Apple Watch Activity Competitions are a perfect way to fall out with friends and colleagues. Simply send a challenge via the Activity app on your watch and, if they accept, a seven-day grudge match commences.

With Activity Competitions, a new feature in watchOS 5, it’s not the taking part that counts. It’s the winning. The winner receives a shiny virtual medal to add to their awards, while the loser gets zip.

Fortunately, when you know how Activity Competitions work, you can maximize your chance of winning every time. Here’s how.

Apple has started removing duplicate VoIP apps from the App Store.

The purge comes after a report highlighted a shady practice some developers have been using to game App Store search results. Plenty of clones still remain in other categories, however.

If you don’t need all the bells and whistles of Apple Watch Series 4, it’s a good time to grab Cupertino’s previous-generation smartwatch — and save a little cash in the process.

Today marks the 52nd birthday of Jony Ive, Apple’s much-admired chief design officer. As the shaper of products including, well, virtually everything that Apple builds, Ive has been a central presence since Steve Jobs’ return to Cupertino in the late 1990s.

To celebrate his birthday, check out one of Ive’s most interesting interviews. Happy birthday, Jony!

Hulu has slashed the price of its ad-supported plan, making the service more accessible to budget-conscious consumers.

It’s not all good news, however: Hulu’s Live TV plan, which offers access to more than 60 top channels live and on-demand, is now more expensive. The ad-free Hulu and Hulu + Spotify plans have not been changed.

It seems that rumors about Apple Music making its way onto Google Home may have been premature. After Apple Music showed up as a listening option in the Google Home app, Google has issued a statement to correct the record.

Apple is on the receiving end of a new lawsuit, claiming that it is infringing more than seven patents relating to LTE cellular standards. The lawsuit potentially affects devices including the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and others.

The lawsuit was filed by multiple firms under the umbrella group Optis Wireless Technology. They are asking for damages “in the form of reasonable royalties.”

Americans about to purchase a handset are far more interested in an iPhone than in devices running the rival Android OS, according to a survey done by an industry analysis firm.

But the news isn’t all good for Apple. The same survey found only moderate interest in the company’s rumored streaming video service.

The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) today released a description of the next version of USB.  This brings welcome improvements in data transfer speeds, and USB 3.2 also attempts to remedy some of the confusion the public experiences trying to understand what USB products offer.

So, you’ve decided you just have to have Samsung’s brand new Galaxy S10. Or maybe even the exciting new Galaxy Fold. But how are you going to pay for your shiny new upgrade? It certainly won’t be cheap.

You can start by selling your old iPhone to Cult of Mac. We typically pay more than most buyback services, which means getting your hands on Samsung’s latest flagship could be a lot more affordable than you think.

Bendable displays are all the rage at MWC 2019 and one company took the idea to the extreme with a new phone that wraps around your wrist.

Nubia revealed its Alpha Wearable Smartphone that blurs the line between smartphone and watch. Wearing a giant computer on your wrist seems like it’d be annoying and impractical. Nubia’s weird creation is an interesting idea but it looks more like the Infinity Gauntlet than a watch.

Looks at this ugly thing in action:

Before you read the rest of this article about how to find your iPhone, check down the back of the sofa. No? OK, what about the pocket in the jacket you wore today? Still no? OK. Read on.

It might sound crazy to write about how to find your iPhone. After all, everyone knows about Find My iPhone, right? Well, perhaps. You know that it can be used to track a stolen iPhone on a map, if the perp hasn’t switched it off (which they almost certainly have).

But at least one writer here at Cult of Mac didn’t know that Find My iPhone is also great for finding your iPhone in your own home. That writer — let’s call him Luke Dormehl to avoid embarrassment — spent more than an hour trying to track down his muted iPhone before resorting to Apple’s tracking app.

The co-founder of Apple, and its original tech guru, can’t wait to get his hands on a folding iPhone. The first generation of folding devices from Samsung, Huawei, and others have met with  skepticism from some quarters, but not Steve Wozniak. 

He thinks Apple should get a handset with a folding display on the market soon.

A stunning edit of 10 photos will soon adorn billboards around the world to advertise the iPhone’s camera capabilities after Apple today announced the winners of the Shot on iPhone Challenge.

The contest ran from Jan. 22 to Feb. 7 and drew thousands of images from around the world. Six of the 10 winners are from the United States. The other four photographers are from Belarus, Singapore, Israel, and Germany. They were selected from a panel of judges that included Apple executives and some of the most widely respected artists, photographers, and editors in the photo community.

Android lovers can finally bust out of the green bubble life without owning an iPhone.

Thanks to a new app that brings iMessage to Android, you can now enjoy one of Apple’s best features even if you don’t have an iOS device. It’s not a perfect solution and you’ll need a Mac but it’s better than any of the other workarounds we’ve seen.

Best of all, it’s totally free!

There are people who say they want a phone with the biggest battery they can get, but Energizer proves them wrong. Its latest device sports over 6 times the battery capacity of the iPhone XS Max, but to pack in that much power it’s almost three times as thick as Apple’s current flagship. 

Apple often integrates ideas from rival products into its handsets. That’s not likely to happen this time. 

At this week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, phone-makers are demonstrating their folding phones. These range from the laughable (Samsung) to the desirable (Huawei), but none of them is really plausible. Why? Because nobody is going to buy a folding phone. Not now, and not in the future. At best they will be a niche product, like ruggedized laptops are now, for example.

No. The folding phone will probably never happen. But what about foldable tablets?

Let’s face it: Simpler isn’t always better. Sometimes a watch band is just a watch band, but sometimes you’d rather it be a fashion statement. If you want understated elegance, there’s classic black leather. Or perhaps something bright and exotic is the ticket — say, orange ostrich.

Whether it’s because you need to spruce up for a big event, or you just want to look smashing, check out these luxurious and exotic bands, available at the Cult of Mac Apple Watch Store.

Apple is rumored to be using a stackable, modular design for its next Mac Pro, allowing components to be easily swapped in and out. It’s an innovative concept — but it’s not new.

In fact, Apple worked on a very similar concept way back in 1984. The so-called Jonathan Computer was ultimately deemed too “advanced and risky” by Apple bosses. Still, what was scarily ahead of its time in the mid-1980s might be perfectly in tune with the times, circa 2019!

Right now, the easiest way to write messages on Apple Watch is using voice control or Apple’s recommended responses. But one intrepid developer wants to go back to the past by adding a keyboard to Apple’s wearable device.

His app, Shift Keyboard, just launched in the App Store. Developer Adam Foot spoke with Cult of Mac to try and sell us on the idea.

Your Mac is a mighty machine for productivity, if you’ve got the right apps. So if you’re looking to get more done at the keyboard, this bundle of 8 apps is for you. Additionally, it’s available at a massive 93 percent discount.

Nintendo action RPG Dragalia Lost has finally expanded its reach to a bunch of new markets, including Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.

The free-to-play game, which debuted in the United States and other countries last September, runs on Android and iOS. With this wider rollout, even more people can enjoy the hit game’s fast-paced action.

Apple Watch could soon add sleep-tracking tech that makes it an even more capable health monitor.

Apple has been testing the new sleep-tracking technology at secret sites around Cupertino, a new report claims. And if it lives up to its promise, it could ship as part of the Apple Watch by 2020.

Swatch has filed a complaint against Samsung for allegedly infringing upon trademarks on watch face designs.

The Swiss watchmaker claims Samsung’s downloadable smartwatch faces “bear identical or virtually identical marks” to those Swatch uses for brands like Longines, Omega, and Tissot.

Being an Apple supplier can be an unpredictable business. Suppliers whose earnings rely on Apple can take a major tumble if they suddenly fall out of favor.

That’s what happened this week with AAC Technologies Holdings. The acoustic component maker’s shares fell dramatically on Tuesday after it announced a 75 percent decline in orders.