Apple signed an agreement with the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) that it will be “clearer and more upfront” about how changes made in iOS updates will affect the performance and battery lives of current and future iPhones.
Apple could be among the companies having to censor certain apps and websites as a result of new proposed U.K. laws. Designed to combat “harmful” content online, the new laws would give censorship power to independent regulators tasked with overseeing apps and websites.
The view of “harmful” content is a broad one, including terrorism, self-harm, hate speech, child abuse, and more. It would mean that the U.K. government could have a say on the content that Apple sells or offers to customers in the United Kingdom.
A UK pharmacist’s attempt to collect more than $2.5 million in life insurance after murdering his wife was thwarted by Apple’s Health app for iOS.
Mitesh Patel strangled his wife, Jessica after five years of planning her murder, according to police. He attempted to make the entire murder look like a break in, but when authorities accessed the Health app on his iPhone and the one on his wife’s iPhone, the data told a completely different story.
The pay gap between men and women appears to be lowering for Apple employees in the U.K.
Apple revealed today that its male employees in the U.K. make 5% more than females on average. However, the median pay favored women by 2%.
The U.K. Treasury has announced plans to crack down on tech giants which use overseas profit-shifting strategies to cut down on the amount of tax they have to pay.
Chancellor Philip Hammond announced that the country will now charge a 20 percent income tax rate on any British earnings held overseas, starting April 2019.
Next time you go hunting for a famous hidden cave, make sure to turn on the ‘Find My Friends’ app. One lucky climber from the U.K. just found out it can totally save your life.
Mountain rescuers workers came to the ill-prepared hiker’s aid after he was injured during his pursuit of the famous Priest Hole cave at the UK’s Lake District National Park. The hike fell over 60 feet and suffered a serious head injury, but was eventually located using Apple’s app.
Apple CEO Tim Cook’s tour of western Europe continued today with a pit stop at Downing Street to meet with U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May.
Cook was in the country to accept an honorary degree from the University of Glasgow, but took a break from the fun to discuss some serious topics with May, such as the impending Brexit and Apple’s investment in the country.
With the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus scheduled to arrive in less than 24 hours, customers around the globe who preordered are being notified that their devices won’t ship on time.
The unpleasant news isn’t sitting well with these Apple fans, many of whom thought they’d get their iPhone 7 on launch day.
The next time you make a purchase at your local Apple Store, expect to be asked if you want to buy your items with Apple Pay.
Apple is launching a new promotion for its contactless payment system this week that will emphasize paying with your iPhone or Apple Watch rather than busting out a credit card. And those that haven’t signed up for Apple Pay yet will get some free money.
If, like me, you live in the U.K., you get bad weather, gray skies, and a baffling international reputation for bland cuisine and poor dental hygiene — but also free London travel for certain Apple Pay customers on selected days in January.
That’s because MasterCard is revisiting its pre-Christmas promotion, by offering more of its “Free Fare Mondays” on the London Underground to promote Apple Pay.
Not a bad trade-off if you ask me!
U.K. councillors in Croydon have been named and shamed for using an iPad during a council meeting to keep track of the score in a soccer game.
And — wouldn’t you know it — as with every other time something like this happens, senior Labour councillors John Wentworth and Pat Ryan claim that they were just “momentarily” taking a break from the important meeting they were in.
Two more banks in the U.K. have hopped on the Apple Pay bandwagon, just in time for the holiday shopping season — with both TSB and Tesco Bank confirming that they now offer Apple Pay support for their payment cards.
Two more major U.K. banks have hopped on the Apple Pay bandwagon. Lloyds and Halifax are now supported by the service, bringing the total number of Apple Pay banking partners in the U.K. to an impressive 11.
In support of the Apple Watch’s increased availability in the U.K., Apple has taken over all 24 windows at the iconic Selfridges’ shopping center in London to promote the new timepiece.
Apple opened a store within a store concept a Selfridges’ earlier this year. The gigantic new displays mimics the Apple Watch’s floral clock faces, with some flowers reaching up to 1.8 meters in height.
Here’s another look:
The UK’s High Court has turned all of its computer users into outlaws overnight, in a new ruling that makes it unlawful to create a copy of copyrighted content, without the direct permission of the copyright holder.
The new law means UK citizens can no longer create backups of their computer (because pretty much every PC has copyrighted content). You’re also not allowed to rip your CDs into iTunes or convert media files into another format, which means Apple’s software services like Time Machine and iTunes are now considered illegal.
Apple Pay rolled out in the U.K. this month, and today the service got a bit better, as Apple now supports HSBC and First Direct credit and debit cards in the country.
That brings the total supported U.K. banks and card providers to nine — including Natwest, Santander, Nationwide, RBS, Ulster Bank, HSBC, First Direct, MBNA, and American Express.
Apple Music’s launch is just days away, and Spotify is already running to catch up to the free trial Apple thinks will convince you to become a paying customer.
In an attempt to match Apple’s controversial three-month free trial period, Spotify announced that it will extend its Premium free trials from 30 days to 60 its days, but only if you’re outside the U.S.
One of the great things about iMessage and FaceTime is that it encrypts your messages automatically, making it very, very difficult for hackers to spy on the messages you send.
But guess what? If U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron gets his way, iMessage and FaceTime encryption might soon be a thing of the past.
Sometimes all a penguin needs is love, says the new Christmas ad from British department store John Lewis.
There’s a young boy with a real penguin. The penguin, named Monty, loves playing with the boy: swimming, sledding, building with Legos. but there’s one thing the boy cannot provide for poor Monty, and that’s a life mate.
Watch the full ad below and be sure to stick around for a delightful Calvin & Hobbesian moment at the end.
iPhones represented 48.9 percent of the UK’s smartphone-based web traffic in Q2, according to a new study by Chitika.
While Samsung came in at the expected second place, its percentage (22.8 percent) was much closer to BlackBerry’s (16.8 percent) than it was to Apple’s. The rest of the numbers were made up of HTC, Nokia, Sony, Google and Motorola handsets.
This is likely to be disappointing for the South Korea-based Samsung, which has recently been investing heavily in marketing its smartphones in the UK — including a “rebranding” of London’s Heathrow airport’s Terminal 5 in order to promote its latest Galaxy S model.
Yesterday Cult of Mac revealed that Samsung’s new Galaxy S5 smartphone was outsold by both the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c during the month of May: the first month Galaxy S5 was on sale in the country.
Apple is on a price-slashing spree this morning after taking down its online store for a few hours last night. Not only did Cupertino just release a cheaper low-end iMac, but it’s also dropping prices on the Apple TV and Mac mini across the UK and Europe.
The Google-owned Nest thermostat arrives in the U.K. today.
Created by “Podfather” Tony Fadell and former Apple colleague Matt Rogers, the Nest thermostat is an iOS-connected device which allows users to control and automate their indoor heating.
It can be purchased from Nest’s online store, alongside Amazon, Apple, and B&Q — priced at £179, or £249 with the recommended professional installation included.
While all attention is currently being placed on the new fourth iOS 7.1 beta, a feature that seems to have skipped most people’s attention is that beta version 3 includes a female counterpart to the British male variant of Siri, which users can choose between.
Apple TV owners across the pond have received an early Christmas gift, a dedicated channel for Sky Sports through Now TV. Live sports can be viewed without an existing cable subscription, and Sky Sports is offering day passes that offer unlimited access to six sports channels. Pocket-lint explains:
O2 has today confirmed the price of its 4G price plans ahead of their rollout next Thursday, August 29. The carrier’s SIM-only plans will start from £26 ($40) per month, while those that are tied to a 4G handset start from £32 ($49) per month. All of O2’s 4G plans will also come bundled with free music, sport, and game content.