Apple is in preliminary talks with Taiwan-based company PlayNitride over cooperation in the MicroLED market, according to DigiTimes via Micro-LED-Info.
While the report doesn't provide any further details about the potential partnership, PlayNitride has developed its own MicroLED displays called PixeLED that may be of interest to Apple for its future products. Samsung was also reportedly interested in the company back in early 2017, but no deal transpired.
PlayNitride is said to have received approval from the Taiwanese government to establish a multimillion-dollar facility at Hsinchu Science Park in northern Taiwan, where it will produce its MicroLED technologies.
Apple's interest in MicroLED displays was first reported in 2015, when it was discovered that the company opened a secretive laboratory in Taoyuan, Taiwan to research the display technology. Since then, Apple has reportedly downsized its team in Taiwan and shifted the efforts closer to its headquarters.
Last month, Bloomberg News reported that Apple has a secret facility in Santa Clara, California, near Cupertino, where it is allegedly designing and producing test samples of its own MicroLED displays. The displays are reportedly being manufactured by TSMC, which already produces A-series chips for iPhones.
MicroLED is widely considered to be Apple's next step after OLED, which it currently uses for the Apple Watch and iPhone X.
Image Credit: TrendForce
MicroLED displays have many of the same advantages as OLED displays have over LCDs, including improved color accuracy, improved contrast ratio, faster response times, and true blacks given both have self-lit pixels, but they are even thinner, much brighter, and more energy efficient than OLED panels.
Apple's use of MicroLED would likely start small, with the Apple Watch, followed by iPhones and then iPads. A recent report said Apple may even use MicroLED for its widely rumored augmented reality glasses. However, the transition away from LCDs and OLEDs is widely believed to be at least a few years away.
Shoppers who use Apple Pay to checkout in Adidas, GOAT, Hotwire, and more over the next few weeks will be rewarded with numerous exclusive offers, thanks to Apple's new "Springtime savings" event. Unlike previous Apple Pay promos that usually focus on one or two services, the new deal is for 10 total apps and websites that support Apple Pay.
You can check out all of the offers in the list below, most of which will run from April 5 through April 18 in the United States.
One week ago Apple launched a promo focused on sporting gear in partnership with Fanatics, and prior to that there were offers for GrubHub, Seamless, and Eat24, free song credits in TouchTunes, movie ticket savings with Fandango, free Instacart deliveries, and more.
Developer Jam City today confirmed that the new mobile role-playing game "Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery" will launch globally on April 25 on both iOS and Android devices. In the game, players will be able to create their own Hogwarts student, go to classes, study spells, build friendships, and make pivotal decisions in a new "encounter system" that influences their personal story in Hogwarts.
Images via Jam City
In addition to the release date, Jam City announced that the mobile game will also have six actors from the main Harry Potter films reprise their roles within Hogwarts Mystery. The actors providing voice work for the game include Dame Maggie Smith (Professor McGonagall), Michael Gambon (Professor Dumbledore), Warwick Davis (Professor Flitwick), Sally Mortemore (Madam Irma Pince), Gemma Jones (Madam Pomfrey), and Zoe Wanamaker (Madam Hooch).
"Our goal with Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is to make players really feel for the first time like they’re attending Hogwarts,” said Chris DeWolfe, co-founder and CEO of Jam City. “By including these iconic and incredibly talented actors in the game, we come one step closer to truly giving fans their own Hogwarts experience.”
In terms of story specifics, Jam City has said that Hogwarts Mystery is set in the 1980s, after Harry Potter is born but before he enrolls at Hogwarts. Jam City has worked on bringing other popular franchises to mobile before, including the development of "Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow" with the show's original writers, animators, and cast members.
Another mobile game set in the Harry Potter universe is also in the works at Niantic, called "Harry Potter: Wizards Unite" and previously reported to launch in 2018. Niantic's game is said to be "significantly influenced" by its previous success with Pokémon Go, allowing players to explore their real world neighborhoods and cities in an effort to discover, fight, and capture the Harry Potter series' fantastic beasts.
Apple today shared photos of its new Apple Shinjuku retail store, which will open on Saturday, April 7, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. local time. The store is located in the Shinjuku Marui main building -- a department store in Tokyo -- and marks the eighth location for Apple in Japan.
The interior pictures showcase the same neon banner that Apple posted on its website when it first announced the store, which is just blocks from Shinjuku Station in Tokyo's famous shopping, business and entertainment district.
Also evident in the photos is Apple Shinjuku's expansive 37-meter glass storefront lined with local Longstock Holly trees, as well as familiar Apple store design elements including the Forum, with a dynamic 6K video wall, and Avenues, with interactive displays for visitors to get hands-on with third-party products and accessories.
Apple's senior VP of retail Angela Ahrendts commented on the store in the company's press release:
"Apple has a long and special history in Japan, and Shinjuku marks the first of several new stores we’ll open in Japan in the coming years," said Angela Ahrendts, Apple's senior vice president of Retail. "We can't wait to welcome the vibrant community in Shinjuku to experience all the best Apple has to offer."
As with other Apple Stores, Apple Shinjuku will offer free daily Today at Apple sessions covering art and design, music, photography, coding, activity and more. Participants start by learning the basics in Quick Start and How To sessions, then dive deeper into their creative interests with Music Labs, Sketch Walks and Photo Walks, including evening walks to capture the iconic neon lights of Shinjuku.
Apple CEO Tim Cook visited Alabama today to attend a banquet hosted by the Birmingham Metro Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), where he received the 2018 Human Rights Award for advocacy for equality and safety in the workplace. Cook is an Alabama native who grew up in Robertsdale and attended Auburn University.
The event was meant to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. King was the founding president of the SCLC in 1957.
It’s an honor to be in Birmingham celebrating Dr. King’s life today. "Let us all hope that...in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty." pic.twitter.com/GN6T54hSqx
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 4, 2018
Ahead of the banquet, Cook also spoke at a student symposium at the Sixth Avenue Baptist Church in Birmingham focusing on civil rights, education, and innovation, and details of what he had to say were shared by Alabama news site AL.com.
On the topic of Martin Luther King Jr., Cook said his teachings "are timeless." "If you listen to him today, you feel like he is speaking about today," said Cook. He went on to explain that it's important to reflect on the work done by King, and the ways we can continue his legacy.
Full of hope this morning, hearing from hundreds of Alabama students who are carrying Dr. King's legacy into the future. pic.twitter.com/NDPimMl10A
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 4, 2018
As for students who attended the symposium, Cook encouraged them to "change the status quo" with a quote from Dr. King: "It's not the behavior and the actions of evil people that we remember at the end, but the silence of the good people." Cook said that's a quote that has always resonated with him.
"It is a special time in your life," he said. "This is a period of time where you can change the status quo. Now is the time to do it. The world needs you more than ever to not be silent."
After Dr. King, the conversation shifted to coding. As Cook has said multiple times, he believes coding is an "essential language." Apple's Swift coding curriculum is rolling out in community colleges in Alabama as of today, and Cook's trip also involved a stop at the Lawson State Community College.
Cook told students at the symposium that everyone in school should have "multiple years" of coding before graduating because it's important to "understand the possibility of software" even for those who don't plan to pursue a computer science-related job.
He also said that with students in the U.S. being pushed into four-year colleges, vocational paths have dried up, leading to the need for a rebalancing. Not everyone needs to attend a four-year college, he reportedly said, and focusing so much on four-year colleges has left us without enough people with the skills to build things.
Cook's final words were to encourage students to fight for change. Young people are "not stuck with old dogmas" and don't accept "it's never been done before" or "it can't be done," he said. "This is a great beauty of being young," he told students.
All of Cook's comments and additional details on the symposium can be found over at AL.com.
Apple last week announced and debuted an attractive new iPad option -- a sixth-generation model with an affordable $329 price tag, an upgraded A10 Fusion processor, and support for the Apple Pencil, an accessory previously limited to the more expensive iPad Pro models.
For MacRumors readers who are upgrading to Apple's stellar new tablet from an older model, we've put together a video and guide covering features, accessories, and tips for getting the most out of the sixth-generation iPad.
Apple Pencil support is the major new feature in the sixth-generation iPad, and there are a ton of useful tricks you need to know if you're new to the accessory.
Pairing
Pairing the Apple Pencil to the iPad is as simple as uncapping it and plugging the Lightning connector into the Lightning port on your iPad. You'll see a popup that asks you to confirm to pair, and once you accept, the Apple Pencil is successfully connected to the iPad.
Charging and Battery
When you connect your Apple Pencil to your iPad, it'll let you know the battery level. You can also check using widgets accessed by swiping to the right of the Home screen. Scroll down to the "Batteries" section where your iPad and its connected devices (including Apple Pencil) are listed.
Don't see a battery widget? Tap on "Edit" at the bottom of the list and tap on the "+" icon next to the "Batteries" option.
The Apple Pencil's battery lasts for approximately 12 hours, and it charges through the Lightning connector on the iPad or with any Lightning cable using an adapter that ships with the accessory.
If your battery is dead and you need your Apple Pencil in a hurry, just plug it in for 15 seconds. That'll get you enough juice to use it for a half hour, so it's never out of power when you need it.
Apple Pencil Capabilities
The Apple Pencil is a sophisticated device that does quite a lot when paired with the sixth-generation iPad. A new touch sensor in the iPad allows for the Apple Pencil to work, enabling a lag-free writing and drawing experience that's identical to using the Apple Pencil on the more expensive iPad Pro.
Your iPad knows when you're using your Apple Pencil and it blocks out other touch input. That means there's built-in palm rejection, so feel free to rest your hand on the iPad while you write or sketch.
There are pressure and positioning sensors included in the Apple Pencil, which let it detect a range of forces to enable pressure-sensitive drawing and writing in supported apps. When you press lightly, you'll get a thin line. Press harder, and you'll get a thicker line.
On the same note, there are two tilt sensors that determine the orientation and angle of the Apple Pencil while you're holding it, a feature that lets you add shading to drawings and sketches by using the side of the tip.
Replacing the Tip
The Apple Pencil has a replaceable tip, so when it wears down, you can swap in a new one. An extra tip comes with the Apple Pencil, and you can purchase an additional package of four from Apple for $19.99.
How often you'll need to change the tip will depend on how much you're using the Apple Pencil, but on average, a tip should last for multiple months to a year or more. To swap it out, turn the tip counterclockwise to unscrew it and then screw on a new one.
Apple Pencil Apps
The Apple Pencil is ideal for taking notes, writing, sketching, drawing, and other similar tasks on the iPad, and because it's been around for several years now, there are tons of apps that offer full support for the Apple Pencil's features. We've listed some of our favorites below:
GoodNotes 4 ($7.99) - GoodNotes 4 is a comprehensive note-taking app that offers a range of writing and sketching tools, along with OCR for searching through your written notes. You can also use it to annotate documents and PDFs with the Apple Pencil.
Notability ($9.99) - Notability is another app that offers all of the features you need for taking detailed, concise notes with the Apple Pencil. It's simple, easy to use, and offers tons of writing and sketching tools, but it's not quite as feature rich as GoodNotes 4.
PDF Expert ($9.99) - If you're going to be editing and annotating a lot of PDFs, it may be worth investing in PDF expert.
Pigment (Free) - Pigment is a coloring book app that lets you color in intricate designs using the Apple Pencil. Kids love it, and it's relaxing for adults too.
Affinity Photo ($19.99) - Affinity Photo is a lot like Photoshop - you can use it for drawing, sketching, editing photos, and more. It has full support for Apple Pencil, including pressure sensitivity and tilt. Use it to apply editing effects to photos or create paintings with its extensive brush library and brush tools.
Procreate ($9.99) - For sketching and drawing on the iPad, you won't go wrong with Procreate, an app that many iPad artists prefer. Procreate supports high-definition canvases, offers tons of brushes, and has full support for Apple Pencil.
Tracing Through Paper
Want to digitize a drawing that's on traditional paper? The Apple Pencil works through paper, so just place the sheet over the iPad's display, where it will be illuminated by the screen, and then trace the design in your favorite sketching app.
Other Apple Pencil Tidbits
Apple Pencil support is built into apps throughout the iOS 11 operating system. Inline Apple Pencil drawings, for example, can be inserted into Notes and Mail, while a useful Instant Notes feature lets you tap your Apple Pencil on the display of the iPad to automatically open a new note in the Notes app without having to unlock the iPad or manually open the app.
If you use the document scanner in the Notes app to scan a piece of paper, you can then sign it or annotate it with Apple Pencil. It's a useful feature for documents that you need to sign and return to someone. You can also sign standard PDFs, either in the Mail app or right in the Files app.
With the sixth-generation iPad, Apple also added Apple Pencil support to all of its iWork apps, so you can use Apple Pencil with Pages, Keynote, and Numbers. You can also use the Apple Pencil for drawing on and annotating screenshots and photos with Instant Markup, a feature available in the Photos app or whenever you take a screenshot (just tap on the screenshot icon in the lower left corner).
The Apple Pencil is, of course, designed for note taking and sketching, but you can also use it for navigation just like your finger.
Augmented Reality
The sixth-generation iPad includes an A10 Fusion chip, and while it's not as speedy as the A10X Fusion in the iPad Pro, it's still able to run any app or game in the App Store. Apple specifically said the more powerful A10 Fusion, which was first introduced in the iPhone 7, was added to the sixth-generation iPad to support augmented reality content.
There are now tons of augmented reality apps built using ARKit in the App Store, and you can download everything from Pokémon Go to apps that let you preview furniture to educational apps, all of which have AR content. In the iOS App Store, you'll want to check out the specific AR categories in the apps and games sections.
iOS 11 on the iPad
iOS 11 introduced a whole slew of iPad-specific features that make using an iPad as a computer replacement a much more pleasing experience. The new sixth-generation iPad, with its A10 Fusion processor, supports all of these features.
A persistent dock, for example, houses all of your apps and makes it easier to use the built-in multitasking features for accessing two apps side by side. Using simple drag gestures that are easy to learn, you can use multiple apps in a variety of ways with Slide Over and Split View arrangements, as demoed in the video.
Picture-in-picture, another multitasking feature in iOS 11, lets you watch a video on YouTube or another source while continuing to use other apps, which is super handy, and drag and drop features make it simple to move files and content from one app to another.
Control Center has been merged with a useful new App Switcher, accessible by swiping up from the bottom of the iPad. With the App Switcher, you can access all Control Center options and quickly switch between open apps with just a tap.
You can find more detail on all of these iPad features in our iOS 11 roundup, which is complete with tons of how tos that are worth checking out for learning even more about iOS 11 and the new iPad.
Adding Accessories
While the new iPad supports the Apple Pencil, it doesn't have a Smart Connector and there's no option for a Smart Keyboard. Bluetooth keyboards are supported, though, and if you want to use your iPad for writing, coding, or other keyboard intensive tasks, it's worth picking one up.
The sixth-generation iPad's design is the same as the fifth-generation iPad's design, so all existing iPad keyboards will work with the new model, and there are tons of options out there. Brydge, for example, makes a highly rated $99 iPad keyboard, and there are multiple options from Logitech, like the $99 Slim Folio. You can also use Apple's own Magic Keyboard for a Mac-like typing experience.
Did you get a new iPad? Are there tips and tricks worth knowing that we haven't covered here? Let us know in the comments.
Apple today shared new iPad tutorial videos on its YouTube channel, which appear to be aimed at customers who have purchased the new sixth-generation iPad with Apple Pencil support. Apple has also aggregated all of the videos on an iPad how to website.
The first video, which is a minute long, focuses on using the Instant Markup feature that's designed to allow users to draw on and annotate screenshots on the iPad. The tutorial walks through every step of the process, from capturing a screenshot on iPad using the Home button and the power button to using the Apple Pencil to mark it up to sharing the finished product.
Apple's second tutorial video covers Split View multitasking to use two apps at the same time. The video instructs users on accessing the dock to open two apps at the same time, and then it covers drag and drop techniques.
Several other unlisted tutorial videos cover features like using the iPad's keyboard, using the Files app, working with multiple emails, and sketching in the Notes app.
Apple has shared several tutorial videos like this in the past, which are often tied to new releases. Tutorial videos can typically be found on the separate Apple Support YouTube channel, but these new tutorial videos are on the company's main channel for new iPad owners.
The new sixth-generation iPad went on sale last week after its debut at Apple's March 27 educational event. The new tablet, which is priced at $329, boasts a new A10 Fusion processor and support for the Apple Pencil.
The number of apps available in the App Store shrank for the first time ever in 2017, according to data shared today by App Store analytics company Appfigures (via TechCrunch).
At the end of 2017, there were 2.1 million iOS apps available in the App Store, compared to 2.2 million apps at the beginning of the year.
Starting in September of 2016, Apple told developers it would be removing old, outdated apps that had not been updated with compatibility for more recent devices or no longer complied with current review guidelines.
Apple also created new App Store guidelines limiting apps created from commercialized templates or app generation services, and officially banned virus scanning apps, plus it cracked down on clone and spam apps, all of which contributed to the company's App Store cleanup efforts.
Changes in iOS 11 may have had the biggest impact on the available number of apps in the App Store, though. With iOS 11, Apple stopped supporting 32-bit apps, which the company began phasing out in 2013. 32-bit apps do not open on devices running iOS 11, nor can older 32-bit apps be found in the App Store.
Since 2015, Apple has required all apps and app updates to use 64-bit architecture, so apps that became defunct with iOS 11 had not been updated in at least two years.
Appfigures says that the decrease in apps can also be attributed to a dip in the number of new apps submitted by developers in 2017. Just 755,000 new apps were added to the App Store in 2017, down 29 percent from the previous year. This too could be attributed to Apple's more restrictive App Store policies cutting down on low-quality apps.
While the number of App Store apps has declined due to Apple's efforts to make sure apps in the App Store are prioritizing quality, Google Play growth has accelerated. In 2017, Google Play reached 3.6 million available apps, a growth of 30 percent. Android developers released 1.5 million new apps in 2017, up 17 percent.
Third-party Instagram apps will no longer be able to use APIs that provide access to follower lists, likes, relationships, and public comments.
To continuously improve Instagram users' privacy and security, we are accelerating the deprecation of Instagram API Platform, making the following changes effective immediately. We understand that this may affect your business or services, and we appreciate your support in keeping our platform secure.
In the future, other APIs will be disabled. Starting on December 11, 2018, Instagram will no longer allow apps to read public content, and in early 2020, apps will not be able to read a user's own profile info and media. These APIs are all part of Instagram's older platform, and it has already been working towards transferring developers to a newer, more restrictive platform.
As TechCrunch points out, Instagram had originally planned on deprecating the APIs in July and December of 2018, but suddenly moved the timetable forward in the wake of Facebook's Cambridge Analytica scandal. While the remaining APIs won't be disabled fully until 2020, Instagram has implemented rate limit reductions on them as of last weekend to limit access.
Instagram previously allowed 5,000 API calls per user per hour, a number that has been cut down to 200.
Facebook Chief Technology Officer Mike Shroepfer today wrote a blog post outlining several changes that are being made to Facebook APIs to limit the amount of data apps can collect from Facebook users.
Changes are being made to the Events, Groups, and Pages API to cut down on what apps can see. With the Events API, for example, apps will no longer be able to access attendees or posts on the event wall, and the Groups API will no longer provide member lists or names associated with posts or comments.
Facebook will also now need to approve third-party access to both Groups and Pages APIs, and, as mentioned previously, all apps that access information like check-ins, photos, posts, and videos. Apps will no longer be able to see religious or political views, relationship status, education, work history, and tons more, all of which was previously readily available.
It is also no longer possible to search for a person's phone number or email address to locate them on Facebook. Facebook says "malicious actors" have used this feature to "scrape public profile information" using data pulled from search and account recovery options.
For Android users, Facebook had been collecting call and message logs to enable Messenger features. Facebook says it will delete all logs older than a year and will upload less data to its servers going forward.
Starting next Monday, Facebook will also introduce a link at the top of the News Feed to let all users see what apps are installed and what information has been shared with those apps to make it easy for less technically savvy users to remove apps.
The Facebook privacy changes come in the wake of the ongoing Cambridge Analytica scandal, where Cambridge Analytica used personal data acquired from Facebook in an illicit manner by a third-party app to create targeted political advertisements during the 2016 election.
Originally, Facebook said Cambridge Analytica was able to collect data on 50 million Facebook users, but today, Facebook clarified that it actually had access to the Facebook data from up to 87 million people, with 70 million of those in the United States.
The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation today disclosed it has ordered [PDF] all iPhone slowdown lawsuits to be transferred to the U.S. District Court for Northern California and, with the consent of that court, assigned to the Honorable Judge Edward J. Davila for consolidated pretrial proceedings.
More than half of the 61 lawsuits—and counting—were filed in the Northern District of California to begin with, so centralization of the remaining complaints filed in other states should help to streamline the legal process.
An excerpt from the order:
These actions share factual questions arising from allegations that Apple included code in updates to its mobile operating system (iOS) that significantly reduced the performance of older-model iPhones. Plaintiffs also allege that Apple misrepresented the nature of the iOS updates and failed to adequately disclose to iPhone owners the impact the iOS updates would have on the performance of their iPhones.
Discovery regarding the engineering of the iPhone and the iOS updates likely will be technical and complex. Plaintiffs assert similar causes of action for false advertising, alleged unfair business practices, trespass to chattels, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment. Moreover, plaintiffs bring these actions on behalf of overlapping putative classes of iPhone owners.
The first lawsuit was filed in late December, after Apple revealed that it throttles the maximum performance of some older iPhone models with chemically aged batteries when necessary in order to prevent the devices from unexpectedly shutting down. The changes were first introduced in iOS 10.2.1.
Apple didn't mention the change when iOS 10.2.1 was first released, and in a statement issued a month later, it still only mentioned vague "improvements" resulting in a significant reduction in unexpected shutdowns.
Apple only revealed exactly what the so-called "improvements" were after Primate Labs founder John Poole visualized that some iPhone 6s and iPhone 7 devices suddenly had lower benchmark scores starting with iOS 10.2.1 and iOS 11.2 respectively, despite operating at maximum performance on previous versions.
Apple apologized for its lack of communication in December, and reduced the price of battery replacements to $29 for iPhone 6 and newer through the end of 2018. Apple also released iOS 11.3 earlier this week with a new feature that enables users to track their iPhone battery's health and performance status.
Moreover, when users first install iOS 11.3, all performance management features that might have been enabled are automatically disabled. If an unexpected shutdown occurs, however, the performance management is turned back on and must be disabled manually thereafter—although Apple doesn't recommend it.
In addition to the lawsuits, Apple has also faced questions from government officials and consumer protection groups in the United States, Canada, France, South Korea, and a handful of other countries.
Apple today released the first beta of an upcoming macOS High Sierra 10.13.5 update to public beta testers, one day after seeding the update to developers and one week after releasing macOS High Sierra 10.13.4.
Beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program will be able to download the new macOS High Sierra beta through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store.
Those who want to be a part of Apple's beta testing program can sign up to participate through the beta testing website, which gives users access to iOS, macOS, and tvOS betas.
macOS High Sierra 10.13.5 once again introduces support for Messages on iCloud, a feature that was present in macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 betas but pulled ahead of the release of the updated software.
Messages on iCloud is designed to let you store iMessages in iCloud, keeping your incoming messages synced across devices and allowing you to save valuable storage space on your devices.
No other major outward-facing changes were discovered in the first developer beta, but the update likely includes bug fixes and improvements to address issues discovered in macOS High Sierra 10.13.4.
Apple today released a new update for Safari Technology Preview, the experimental browser Apple first introduced two years ago in March of 2016. Apple designed the Safari Technology Preview to test features that may be introduced into future release versions of Safari.
Safari Technology Preview release 53 includes bug fixes and feature improvements for Service Workers, WebRTC, Loading, Rendering, Media, Accessibility, CSS, Web API, and Web Inspector.
Apple's aim with Safari Technology Preview is to gather feedback from developers and users on its browser development process. Safari Technology Preview can run side-by-side with the existing Safari browser and while designed for developers, it does not require a developer account to download.
Apple Music and iCloud Music Library sometimes face slight delays when syncing your music between devices like a Mac and iPhone, but since the launch of iOS 11.3 reports about these delays have grown much more frequent. On the MacRumors forums, in Apple's support communities, and throughout numerousRedditposts, users have mentioned that when they add new music on their Mac or iPad, it no longer appears on their iPhone.
Some users have said that toggling iCloud Music Library on/off works to kickstart the sync and force a refresh of albums on their iPhone, but that has the potential to cause further problems like deleted music and the removal of some song downloads. Fortunately, one user on the Apple support communities website has shared a helpful temporary fix for the issue, which MacRumors has been able to successfully perform more than five times.
Creating a new, blank playlist works to refresh your Apple Music library
To manually refresh your iPhone's music library, simply create a new, blank playlist by navigating to the Library tab in the iOS Music app, tap Playlists, tap New Playlist, and tap Done. Once the refresh is done, jump to the bottom of the Playlists page and 3D Touch to delete the empty playlist. Note that this will also update songs added and removed within playlists.
There is no fix for this, but there is a work around until Apple fixes this: just create a blank playlist on the iOS device. This forces a read/write with the library stored in iCloud, then all your changes will suddenly get pulled down. You have to do this every time, it's essentially a manual refresh now.
Unfortunately, the reverse method doesn't appear to work as consistently in iTunes on Mac, but desktop users also have another potential easy solution to refresh their library: simply rate a song by loving/disliking it. Afterwards, the Recently Added tab in iTunes should refresh with the addition or removal of content that you made on any other devices connected to the same iCloud account.
On both macOS and iOS, you can also add any other new song, album, or playlist to your library to manually refresh and force the content not syncing across devices to appear. Then, you can delete the new songs after everything else has been updated.
Multiple Apple Music subscribers have opened up support cases on the bug, and Apple support in most instances have said that it's not a known issue. However, support staff told one user that they will start an investigation after he "rebooted, changed password, signed out of iCloud, switched iCloud music library off," and more.
Apple has updated its special enterprise-focused version of iTunes that still has a built-in App Store for those who need it.
Download links for iTunes 12.6.4.3 have been quietly made available in an Apple support document related to deploying iPhone and iPad apps in a business environment with iTunes on Mac or Windows PCs.
The update was prepared on March 20 and released on Tuesday, according to German blog iFun.de. The version doesn't include new release notes, so it is likely a minor update with bug fixes and stability improvements.
Apple removed the App Store in iTunes 12.7 last September, but it released iTunes 12.6.3 shortly afterwards for business customers or anyone who might still need to use the desktop software to install iOS apps.
Those who have already downloaded iTunes 12.6.3 will likely not be prompted about the iTunes 12.6.4.3 update, so they'll have to update manually by downloading and installing the new version from Apple's support document.
iTunes 12.6.4.3 can be downloaded by anyone, including those who have already installed iTunes 12.7. If at any point users want to update to iTunes 12.7.4 or later, they can do so manually from the main iTunes download page.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has a new report out this morning, claiming that Apple is working on future iPhone models that will incorporate "touchless gesture control" as well as curved screens. The company is said to be looking at how it can differentiate its flagship product in a smartphone market that's becoming increasingly saturated with devices.
According to people with knowledge of Apple's plans, the touchless control feature is described as a hover-like gesture system that would let future iPhone owners navigate iOS "by moving their finger close to the screen without actually tapping it." This technology would be advanced enough to take into account the proximity of a finger to the screen and is predicted to still be around two years away, if Apple chooses to move forward with it.
Gurman also compared Apple's gesture design to Samsung's Air Gestures in Android smartphones and Google's Project Soli. In comparison, Apple's future iPhone "would require gestures to be closer to the screen than with Project Soli," and be based on technology built in the display rather than some kind of motion sensor added to the iPhone's bezel, as it is with Air Gestures.
Secondly, Apple is in the works on an iPhone display that curves inward "gradually from top to bottom," unlike Samsung's smartphones that curve down and away at the edges of the screen. Gurman's sources said that this major iPhone upgrade is around two to three years away. The company has been connected to curved display rumors in the past, and in October 2017 was said to be working with LG Display on an iPhone with a foldable display.
The new report also quickly corroborates many of the current rumors for the 2018 iPhone lineup:
While the Apple projects aren’t imminent, the company has near-term plans to expand OLED technology to more devices, according to other people familiar with the matter. It will release a second iPhone with that type of screen later this year; a larger model with a 6.5-inch screen, up from the 5.8-inch size in the current iPhone X. The company is also working on an update to the iPhone X’s size and a new, lower-cost LCD model.
Earlier in February, another one of Gurman's reports focused on the launch of iOS 12 later this year, which is believed to feature Animoji in FaceTime, deeper Siri integration, and an overall focus on quality rather than the introduction of many new features.
Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that Apple Pay would be launching in Brazil during the company's first quarter earnings call, and today the "coming soon" label was removed from Apple's website. A number of Brazilian users have been able to set up Apple Pay as of this morning, according to social media posts.
Apple Pay can be set up in the Wallet app and is accepted at a wide range of locations in Brazil, including Bullguer, Starbucks, Taco Bell, The Fifties, and Track&Field. The service is currently limited to Visa and Mastercard credit cards from Itaú Unibanco, but it will likely expand to additional banks soon.
Apple Pay works with the iPhone 6 or later and any Apple Watch. Apple Pay in apps and on the web is also available on iPads with Touch ID, including the low-cost iPad, iPad mini 3 and iPad mini 4, and iPad Pro models.
Since 2014, Apple Pay has expanded to more than a dozen countries, including the United States, Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, France, Ireland, Italy, Denmark, Finland, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, Spain, Singapore, Switzerland, Sweden, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.
Several TV and music services and other apps offer free trials through the App Store that automatically renew to become paid subscriptions after the trial period ends.
If you want to prevent an App Store subscription from running beyond the trial period or cancel a subscription you're currently paying for, then read on. This article explains how to cancel any App Store subscription on iOS, Mac, and Apple TV.
Tap on the subscription in the list that you wish to cancel.
Tap Cancel Subscription at the bottom.
How to Cancel App Store Subscriptions on Mac
Launch the App Store application.
At the bottom left corner, click on your name to load your account and previous purchases.
Near the top right of the window, click View Information. Enter your Apple ID credentials if required.
Scroll down to the Manage section and on the Subscriptions line, click Manage.
In the Active section, click Edit next to the subscription that you want to cancel.
Click the Cancel Subscription button.
How to Cancel Subscriptions on Apple TV
Open Settings on your Apple TV.
Select Users and Accounts.
Select the user you wish to manage subscriptions for.
Scroll down and select Subscriptions. Enter your Apple ID credentials if requested.
Choose the subscription that you want to end.
Select Cancel Subscription.
Confirm that you want to cancel.
How to Change a Subscription or Re-subscribe to a Canceled Service
Apple keeps a record of your subscription history, which makes it easy to re-subscribe to a service you previously canceled. (Note that after re-subscribing to a service, your subscription will automatically renew until you cancel it again.) You can also change an existing subscription from the same screens. The following steps relate to iOS and are largely similar to the ones for canceling a subscription.
Open Settings on your iPhone or iPad.
Tap your Apple ID at the top of the page.
Tap Subscriptions.
Under the Expired section, tap on the service that you wish to re-subscribe to, or tap an active subscription to change it.
Tap the in-app purchase payment method you want to use to purchase the new subscription and authorize with Touch ID or Face ID.
How to Change or Re-subscribe to a Service on Mac
Launch the App Store application.
At the bottom left corner, click on your name to load your account and previous purchases.
Near the top right of the window, click View Information. Enter your Apple ID credentials if required.
Scroll down to the Manage section and on the Subscriptions line, click Manage.
In the Expired section, click Edit next to the service that you want to re-subscribe to, or click Edit next to an active subscription to change it.
Select your desired subscription option.
Click the Done button at the bottom of the page and authorize with your credentials or Touch ID.
Along with multiple privacy-related API changes 
Apple today 
Several TV and music services and other apps offer free trials through the 
