MacRumors

Apple has a "Find my iPhone" feature for lost iPhones, iPads, Macs, and more, but there's also a "Find my AirPods" feature that can be useful if you happen to misplace your AirPods.

Find My AirPods has its limitations because it's not able to work when the AirPods aren't connected to an iOS device via Bluetooth, but the feature can help you locate AirPods lost nearby and it gives clues as to where your AirPods might be found if they're lost out of the range of the iPhone.

It's worth noting that Find My AirPods only works for the AirPods themselves -- it can't locate a lost AirPods Case, nor does it work when the AirPods are disconnected from the iPhone and stored in the case.

How to Use Find My AirPods

Find My AirPods is located within the "Find My" app on iOS devices and iCloud.com. If the AirPods are out of the case and connected to the iPhone, they'll show up on the Find My map just like an iPad, iPhone, Apple Watch, or Mac.

If your AirPods are in the case or not currently connected, the last known location will be displayed. If your AirPods haven't been in use at all recently, they'll be listed as "offline."

How to Find AirPods Lost Nearby

Your AirPods are most likely to be misplaced or lost when you set them down momentarily because there are no cords to keep them together or to make them easier to find. Find My AirPods is mostly designed to locate an AirPod that's nearby by playing a sound.

1. Open "Find My" on an iOS device or iCloud.com.
2. Tap the AirPods in the list.
3. Tap "Actions."
4. Tap "Play Sound."

A soft chirping sound will start playing after you initiate the "Play Sound" command, which will gradually get louder and louder with each chirp to make the AirPods easier to locate.

If just the left or just the right AirPod is missing, you can also mute the sound coming from the left or the right. To stop the sound once the AirPods are located, you'll need to tap "Stop Playing." Putting the AirPods back in the case will also turn the sound off after a few seconds.

How to Find AirPods Lost Far Away

If your AirPods aren't connected to your iPhone, their exact location is not relayed to Find My. In this situation, the last known location of the AirPods when they were connected to an iPhone is displayed.

So, for example, if you use them while at the airport and then leave them behind, their location when they were last connected to your iPhone over Bluetooth will be displayed, even if the AirPods are moved somewhere else.

When attempting to locate an AirPod this way, tap the little car icon and it will give you Apple Maps directions to the last known location.

Limitations with Find My AirPods

Your AirPods will not play a sound while they're in the case, so if you lose the AirPods and the AirPods Case somewhere in the house, you're out of luck.

There's also no way to track the AirPods case because a Bluetooth connection is needed for Find My AirPods, so there is no option for locating a lost case.

Replacing a lost AirPod or AirPods Case

Apple offers AirPods replacements if one is lost and can't be located. It costs $69 to replace a single AirPod or to replace the AirPods Charging Case.

Want new AirPods or AirPods Pro?

Check our constantly updated guide for best deals on AirPods.

Apple today updated its Apple TV Remote app to introduce iPad support, allowing the Remote app to be used on the iPad for the first time. Prior to today's update, the Apple TV Remote interface was only designed for the iPhone.

For those unfamiliar with the Apple TV Remote app, it's designed to be used with the fourth-generation Apple TV and functions similarly to the hardware-based Siri Remote. It includes support for navigation via touch gestures, Siri commands, gameplay, and more.

On the iPad, the control interface is similar to the iPhone interface, but there's more screen space to display features like the Now Playing window alongside broader controls.

Along with support for the iPad, today's update introduces an enhanced "Now Playing" experience that includes lyrics and playlists for music and chapters, audio tracks, and captions selection for movies and TV shows.

General performance and stability improvements have also been baked into the update.

Apple TV Remote can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Apple today updated its iWork apps for iOS devices, Numbers, Pages, and Keynote, to version 3.1, introducing a range of new features and improvements in each app.

Pages, Apple's word processing app, has gained new text formatting options, bookmarks to link sections of a document, support for equations, Touch ID support for password protected documents, and more. A full list of changes for Pages is below:

What's New
-Format text as superscript or subscript, use ligatures, and change text background color
-Add bookmarks to easily link from one part of your document to another
-Add elegant mathematical equations using LaTeX or MathML notation
-Quickly open password-protected documents using Touch ID
-Import and export documents in Rich Text Format (RTF)
-Easily replace missing fonts in your document
-New leader lines make pie charts easier to read
-Customize dates, times, and currencies for your language or region

Numbers, Apple's app for creating spreadsheets, has new options to add new or historical stock information to documents, a revamped editing experience, a new action menu that makes it easier to get to the most common tasks, Touch ID support, and more. A full list of changes is below:

What's New
-Easily add current or historical stock information to spreadsheets
-Use the new My Stocks template to easily track your portfolio
-A powerful new editing experience makes entering data and formulas fast and easy
-New action menu keeps most common tasks one tap away
-Quickly open password-protected spreadsheets using Touch ID
-Format text as superscript or subscript, use ligatures, and change text background color
-New leader lines make pie charts easier to read
-Easily replace missing fonts in your spreadsheet
-While collaborating on a spreadsheet, you can now cut, copy, paste, and duplicate sheets
-Customize dates, times, and currencies for your language or region
-Edit rich text within table cells

Keynote, Apple's presentation app, includes an improved rehearsal feature with slide, presenter notes, and timer in one view, new options for customizing slide backgrounds, Touch ID support for opening password protected documents, and more. A full list is below:

What's New
-Change slide master and customize slide background
-Rehearse a presentation with current slide, presenter notes, and timer all in one view
-Quickly open password-protected presentations using Touch ID
-Format text as superscript or subscript, use ligatures, and change text background color
-Easily replace missing fonts in your presentation
-New leader lines make pie charts easier to read
-Import Keynote 1 presentations
-Post interactive presentations on Medium, WordPress, and other websites
-Customize dates, times, and currencies for your language or region

All three of the new updates are available for download immediately. Customers who already own Apple's iWork apps will be able to obtain the new updates at no cost.

Many of the same changes have also been introduced in Keynote, Pages, and Numbers for Mac, all of which also have updates available this morning.

Pages for iOS - [App Store]
Keynote for iOS - [App Store]
Numbers for iOS - [App Store]

Pages for Mac - [Mac App Store]
Keynote for Mac - [Mac App Store]
Numbers for Mac - [Mac App Store]

Apple today released tvOS 10.2, marking the second major update to the tvOS operating system that was released in September of 2016. tvOS 10.2 has been in testing since January 24, with Apple having seeded six betas to developers before releasing the software to the public.

The tvOS 10.2 update can be downloaded on the fourth-generation Apple TV using the Settings app. Go to System --> Software Update to install. For those who have automatic software updates turned on, the Apple TV will be upgraded to tvOS 10.2 automatically.

According to Apple's beta release notes, tvOS 10.2 introduces improved scrolling behavior, allowing tvOS users to scroll through large lists of information more quickly. A longer swipe on the Siri remote activates the new scrolling mode, and a swipe on the right side of the remote allows users to navigate specific indexes.

While Apple's release information only focused on the new scrolling mode, the update also likely includes other small feature tweaks under-the-hood bug fixes and performance improvements.

Apple today released a new software update for the Apple Watch, upgrading watchOS 3.1.3 to watchOS 3.2. watchOS 3.2 is the second major update to the watchOS 3 operating system that was released in September of 2016. watchOS 3.2 has been in testing since January 30 and Apple seeded seven betas ahead of release.

watchOS 3.2 can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General --> Software Update. To install the update, the Apple Watch must have at least 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the charger, and it must be in range of the iPhone.

An iPhone running iOS 10 or later is required to download the new software, but it is available for all Apple Watch models.

watchOS 3.2 introduces Theater Mode, which is designed to let Apple Watch owners mute the sound on their device and disable Raise to Wake, preventing the screen from lighting up with arm movement.

Apple Watch users are still able to receive haptic feedback-based notifications, and incoming information can be viewed by pressing down on the Digital Crown or tapping on the screen.

Following in the footsteps of Google Maps and Find My Friends, Facebook today announced that users will be able to track their friends and family within Facebook Messenger using a new feature it calls "Live Location."

The hour-long location sharing feature is beginning to roll out globally today, and Facebook said it should help friends coordinate with one another when making plans, as well as notifying a significant other when you're on your way home. The plan-making focus falls in line with Facebook Messenger's recent Snapchat-like addition "Messenger Day."

Facebook gave users a step-by-step guide to the process of location sharing within Messenger, which they can follow using the steps below:

• To share your Live Location in a message on iOS, tap the Location icon or tap the More icon and then select Location.
• With today's update, you'll see a map of your current location and the option to tap a blue bar to share your Live Location.
• If you choose to share your Live Location, the person or people you share it with will be able to see where you are on a map for the next 60 minutes.
• You'll be able to see an estimate of how long it would take to get to others' locations by car. (The ETA is seen by the person with whom the location is shared.)
• You can stop sharing your Live Location at any time; just tap Stop Sharing.
• A small clock in the lower right hand corner of the map will also let you know how much longer you’re sharing your location for.

The social media company also mentioned that today's location sharing update is "completely optional" and that users "are always in control." Facebook has been beefing up Facebook Messenger over the past few months, previously adding Reactions, Messenger Day, group video chat, and more into the split-off messaging app.

Wells Fargo today has deployed card-free access to all 13,000 of its ATMs in the United States, while also announcing that transactions through NFC-enabled mobile wallets -- including Apple Pay -- will launch later this year. Customers will be able to make NFC withdrawals with Apple Pay, Wells Fargo Wallet, Android Pay, and Samsung Pay through a simple NFC-enabled tap and PIN authentication when the feature launches sometime in 2017.

Launching today, however, is Wells Fargo's new One-Time Access Code feature, which lets customers authenticate at an ATM by entering an 8-digit code along with their debit or ATM card PIN, all without needing their physical card. To do so customers will log into the Wells Fargo app and choose "Card-Free ATM access" within Account Services to receive their 8-digit access code. After entering the code and their PIN, the company said that the ATM transaction process is the same as when using a physical card.

“At Wells Fargo, we believe the future is cardless, and the launch of One-Time Access Code provides our 20 million mobile banking customers another convenient way to manage money,” said Brett Pitts, head of digital for Virtual Channels. “This new ATM feature exemplifies Wells Fargo’s commitment to innovation.”

In addition to One-Time Access Code, later this year customers will be able to initiate a cardless ATM transaction with the “tap and pay” technology in an NFC-enabled smartphone. When this feature is live, a customer will be able to initiate a transaction by signing into a leading mobile wallet (Wells Fargo Wallet, Apple Pay, Android Pay or Samsung Pay), and holding the phone near an NFC-enabled ATM terminal. Once authenticated, the customer will input their debit or ATM card PIN and complete their transaction.

Apple Pay support at Wells Fargo and Bank of America ATMs has been reported on for well over a year, with Bank of America adding in NFC Apple Pay withdrawals to around 2,400 of its ATMs last summer. Wells Fargo today didn't mention a specific launch date for the debut of Apple Pay at its ATMs, but it did hint that the feature could launch on more than 5,000 of its machines in the U.S., which represent the number of its ATMs that are already NFC-enabled.

T-Mobile customers who purchase a smartphone or tablet on an Equipment Installment Plan, which divides the device's cost into monthly payments, can enroll in JUMP! for $12 per month and upgrade to a new smartphone or tablet once half the cost of their current device is paid off. T-Mobile covers the remaining payments following trade in.

Now, the carrier has added a perk for iPhone and iPad owners that makes JUMP! more competitive with Apple's iPhone Upgrade Program.

T-Mobile today announced that JUMP! now includes "AppleCare Services" for no additional charge. These services include typical AppleCare+ perks such as 24/7 priority access to AppleCare technical support via chat or phone and accidental damage coverage, including the same $29 fee for iPhone screen damage.

- 24/7 priority access to AppleCare technical support via chat or phone
- Low service fees such as $29 for iPhone screen damage
- $0 for battery service
- Apple-certified repair or replacement at Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers
- Hardware service with genuine Apple parts
- Software support for iOS, iCloud, and Apple-branded iOS apps
- Hardware repairs and service backed by Apple

By comparison, Apple's iPhone Upgrade Program spreads out the full cost of an iPhone and AppleCare+ into monthly payments over two years with zero percent interest, with the option to upgrade to a new iPhone after as few as 12 payments. A base model iPhone 7 with AppleCare+, for example, costs $32.41 per month.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company will begin volume production on Apple's A11 chip in April, with a production capacity of 50 million units of the chip aimed to be completed before July. The A11 chip is slated to power the new iPhone lineup launching later in 2017, including what is believed to be iterative "iPhone 7s" and "iPhone 7s Plus" updates, along with the specced-out "iPhone 8."

The A11 chips will be built on a 10-nanometer FinFET manufacturing process and are packed with a "wafer-level integrated fan-out" technology, according to a report by the Economic Daily News (via DigiTimes). For the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, TSMC currently manufactures the A10 chip on a 16nm FinFET process. The jump to 10nm is tipped to yield chips that are more power efficient, and subsequently provide end user experiences that are snappier.

Before the end of 2017, TSMC is expected to "maintain a capacity" for producing a total of 100 million of Apple's A11 chips.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) will begin volume production of Apple's A11 chips in April and will prepare a capacity for production of 50 million units of the chip before July, according to a Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN) report.

The A11 chips, which will power the upcoming iPhone series slated for launch in September 2017, will be built on a 10 nm FinFET process and packed with a wafer-level integrated fan-out (InFO) packaging technology, said the report.

Last summer it was confirmed that TSMC would become the sole supplier of the A11 chip, with the design of the chip reportedly being completed around that time as well. The supplier was also the sole maker of the A10 chip in the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, which ultimately helped lead TSMC to revenue growth towards the end of last year.

TSMC company spokesperson Michael Kramer earlier this month said that an official decision regarding the creation of a major production plant in the United States would now be held off until 2018. Kramer said the company would lose much of its "flexibility" if it moved production stateside, but if it does end up building a U.S. plant for the production of Apple chips it could become an investment worth upwards of $16 billion.

Amber Rudd, the United Kingdom's home secretary, recently mentioned that it is "completely unacceptable" that the government could not gain access to messages stored on mobile applications protected by end-to-end encryption, such as WhatsApp. Rudd is calling for the UK police and other intelligence agencies to be given access to such apps to thwart any future terrorist plots, coming in the wake of the attack in London last week (via The Guardian).

Rudd's next step is summoning leaders of various technology companies to a meeting with the UK government on March 30 "to discuss what to do." The home secretary mentioned that the government would be willing to pass completely new legislation focusing on encrypted messaging and mobile apps if the talks this Thursday don't go her way. Rudd referred to WhatsApp, and similar apps, as potential "secret places" for terrorists to hide.

But she stressed it was her desire to persuade internet and social media companies to cooperate voluntarily with the government on this and also the posting of extremist material online.

Rudd added: “It is completely unacceptable. There should be no place for terrorists to hide.

“We need to make sure that organizations like WhatsApp, and there are plenty of others like that, don’t provide a secret place for terrorists to communicate with each other.”

Rudd's focus on WhatsApp is spurned by information that Khalid Masood -- the individual behind the London attacks outside Parliament -- used the Facebook-owned messaging app just minutes before the attack. While police believe Masood worked alone, they are seeking as much information about him as possible, including what or who he might have messaged through WhatsApp. While the police know Masood opened WhatsApp before the attacks, it is unknown whether or not he sent or received any messages.

In a statement, WhatsApp itself said that it was "horrified" by the events in London and would be "cooperating with law enforcement" as events proceed. The situation in the United Kingdom has already drawn parallels to the Apple-FBI dispute that lasted a few months last year, with Rudd directly mentioning Apple CEO Tim Cook at one point in an interview with the BBC.

Tim Cook, the chief executive of Apple which also uses end-to-end encryption, has previously said it would be "wrong" for governments to force Apple to "build a back door" into products. But Ms Rudd said: "I would ask Tim Cook to think again about other ways of helping us work out how we can get into the situations like WhatsApp on the Apple phone."

Apple, and those that side with the company, argued last year that it would be a slippery slope to place a backdoor into iOS for the sole purpose of assisting the government in its anti-terrorism measures. The company said that a "master key" would be able to get information from any iPad and iPhone, despite the FBI saying that all it wanted was key information from the iPhone 5c at the center of the debate.

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