In iOS 11 and later, it's possible to add an Apple TV Remote interface to the Control Center that will allow you to quickly navigate and control playback on your 4K Apple TV or fourth-generation Apple TV using your iPhone or iPad. It's a great solution if you just can't get on with Apple's Siri Remote, and doesn't require you to install an app. In this article, we'll show you how to set up the Apple TV Remote on your iOS device and explain how to use it once you've done so.
Before continuing, make sure that your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch is updated to the latest version of iOS: Open the Settings app, tap General -> About, and look for the version number. If you need to update, tap back to Settings, select Software Update, and follow the onscreen instructions, then meet us back here when installation is complete.
Customers aiming to get a battery replacement for an older iPhone with a degraded battery are facing longer wait times than ever, according to new data shared by Barclays.
Average wait times for a new battery have jumped up to 2.7 to 4.5 weeks based on a series of Apple Store checks conducted by Barclays analyst Mark Moskowitz (via Business Insider). That's up from around 2.3 to 4.5 weeks earlier in the year.
MacRumors has received complaints from customers who are facing long wait times for replacements and who have, in some cases, been waiting for weeks to hear back from Apple about previously requested battery replacements.
When you initiate a battery replacement from Apple, stores typically need to order the part from Apple and then let you know when the new battery arrives, so getting a fresh battery isn't as simple as scheduling a Genius Bar appointment.
Wait times vary based on location and by the device that needs the battery replacement. Batteries for devices like the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s are harder to come by than batteries for the iPhone 7, and for some devices, like the iPhone 6 Plus, battery wait times have ranged into months.
Back in January, Apple said that for the iPhone 6 Plus, which is no longer being sold, replacement batteries are in such short supply that customers will need to wait until March or April for a new battery.
Customers who are seeking Genius Bar appointments for battery replacements are also crowding out appointment slots for customers with other issues, which is a problem in areas with few Apple Stores.
According to Barclays, the increased battery wait time suggests demand for replacement batteries remains strong, and it indicates an increasing number of iPhone users are opting to take advantage of Apple's $29 battery replacements instead of purchasing a new iPhone.
Barclays previously said that Apple's program could result in millions of fewer iPhone purchases during 2018, something Apple CEO Tim Cook recently said Apple did not take into account when choosing to implement the program in the first place. From Cook:
We did it because we thought it was the right thing to do for our customers. I don't know what effect it will have for our investors. It was not in our thought process of deciding to do what we've done.
The power management features have the potential to slow down older iPhones with degraded batteries in order to prevent unexpected shutdowns, and after the issue faced widespread media attention in late 2017, Apple apologized for its lack of transparency and implemented new policies.
In addition to offering reduced cost battery replacements through the end of 2018, Apple is also introducing a new Battery Health feature in iOS 11.3 that lets customers see more detailed information about the status of their iPhone's battery.
For batteries that are degraded enough to be impacted by throttling, Apple also offers an option to turn off the performance management all together.
Power management features impact the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, and iPhone 7 Plus, and for any affected iPhone, a new battery effectively fixes the issue.
Apps designed for the Mac often don't receive as much attention as apps for iOS apps, which is why we've launched a monthly series that highlights various useful, fun, and interesting Mac apps that are worth checking out.
This month's app selection, outlined both in the video and post below, includes apps with niche and broad appeal for taking notes, using Gmail, learning shortcuts, and more.
Boxy ($5.99) - Designed for Mac users who use Inbox by Gmail, Boxy is a minimal email app for the Mac with a clean, simple interface that offers a rich feature set like smart replies, Markdown support, email snoozing, reminders, email bundling, email pinning, Google Calendar event parsing, useful archive search tools, and more. Boxy works with any Gmail email address and supports multiple accounts.
Sip ($9.99) - Sip is a bit of a niche app, but it's useful for artists, designers, interior decorators, app developers, and other content creators who like to create and maintain color palettes. Sip lets you create and organize color palettes that can be accessed right in the menu bar of your Mac and shared to all of your favorite design apps like Photoshop, Xcode, Illustrator, Sketch, and more. Choosing colors from any source is as simple as a key press, and a color dock makes all of your palettes readily available.
Agenda (Free) - Agenda is a note taking app that's a little bit unique because it's date based, which makes it ideal for project planning. Agenda offers a timeline organizational system that makes it easy to keep track of your progress on a project, with an "On the Agenda" tool for surfacing things that need to be addressed right away.
There's a full text editor built in complete with styles and formatting, and notes can also be added to categories for even deeper organization. Agenda is a free download, but it will cost $24.99 per year to unlock premium features like creating calendar events, saving searches, and exporting in Markdown or HTML.
CheatSheet (Free) - CheatSheet is simple little app that's designed to offer an overlay with a list of all the keyboard shortcuts that are available on your Mac. It's customized to the current application that's open, so if you're running image editing app Pixelmator, for example, it'll display all of the available Pixelmator keyboard shortcuts.
DeskApp for YouTube (Free) - DeskApp is another simple but useful app that's designed to let you search for and watch YouTube videos from within the DeskApp app instead of through Safari, Chrome, or another browser. It allows for quick access to YouTube from the menu bar on your Mac, it supports multiple windows and tabs, and it has a clean, easy to use interface.
Do you have favorite must-have Mac apps that we haven't highlighted yet? Let us know what they are in the comments and we might feature them in a future video.
Make sure to also check out our January list, which covered apps like Unclutter, Dropzone 3, Bartender 3, and Magnet.
In addition to our in-depth coverage of the latest Apple news and rumors at MacRumors, Quick Takes is a new column that provides a bite-sized recap of other Apple-related headlines on weekdays.
Asus ZenFone 5
The focus this week continues to be on Mobile World Congress, where a number of Apple's competitors unveil new products.
Tuesday, February 27
- Asus debuts iPhone X lookalike ZenFone 5: Taiwan's Asus today unveiled the ZenFone 5, its latest Android smartphone that resembles the iPhone X. Asus isn't shying away from the similarities, as on stage, it said the ZenFone 5's notch is 26 percent smaller than the one on Apple's flagship smartphone. ZenFone 5 also has a 90 percent screen-to-body ratio, versus 86 percent for the iPhone X.
Skip to around the 47:55 mark to watch the ZenFone 5 vs. iPhone X comparison
Commentary: It was only a matter of time before Android smartphones imitated the iPhone X, although not all vendors are following suit. Samsung's new Galaxy S9, for example, still has uniform bezels, and the South Korean company has poked fun at the iPhone X's notch on stage and in an ad last year.
- Apple has added more refurbished Apple Watch Series 3 to its online store: There are currently six Wi-Fi + GPS variations to choose from, but still none with LTE. 38mm models cost $279, and 42mm models cost $309. Each watch is cleaned, inspected, repackaged in a new box with a magnetic charging cable, and protected by a one-year warranty. AppleCare+ is available. Supplies are limited.
Commentary: Apple's certified refurbished products are virtually indistinguishable from brand new products, so if you are in the market for an Apple Watch Series 3, this is a good opportunity to save 13 to 15 percent off regular prices.
- Sprint and T-Mobile have revealed their 5G rollout plans: The carriers plan to build out 5G networks by the first half of 2019, when the first 5G-capable smartphones are expected to launch. Sprint's 5G-ready cities will include Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., while T-Mobile will first reach customers in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Las Vegas.
Commentary: The race to 5G is on, but it won't really matter until smartphones are released with support for the ultra-fast technology. A recent report claimed future iPhone models may be equipped with 5G modems from Intel, but it doesn't appear that will happen until the second half of 2019 at the earliest.
- Apple granted patent for a dual display device: The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office today granted Apple a patent for a dual display device. As noted by Patently Apple, the description says the bottom area could be an OLED display, which could allow for a MacBook with a large digital keyboard and trackpad.
Commentary: Apple patents lots of different inventions, many of which never see the light of day as consumer-facing products. However, it's fun to envision a MacBook with an extended Touch Bar, or a foldable 2-in-1 device that could be used as both as a MacBook or iPad depending on its orientation.
Amazon is acquiring Ring, the company that makes a range of WiFi-enabled home security products that include video doorbells, reports GeekWire. The two companies are expected to officially announce the acquisition news later this afternoon, but provided a statement to GeekWire.
"Ring is committed to our mission to reduce crime in neighborhoods by providing effective yet affordable home security tools to our neighbors that make a positive impact on our homes, our communities, and the world," a Ring spokesperson said in a statement. "We'll be able to achieve even more by partnering with an inventive, customer-centric company like Amazon. We look forward to being a part of the Amazon team as we work toward our vision for safer neighborhoods."
Many customers who own Ring products have been eagerly awaiting integration with Apple's HomeKit platform, and though Amazon is purchasing the company, Ring has this afternoon promised on Twitter that support is still coming. According to Ring, HomeKit support is being tested for Ring Pro and the Floodlight Cam, with the company promising to offer details on a release date following once testing is completed.
HomeKit support is a feature that Ring has been promising for some time. In October, for example, Ring said bringing HomeKit support to its Ring Pro and Floodlight Cam was an "ongoing project" but had "been delayed." Ring support for Amazon's Alexa products has been available for months now.
HomeKit is definitely still happening! We're testing HomeKit for the Ring Pro and the Floodlight Cam, and as soon as testing is completed, we'll update everyone with a release date.
— Ring (@ring) February 27, 2018
Amazon has recently become interested in smart home-related companies, and back in December, purchased Blink, another company that offers home security cameras and video doorbells. Amazon has also released its own home security camera, the Cloud Cam.
Amazon's interest in smart home products stems from its Amazon Echo line of products, which offer Alexa integration and allow users to control their third-party smart home devices. Alexa works with many of the smart home products on the market today.
Apple this afternoon shared two new iPhone photography tutorial videos on its website, focused on composing images using the telephoto camera and experimenting with framing.
Each short video walks users through a series of step-by-step instructions on how to use the camera to capture unique shots.
In the telephoto camera video, for example, Apple suggests using the telephoto lens to "simplify composition" by cutting out more of the background and focusing on your subject. Telephoto images are available on the iPhone X and larger Plus model iPhones with dual cameras, such as the iPhone 7 Plus and the iPhone 8 Plus.
In the framing video, Apple suggests looking for interesting shapes in an image and then placing your subject near the shape to get a natural frame.
Like most of the videos in Apple's ongoing photography series, these tutorials are aimed at people who aren't particularly familiar with photography techniques or the feature set available on the iPhone.
These two concepts are likely to feel obvious to many iPhone users who take a lot of photographs, but for people who are new to the iPhone or want to improve their shots, Apple's videos can be worthwhile.
Apple has given a straight-to-series order for a psychological thriller written by Tony Basgallop and produced by M. Night Shyamalan, known for movies like "Signs," "Sixth Sense," "Unbreakable," "The Village," and "Split."
According to Variety, Apple isn't sharing details on the show at this time, but the company has ordered 10 half-hour episodes. In addition to executive producing, Shyamalan will direct the first episode of the series.
Basgallop, the writer for the show, has previously worked on series like "24: Legacy," "Berlin Station," "What Remains," "EastEnders," and "Hotel Babylon."
The new TV series for Apple will be Shyamalan's second TV show following "Wayward Pines," a science fiction show that focused on a series of mysteries and disappearances in the small town of Wayward Pines, Idaho. The cancellation of "Wayward Pines," which ran for two seasons in 2015 and 2016, was just announced yesterday.
Apple has a long list of television shows that are currently in development, and this new psychological thriller marks the 11th show that we know about.
Other TV shows Apple is working on include an untitled morning show drama starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, an "Amazing Stories" reboot from Steven Spielberg, an untitled space drama from Battlestar Galactica creator Ronald D. Moore, a series written by "La La Land" creator Damien Chazelle, a Kristen Wiig comedy series, See, an epic world-building drama, Home, a docuseries focusing on incredible homes, "Little America," an anthology series from "The Big Sick" creators Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon, and Swagger, a drama based on the early life and career of NBA star Kevin Durant.
AT&T today announced a series of deals launching this Thursday, March 1 that will be available only for customers in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. The offers vary from city to city, and the carrier noted that each one will last for a "limited time" only.
The city-specific deals are debuting alongside the launch of AT&T's new Unlimited Plus Enhanced and Unlimited Choice Enhanced plans, and most of them tie in with the new plans. Users everywhere in the United States will be able to sign up for one of the new Unlimited plans, but AT&T is launching offers for three select cities -- "tailored" to its customers in each -- as a way to encourage sign ups for the plans in these locations.
AT&T detailed some information on each plan, seen in the quote below, and there's a new support article on ATT.com with a deeper breakdown. One of the major new updates comes to the Unlimited Plus plan, which is $80 for the first line, down from the current price of $90, and now comes with 15GB of hotspot data, an increase from 10GB. The carrier is also offering a $15 loyalty video credit applicable to DirecTV, U-Verse, or DirecTV Now.
On AT&T Unlimited Plus Enhanced the first line starts at only $80, and you’ll get 15GB of mobile hotspot data per line on the plan. And on AT&T Unlimited Choice Enhanced unlimited 4G LTE data is only $40 a line when you have 4 lines.
These enhanced wireless plans come with a $15 loyalty credit towards applicable AT&T video services
Regarding the city-specific offers, New York users will get one year of DirecTV Now for free when switching to either of the new Unlimited plans. The offer is valid for both new and existing DirecTV Now customers and will be given in the form of a $35/month video credit over the course of 12 months, which pays entirely for DirecTV Now's basic "Live a Little" package. If users want more channels, they can switch to a larger package and put the $35 credit towards it.
As usual, the credits will start within two bill cycles, and New York users will automatically be charged at full price when DirecTV Now renews after one year, but they can cancel beforehand. AT&T is also still offering new DirecTV Now customers a chance to get a 32GB Apple TV 4K at no cost when they prepay for three months of DirecTV Now at $105.
In Chicago, those who switch from any wireless competitor to one of AT&T's new Unlimited plans will get free home internet on plans up to 50 Mbps "for life." Similar to the New York offer, this will come in the form of a $30 monthly internet credit to pay for a 50 Mbps plan, which can be applied to a higher speed internet tier if desired. The "for life" qualification pertains to users who maintain a qualifying service on AT&T's new Unlimited plan, alongside a matching eligible service address in Chicago.
Lastly, those in Los Angeles will have a more traditional buy one, get one offer on "the latest smartphones," including iPhone X. AT&T said that Los Angeles residents can purchase a 64GB iPhone X and get another for free when both are purchased on AT&T Next, and a new line is added with eligible wireless service.
AT&T's description for each offer notes that more details will be coming soon at ATT.com. If you want to read more of the fine print for each city's deal, head over to the press release and scroll down to the bottom. For more discounts and offers, visit our full Deals Roundup.
Apple has reportedly hired engineer Michael Abbott for an unspecified role within the company, according to information obtained by MacGeneration [Google Translate]. Abbott's job history includes vice president of engineering for Twitter, team lead for the Azure cloud platform at Microsoft, and senior vice president of apps and services at Palm, where he helped create webOS.
More recently, Abbott served as a venture capitalist at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and invested in numerous start-ups and companies over the years, including Snapchat. In a personal update blog post shared last August, he explained that he would be stepping away from VC investing "over the next couple of months," and instead focus on his engineering passions again.
Ultimately, my desire to discover and invest in the next new thing became eclipsed by my desire to get my hands dirty again and build the next new thing. I have come to understand that my real passion lies in the grappling to understand, develop and build new technologies. Like you, perhaps, I am captivated by what AR could enable, and fascinated by ‘real’ applications of AI/ML, or how security techniques from the world of geopolitics are influencing enterprise technologies.
I was born and raised here in Silicon Valley. I grew up seeing and being inspired by the big names we take for granted today. Now with some graying hairs (but still a full head of hair for now!), a daughter in elementary school, and enough time since I last built a new technology and company, I am ready to do it again. I have more to build.
Since his move to Apple hasn't been confirmed, speculation suggests Abbott could be working on Siri development under Craig Federighi. His blog post also directly references being "captivated" by augmented reality and "real" applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning -- all areas that Apple and CEO Tim Cook have repeatedly referenced as being of great interest for the company.
The last few well publicized hires made by Apple have been mainly focused on the company's burgeoning streaming TV service, with Apple obtaining talent from Amazon, Hulu, and Legendary.
Update March 3: Abbott has confirmed the move on his LinkedIn page, noting only that he has served as a VP at Apple since February 2018.
Apple's stock price has established a new all-time high in the company's history, as shares exchanged hands for slightly above the previous record of $180.10 in intraday trading today following several weeks of gains.
AAPL has been on the rise since bottoming out at $150.24 on February 9, one day after the Dow Jones plunged over 1,000 points. The broader selloff in the stock market proved to be short lived, as many technology stocks have since rebounded, and the Dow Jones is up nearly eight percent compared to a few weeks ago.
The all-time high comes after billionaire investor Warren Buffett said his company Berkshire Hathaway has purchased more shares of Apple than any other stock over the past year. Berkshire Hathaway increased its Apple holdings by 23.3 percent, to 165.3 million shares, according to recent filings with the SEC.
Apple shares have technically traded for higher prices, but today's all-time high accounts for multiple stock splits that have occurred over the years. Apple now has a market capitalization of well over $900 billion.
Apple today internally announced it is launching a new pilot program that will permit Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers to continue offering repair service for 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMac models released in mid 2011, despite the fact they will be classified as vintage starting next month.
The pilot program will be available in the United States only between March 1, 2018 and August 31, 2018, subject to parts availability from Apple, according to the company's internal memo obtained by MacRumors. After the pilot ends, repairs will only be available in California and Turkey, as required by law.
Apple and Authorized Service Providers can usually repair an iMac's display and hinge, logic board, graphics card, hard drive or SSD, power supply, and other components, although the exact availability of replacement parts remains to be seen. It's unclear if RAM and storage upgrades will continue to be offered.
Apple typically offers repairs and replacement parts for a Mac until five years after it is no longer manufactured. Mid 2011 iMac models are now approaching this cutoff, as the last education-only configuration was discontinued in March 2013, but these machines will now remain eligible for service for an additional six months.
Apple didn't specify if the pilot program will eventually expand to other vintage products, or whether it will be available outside of the United States.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office today granted Apple a patent related to a "Case for wearable electronic device," and it's described as an accessory that would let users charge their Apple Watch while on the go while also storing a few extra bands (via Patently Apple). Similar to portable battery packs, or Apple's own AirPods case, users would charge the Apple Watch case itself, and then when traveling they could place their Apple Watch within the case to recharge it.
In the patent's images, the case appears rectangular in shape, with the left side housing two rows for two pairs of Apple Watch bands, while the right side has a cutout for the Apple Watch case. In this particular patent, users would have to remove the bands to charge the Apple Watch and then store them next to it. According to the patent, there would be an "attachment system" -- magnets are suggested -- so that bands of "different geometry" would all still be secure within the case.
The patent specifies that the case would be able to store bands "having multiple segments," like Sport Bands, and bands "having a single segment," like Milanese Loop.
Case 200 can be used, for example, as a travel case to store a wearable electronic device and one or more bands that can be used to secure the wearable electronic device to a user's wrist. As shown in FIG. 2, case 200 is designed to hold a single wrist-worn electronic device 230 along with first and second bands 232 and 234 either one of which can be used to attach wrist-worn electronic device to a user's wrist.
Each of bands 232 and 234 includes first and second band segments (e.g., segments 234a, 234b of band 234) that can be connected together by a clasp or other type of connector (e.g., clasp 116 shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B), and each band segment includes a lug (not labeled) at one end. Embodiments of the disclosure can store bands having multiple segments, such as bands 232, 234, as well as bands having a single segment.
Apple's patent even suggests the case could charge a "smart band," which would include some form of circuitry and have abilities that supplement the Apple Watch with additional sensors or extra battery. Smart bands have been unearthed previously in Apple patents dating back to 2016, as well as in rumors claiming knowledge of the company's plans from spring 2017, but we have still yet to see such a product debut from Apple.
Some accessory makers have had trouble launching smart bands for Apple Watch, and in 2016 when Apple's watchOS 2.0.1 update blocked off third-party band manufacturers from taking advantage of the accessory port to fuel the abilities of such bands, the "Reserve Strap" was left defunct.
In regards to today's patent, it would otherwise appear to function similar to the Apple Watch's existing induction charging puck, allowing users to simply place the wearable device inside the case's cradle, close it to protect the screen, and charge it up before wearing it again. The patent doesn't specifically divulge how many additional charges could be added onto the Apple Watch, but it does state that Apple has gone through a few embodiments of the case adding or removing additional band storage to make it slightly larger or smaller, apparently settling on storage for two bands in this iteration.
There are many portable third-party Apple Watch charging solutions on the market today, but some have downsides for users wanting to charge Apple Watch while traveling. Twelve South's TimePorter case, for example, lets users store a few bands and the Apple Watch charging puck, but it charges the Apple Watch on the outside of the case, so it isn't great for charging in a bag or suitcase.
As with any patent, Apple's Apple Watch charging case may never become available for users to purchase, but it is interesting to see what the company is considering to launch alongside future generations of the Apple Watch.
Samsung has announced at the Mobile World Congress that version 2.0 of its Bixby voice assistant will launch with the Galaxy Note 9 and come with support for recognizing individual voices (via ZDNet).
Samsung mobile chief D J Koh said that Bixby 2.0 is being tested by approximately 800 partners and is helping the company to develop a "wider scope of voice assistant features", one of which is the ability to recognize individual voices on devices supporting multiple users.
Development of the feature makes sense given Samsung's plans to launch a television set with built-in Bixby next month, as well as a Bixby-enabled smart speaker set for release in the second half of 2018.
Amazon's Echo devices and Google's Home smart speakers already include voice matching settings which let multiple users access personalized services, however Apple's HomePod lacks such a feature.
For Siri commands that interact with user-specific information, only the Apple ID account holder who sets up the HomePod speaker is able to use the additional functionality, and Apple hasn't revealed any plans to bring multi-user voice recognition to its Siri virtual assistant anytime soon.
When Apple released the fourth-generation Apple TV in 2015, it also included a new Siri Remote with the set-top box (although in some regions Apple kept the original name "Apple TV Remote" due to Siri not working in those territories).
The redesigned remote features dual microphones for Siri support as well as a glass touch surface for navigating the tvOS interface by swiping, tapping, and scrubbing to fast forward/rewind content. The remote also has a Menu button, a Home button (with a TV icon on it), a Siri button, a Play/Pause button, and a Volume Up/Down button.
With the release of the Apple TV 4K in 2017, Apple tweaked the remote design to add a raised white ring around the Menu button, making it easier to identify the correct orientation of the remote by both touch and feel. The buttons and operation of the remote, however, remained unchanged, and the revised remote is also included with new units of the fourth-generation Apple TV.
In this guide, we've collected 10 of our favorite tips for controlling features of tvOS using the Apple TV Remote included with the fourth generation Apple TV and the latest fifth-generation Apple TV 4K. Keep reading and you might well discover a new trick or two.
1. Quickly Switch Between Open Apps
If you have an iOS device then you'll be familiar with this feature. To quickly switch between open Apple TV apps, click the Home button twice. This will bring up the App Switcher screen, which you can navigate by swiping sideways on the Apple TV Remote's touch surface. Tap the surface to open the selected app, or swipe up to force quit it.
2. Quickly Restart Your Apple TV
If you're troubleshooting your Apple TV and need to restart it several times, going through the settings screens to select Restart is quickly going to grate. Fortunately, you can perform the same action simply by holding down the Home and Menu buttons simultaneously for six seconds.
3. Sleep Your Apple TV
Similarly, if you're regularly digging into setting screens to select the sleep option when you're done using Apple TV, then this tip's for you. Simply hold the Home button for two seconds and the Sleep option will appear at the center of the screen where you can promptly select it.
4. Quick Switch to the Home Screen
Apple likes new Apple TV owners to associate the Apple TV Remote's Home button with the company's native TV app, but that shortcut can start to get annoying, especially if the things you tend to watch don't even show up there (Netflix content being just one example.) Thankfully, you can reinstate the Home button's original functionality by going into Settings and selecting Remotes and Devices -> Home Button.
5. Activate the Screen Saver
You can set your Apple TV's screen saver to come on after so many minutes have passed (Settings -> General -> Screen Saver -> Start After) but you can also activate it straight away by double-clicking the Menu button on the Apple TV Remote at any time.
6. Rearrange Your Apple TV Apps
Whenever you download an Apple TV app from the tvOS App Store it automatically appears at the bottom of the Home screen's grid. If you've installed quite a few apps, you might like to rearrange them. Select the app to move and then click and hold down on the Apple TV Remote's touch surface for a couple of seconds. The app icon will start jiggling, at which point you can swipe to place it where you want. Simply click the touch surface again once you have the app in your preferred location.
7. View Video Settings
When watching video on Apple TV, you can access a number of media playback settings with a quick swipe down on the Apple TV Remote's touch surface. The info overlay that slides into view from the top contains options to enable/disable subtitles, as well as audio settings for language, sound processing, and speaker. Simply navigate the menus using the touch surface and click down to select. A swipe up hides the overlay and returns you back to the video with your changes applied.
8. Quick-Switch Between Lowercase/Uppercase Keyboard
When using Apple TV's onscreen keyboard, you can avoid the hassle of navigating the cursor between the lowercase and uppercase layout, simply by pressing the Play/Pause button on your Apple TV Remote. This instantly switches the letters from lowercase to uppercase and vice versa, which makes entering passwords in particular less of a chore.
9. Quick Backspace and Access to Alternate Characters
This is another handy tip for using Apple TV's onscreen keyboard that makes navigating it a lot less frustrating.
Next time you need to correct a mistake, don't bother swiping all the way to the far right of the screen to select the backspace key. Instead, click down on the Apple TV Remote's touch surface and hold until the character overlay appears. A quick swipe left will now automatically delete the last letter you entered in the input field.
10. Change Audio Output Device on the Fly
There's a quick way to switch your Apple TV's audio output device right from the home screen. Hold down the Play/Pause button on the Apple TV Remote, and in the menu that comes up on the screen, simply select the device you want to link to by clicking the Remote's touch surface.
Got an Apple TV Remote tip we haven't covered here? Be sure to share it in the comments.
Apple is planning to open two "AC Wellness" health clinics for its employees and their families this spring, reports CNBC. The clinics, detailed on an accompanying AC Wellness website, will serve Apple employees in Santa Clara County, which is where its Apple Park and One Infinite Loop campuses are located.
One of the clinics, the Apple Park Wellness Center, will be located on the Apple Park campus, according job listings posted LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and Indeed.
AC Wellness Network is an independent medical practice exclusively dedicated to delivering compassionate, effective healthcare to the Apple employee and dependent population at the Apple Wellness Centers in Santa Clara Valley, including the new Apple Park Wellness Center. AC Wellness Network believes that having trusting, accessible relationships with our patients, enabled by technology, promotes high-quality care and a unique patient experience.
AC Wellness job listings also describe the clinic experience, which is meant to offer a "unique concierge-like healthcare experience" for employees and their dependents. Several positions are open at the AC Wellness locations ahead of their planned opening this spring, with Apple seeking physicians, nurses, a clinical exercise coach, a behavioral health partner, and more.
As Apple prepares to launch its AC Wellness clinics, it has scaled back its partnership with Crossover Health, its current in-house clinic provider. Apple considered purchasing Crossover Health at one point, but no deal materialized after several months of discussion.
Sources that spoke to CNBC said that Apple plans to use its medical clinics as a way to "test out" its health services and products. Apple is exploring several health-related advancements, such as non-invasive blood glucose monitoring, and it has begun heavily investing in health-related research with CareKit and ResearchKit.
Most recently, Apple launched a medical study in partnership with Stanford to determine whether the Apple Watch can accurately predict irregular heart rhythms. The study is live and can be joined by downloading the Apple Heart Study app from the App Store.
New regulations that allow driverless autonomous cars to be tested on California roads were officially approved by the California Office of Administrative Law on Monday, reports the San Francisco Examiner.
Starting on April 2, companies in the Bay Area that are working on self-driving vehicle technology will be able to deploy cars that do not have a driver behind the wheel. The new autonomous vehicle regulations have been under review since January 11, but were green lit this morning.
The news is of interest as Apple is one of more than 50 companies testing self-driving vehicle technology in the Bay Area. For almost a year now, Apple has been testing autonomous driving software in a series of 2015 Lexus RX450h SUVs, which can often be seen on the streets surrounding its Cupertino headquarters.
While little has been said about Apple's testing efforts in recent months, the company was spotted using new LIDAR equipment in August of 2017, and as of January 2018, Apple has 27 vehicles running autonomous driving software, up from the three it started with last year.
With the new regulations in place, Apple can potentially apply for a new deployment permit with the California DMV that would allow it to test its software sans drivers. It's not known, however, if Apple is ready for that kind of advanced testing.
While California is allowing companies to deploy and test fully autonomous driverless cars, a "communication link" must be maintained between the testing vehicle and remote operators. All remote vehicle operators must monitor the status of driverless vehicles at all times and be ready to step in should the vehicle experience "failures that would endanger the safety of the vehicle's passengers or other road users." Cars must be protected from cyberattacks and must also be able to transmit information in the event of a crash.
Companies must also certify that a vehicle is capable of operating without the presence of a driver and develop a "law enforcement interaction plan" to be provided to the California Highway Patrol.
Should Apple choose to take advantage of the new policies, the company will need to obtain a permit from the California DMV, and granted permits are made available to the public. So should Apple opt for this route, it won't be able to keep its work secret. These kinds of regulations have already spurred Apple CEO Tim Cook to confirm the company's work on autonomous systems.
"We're focusing on autonomous systems. It's a core technology that we view as very important. We sort of see it as the mother of all AI projects. It's probably one of the most difficult AI projects actually to work on," Cook said back in June of 2017.
Some other states have already adopted more relaxed rules that allow companies to deploy autonomous vehicles without drivers. In Arizona, for example, Google-owned company Waymo is already operating autonomous minivans sans safety driver.
First day pre-orders for the HomePod, which became available late last month, were higher than day one pre-orders for several other smart speakers including the Sonos One and the Google Home Max in the United States.
The data was shared by NPD Group and was gathered using NPD's Checkout service, which tracks consumer purchase behavior across multiple retailers.
According to the data, HomePod beat out all other smart speaker first day pre-orders with the exception of the Amazon Echo Dot.
Though HomePod pre-orders reportedly outsold other smart speaker pre-orders, NPD Group did not provide data on how many HomePod pre-orders Apple sold in comparison to smart speakers from other manufacturers, so while interesting, the data here doesn't offer up a look at just how well the HomePod did.
We haven't seen any real estimates of how well the HomePod did following its launch, but Apple's next earnings call should give us a bit of insight. Apple won't break out HomePod sales, but changes to the "Other" category in the company's earnings report may provide hints.
The Other category includes products like the Apple TV, Apple Watch, AirPods, iPod, Beats, and other Apple-branded and third-party accessories. Going forward, it will also include the HomePod.
While we don't know how many HomePods Apple has sold to date, the device did stay in stock and readily available for days after it became available for pre-order on January 26. In fact, HomePod was available for launch day delivery through February 7, just a couple of days before the HomePod's official February 9 launch.
Data on HomePod sales may not be available, but analyst Gene Munster with Loop Ventures recently predicted HomePod will capture 12 percent of global smart speaker unit share in 2018, with estimated unit sales of 7 million.
In addition to our more in-depth coverage of the latest Apple news and rumors at MacRumors, Quick Takes is a new column that will provide a bite-sized recap of other Apple-related headlines on weekdays.
February is generally a slower time of the year for Apple, but Monday's news cycle has been slightly busier given it is the first day of Mobile World Congress in Spain, where many Apple rivals unveil new products.
Context: Cook has been visiting China more frequently in recent years as he attempts to strengthen Apple's relationship with the Chinese government. Apple is often at the mercy of Chinese laws, such as one requiring iCloud accounts in China to be hosted by a Chinese data center by the end of this month.
Context: CBS SPORTS HQ should cater to cord-cutters, and the best part is that no cable TV subscription is required. It should be the sports equivalent of CBS's successful CBSN streaming news network.
Context: Berkshire Hathaway has been increasingly bullish on Apple over the past few years. Buffett believes Apple has an "extraordinary consumer franchise" with a very strong ecosystem. AAPL is up over two percent following the positive comments, and up over 15 percent since February 8.
Skip to the 18:00 mark to listen to Samsung poke fun at the iPhone X
Context: While some other Android smartphone makers like Huawei and Asus appear to be embracing the notched design, the Galaxy S9 looks virtually identical to the Galaxy S8, with slim top and bottom bezels that uniformly stretch across the device. The device even retains a 3.5mm headphone jack.
A new unofficial app called OneCast has launched that claims to bring Xbox One game streaming to the Mac with 1080p video and low input lag. Features include support for multiple profiles, full screen or windowed mode, and playing with an original Xbox One wireless controller on Mac via USB or Bluetooth.
Context: The app allows Xbox One games to be played remotely, whether in another room away from the TV, or even while away from home by streaming over an internet connection. Keep in mind this app isn't sanctioned by Microsoft, which only officially supports Xbox One streaming on Windows 10.
In iOS 11 and later, it's possible to add an Apple TV Remote interface to the Control Center that will allow you to quickly navigate and control playback on your 4K Apple TV or fourth-generation Apple TV using your iPhone or iPad. It's a great solution if you just can't get on with Apple's Siri Remote, and doesn't require you to install an app. In this article, we'll show you how to set up the Apple TV Remote on your iOS device and explain how to use it once you've done so.
Amazon is acquiring 
