MacRumors

Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming tvOS 12.1 update to its public beta testing group, two days after providing the beta to developers and three days after releasing the tvOS 12 update.

The tvOS 12.1 public beta can be obtained by going to the Settings app on the Apple TV and navigating to the Software Updates section under "System." "Get Public Beta Updates" will need to be toggled on, and once it is, the Apple TV will download the beta software.

We don't yet know what fixes and changes the tvOS 12.1 update might bring, but it likely focuses on bug fixes for issues that have been discovered since the release of tvOS 12.

Apple's tvOS updates have historically been minor in scale and Apple does not often provide us with detailed notes outlining what's new. No obvious outward-facing changes were found in the first developer beta.

Hulu today is rolling out a new update for Hulu.com, bringing it in line with the design and user interface that users should be familiar with if they use Hulu on smartphones and TVs, like iOS and tvOS. The company is launching the new update to coincide with fall television premieres, which typically kick off around this time, in mid to late September.

The company says that subscribers can expect all of the usual options they need on Hulu.com, including Playback, Show Details, Add to My Stuff, Recording, and Stop Suggesting all featured in the Home section. When watching a video, navigational controls will allow you to skip ahead to the next episode by clicking an "Up Next" button.

The main change is that Hulu.com no longer has a "Watchlist" and now supports the service's new "My Stuff" feature, which is where you can add shows to watch later. When in My Stuff, it's easier to track all of the shows you're watching, and Hulu will notify you when new episodes of a show are added. On Hulu.com's new splash screen, the company notes that you can sync all of your existing My Stuff shows to the new Hulu.com using a sync option in account settings.

For sports fans using Hulu with Live TV, you can watch multiple games on multiple windows on Hulu.com, and a basic picture-in-picture feature is also supported for other programs. This way, you can keep watching a show while browsing other parts of Hulu on the web, and the small player can be moved anywhere on the screen while multitasking.

Hulu explains that some Hulu with Live TV subscribers have had these updates on the web for a while, and the company has taken feedback from these users for the public launch:

Some of you may be familiar with the new look and feel of Hulu.com. We launched an early version of the new experience just over a year ago to provide our Hulu with Live TV viewers access to all the big games and live TV coverage from their browsers. Since then, we’ve continued to evolve and refine the new Web experience to incorporate user feedback and new, compelling features, updates and configurations that make the most out of the wide range of motion you have with your mouse and how quickly you’re able to point and click.

Hulu first began rolling out its new experience and updated UI in May 2017, launching first on Apple TV, iOS, Xbox One, Android, and Chromecast. The new Hulu design on these apps -- now on Hulu.com -- includes large pieces of artwork for each show, a curated home screen of show suggestions, and more.

There's nothing worse than waking up in the middle of the night, glancing over at your iPhone to check the time, and seeing a bunch of notifications that demand your attention and distract you from getting back to sleep.

Apple is aiming to prevent this in iOS 12 with a new Do Not Disturb at bedtime feature that prevents notifications from being displayed on the iPhone's Lock Screen during your downtime, removing the temptation to start opening up apps in the middle of the night.

Enabling Bedtime Mode

1. Open up the Settings app.
2. Scroll to the "Do Not Disturb" section and tap on it.
3. In the Do Not Disturb section, tap on "Scheduled" to toggle it on.
4. Select your Do Not Disturb time period, which, for most people, should be from when you go to bed until when you typically wake up.
5. Tap on Bedtime Mode to toggle it on.

With Bedtime Mode enabled, when you activate the display on your device, the entire screen is dimmed and black, offering up only the time, the current device charge, and a notice that Bedtime Mode is turned on.

In this mode, all incoming calls are silenced as are all incoming notification messages. Your notifications are still listed in the Notification Center, accessible by swiping down from the top of the display, but you won't see them on the Lock Screen.

Bedtime Mode vs. Do Not Disturb

With Do Not Disturb turned on without Bedtime Mode, all of your incoming calls and notifications are still silenced, but the notification messages themselves will all be visible right on the Lock Screen.

Enabling Calls From Certain People

If you want family members to be able to contact you even with Do Not Disturb and Bedtime Mode turned on in case of emergency, there's a setting for that.

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap "Do Not Disturb."
3. Scroll down to the Phone section where it says "Allow Calls From."
4. Select Everyone, No One, or "Favorites," which can be set up in the Contacts app.

You can also toggle on "Repeated Calls" in the same section of the Settings app so a second call from the same person within three minutes won't be silenced. This is an ideal way to screen out unwanted calls while still allowing for potential emergencies as most people will try again if you're unreachable in a crisis.

Waking Up

When it's time to wake up, and when Bedtime Mode is scheduled to go off, your iPhone or iPad will display a "Good morning!" message and it will let you tap to reveal all of the notifications that were silenced during the night.

Turning Off Bedtime Mode

If Bedtime Mode isn't for you, you can turn it off in the Settings app where it was enabled.

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap on "Do Not Disturb."
3. If you want to turn off your scheduled Do Not Disturb session entirely, toggle off "Scheduled."
4. If you want to leave Do Not Disturb on but disable Bedtime Mode, tap the Bedtime Mode toggle to turn it off.

Note: To quickly access Do Not Disturb settings, swipe to open up the Control Center and then 3D Touch or long press on the little moon icon.

This will provide you with options to enable Do Not Disturb for an hour, a few hours, until the end of an event, or until you leave a specific location, and it also offers up a "Schedule" option at the bottom that opens straight into the Do Not Disturb toggles in the Settings app.

Apple Maps now supports transit in New Zealand, enabling users to navigate with public transportation in most populated areas of the country.

In the largest city of Auckland, directions are available for NZ Bus routes, AT Metro trains, or the SkyBus shuttle to the Auckland Airport. In the capital area of Wellington, directions are available for Metlink buses and trains.

Between select destinations in New Zealand, Apple Maps can now provide directions for InterCity buses and Great Journeys trains and ferries.

The feature can be accessed by selecting the Transport tab or button in Apple Maps on iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch.

Apple Maps has supported transit since 2015, with an initial rollout in Baltimore, Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Sydney, Toronto, and China. Since then, Apple has expanded the feature to many other regions around the world.

Google Maps has supported transit directions for several years now, but Apple Maps is steadily catching up with detailed routing information.

(Thanks, Ram!)

The Apple Watch Series 4 has multiple new watch faces for users to choose from, including Fire, Water, Liquid Metal, and Vapor faces that were custom-designed for Series 4 to interact with the edges of its larger display. Apple briefly showed off these faces during its September 12 keynote in Cupertino, but more information about the making of the watch faces has been shared today in a new behind-the-scenes video by Cool Hunting.

Talking to Alan Dye, Vice President of User Interface Design at Apple, about this particular project he shared that “it’s more of a story about the design team. We could have done this digitally, but we shot this all in a studio. It’s so indicative of how the design team works—bringing our best and varied talents together to create these faces.”

...When asked about how these face concepts were chosen Dye shared that “in terms of design in general, for every thing we do there’s probably 100 things we don’t do and that’s just part of the design process.”

The visual faces aren't the only new watch faces on Series 4. You'll also be able to choose from the Infograph face, which supports up to eight complications, as well as a redesigned Modular watch face. watchOS 5 also has a few new watch faces, including one for the mindfulness app Breathe.

Apple Watch Series 4 launches tomorrow, September 21, and ahead of its debut reviews for the smartwatch have already emerged. Most reviewers say that this generation is definitely worth an upgrade if you're on an older model Apple Watch, thanks to the new screen, haptic digital crown, improved health tracking, speed, and more.

In iOS 12, Apple's digital health push includes a couple of special new features for iPhone and iPad users who want to cut down on their app usage: App Limits and Downtime. In this article, we'll show you how to use them.

App Limits allows you to set specific time limits on a particular app category (games, for example). When you've spent the designated time using the app category, iOS sends you an alert notifying you of the fact. Of course, you're free to ignore these alerts, but the idea behind them is that they'll help you manage your time better.

The second feature, Downtime, enables you to set a daily schedule for when you'd rather not use your iOS device at all. Once activated, the feature restricts device usage to phone calls and any apps you've specifically exempted from Downtime. Like App Limits, you can override these restrictions – they're more like good guidance than anything else, and can still help if you honestly want to self-regulate your mobile usage.

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Jon M. Chu, best known for directing hit movie "Crazy Rich Asians," was provided with one of Apple's new iPhone XS Max models by WIRED, which he used to shoot a short film in 4K to test out the device's capabilities.

Chu told WIRED he was impressed with how well the iPhone handled moving shots, and to challenge himself, he shot in a garage under fluorescent lights.

"I'm moving around a lot, and the focus was adjusting as I was moving, but it was finding the subject really well," he says. "There's a shot at the end where I'm rushing toward the garage--that's using the built-in stabilizers. It's pretty smooth."

Chu also said the device's color accuracy was notable, as it accurately depicted the real-world colors of the garage where he was filming. "You can see the colors, they really pop," he said."

After the testing, Chu says he's going to upgrade to the iPhone XS Max from the iPhone X, "no question." iPhone XS Max, he says, is lighter than the 8 Plus and "doesn't feel like a plus phone." "The weight, the density -- it doesn't feel like an inconvenience to hold it," he said.

Chu's full two minute video can be watched on YouTube. Called "Somewhere," it focuses on dancer Luigi Rosado's rehearsal space.

In iOS 12, Apple has given users the tools to cut down on disturbances to get more time away from their devices if desired, and one of these new tools is an expanded set of Do Not Disturb options.

Thanks to these changes, there are more convenient options for using Do Not Disturb in iOS 12, and it's also a lot smarter.

How to Get to the New Do Not Disturb Options

Your Do Not Disturb options in the Settings app are largely the same, with the new Do Not Disturb features housed in Control Center.

1. Open Control Center, through a right-side swipe downwards on the screen of an iPhone X or iPad or by swiping upwards from the Home button on other devices.
2. 3D Touch or long press on the Control Center icon that looks like a moon, which is the icon for Do Not Disturb.
3. A 3D Touch or a long press brings up all of the Do Not Disturb options, which can be selected with a tap.

Do Not Disturb is a default widget within the Control Center and it's always available, so it's not an option that needs to be enabled through the Control Center customization options.

All of the Ways You Can Use Do Not Disturb in iOS 12

There are multiple new limited-time settings for Do Not Disturb in the Control Center, which automatically turn off after the specified time elapses.

• For one hour
• Until this evening (or afternoon/morning depending on the time - it's generally a few hours)
• Until I leave this location
• Until this event ends (if you have a timed event set in your calendar)
• A single tap on the icon without selecting an option turns on Do Not Disturb until you tap it again.

Not all of these options will be visible at all times. If you're not in a set location or you don't have any events scheduled, these two options won't appear. The first two, allowing you to set Do Not Disturb for an hour or until the evening/afternoon/morning are always available.

Underneath these options, there's a "Schedule" button (see screenshot at top) that will open up the Settings app so you can set a specific time period for when you want Do Not Disturb to turn on. This is also where you can turn on Do Not Disturb at Bedtime, a feature that prevents notifications from displaying on the iPhone's display at night.

Check out our Do Not Disturb at Bedtime how to for more details on this feature.

Managing Do Not Disturb Settings

Your general Do Not Disturb settings are available in the Settings app, which can be accessed by going to Settings > Do Not Disturb or through the above mentioned "Schedule" section of the No Not Disturb Control Center widget.

Most of these settings aren't new, but we thought it would be useful to offer a quick primer on Do Not Disturb's other settings alongside what's new in iOS 12.

In the Settings app, you can enable or disable Do Not Disturb, set a specific time for Do Not Disturb to turn on and off, or enable Bedtime Mode.

You can also choose whether Do Not Disturb should mute calls and notifications only while the iPhone is locked or at all times, and there are options to select whether calls from certain people should bypass your Do Not Disturb settings. This section is also where you'll find your Do Not Disturb While Driving options.

Following the release of iOS 12, which brought a few new Apple Music features, Apple has updated its Apple Music app for Android to introduce feature parity.

Today's update brings support for searching by lyrics, an iOS 12 feature that's designed to let you locate songs and artists using song lyrics rather than a song name.

To use the feature, all you need to do is type in a sentence from the lyrics of a particular song and Apple Music will try to find it. This doesn't work with all songs, but it does work with those that offer lyrics in the Apple Music app.

Apple Music for Android is also gaining the new Artist Pages that were introduced in iOS 12, allowing an artist's music to be played with a single tap, and there's support for the Friends Mix.

Friends Mix is a playlist of songs gathered from the people that you're following on Apple Music. Android users can also discover new music through the inclusion of a new Top 100 list that offers up the daily top 100 songs from countries around the world.

After installing the 2.6.0 update, Android users will also be able to use Apple Music with Android Auto for the first time thanks to new Android Auto support.

Android users can download the Apple Music app from the Google Play store.

Apple's watchOS 5 update includes a new Siri feature that eliminates the need to say "Hey ‌Siri‌" or push the Digital Crown to activate the personal assistant.

Instead, you can raise your wrist and speak right to ‌Siri‌, with the Apple Watch able to detect your movements and your desire to relay a ‌Siri‌ command. It's simple to enable, and it works well once you know a few tricks.

Enabling Raise to Speak

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Choose "General."
3. Scroll down to "‌Siri‌" and Tap it.
4. Make sure "Raise to Speak" is toggled on.

You can leave "Hey ‌Siri‌" enabled right alongside "Raise to Speak," and use whichever ‌Siri‌ activation method is most convenient.

Using Raise to Speak

Using Raise to Speak is as simple as raising up your wrist and speaking into your Apple Watch.

Lift your wrist as you would to view the time or do any other Apple Watch activity, and then speak a command. Most people will find that they need to bring the watch a little closer to their face than they would just to view it, so if you can't get Raise to Speak to work, hold your wrist closer to your mouth.

Raise to Speak is a slightly different gesture than just raising your arm to look at the time, and the Apple Watch can tell the difference in intent.

Raise to Speak Tips

• Raise to Speak needs to be fairly close to your face to interpret a ‌Siri‌ voice command, which prevents it from automatically activating for the most part. If it's not working, bring your wrist closer to the speaker of the Apple Watch before trying a command.
• Raise to Speak works both at the watch face and when an app is open. It does need to be activated with the wrist raising gesture, though.
• You need to speak at a normal speaking volume for the watch to detect a Raise to Speak command. Whispering will not work.
• Because Raise to Speak seems to rely on proximity to the Apple Watch's speaker, ‌Siri‌ is not going to trigger when other people are speaking.

Other Siri Options

In the ‌Siri‌ section of the Settings app, accessible by following the steps above, you can also choose your Voice Feedback settings for whenever ‌Siri‌ is activated if you have an Apple Watch Series 3.

This isn't a new setting, but it's worth revisiting alongside Raise to Speak. You can choose to set Voice Feedback (aka vocal replies) to "Always On," "Control With Silent Mode," which will silence ‌Siri‌ if Silent Mode is turned on, or Headphones Only, which will cause ‌Siri‌ to provide vocal replies if you're wearing AirPods or other Bluetooth enabled headphones.

You can also set ‌Siri‌'s voice volume in the same section of the Settings app by tapping the volume icons or using the Digital Crown. This sets ‌Siri‌'s overall response volume when the personal assistant responds to queries aloud.

Raise to Speak is a useful feature on Apple Watch for everyone, but especially for HomePod owners. If you want to activate ‌Siri‌ on your watch, you can now do so without accidentally triggering a ‌HomePod‌ that might be in the room with the "Hey ‌Siri‌" command.

One of the new features in iOS 12 is an augmented reality app called Measure, which Apple has designed to make it easier for you to measure various real-world objects using 3D spatial detection techniques.

1. Open up the Measure app.
2. Follow the on-screen instructions and move your iPhone around the room so that it can get the dimensions of various objects.
3. Once it's calibrated, denoted by a white dot in a circle, you're ready to start measuring.
4. To take a measurement, line the white dot up with the corner of an object and then press the "+ button to create an anchor point.
5. From the anchor point, pan the iPhone over to the other edge of the object.
6. Press the "+" button again to get the final measurement of the line.

You can continue using this method to get the full dimensions of different objects in your room, with the ability to set multiple anchor points if desired.

Haptic feedback is included in the Measure app, so you'll feel little haptic taps whenever you set an anchor point, for physical feedback. Haptic taps are also included whenever the app detects an obvious stopping point for a measurement, such as the end of a wall.

To clear your anchor points and start over at any time, tap the "Clear" button.

Once all of your measurements are in place, tap the white camera button to take a photo that displays all of the measurements overlaid on the object you're measuring.

You can also tap on the arrow of one of the measurements to get a pop up with the current readings that you can copy and paste into another app like Messages or Notes.

Measurement Automatic Detection

For certain square-shaped objects that the Measure app detects, the detection of the dimensions will be automatic. To get an automatic measurement, choose a square or rectangular object and hold the iPhone in front of it.

If it's going to take an automatic measurement, you'll see a yellow square appear, which you can then tap to get dimensions. If it's not going to do automatic detection, you're going to need to use the tap method to draw individual lines.

Accuracy

The accuracy of the Measure app depends heavily on the precision of where the end points are placed, so there's room for error.

It's great for quick measurements to get an idea of size, but where precise measurements are required, it's probably best to double check with a physical measuring method.

Level Feature

In iOS 12, the Measure app is also home to the Level feature that lets you use the iPhone to detect whether a surface is level. Prior to iOS 12, the Level feature was in the Compass app, so it's not new, just relocated.

To use it, tap over to the level portion of the app, which is located at the bottom. Hold the iPhone in either portrait or landscape orientation with no case and balance it on an object such as a picture frame to get a reading.

If you tap the screen when using the level app, you can set a 0 degree reference angle to make measurements from, and laying the iPhone flat allows it to be used as a bubble level.

In iOS 12, Apple has introduced some new features to the Photos app that aim to make it easier for you to search, share, and enjoy your photo collection. Here's how to make the most of them.

The most prominent addition in the Photos app is a new For You tab, which replaces the old Memories and Shared tabs and brings together their features – along with any iCloud Shared Albums you may have – in a single scrolling panel.

For You Tab: Sharing Suggestions

Top of the For You tab is where your latest Sharing Suggestions appear. If the app recognizes someone in the photos it will ask if you want to share the collection with them, otherwise an option to "Share with friends?" is shown.

The great thing about sharing photos this way in iOS 12 is that if your friends have any pictures that are from the same event, time, or location, they will also be prompted to send those back to you, allowing you to fill any holes in your collection.

Tap the Sharing Suggestions card and you'll be taken to a screen where you can choose the pictures you want to share. Tap Select and then tap any photos you don't want to include, or choose Deselect All and then tap the ones you want to share.

Choose Next to select people in your contacts that you want to share the pictures with. Tap Share in Messages when you're done – just note that anyone with access to the shared photo link will be able to view the photos.

For You Tab: Memories

Immediately below Sharing Suggestions you'll find Memories, which curates various photos and videos you've taken in the past into specific memory collections. Without any steps required on your part, Memories gives you an automatic homemade movie from these past family gatherings or vacations.

Tap a memory and you'll see a list of all the photos and videos contained in the memory (tap Show More to see more than a summary), the geographic location the pictures were taken, nearby photos, and related memories you might be interested in.

If you press the play button to begin viewing a memory, you can also use a number of customization options to edit it. For more on editing memories in Photos, see our dedicated tutorial.

Note that tapping Select on this page and deleting a photo doesn't just remove it from the memory, but also deletes it from your iPhone and iCloud Library. The last two options at the very bottom of the screen let you favorite the memory or delete it permanently.

If your device supports 3D Touch, you can also hard press on any memory in the For You tab to get a preview of its contents, and then swipe up for options to add it to your favorite memories, delete the memory, or block it.

For You Tab: Shared Album Activity

At the bottom of the For You tab is any Shared Album Activity related to your iCloud account.

This lists iCloud albums shared by you as well as albums shared with you by other users. From here you can view photos and videos, "like" them with a thumbs up, and read comments or add your own.

How to Use Enhanced Search

In iOS 12, the Photos search function in the Search tab is more intelligent than before, so it's easier to find the most relevant photos to you from events, people, or places.

You can also combine multiple search terms to narrow down your results. Simply start typing a person's name, a date, a place, or a word like "cat", "beach", "waistcoat", or "selfie", and the Photos app will offer up similar or identical indexed search terms that you can tap to add to the search field.