Apple pushed out a big batch of software updates this morning for iOS, tvOS, watchOS and macOS, bringing a host of bug fixes and performance improvements to all of its major platforms.
iOS 11.2.5 is the biggest of today’s software updates. The update for iPhones and iPads adds a couple new features, including support for Apple’s HomePod smart speaker, which opens for preorders this Friday.
Google’s excellent Gboard keyboard is now even better on iOS, thanks to a handy GIF creation tool. Users can make two kinds of animated images using their iPhone’s camera, then send their creations via their favorite messaging services.
Grid Autosport, the iOS “console-quality” AAA racing game, just got even better, courtesy of an update.
It adds additional control options, including better car handling for people playing the game with MFi controllers. It also lets you switch off haptic feedback, as well as fixing bugs and making a couple of additional tweaks.
If you’re explaining something to another human in person, you’ll often reach for a pencil and paper to make it easier. Perhaps you’re drawing a map, or a quick diagram of that chest of drawers you think would look great in the guest room.
And that’s in person, where gestures and feedback from the listener help communication. Given the limits of email, then, wouldn’t a sketch, chart, or diagram be even more useful? The answer is a resounding “probably,” and the best news you’ll hear today is that it is dead easy to add a drawing to your emails, even without an Apple pencil, and even on an iPhone.
Have you ever had your regular (important) iMessages swamped by a flurry of notifications for that inane group conversations about matcha-flavored KitKats? Or maybe you want to keep your iPad’s notifications switched on, but you want to mute iMessages from your boss until Monday, because she has no concept of boundaries?
If so, you need iMessage’s handy conversation-muting feature. It’s so easy to use that you may have turned it on by mistake. If you’re no longer getting alerts for certain messages, you may want to check this, too.
Apple’s HomePod speaker has once again leaked new information about its self ahead of its launch, including how you’ll manage its settings once you finally get one.
Screenshots from HomePod testers in France have leaked out online showing the different settings options you’ll be able to choose from in the HomePod iOS app.
New icons uncovered in the latest iOS 11.2.5 developer build confirm that, yes, HomePod owners will be able to disable the microphone on Apple’s smart speaker should so they wish to do so.
Given Apple’s privacy-conscious policies, and the fact that rival speakers made by Amazon and Google allow the same to be done, it’s no surprise that Apple would make that an option on HomePod. Still, it could help ease fears among customers concerned about the risk of housing an “always listening” speaker in their homes.
Tim Cook will give the commencement address for Duke University’s graduating class on May 13, 2018.
Cook is a 1988 MBA graduate of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, as well as a member of the university’s Board of Trustees. Cook has previously given successful, inspirational and funny commencement addresses at MIT, Auburn University (which he attended before Duke), and George Washington University.
Check out the Duke University announcement video, featuring a whole lot of animojis, below.
A futuristic, sci-fi rhythm game called Cytus II is just of one of our picks for this week’s “Awesome Apps of the Week.”
In addition, we’ve got a great music transcription app, a frantic explosion-driven platformer, and… Microsoft Office? Check out our selections below.
If you want to listen to music on your Mac, you either suffer its built-in speakers, or you plug a speaker into the headphone jack. But what if you want to get sound into you Mac? Or you have some fancy speakers hooked up to a fancy mixer, and the little headphone output doesn’t cut it, quality-wise? Then you should switch to USB. And don’t worry — you won’t have to install drivers, or any of the other crap that makes PC use so painful. In fact, using a USB audio interface is as easy as plugging in a pair of headphones, only better.