MacRumors

Apple on Wednesday removed popular podcast player Pocket Casts from the App Store in China. According to the app's developers, the removal of Pocket Casts was at the request of the country's Cyberspace Administration, which determined that the app could be used to access content regarded as illegal in China.

"We believe podcasting is and should remain an open medium, free of government censorship," Pocket Casts said on its official Twitter account. "As such we won't be censoring podcast content at their request. We understand this means that it's unlikely that our iOS App will be available in China, but feel it's a necessary step to take for any company that values the open distribution model that makes podcasting special."

Pocket Casts' developers told The Verge that they asked Apple for details on which content violated Chinese law, but were told to contact the Cyberspace Administration of China for the specifics. The app was reportedly removed about two days after Apple contacted the developer.

China's Cyberspace Administration has been known to block access to sites and internet services it doesn't approve of. Blocked content typically includes criticism of the government or other politically sensitive issues. Last year Apple removed the app of news outlet Quartz from China's ‌‌App Store‌‌ after complaints from the government that it included content that is illegal in the country. The app was covering the Hong Kong Umbrella Movement protests at the time.

Apple has also been forced to remove many VPN apps from the ‌App Store‌ in China due to the administration's regulations. Other apps affected in the past or present include WhatsApp, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, and the New York Times app.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

The iOS 13.6 beta, which is currently in testing, introduces an Apple News feature that's designed to save your place in an article when you start reading something and then exit out of the article or the app.

In iOS 13.5.1 and earlier, if you exit out of an article while reading it and then attempt to return to that same article later, the ‌Apple News‌ app automatically starts back at the beginning of the article. In iOS 13.6, it opens back up to the place that you left off so you don't need to scroll down to find the portion of the article you were last reading.

As noted on the MacRumors forums, it takes about thirty seconds for the ‌Apple News‌ app to register and save your position in an article before it's safe to exit out. This isn't a feature that's needed for short articles that you read right away, but for longer content, such as ‌Apple News‌+ magazine articles, it's a welcome change.

The iOS 13.6 update also appears to be laying the groundwork for an ‌Apple News‌+ audio feature that will see Apple offering audio versions of some ‌Apple News‌ stories. Audio is not enabled at this time, but it looks like it's a feature Apple plans to launch in the near future.

Along with these ‌Apple News‌ changes, iOS 13.6 includes a toggle that offers more granular control over the downloading and installing of iOS updates and it adds a new Symptoms section to the Health app.

iOS 13.6 is in beta testing and is limited to developers and public beta testers at this time, but the new features will be available to everyone when it sees a public release.

Apple will be discontinuing iTunes U at the end of 2021, according to a new support document shared by the company today.

Apple says that iTunes U tools have been replaced with next-generation apps for teachers and students, which include Classroom and Schoolwork, plus the Apple School Manager tool.

Apple has been hard at work building the next generation of apps for both teachers and students:

- Classroom turns your iPad into a powerful teaching assistant, helping teachers guide students through a lesson, see their progress, and keep them on track.

- Schoolwork helps teachers save time and maximize each student's potential by making it easy for teachers to share class materials, get students to a specific activity in an app, collaborate with students, and view student progress.

In addition to Classroom and Schoolwork, Apple also introduced Apple School Manager to enable IT Administrators to easily manage iPads, Macs, Apple TV, Apple IDs, books, and apps, while ensuring data is kept secure and private. Apps such as Pages, Numbers, Keynote, GarageBand, iMovie, Clips, and Swift Playgrounds have education-specific features that are used regularly by teachers and students.

With this in mind, Apple will discontinue iTunes U at the end of 2021. iTunes U will continue to be available to all existing customers through the 2020-2021 educational year.

According to Apple, iTunes U will be available for the 2020 to 2021 educational year, with support ending in late 2021. For public content publishers, until iTunes U is discontinued, new and existing content will be available publicly, but Apple suggests creators start exploring other options. Current iTunes U users can continue publishing content through Apple Podcasts or Apple Books.

Apple suggests private publishers transition over to the Schoolwork app, and Apple plans to add ClassKit support to iTunes U to make transitioning easy. Materials in iTunes U courses can be transitioned into Schoolwork Handouts, and iTunes U will also get an export feature so those who want to move to third-party apps or Learning Management Systems can do so.

iTunes U has been around since 2007, and was built in to the iTunes app to provide university lectures and learning content from U.S. colleges. iTunes U allowed educators to create courses with audio, media, handouts, ebooks, and more, with the iTunes U app available for users to access their collections on iPhone and iPad.

When Apple started to transition away from iTunes in 2017, iTunes U content was discontinued as a standalone feature and was transitioned into the Podcasts app and the Podcasts section of iTunes. Support for iTunes U has since been dwindling, with Apple instead focusing on new educational tools.

Apple today sent out an email to iBooks Author users, letting them know that the Mac app is being discontinued on July 1 and removed from the App Store.

In the email, Apple says that following the inclusion of book creation tools in Pages, the company's new focus will be on developing features for the Pages app.

Thank you for being a member of the iBooks Author community. We have some news to share with you about the future of book creation.

Two years ago we brought book creation into Pages. With key features such as the ability to work on iPad, collaborate with others on a shared book, draw with Apple Pencil, and more, Pages is a great platform for making books.

As we focus our efforts on Pages, iBooks Author will no longer be updated and will soon be removed from the Mac App Store. You can continue to use iBooks Author on macOS 10.15 and earlier, and books previously published to Apple Books will remain available. If you have iBooks Author books you'd like to import into Pages for further editing, we have a book import feature coming to Pages soon.

Apple says that iBooks Author will continue to be available on macOS 10.15 and earlier for those who have already installed the apps, and books that were published to Apple Books will remain available.

In the future, Apple plans to add an import feature to Pages to allow books to be imported into the app, and a support document covers details on how users can transition from the ‌iBooks‌ Author app to the Pages app.

Apple first debuted iBooks Author for to allow Mac users to create ebooks in 2012, providing tools for creating textbooks, cookbooks, picture books, and more for the iPad. Apple offered templates and page layout options, along with drag and drop editing tools, but most of those features are now available in Pages.

With WWDC less than two weeks away, a number of MacRumors readers have noticed that shipping estimates for Apple's stock 27-inch iMac configurations are now listed as after the June 22 WWDC kickoff, leading some to believe that this is evidence of an ‌iMac‌ update coming at the keynote.

While there are indeed rumors of an imminent significant update for the ‌iMac‌, perhaps at WWDC, the shipping estimates are not a reliable indicator of this. Apple has been quoting extended shipping estimates on both stock and build-to-order configurations of the 27-inch ‌iMac‌ for over a month, so current quotes are nothing new and they slip back roughly day-by-day as time passes.

It's not entirely clear why shipping estimates initially slipped, as it happened while the global health crisis was affecting supply and manufacturing chains around the world. Certain component shortages could easily have slowed Apple's ability to produce machines, but the company may also be intentionally reducing inventories ahead of new models and only building what's necessary to fulfill orders.

Notably, the 21.5-inch ‌iMac‌ is not seeing extended shipping estimates at the present time as its availability has generally held up better than for its larger sibling.

As noted in our Buyer's Guide, the ‌iMac‌ is definitely due for an update, and we've been hearing significant rumors about an imminent update. Previously reliable leaker CoinX said in March that an ‌iMac‌ update was coming "soon," while an April rumor claimed a new low-cost 23-inch iMac is coming in the second half of the year.

Mark Gurman said in late April that a "substantial" iMac update with a possible redesign would be coming later in the year, and just yesterday, Sonny Dickson claimed that a redesigned iMac with "iPad Pro design language" will be coming at WWDC.

After a strong performance yesterday that pushed Apple's stock price to another record high, shares are up over two percent again today. With today's boost, Apple's market capitalization has surpassed $1.5 trillion, making it the first U.S. company to reach that mark.

Market capitalization is simply the share price multiplied by the number of outstanding shares of the company's stock, yielding the company's overall stock market value. At a current price of around $352 per share and with roughly 4.3 billion shares outstanding, Apple's market capitalization is now at around $1.53 trillion.

Apple's total share count has been declining in recent years as the company has been aggressively buying back stock, which helps to increase the value of the remaining shares on the market. That decrease in share count is, however, accounted for in market capitalization calculations.

After hitting an all-time high share price in late January, Apple's stock slid along with the rest of the market amid the global health crisis, with Apple's share price falling 35% from its peak by late March. A strong and steady recovery brought Apple back up to a fresh all-time high last Friday, and it has continued to gain in recent days.

Apple shares climbed to an all-time high at the close of Nasdaq trading on Tuesday, rising $10.53, or 3.16 percent, and hitting $343.99 per share. Apple now has a market value of almost $1.491 trillion.

Despite a bumpy start to the year, tech stocks have fared well during the global health crisis. Apple saw its stocks fall in February and March due to supplier constraints, store closures, and ongoing curbs on travel and transport, but demand for new devices was buoyed by increasing numbers of people working from home, and that saw Apple's share price surge again in April.

Tuesday's high came on the back of news that Apple plans to announce an upcoming shift to Arm-based Macs at its virtual WWDC event later this month.

Swapping over to its own house-made chips should allow Apple to release updates on its own schedule and with perhaps more frequent technology improvements. Apple should also be able to differentiate its devices from competing products with chips designed by its own internal teams, introducing even tighter integration between hardware and software.

There have been some mixed rumors on when Apple could launch the first Arm-based Macs. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes Apple will release MacBook models with its own custom processors in the fourth quarter of 2020 or the first quarter of 2021.

Kuo expects Apple to release several Mac notebooks and desktop computers with custom designed Arm-based processors in 2021, so the custom processors won't be limited to just one machine. Bloomberg has said that Apple is aiming to release at least one Mac with a custom-designed Arm-based processor by 2021.

Apple is proceeding with a multi-phase plan to begin having employees return to its Silicon Valley campuses, and the first phase of the process will begin on June 15, Apple said in a memo to employees sent out this week.

According to Bloomberg, employees have been informed that the first phase will be "very limited" and people will only be allowed onto the campus on select days depending on their job.

Some Apple employees, like hardware and software engineers, began returning to Apple Park in May, but Apple is now ready to start its multi-phase plan that will see additional employees returning to the site. A second phase is expected to begin in July, though Apple has said that its plans are fluid and could change based on local and state stay-at-home orders. The first phase of employee return has already started in Apple offices outside of Silicon Valley.

Employees who return to Apple's campuses are being provided with an option to take a coronavirus nasal-swab test, and temperature checks are mandatory. Apple told employees that it will limit how many people are allowed in buildings and other work areas simultaneously, and masks will be required at all times across all of Apple's Silicon Valley offices.

Apple is having employees return to work earlier than many other major tech companies. Facebook and Google, for example, plan to allow most employees to work from home through the end of the year. Amazon will allow office workers to work from home until early October, and Twitter and Square plan to allow employees to work from home permanently if they choose to do so.

Some Apple senior executives have also been spending time at the campus as Apple prepares for WWDC and new product launches that will take place in the second half of 2020. Apple retail stores started reopening in May, and as of now, more than 300 stores worldwide have reopened.

On our YouTube channel, we have an ongoing video series designed to highlight new, interesting, and useful iOS apps that we think are worth downloading and checking out.

There are so many apps in the iOS App Store that it can be difficult to find new apps to download, plus it's easy to overlook great apps that are a bit older. This week's picks include apps for managing tasks, finding content on Netflix, and organizing your home, plus we've included some fun games.

• Tasks (Free) - Tasks is a to-do app that lets you create tasks that you need to work on, either immediately or over time. You can organize everything in your life into different categories like Family, Home, Office and more, with sub tasks that can be used for managing projects. Tasks can be managed by the list they're organized in or by date for those that are due soon. Plenty of features are available, like tags, multi-user support, date detection, image support, and more. Tasks is free, but unlocking "Plus" features requires an in-app purchase.
• New on Flix (Free) - Looking for something new to watch on Netflix? New on Flix is the app for you. It's not an official Netflix app and it's pretty simple - it just shows you what new content is added to Netflix every day. New on Flix is free, but you can pay $0.99 to remove ads.
• Homer (Free) - Homer is a digital binder that keeps track of everything needed to run your house. You can take pictures of appliance receipts and warranties, log repairs, take stock of the items in each room, make shopping lists for things you need, and more.
• Crashy Cats (Free) - Crashy Cats is an endless runner where the goal is to take on the role of a cat to jump, bounce, and fly through levels while knocking over as many things as possible. It's free to play, but there are in-app purchases for additional in-game "Fish" currency.
• SpongeBob: Patty Pursuit (Apple Arcade) - SpongeBob: Patty Pursuit is a new ‌Apple Arcade‌ game that's described as a platform runner. In the app, players take on the role of SpongeBob to defeat Plankton's minions and rescue SpongeBob's friends. There are familiar locations like Bikini Bottom, Glove World, and more, along with mechanics that include trampolines, zip lines, and transformation machines to morph SpongeBob into a range of silly forms. It's free and there are no ads, but a $4.99 per month subscription to ‌Apple Arcade‌ is required.

Have a favorite iOS app? Let us know in the comments. We're always looking for new iOS app ideas, and we'll check out suggestions from MacRumors readers. You can see our recommendations from previous months here, and don't miss our Mac app series featuring great Mac apps worth taking a look at.

Apple is planning to launch a Mac trade-in program at its retail stores in the United States and Canada next week, reports Bloomberg.

The new program, which kicks off on June 15 in the United States and June 18 in Canada, will allow customers to exchange a Mac for credit that can be put on a gift card or used to cut the cost of a new computer.

Apple has long allowed Mac trade-ins on its website, but has not accepted Mac trade-ins in its retail store locations. The new Mac trade-in option will join in-store trade-in programs for the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.

According to Bloomberg, Apple may be introducing the program as a way to boost Mac sales by providing customers with an easier way to get a credit for an old machine. With the new trade-in program, customers will no longer need to hassle with doing a trade-in by mail, and can get an immediate credit when making an in-store purchase.

Anker's eufy brand is starting the rollout of HomeKit Secure Video support, which will allow eufyCam 2 and eufyCam 2C home security cameras to work with Apple's ‌HomeKit Secure Video‌ feature.

The 2.1.0.4h firmware update that enables ‌HomeKit Secure Video‌ will be rolling out starting today, but the full rollout will take two to three weeks, so it will be some time before it is available to all eufyCam 2 users.

With ‌HomeKit Secure Video‌, recorded footage will be stored in iCloud with end-to-end encryption, and motion detection will be done on device. Video footage will be able to be viewed in the Home app, which will also deliver rich notifications when movement is detected.

‌HomeKit Secure Video‌ does not have a monthly fee associated it with it, but it does require the 200GB or 1TB ‌iCloud‌ storage plans, priced at $2.99 or $9.99 per month, respectively. Though a higher-tier ‌iCloud‌ storage plan is required, video footage does not count against ‌iCloud‌ storage limits.

The 200GB works for a single HomeKit Secure Camera, while the 1TB plan works for up to five ‌HomeKit‌ Secure Cameras. Viewing footage from a ‌HomeKit‌ Secure Camera like the eufyCam 2 remotely requires a home hub, which can be a HomePod, Apple TV, or iPad.

The eufyCam 2 and 2C systems feature 1080p video recording, night vision, weatherproofing, and wire-free operation with a single charge lasting up to a year.

A eufyCam 2 security system with two cameras and hub is priced at $300 on Amazon, while a eufyCam 2C security system with two cameras and hub can be purchased for $187.

In the new iOS 13.6 beta released today, the Health app has gained a new "Symptoms" section that wasn't available in previous versions of iOS.

The section appears to allow users to add symptoms of various illnesses like body and muscle aches, appetite changes, coughing, dizziness, fainting, headache, nausea, and more.

Health app users are able to add symptom data through the Health app by tapping on the "Add Data" option, providing a way to track and log various illness-related symptoms over time.

Each symptom listed in the app comes with a description and the entry options vary based on the symptom in question, with options to add details like Severe, Moderate, Mild, Present, or Not Present.

The Health app previously had options for logging symptoms related to menstruation for the menstruation tracking feature, but this general symptoms feature is more extensive and will presumably allow patients to share more detailed health information with their doctors.

Steve Moser contributed to this report.