Top stories - page 557

If you’ve got an iPhone, you have one of the best mobile cameras out there. But having a good camera and a good eye isn’t enough to make the most of your iPhone’s photo potential. That’s why we’ve rounded up these deals on tools for taking your mobile image-making to the next level. We’ve got phone and tablet stands that fold into the size of a credit card, a hand-held stabilizer, a grippy tripod mount, and case that includes a wide-angle lens upgrade. Read on for more details:

Pokémon GO is getting a massive update this summer that will introduce a number of new features to make the game more accessible, more social, and more exciting.

Players can look forward to revamped gyms that give out gym badges, multiplayer raid battles, and lots more.

iOS 11’s Apple Pay Cash feature will support peer-to-peer payments, but PayPal’s CEO wants people to know that its similar Venmo app hasn’t been “Sherlocked.”

That refers to an app or service that is developed by a third-party, only for Apple to start providing exactly the same functionality in a system update. It’s a devastating move that can have a disastrous impact on companies.

Here’s why PayPal’s CEO doesn’t think Venmo will fall into the same trap.

Morse Code Messege Generator might misspell its own name, but it’s an intriguing remix of the increasingly-similar messaging app formula: letting you translate messages into Morse Code and then send them using your iPhone’s camera flash.

That’s just one of the brilliant titles we’ve picked out for this week’s “Awesome Apps” roundup. We’ve also got a fantastic Metroidvania-style game, an excellent AI-infused photo editing app update, and a nifty way to keep your iOS backups under control. Check out our picks below.

At this point, if you’re not browsing the web through a VPN, you’re doing it wrong. The internet is a scary place after all, full of snoops, data thieves, and headaches like location restrictions on streaming content. One of the first steps to take in protecting against these things is a virtual private network.

It’s getting hot out there. But it’s still nowhere near as hot as the new deals coming into the Cult of Mac Store. This week we’ve added an app that’ll change how you work with PDFs, and a set of future-ready Bluetooth earbuds. There’s also a comprehensive set of courses in Apple’s Swift coding language, and an app that turns your phone into a mindfulness tool. Most are discounted by half or more, read on for more details:

In this week’s Cult of Mac Magazine, we review the new 10.5-inch iPad Pro, which was unveiled at last week’s Worldwide Developers Conference. Also, get a first look at the new iPad in our featured unboxing video.

Check out leaked photos of alleged big changes coming to iPhone 8. Rumors say it will feature an all-glass design in the front and back in order to support wireless charging.

Discover five new ways to extend your MacBook battery life, and get a hands-on look at the new features coming to watchOS 4.

And, save 20 percent off select, name-brand leather bands for Apple Watch through this Sunday at our Watch Store! Featured brands include: Jack Foster, Arrow & Board, E3 Supply Co., Form Function Form and OleksynPrannyk. Use code FATHERSDAY2017 at checkout.

Click iTunes for a free subscription to Cult of Mac Magazine. Here are this week’s top stories.

Setting up a new iOS device is pretty easy, but it’s about to get even easier thanks to iOS 11’s new Automatic Setup feature, which lets you hold your old device near your new one to transfer across essential info.

All you need to set up a new iOS device are your iCloud login details, and the password for your WiFi network. But even that can be a bit of a pain, especially if you use a super-secure passwords that you store in something like 1Password. In order to get to your passwords, you need to install 1Password. But in order to install 1Password, you need to input your iCloud ID and your WiFi login. Automatic Setup will put an end to that.

Backing up your iOS devices can be a pain — but not if you have iMazing Mini, a smart yet simple new tool from DigiDNA that makes backups a breeze.

It not only gives you more control over your data, but it can perform backups wirelessly on a schedule that suits you. It also has a whole bunch of other awesome features, and it’s completely free — without any pesky ads.

Smartphones have basically become a synonym for distraction. With so many people staring into their glowing rectangles, it’s hard to believe they could help someone become more present in the moment. Turns out it might actually be true.

Amazon is coughing up a whopping $13.7 billion in cash to acquire Whole Foods Market.

The two companies will merge but Whole Foods stores will continue to operate independently, with co-founder John Mackey retaining his role as CEO. The move instantly gives Amazon almost as many stores as Apple.

In love with your new iPad Pro? You can thank Microsoft for that.

Microsoft executive Ryan Gavin claims Apple’s latest take on tablets wouldn’t have happened without the Surface Pro. It is a “clear example” that the company is following Microsoft’s move into ultraportable 2-in-1 machines.

Microsoft has beaten Apple to delivering a wireless keyboard with biometric security.

Its new Modern Keyboard is built out of aluminum to be slim and strong and features a hidden fingerprint scanner that makes login passwords a thing of the past. It’s also compatible with your Mac.

I could be the poster boy for Apple’s “iPad problem.”

That problem, in a nutshell, is this: Even long-in-the-tooth iPads several generations old continue to work just fine for many everyday tasks. That, in turn, slows the upgrade cycle. iPad sales drop, and pundits pile on to declare that Apple is doomed. Again.

I’m one of those cheapskates who couldn’t be bothered to shell out for a new iPad over the past few years but a freak accident — and the surprisingly convincing unveiling of the 10.5-inch iPad Pro at last week’s Worldwide Developers Conference — finally coaxed me out of iPad complacency.

I’m thrilled I finally wised up. The new 10.5-inch iPad Pro is a beast of a machine that’s so fast, smooth and responsive that it makes me feel like I’m in a sci-fi movie interacting with a killer device that hasn’t been invented yet. It feels like the future!

Twitter has begun rolling out the latest version of its mobile apps today, introducing a big redesign that unifies the user experience across Android and iOS.

It’s prettier and easier to navigate, but it still doesn’t deliver the option to edit tweets.

Apple wants to make your iPhone a “one-stop shop” for all your medical data.

A secret team is working to make multiple logins for different medical services a thing of the past by turning the iPhone into a central hub of information about doctor’s visits, lab test results, prescription data, and more.

Our iPhones are beautiful and fragile devices. If you’re not crazy, you protect yours with a sturdy case. But even with a ‘premium’ case, you can never be quite sure that your phone won’t break into pieces when the big drop comes.

Google is introducing a new tool to Google Drive that will make it easy to back up and sync the most precious data on your Mac.

You’ll gain the option to upload your most important folders to the cloud — leaving out the data you don’t need to keep — then restore them on a new machine when you upgrade.

For users, the Mac App Store makes finding, purchasing, and downloading new software a breeze. But is the experience as enjoyable for the developers behind that software?

Setapp surveyed over 700 macOS developers to find out what they really think of Apple’s marketplace. The results give us an interesting insight into the challenges they face when choosing the Mac App Store, whether life is better without it, and how Apple has improved.

Apple supplier Largan says it will ship its new 3D sensors in time for iPhone 8, while another supply chain vendor confirms waterproof wireless charging technology.

Largan’s sensors are capable of carrying out facial and iris recognition and provide an alternative to fingerprint scanning. They could be the solution Apple turns to if it is unable to embed a Touch ID scanner beneath the iPhone 8’s display.

We’ve all uploaded Instagram photos that seemed a great idea at the time, and now we regret ever making them public. You don’t want anyone to see them, but you don’t want the memory to be gone for good.

Now you can archive all those embarrassing snaps instead of deleting them altogether.

Despite the MacBook’s svelte design, their batteries last a long time because Apple put a lot of thought into how the hardware and software work together. Still, if you find yourself running out of juice, some simple changes can help you extend your MacBook battery life.

Apple designs its laptops to maximize user productivity and minimize extra work, but following these simple tips will boost MacBook battery life considerably.

Mozilla is rolling out its “best Firefox ever,” promising a perfect balance between speed and efficiency.

Firefox version 54 finally uses multiple processes for improved performance just like its rivals, so a complex webpage in one tab won’t impact your experience in another. What’s more, it uses less memory than other browsers on macOS, Mozilla says.

Surgeons, plumbers, mechanics – they all need an inside view of hard-to-reach places where their eyeballs can’t reach. You’ve probably seen endoscopic cameras on TV, the ones that look like skinny snakes with light bulbs for eyes. But instead of feeding on mice, these cameras feed images back to their users. And they offer a view behind whatever is blocking the view of what you need to work on.

Samsung’s new Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ have been rated the best smartphones available by Consumer Reports.

Both devices outranked their rivals — including the iPhone 7 — in design, battery life, and camera performance. However, they aren’t considered perfect, with testers noting that they are difficult to operate with one hand, and their fingerprint scanners are awkwardly-placed.