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Apple cleans up the App Store after biggest security lapse in history

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Apple has lost its third appeal for ownership of the term App Store in Oz. Photo: Apple
Malicious code is causing Apple to remove hundreds of apps from the App Store.
Photo: Apple

Apple is removing hundreds of apps from the App Store after discovering that they contain a malicious program called XcodeGhost.

In the entire lifespan of the App Store, Apple has only previously found five malicious apps — making this easily the single biggest security lapse in App Store history.

Save up to 98% & arm yourself with the tools and knowledge of the digital creative’s trade [Deals]

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Learn the essential skills and software used by professional designers and animators.
Learn the essential skills and software used by professional designers and animators.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Whether you’re a designer, animator, or any other kind of creative, your work requires skill, taste and, just as importantly, tools. Whether you’re making 3D architectural schematics, designing signage, or crafting a post-Internet seapunk masterpiece in MS Paint, we’ve assembled some of the best gear and lessons to empower your work at some of the lowest prices you’ll see. Check them out now, these deals will only be around for another day or two.

The clock’s ticking on these massive discounts for gear, gadgets and more [Deals]

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NetSpot Pro Wi-Fi Optimizer makes it possible to visualize and fix Wi-Fi signal problems at home or in the office.
NetSpot Pro Wi-Fi Optimizer makes it possible to visualize and fix Wi-Fi signal problems at home or in the office.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Summer’s slipping away and so are these deals on essential tech, toys, and lessons. From mini drones to universal charging stations to photography lessons, there’s something here for anyone and any budget. But with just a few days left, the time to act is now.

The new and noteworthy of iOS 9 and our favorite tips and tricks on the CultCast

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Brace yourselves.  Picture-in-picture is coming... to your iPad.
Brace yourselves. Picture-in-picture is coming... to your iPad.
Photo: Apple

This week: we review the new and notable features of iOS 9, and some lesser-known features you should definitely be using. Plus: why you probably should’ve gotten the 128GB iPhone; a legit way to save 20% off your next Apple purchase; and what we love and don’t about iCloud storage.

And, we all love the sweeping musical scores that define our favorite movies and videos games, but have you ever wondered who creates them? Composer Gareth Coker, creator of the Ori and the Blind Forest score, joins us to talk about the process of creating a cinematic score from scratch, how music and technology are more intertwined than ever, and what it’s like to work as a modern day video game and movie composer.

Has Apple Watch helped you get in shape?

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Join the Cult of Mac club on Strava and share your fitness story
Join the Cult of Mac club on Strava and share your fitness story
Photo: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac

Apple Watch has been on our wrists for just five months and yet it is already having an amazing impact on many people’s lives.

We want to find out how Cult of Mac readers are using Cupertino’s fitness tech to get in shape, so we’re inviting everyone to share their inspiring stories. Plus, we’ve set up a new Cult of Mac club on Strava so you can connect with other readers who are into fitness.

How iOS 9’s Wi-Fi Assist frees users from slow connections

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Name-changer: Passbook is  called Wallet in iOS 9.
iOS 9's Wi-Fi Assist hopes to help you keep your connection strong.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

A new, slightly hidden feature in iOS 9 hopes to help keep your connection as strong as possible.

Apple’s latest version of its mobile firmware contains a lot of obvious changes (Passbook is now called Wallet, for example), but a lot of the biggest and best changes are buried away just waiting for you to discover them. One of these hidden gems is the Wi-Fi Assist feature, which might just solve one of the most annoying issues we saw in earlier versions of the operating system.

Here’s what it is and how it can help you.

Apple Watch heart monitor saves teen’s life

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Apple Watch alerts user of irregular heart rhythms in sleep
Keep an eye on this. It might keep you out of the grave.
Photo: Evan Killham/Cult of Mac

A teen sought medical attention after his Apple Watch heart monitor gave him persistently high readings, and that decision saved him from an untimely death.

Paul Houle, a 17-year-old football player, bought Apple’s wearable a few days before he started pre-season training at Tabor Academy in Marion, Mass. After two practices in one day, he noticed that his heart rate was sitting around 145 beats per minute, even hours after he’d stopped exercising.

He wouldn’t know until later, but he was experiencing a potentially life-threatening condition.

Pro Tip: Make iOS 9 keyboard all caps again

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Do we really need lowercase? No.
Do we really need lowercase? No.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Pro Tip Cult of Mac bugI can’t stand the new lowercase keyboard in iOS 9. It’s a fairly useless change to begin with, as it doesn’t make anything easier.

Sure, it shows whether you’ve pressed the Shift key or not, but the new Shift key is also improved, making the lower-case option aesthetic rather than functional.

So, if you’re like me, here’s how to put that keyboard back to the way it “should” be.

How to fix iOS 9’s Slide to Upgrade bug

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It's time to get ready for your iOS 9 upgrade.
You did back everything up, right?
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Some users trying to upgrade to iOS 9 this week have run into a serious problem: After the download happens, they find themselves stuck on the “Slide to Upgrade” screen upon restart. This bug renders their iPhones unusable, which is about the least useful state for an iPhone to be in.

But Apple has noticed, and it’s offering a fix. Here’s what you do to fix the annoying Slide to Upgrade bug.

Cult of Mac Magazine: Why you need iOS 9 right now

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More iOS 9 news and reviews than you can handle!
More iOS 9 news and reviews than you can handle!
Cover: Stephen Smith/Cult of Mac

We’re excited about all the cool new “whiz-bang” features in iOS 9 as well as the hundreds of tiny little improvements that will make your iPhone and iPad much better to use.

This week, we’re sharing that joy with you as we take a deep dive into iOS 9’s killer new features, how to upgrade the right way, an abundance of tiny tricks you need to know, and some of the best apps already rocking iOS 9.

Take a look at Cult of Mac Magazine to fill your head with all this great content.

Android vs. iOS: Do adoption figures mean anything?

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Is it fair to compare (adoption rates)?
Is it fair to compare (adoption rates)?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

iOS 9 has been out for two days, and it’s already running on more than 20 percent of compatible devices, according to the latest data. In comparison, Google’s latest Android release, version 5.1 Lollipop, is running on just 5.1 percent of devices ten months after it made its public debut.

Friday-Night-Fights-bug-2These figures highlight the staggering difference between updates on Android and iOS. But is it fair to compare adoption figures between these two platforms, and do users really care?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we battle it out over this very topic!

Developer pulls ad-blocker after topping App Store

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3453637488_cc621e6d17_o
Marco Arment just wasn't at Peace with himself.
Photo: Sundaram Ramaswamy/Flickr CC

Developer Marco Arment pulled his iOS 9 content blocker from the App Store two days after launching it. He says it “just doesn’t feel good” to be profiting from his app Peace while taking money away from advertisers and publishers. He’s even offering refunds to anyone who already bought Peace expecting updates and support down the line, which they now won’t be getting.

Unlock the music box with a 6-month subscription to Pandora One [Deals]

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Get 6 months of Pandora One, with zero ads, more 'skips', and improved audio quality.
Get 6 months of Pandora One, with zero ads, more 'skips', and improved audio quality.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Pandora basically invented a whole new way of listening to music when it unveiled its brand of personalized internet radio. While many of us use the freebie version of Pandora’s service, with limited functionality and regular ads, right now you can get a great deal on a 6-month subscription to Pandora One, their top tier option, for just $24 at Cult of Mac Deals.

Love him or hate him, you must Paint with Donald Trump

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The polls don't open for several months, but you can express your feelings with art about Republican candidate Donald Trump.
The polls don't open for several months, but you can express your feelings with art about Republican candidate Donald Trump.
Illustration: David Pierini/Cult of Mac with Paint with Donald Trump

Just when voters thought the 2016 presidential election was a blank canvass, Donald Trump’s face started making a splash. Now you, too, can make a splash with Trumps face on a blank canvass.

The website, Paint with Donald Trump, lets you select from eight different faces of the billionaire Republican candidate and three different sized brushes, which clone his likeness with every click and drag.

Apple Car is almost ready for public road tests

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Apple Car
Tim Cook allegedly plans to use the BMW i3's body for Apple Car.
Photo: BMW

Apple met with officials at California’s Department of Motor Vehicles to discuss plans to test its self-driving Apple Car on public roads, according to a new report.

What does this mean? Quite possibly that we’re set to get a glimpse of the Apple car a lot sooner than most people figured.

iPad Mini 4 teardown reveals a miniaturized Air 2

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iPad Mini 4 teardown by iFixit
The EU wants gadgets that are easier to fix and upgrade.
Photo: iFixit

We’ve gotten our first look at the guts of the latest Apple hardware thanks to an iPad Mini 4 teardown that’s appeared online, and the new tablet from the Cupertino company is looking really familiar. But we don’t mean that in a bad way.

Repair-advise site iFixit has sacrificed one of the devices in the name of science and education, and its findings reveal that at its heart, the iPad Mini 4 is a smaller version of the upper-tier iPad Air 2. Here’s what the carnage revealed.

How to pick the right iOS 9 content blocker for you

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Content-blocking apps are soaring in popularity now that iOS 9 is out.
Content-blocking apps are soaring in popularity now that iOS 9 is out.
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Figuring out which content-blocking apps you want is going to be tough with so many of them vying for your attention. Which one should you choose?

A day after iOS 9 made content blockers possible, we’ve got Purify, Peace, Crystal, Silentium, Blockr, Freedom, Blockr and 1Blocker, just to name a few.

These apps are garnering a ton of attention and reaching the top of the paid app charts. With so many content blockers out there, what’s the difference? Why choose one over the other? It’s so confusing, so we did a little digging. Here’s what we’ve found out.

Old iOS device? These iOS 9 features will work just fine

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Best Buy is preparing for shoppers wanting iPads.
Best Buy is preparing for shoppers wanting iPads.
Photo: Apple

If you want to use the new gee-whiz features of iOS 9, like Picture in Picture to FaceTime with your significant other while you write a paper in Pages, or you want to Slide Over a Twitter app to keep track of all the goings on while you surf the web, you’re going to need a newer device.

However, all is not lost if you have an older device. Most of the power of iOS 9 is under the hood, making even older devices just a little more battery efficient, just a bit more useful.

Jony Ive’s vision for new Apple Stores: live trees

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Belgium's Apple Store is one of the first to bear Jony Ive's imprint.
Belgium's Apple Store is one of the first to bear Jony Ive's imprint.
Photo: Bruno Dalimonte/macplus.net

We know Jony Ive can design computers large and small. So why not the space where the devices are sold?

The world caught a glimpse of a new Ive-designed Apple Store in Brussels this week and the common theme seems to be: wood.

The greatest (bike) show on earth

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Uvex's Variotronic sunglasses darken up at the touch of a button.
Uvex's Variotronic sunglasses darken up at the touch of a button.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

LAS VEGAS — If you noticed a substantial drop in leg-shaved and Lycra-clad bicyclists on the roads in your part of the world it is because they are all taking a spin in Sin City.

They didn’t come for the penny slots, forced air and big-ass beers, though. They made the pilgrimage to Vegas to attend the annual mega-bike show known as Interbike. It brings out industry giants like Giro and Shimano, but the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well too, with small builders and garage tinkerers showing off their latest big ideas.

Cult of Mac walked the show floor on day one look at it all. Here is some of the coolest new stuff we found.

Just like Ahmed: Woz got arrested for building gadgets in school

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Irving MacArthur High School student Ahmed Mohamed.
Irving MacArthur High School student Ahmed Mohamed.
Photo: Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News

Ahmed Mohamed can count Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak among his many supporters in the tech world. According to Woz’s most recent Facebook post, he sees a lot of himself in the 14-year-old Texas boy who was arrested for bringing a homemade digital clock to school.

While Ahmed’s teacher mistook his clock for a bomb, Woz says he built a similar gadget when he was in high school — only he actually wanted people to think it was a bomb. Woz even spent a night in juvie for the stunt (where he used the opportunity to teach inmates how to shock guards).

Here’s the story in Woz’s own words:

Amazon beats Apple to 4K with Fire TV, Fire TV Gaming Edition

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amazon-beats-apple-to-4k-with-new-fire-tv-and-fire-tv-gaming-edition-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201509Fire_TV_Gaming_Edition_highres-jpg
Fire TV Gaming Edition.
Photo: Amazon
Fire TV Gaming Edition. Photo: Amazon
Fire TV Gaming Edition. Photo: Amazon

Disappointed the new Apple TV doesn’t support 4K? Then get Amazon’s new Fire TV instead.

Two new versions of the device — Fire TV and Fire TV Gaming Edition — are here with updated internals that make them 75 percent faster than their predecessor, plus Alexa, Amazon’s own virtual assistant that is the brains behind the Echo speaker.

There’s also a new Fire TV Stick that promises the best Wi-Fi performance in a media-streaming dongle.

The best apps already equipped for iOS 9

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Siri
"Hey Siri, which iOS 9 apps should I download?"
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

iOS 9 is out and, unsurprisingly, app developers are springing to take advantage of its new features.

There are already too many to provide a fully comprehensive list of every iOS 9-optimized app out there, but we’ve pulled together a selection of some of the best — to give you a test drive of some of the best features of Apple’s latest mobile OS.

Read on for our picks.