

CalDigit now offers the Pro Dock, a multiport USB-C hub that can drive a pair of 4K displays at a full 60Hz. There are plenty of hubs that let a MacBook connect to a single monitor, but this dual-screen option is more rare.

The Pro Dock also has a trio of USB-A ports, Ethernet, and other ports.

MNML Case offers its new iPhone 11 series cases to Cult of Mac readers at 35% off

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Protect your iPhone 11 in minimalist fashion with a MNML Case at a 35% discount.
Protect your iPhone 11 in minimalist fashion with a MNML Case at a 35% discount.
Photo: MNML Case

This discounted iPhone case post is presented by MNML Case.

Now that you’ve acquired a striking new iPhone 11 at considerable cost, you’d better keep your investment safe. Luckily, you can do that at little cost. Even less cost than you think, actually. You may see all sorts of cases for sale out there, but how often do you see one where you get 35 percent off new products just for being part of the Cult of Mac audience? Well, today’s the day.

Instagram steals from Snapchat for new Threads app

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Threads
Instagram has yet another standalone app.
Photo: Instagram

Facebook-owned Instagram launched a new standalone app today that pretty much steals some of Snapchat’s key features.

Threads, rolling out globally to iOS today, is built around Instagram’s Close Friends feature, giving you a quicker way to message the people you care about on Insta the most.

Apple seeds full version of macOS Catalina to developers

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macOS Catalina release date
Get ready: macOS Catalina is nearly here.
Photo: Apple

Work has wrapped up on the full version of macOS Catalina, and Apple sent the resulting Golden Master to developers. This is the last step before releasing the first non-beta of version 10.15 to the general public.

Catalina splits iTunes into a number of other applications, and allows iPads to be easily used as a Mac’s second display.