“Distraction-free” apps are ridiculous. They don’t help at all. In fact, if you have trouble focusing on the task on hand, then the problem isn’t the app. The problem is you.

Removing clutter from an app’s interface won’t stop you from flipping to Twitter every five minutes. A carefully chosen font won’t stop you from whipping your iPhone from your pocket every time a question pops into your head.

The problem is not even distraction. The problem is overstimulation, and it’s going to take some effort for you to fix it.

Imaging software company Skylum markets its photo editing tools as huge time savers. Just click a preset look or move a few slider bars and you have a beautifully styled final image within minutes.

Skylum was on message when it announced an upcoming AI tool for instantly replacing the sky. The company declared, “The days of spending a lot of time manually creating a complicated mask to replace skies in an image are over.”

Yet the debate over artificial intelligence’s role in photography is only beginning. In the week since Skylum announced and demoed AI Sky Replacement, photographers have spent considerable time in online forums drawing lines between ethics and creativity.

Apple Watch continues to storm ahead of the competition in the North American wearables market. In the second quarter of 2019, it carved a 37.9% market share, according to new figures released by Canalys.

The market research firm claims that Apple shipped 2.9 million units during the quarter. That’s considerably more than those shipped by Fitbit, Samsung, Garmin, or others.

Apple was granted the equivalent of almost six patents per day in 2018, racking up more than 2,000 over the year.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ranks Apple No. 11 on a list of companies awarded the greatest number of patents. So, who beat Apple at the patent game in 2018?

You can now enjoy the App Store’s “Today” stories on the web.

They’re accessible in almost any browser on any platform — but getting to them is nowhere near as simple as it should be.

Apple Music boasts some 50 million songs in its catalog. That’s the equivalent of almost two miles if it was a heap of CD-based albums piled on on top of the other.

To help make sense of all of this, Apple hosts a wide variety of hand-selected playlists. Now, thanks to two of the hottest clubs in EDM capital Ibiza, they’ve gotten some more. It’s like a vacation in your pocket!

Adobe’s creative apps are the industry standard for all kinds of visual creative professionals. But being so powerful, they’re also super-complex. And they can be pretty intimidating to learn. That makes this massively discounted bundle of Adobe Creative Cloud lessons extremely enticing.

Apple is readying 75 million 80 million iPhones ahead of next month’s iPhone 11 launch, says Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives.

Despite some of his gloomier peers “yelling fire in a crowded theater” about Apple, he’s confident about Apple’s future. That’s even with the ongoing U.S. vs. China trade tensions looming menacingly in the background.

Shantae 5, the latest installment in the popular platform video game series, is an eagerly anticipated title for Apple Arcade.

Now the game’s developer has released some new information about the new outing. This includes its full name, plot, and new features. Check it out:

Apple is on the hunt for big new offices in Manhattan, aiming to increase its footprint in the New York City area.

According to a new report, Apple is searching for up to 750,000 square feet of office space. It has already looked at some of the most prestigious locations in the area. As of now, however, it’s not yet locked anything down.

Amplify screen protectors use scratch resistance technology developed by Corning, and the latest version also has this company’s proprietary DX tech to make an iPhone easier to see in bright sunlight.

It’s made by Corning and marketed by OtterBox.

Eating well is one of the best things you can do for your health (not to mention the environment). But it’s also hard for many people. After all, not everybody knows where to find good ingredients, let alone what to do with them. A good meal planner app like eMeals can make it simple to eat clean.

A credit card is a departure from Apple’s usual computers and accessories, but the Apple Card is just as gorgeous and the associated software every bit as easy to use as an iPhone or Mac.

I’m among the first cardholders, so here’s what it’s like to carry an Apple Card.

Vintage watch enthusiasts, take heed. The classic Speidel Twist-O-Flex that was all the rage mid-century is now available for Apple Watch.

The twisty, stretchy stainless steel bands you remember dad wearing are now adapted for 21st-century smartwatch wearers — and they’re better than ever.

Check out this modern take on a classic favorite in our Watch Store.

After spending time playing with the iPadOS 13 developer beta and iOS 13 beta , it’s clear there are tons of nice changes coming to Apple’s mobile platforms this fall.

Cupertino highlighted the biggest ones at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference. However, there’s a bunch of smaller stuff they didn’t tell us about. While there are hundreds of “under the hood” changes, these are the best iOS 13 features Apple didn’t announce.

Best unannounced iOS 13 features

Apple confirmed it added a new “feature” to iPhones last year that displays an ominous warning when users get their battery replaced by an unauthorized service provider.

The iPhone-maker drew heavy criticism from right-to-repair advocates last week when the news of the new battery warnings surfaced. Facing claims that it is trying to funnel customers toward more expensive battery repairs, Apple has finally come out with a statement insisting that the change was made with the safety of customers in mind, but not everyone’s buying it.

The ZMI PowerPack 20000 is the most useful backup battery you can buy. It packs a huge, 20,000mAh battery that can power a MacBook and two other devices at the same time. Plus, you can quick charge it via USB. And it can even work as a USB data hub.

This 14.29-ounce (405 gram) brick might be overkill for daily juicing of your iPhone, but for everything else it’s amazing.

This post is brought to you by iMobie, maker of AnyTrans.

With the iTunes breakup just around the corner, and the rise of cloud-based services, managing the content on your iOS device is getting harder and less accessible. Fortunately, that doesn’t have to be the case with AnyTrans.

AnyTrans for iOS is an all-in-one iPhone manager and file-transfer app for both Mac and PC, as well as a powerful backup utility for all the iOS devices in your life.

The Mac’s Terminal is at once scary and powerful. It’s like a whole other computer living underneath the pretty interface of macOS. Sometimes, it’s convoluted. Other times, it seems laser-focused, offering a much quicker way to get things done. Instead of clicking and dragging your way through multiple screens, you just type a line of text.

However, the Mac Terminal is pretty intimidating if you’re not used to it. Today we will learn five super-useful Terminal tricks that make getting around much easier.

AT&T and T-Mobile today confirmed an unlikely partnership for a wonderful cause. The rival carriers are joining forces to fight robocalls and scammers.

Both will deliver the FCC-recommended STIR/SHAKEN standards to digitally validate calls across their networks. It will make it easier for customers to filter out unwanted calls.

The chairman of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission isn’t opposed to the breakup of America’s tech giants. However, he acknowledges it would be very, very challenging.

“If you have to, you do it,” Joe Simons told Bloomberg. “It’s not ideal because it’s very messy. But if you have to you have to.”

Earlier this year, I complained that Apple’s iPhone naming strategy was broken. Now, thanks to a popular case maker, we may know Apple’s naming choice for the 2019 iPhones: the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max.

And you know what? If it’s accurate, Apple has remedied one of the most unnecessarily complex aspects of its most popular product line.

The iPad is great for playing around and making music, but can it be a serious music tool as well? According to a course at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, it sure can.

The university’s “Creating with the iPad MUSC 198” course covers digital music production with a particular focus on Apple’s tablet. Because you don’t win friends with salad you can’t make music with a Surface, obvs! Check out a video preview of the course.

Some huge new details about this year’s iPhone 11 refresh have been spilled by an apparent Foxconn insider.

In a leaked email, the employee claims Apple will add a brand new color option to its smartphone lineup this fall. They also say that the back of this year’s devices will get a new, not-so-slippery finish.

Fortnite’s version 10.10 patch is out after a 24-hour delay. The new release revives Retail Row in Battle Royale — and adds a brand new World Run limited-time game mode.

There’s also a whole bunch of big improvements and fixes to look forward to, including welcome adjustments to the B.R.U.T.E. mech.