MacRumors

Following beta testing, Microsoft today released its new Office app for iPhone, bringing together Word, Excel, and PowerPoint in a single app.

The main benefit of the unified Office app is that it requires only a single download with a much smaller file size, but it does have a few unique features, including camera integration for easily converting photos of documents and tables into Word and Excel files. The app also has a new Actions pane that supports a number of common tasks like signing PDFs and scanning QR codes.

Microsoft explains some of the benefits of the new Office app in a blog post:

The Office app delivers several key benefits including:

- Combining Word, Excel, and PowerPoint in a way that simplifies the experience with fewer apps to download or switch between. It requires far less phone storage than installing individual apps while maintaining virtually all the capabilities of the existing mobile apps people already know and use.

- Integrating our Lens technology to unlock the power of the camera with capabilities like converting images into editable Word and Excel documents, scanning PDFs, and capturing whiteboards with automatic digital enhancements to make the content easier to read.

- Adding new functionality for common tasks people often encounter when working on a phone—things like making quick notes, signing PDFs, scanning QR codes, and transferring files between devices.

The new Microsoft Office app is available on the App Store for the iPhone and on the Google Play Store for Android. Microsoft says the app will be optimized to support the iPad soon. The app is free to use, even without signing in, but an Office 365 subscription starting at $6.99 per month is required to unlock premium features.

Microsoft's standalone Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps remain available and were recently updated with a simplified three-tab layout.

(Thanks, Michaël!)

Adobe is celebrating the 30th anniversary of Photoshop today with several updates to the app across the Mac and iPad.

A key new feature on the Mac is support for Dark Mode on macOS Mojave and later. Photoshop already has a dark user interface on the Mac, but now system dialogs like the File menu will also be dark based on the systemwide appearance selected in System Preferences > General.

The desktop app has also received Content-Aware Fill improvements. Now, you can make multiple selections and apply multiple fills without leaving the workspace. You can use the new "apply" button to iterate your fills before committing, and click "OK" only when you are finished, according to Adobe.

Adobe says it has also improved the output quality and performance of Lens Blur on the desktop, and made performance improvements, claiming that clicking interactions like panning and zooming are smoother and more responsive.

On the iPad, the headline new feature is the Object Selection tool, which can automatically find the object within a selected area for you based on Adobe Sensei machine learning.

Adobe explains:

The Object Selection tool is designed to give you speed, but also more control over the selection process on more complex images. For example, it is the right tool if you have images with multiple objects, or when selecting a part of an object, or if you want this part but not that part, or need to isolate more than one object in an image. With the Object Selection tool, you draw a rectangular region or even a crude lasso around the area you want to select, and the tool automatically finds and selects the primary objects inside the defined region.

Photoshop for iPad is available on the App Store.

Apple has updated its website to indicate that it will reopen 10 more stores across China, following closures due to the coronavirus outbreak that originated in Wuhan.

The stores, listed below, will reopen on February 19 for limited business hours of 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., or 12 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time until further notice, as noted by iMore.

Chengdu

• Apple Chengdu Vientiane City
• Apple Chengdu Taikoo Li

Dalian

• Apple Dalian Han Lung Plaza
• Apple Centennial City

Guangzhou

• Apple Pearl River New City
• Apple Sky Plaza

Quingdao

• Apple Quingdao Vientiane City (pictured)

Shanghai

• Apple Hong Kong Plaza
• Apple Nanjing East Road
• Apple Pudong

Apple reopened all five of its retail stores in the Beijing area on February 14, operating on similar limited hours.

Apple has yet to announce reopening dates for its other stores in mainland China, which remain listed as closed on its website due to the viral outbreak. Apple began working toward re-opening its corporate offices and contact centers in the country last week.

Reports suggest ongoing delays from the coronavirus outbreak in China will likely impact iPhone production, in particular its upcoming low-cost iPhone, and inventories of existing models could remain low until April or longer.

The coronavirus has infected more than 75,000 people, and there have been at least 1,870 deaths, primarily in China.

Foldable smartphones are the latest device trend, and companies that include Motorola and Samsung have released new foldable smartphones over the course of the last few weeks.

The first foldable smartphone from Samsung, the Galaxy Fold, had major durability issues that caused its launch to be delayed. Samsung's newest foldable device, the Galaxy Z Flip, seems to be faring a bit better so far, but there are some complaints about the build quality and problems with the display. The same is true of Motorola's latest smartphone, the RAZR.

Over the weekend, YouTuber JerryRigEverything tested the durability of the Galaxy Z Flip's display, which is made of a bendable "Ultra Thin Glass" for the first time rather than the plastic material used for the Galaxy Fold.

The testing suggests that the display of the Galaxy Z Flip scratches like plastic and isn't resistant to scratching or other damage. A fingernail on the display was able to make a permanent dent, which is concerning for a smartphone that costs $1,380.

In response to that video, Samsung told CNBC in a statement that the display should be "handled with care" and that it has the same protective layer used in the Galaxy Fold, which perhaps explains some of the scratching.

Another Samsung Galaxy Z Flip user on Twitter got his smartphone, opened the box, opened the phone, and then had it crack right down the middle. He suggests that it could have been due to cold weather.

Cracking at the fold was a problem that plagued the Galaxy Fold, and Samsung does warn against pressing hard on the screen and making sure there's nothing on the screen when it's folded closed, but a crack down the middle right out of the box is unexpected behavior.

The $1,500 Motorola RAZR, another foldable smartphone that came out in February, is also seeing durability issues. Ray Wong from Input over the weekend said that the site's Motorola RAZR has a display that's peeling apart just a week after it was purchased.

I'm too scared to even fold up the phone now because the more I close it the wider the spread gets. There's a long streak across the top of the bubble and at first glance, you might mistake it for a scratch. It's not a scratch; there's no physical damage on the surface of the lamination. It's literally the pixels splitting from the two layers.

The damage is more than just cosmetic - the touchscreen is broken and the warping on the surface makes touches and taps unresponsive. Wong isn't sure what caused the damage, but as with the Galaxy Z Flip crack, he speculates that it could be related to cold temperatures.

There have been a few rumors suggesting Apple is working on foldable display technology, but given the super high price points of foldable displays and the ongoing durability issues that have impacted every foldable smartphone to date, Apple may be planning to hold off on a foldable iPhone.

Apple in early February shared a patent for a foldable device with movable flaps to prevent the display from creasing, and that's the latest that we've heard about an Apple device with foldable display technology.

Interestingly, Apple has also separately patented a self-heating display for a foldable device to prevent damage in cold weather, which seems to be a significant issue for foldable devices at the current time.

Of course, Apple patents a lot of technologies that don't ever come to fruition, so whether or not these patents and other related patents hint at Apple's work on a foldable ‌iPhone‌ remains to be seen. At the current time, there are no rumors indicating a folding ‌iPhone‌ is something that we can expect to see in the near future, and certainly not in 2020. The 2020 iPhone lineup will be similar to the 2019 ‌iPhone‌ lineup, though Apple is planning to implement new technologies like 5G connectivity and 3D cameras.

Apple today released watchOS 6.1.3, the fifth update to the watchOS 6 operating system designed to run on modern Apple Watch models. watchOS 6.1.3 comes three weeks after the release of watchOS 6.1.2.

watchOS 6.1.3 can be downloaded for free through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General > Software Update.

To install the new software, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery, it needs to be placed on a charger, and it needs to be in range of the ‌iPhone‌.

The watchOS 6.1.3 update includes important bug fixes, addressing an issue that could prevent the irregular heart rhythm notification feature from working properly for Apple Watch owners in Iceland.

Apple has also released watchOS 5.3.5 for Apple Watch models not able to run watchOS 6 due to the use of an older ‌iPhone‌.

Ongoing delays from the coronavirus outbreak in China will likely cause Apple to miss its schedule for mass producing the low-cost iPhone, and inventories of existing models could remain low until April or longer, according to new information shared today by Japanese site Nikkei.

‌iPhone‌ suppliers, on average, are said to be operating at 30 to 50 percent capacity at the current time, and to ramp up to full production, hurdles that include labor shortages and transportation logistics need to be overcome.

Apple was planning to begin mass production on the upcoming low-cost ‌iPhone‌ in February, but sources that spoke to Nikkei said that meeting that target is "very challenging" and production could be delayed until March.

Current rumors have suggested Apple plans to unveil the new ‌iPhone‌ at an event that's set to take place in March, perhaps on March 31, with Apple then releasing the device on April 3. Though there are issues with production, multiple sources have said the new ‌iPhone‌ is still going to launch on time.

"The suppliers are doing their best to produce and ship the [cheaper] iPhone within four weeks. ...The delay can't be too long, otherwise it will affect the sales strategy of Apple's new products in the second half of this year," one of the people, who has direct knowledge of the matter, told Nikkei.

Apple was hoping to have its suppliers produce 80 million ‌iPhone‌ units in the first half of 2020, including 15 million low-cost iPhones, but the company's production plan is now uncertain. Apple yesterday said that it will not meet its revenue goals for the March quarter due to constrained ‌iPhone‌ supplies and low customer demand for Apple products in China amid the outbreak.

Factories in China are counting on having more employees back at work as soon as next Monday, when a quarantine period for those who returned from outside provinces will end. Travel logistics are said to be a "major headache" at the current time, as suppliers need to change truck drivers when crossing provincial borders due to quarantine requirements.

The coronavirus has infected more than 73,000 people, and there have been 1,870 deaths, primarily in China.

Apple Music has introduced a new UI for alternate albums in an effort to declutter artist pages and make it easier to find these albums. Now, when an alternate version of an album is available (a non-explicit version or a remaster, for example), it will be listed underneath the main album's track list (via MacStories).

This way, the "Albums" section on the artist's main ‌Apple Music‌ page is a bit more focused on their main studio albums and doesn't have clutter of deluxe editions, live albums, or explicit and non-explicit versions. This update does appear to be rolling out slowly, however, as some artist pages still have numerous versions listed under the "Albums" section.

To find if an album has the "Other Versions" list, simply open the album in ‌Apple Music‌, scroll down past the track list, and if there are alternate options you'll see them listed at the bottom of the page. If any of your friends have listened to the album, "Other Versions" will be stacked beneath "Friends Who Listened."

Apple has made quiet changes like this to its music streaming platform in the past, previously revamping artist pages with enlarged portraits and a shuffle all "play" button. More recently, the service gained a new "For You" tab layout that updates throughout the day with artists, songs, and moods that match various themes.

Yesterday, Apple also launched the "Replay 2020" playlist for its users, which will keep track of their most streamed songs throughout the year.

Shanghai-based manufacturing company Universal Scientific Industrial will begin supplying the system-in-package for Apple's upcoming Ultra Wideband item tracking tags in the second to third quarter of 2020, with shipments to reach tens of millions of units by the end of the year, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

In a research note with TF International Securities, obtained by MacRumors, Kuo said Universal Scientific Industrial will be the primary supplier of the system-in-package for the tags, fulfilling around 60 percent of orders. Similar to the one inside AirPods, the system-in-package would be a densely packed circuit board, and it would likely include the Apple-designed U1 chip for Ultra Wideband support.

"We believe that the ultra-wideband (UWB) tag will enhance the user experience of iOS's 'find' and augment reality (AR) applications by offering measurement functions in the short distance," wrote Kuo.

Last month, Kuo said the Ultra Wideband tag would be one of Apple's major new hardware products in the first half of 2020, but he has yet to provide a more specific release date for the accessory.

Multiple reports this week have indicated that a new lower-cost iPhone model and refreshed iPad Pro models with 3D sensing could debut as early as next month, possibly at an as-yet unannounced Apple event on Tuesday, March 31. It is certainly possible that the Ultra Wideband tags could also be unveiled at the March event, if one transpires, but the second to third quarter timeframe for system-in-package shipments leaves room for an announcement at WWDC 2020 in June as well.

It is worth noting that Apple has introduced many of its first-generation hardware products several months in advance of their release, including the original iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods, and HomePod, so whether the Ultra Wideband tags are announced in March or June, they might not ship until later in the year.

MacRumors uncovered evidence of Apple working on Tile-like item trackers in iOS 13 code last year, including an unreleased "Items" tab in the Find My app and a potential "AirTag" name for the small, circular tags.

Users would receive a notification when they are separated from a tagged item and, if necessary, they would be able to tap a button in the Find My app that would result in Apple's tag chiming. It would also be possible to disable notifications for "safe locations" such as a home or workplace.

Apple's tags will likely incorporate augmented reality. Last year, for example, MacRumors discovered that a 3D red balloon could help a user pinpoint a lost item after scanning a room with their iPhone. In his research note today, Kuo echoes that the Ultra Wideband tags will benefit augmented reality applications.

iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro models are also equipped with an Apple-designed U1 chip with Ultra Wideband, which Apple's website says will lead to "amazing new capabilities," and AirTags will likely be one of them.