MacRumors

Apple today provided developers with the fifth beta of tvOS 10, the next-generation operating system designed to run on the fourth-generation Apple TV. tvOS 10 beta 5 comes one week after the release of tvOS beta 4 and approximately two months after the operating system was first shown off at Apple's 2016 Worldwide Developers Conference

tvOS betas are harder to install than beta updates for iOS and OS X. Installing the tvOS beta requires the Apple TV to be connected to a computer with a USB-C to USB-A cable, with the software downloaded and installed via iTunes or Apple Configurator. Once a beta profile has been installed on the device through iTunes, new beta updates will be available over the air.

tvOS 10 builds on features initially introduced with tvOS last October, bringing expanded Siri capabilities like topic-based search, Live Tune-In for automatically accessing live channels, and options for managing HomeKit accessories.

Single-Sign On allows users to sign in and authenticate cable credentials just once instead of requiring authentication in all cable-supported apps, games are now able to require controllers, and there are new features for Photos and Music.

A dark mode offers a better visual experience for darker rooms, universal apps are automatically downloaded, and there's a new Apple TV remote for iOS devices that mirrors the Siri Remote.

Over the beta testing period, Apple has been making slight tweaks and updates to the tvOS 10 operating system, but many of the changes are under-the-hood and not readily apparent to testers. Any outward-facing changes discovered in the fifth beta will be noted below.

For a full overview of all of the new features in tvOS 10, make sure to check out our tvOS 10 roundup.

Apple today seeded the fifth beta of an upcoming watchOS 3 update to developers for testing purposes, one week after seeding the fourth beta and approximately two months after first unveiling watchOS 3 at its 2016 Worldwide Developers Conference.

The fifth watchOS 3 beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on an iPhone by going to General --> Software update.

To install the update, the Apple Watch needs to have 50 percent battery, it must be on the Apple Watch charger, and it must be in range of the iPhone. watchOS 3 also requires an iPhone running iOS 10 to install.

watchOS 3 introduces significant changes to the watchOS operating system. A new dock, accessible by pressing the side button, replaces Glances and houses 10 favorite first and third-party apps. Apps in the dock are kept continually up to date and are stored in memory for a new instant launch ability.

New Activity Sharing options allow Apple Watch owners to share workout and activity information with friends, and there are new fitness features for Wheelchair users. A Breathe app guides users through daily deep breathing sessions, an Apple Watch can unlock a Mac, and Apple has added apps for Reminders, Find My Friends, and accessing one's heartbeat.

Additional watch faces support complications, there are three new watch faces to choose from, including a new Activity watch face, and an SOS feature will make sure an option to get help in an emergency is always right at your fingertips. On the iPhone, there's a new Face Gallery for customizing Apple Watch faces, and watchOS 3 allows the Apple Watch to be located via Find My iPhone for the first time.

Over the beta testing period, Apple has been making slight tweaks and updates to the watchOS 3 operating system, but many of the changes are under-the-hood and not readily apparent. Any outward-facing changes will be noted below.

For complete details on the new features coming in watchOS 3, which will be released to the public this fall, make sure to check out our watchOS 3 roundup.

One of the key challenges for Apple in developing the Apple Watch was figuring out how to maintain acceptable battery life for the device in the face of power-hungry components such as the main processor and display.

With watchOS 3 introduced at WWDC in June, Apple showed off the ability to allow multiple Apple Watch apps to remain active and refresh in the background, acknowledging that its initial approach to managing power and other system resources was conservative but that real-world experience had shown the device could handle more demanding tasks.

In addition to software improvements, future generations of the Apple Watch will need to become more efficient on the hardware level, with new versions of the S1 chip that serves as the brains of the device being a primary target for improvement. With that in mind, we've taken a technical look at what the future could hold for semiconductor technology as it relates to battery-limited devices like the Apple Watch.

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YouTube has removed the large, default volume indicator from its iOS app, letting users effectively toggle sound controls up and down while in a full-screen video without having to worry about the translucent UI obscuring most of the content. The removal came in version 11.30 of the YouTube app, which began rolling out yesterday. Any time the app is in portrait mode, the regular indicator will still appear.

The obtrusive volume indicator has been an annoyance for many iOS users over the years, since it usually blocks the most crucial aspects of a video when it pops up. The UI is system-wide, so it shows up most places a video is played on an iPhone or iPad -- Photos, for example -- and has been a mainstay in third-party apps as well. Still, many of Apple's first-party apps include a more inconspicuous volume toggle that appears in a widescreen menu along with play, pause, and video scrubbing controls, like in Trailers and Videos.

Thankfully, over the years, some of these third-party apps have managed to combat Apple's UI choice with volume toggles of their own. Snapchat began using its own alternative about a year ago, in the form of a line of thin rectangles at the top of the screen that grow bolder or lighter when users increase or decrease the volume. Instagram's version is more in line with YouTube's now, with a simple black line that indicates soft and loud volume from the left to the right.

In an earlier beta release of iOS 10, some users noticed that the volume UI was gone from the new version of iOS when watching videos, believing its complete removal could possibly be Apple's response to user frustration. However, in subsequent updates the square-shaped HUD has returned, so it appears that the company won't be moving to change this particular part of its mobile operating system when iOS 10 launches in the fall.

Along with the usual bug fixes and performance enhancements, the new update also introduces thumbnails when users scrub through videos on iOS so they can easily find specific scenes. YouTube is available to download for free from the App Store. [Direct Link]

Apple is developing at least one new health-tracking product that could debut alongside the tenth-anniversary iPhone in 2017, according to Economic Daily News (via Mac Otakara).

Exact details are hard to discern from the translated Chinese-language report, but Apple is said to have invested two years of R&D into the new product in it health laboratories overseen by Apple's health and fitness director Jay Blahnik.

While entirely new hardware is possible, the product could realistically be a next-generation Apple Watch. The product is said to have an array of health-related apps that collect data such as heart rate, pulse, and blood sugar changes.

Health and fitness has been a focus for Apple in recent years with ResearchKit, HealthKit, and the Apple Watch. In a recent interview, when asked what he believes the "next frontiers" will be when it comes to product development, Apple CEO Tim Cook highlighted health as "the biggest one of all."

In a recent interview with Mashable, an artist based in the United Kingdom, Kyle Lambert, divulged his process of creating the memorable poster art for Netflix's science fiction series Stranger Things. Netflix asked the artist to keep with the 80's theme of the show, and provided him with a vague plot outline, rough cuts of only the first few episodes, and some still shots "to communicate the story in a single image."

Ultimately, Lambert said he decided on the iPad Pro for the project because the tablet lets him "sketch in a very natural way," especially when used in conjunction with the Apple Pencil. He used the Apple device in the sketching process of the main poster art that has gained fame online in the weeks since Stranger Things launched in July, but Lambert has also been known to create impressive art on iPads over the years, particularly in a photorealistic representation of Morgan Freeman he created on an iPad Air in 2013.

"This was a very exciting project for me, as an artist that trained with oil paints, I really enjoyed the challenge of reproducing this traditional painting style using digital tools," Lambert told Mashable.

"I used the iPad Pro to do the preliminary composition ideas and the sketch that became the final Stranger Things poster. I chose to use the iPad Pro for the drawing stage of the poster because I find that I am able to sketch in a very natural way on the device using the Apple Pencil. The device in general is nice to hold for long periods of time, it is really portable and Procreate, the app that I used, has some really great Pencil brushes for drawing with."

Specifically, on the iPad Pro Lambert used the iOS app Procreate to assist in his drawing process, and then he transitioned to Photoshop on the Mac to upscale the image to a higher resolution so he could "paint small elements at the best possible resolution." During the coloring process, the artist used an Intuos Wacom tablet -- which connects to a Mac to act as a sketch pad -- so he could "focus on as much of the image" as he needed, without his hand obscuring a piece of the artwork like it does when using the iPad Pro/Apple Pencil combo.

The process wasn't particularly straightforward, however, as Lambert describes moving back to the iPad Pro to "add layers of detail to areas" that he thought needed "a more fluid sketch style" that the desktop didn't grant. He went back and forth between the two devices and applications several times to ultimately give the Stranger Things poster its finished, recognizable look. Lambert was also commissioned to work on several character portraits to serve as gifts for actors, specifically those of Sheriff Hopper, Eleven and Dr. Brenner, and various still shots from iconic moments in the 8-episode series.

Ever since early adopters began getting their hands on the iPad Pro and its companion stylus, the Apple Pencil, talented artists have shared what they can do with the technology in MacRumors' own discussion forums. Apple has remained adamant that the Apple Pencil is a drawing-enhancement tool, and "will absolutely not replace the finger as a point of interface" on the tablet, so it's interesting to see how much the technology has grown and been used, and on such a highly professional level, in under a year of its availability.

An image claiming to show Geekbench test results for an iPhone 7 Plus reveal a 2.37GHz dual-core ARM processor and 3GB of RAM for the device.

The picture, originally posted to Chinese microblogging site Weibo and picked up by Dutch site Techtastic.nl, depicts single- and multi-core results for an iPhone model with the identifying hardware string "iPhone9,2". For comparison's sake, an iPhone 6s Plus has a 1.84GHz dual-core A9 chip, 2GB of memory and the hardware string "iPhone8,2".

If the results are legitimate, a single-core score of 3548 and multi-core score of 6430 show that Apple's 16-nanometer A10 processor easily beats the performance of the A9 in the iPhone 6s Plus, which scores 2490 and 4341, respectively.

On these results, the A10 also outperforms the 2.2GHz A9X chip powering the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, which returns Geekbench scores of 3224 and 5466, respectively.

Last week, a DigiTimes report claimed the iPhone 7 Plus will carry 3GB of RAM, supporting two previous claims by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo saying the same thing.

The DigiTimes report stopped short of specifying whether the 4.7-inch iPhone 7 model would also get 3GB of RAM, but it's worth noting that the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus both had 2GB of RAM, although Apple could restrict the 3GB to the larger device this time around to differentiate them more.

The image is just the latest in an increasing number of leaks coming out of Chinese websites in recent weeks, suggesting users with links to Apple's supply chain. On Monday, a user of microblogging site Weibo posted images allegedly depicting iPhone 7 logic boards before the device chips had been added.

Apple is expected to reveal both the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone 7 at a media event next month.

Update: Primate Labs founder John Poole has said the Geekbench results are fake.

Fake Bitcoin wallet apps are routinely leaking through Apple's App Store vetting process, leaving users' accounts at risk of being compromised and their coins stolen.

That's according to developers of the Breadwallet app, who estimate that fake wallets in the App Store have already lost users of the digital currency up to $20,000.

The suspect apps were first identified by the company in a post on Reddit, warning users that at least eight fake wallets on the App Store were using the same, or very similar, names to existing official mobile wallet apps.

The scam apps appeared to be aping portions of source code, icons, and graphics from legitimate apps to fool users into thinking they were using official wallets.

Breadwallet discovered a fake version of its own app which was added to the App Store on July 29, using the same name and icon as the official version. The company took immediate action and contacted Apple to remove the offending app, after customers inadvertently downloaded the fake and reported stolen funds.

"We talked with one customer who claims to have lost about $10,000, and if we go and look at the coin address where those coins were deposited, last I checked there was $20,000 listed at that address," said Breadwallet co-founder Aaron Voisine, speaking to Motherboard. "So, that's our current estimate for how much customers have lost."

Apple has since removed the offending apps listed by Breadwallet, but their appearance on the App Store has left Bitcoin wallet developers and users questioning the robustness of Apple's vetting process for financial apps.

"I think it would be good for Apple to go through some extra process to make sure they have the identity of the person posting any app in the finance section," Voisine said.

Founder of SSL security certificate company BlackCert, John Casaretto, told SiliconANGLE that the Application Development Signing Certificates, the Apple Developer Program, and the application review process had all been negated by a handful of malicious apps making it onto the Store recently.

"For a long time, it seemed as though Apple's tight controls over its ecosystem were a fairly impenetrable measure against nefarious applications, malware, and junk," said Casaretto. "Clearly that is not the case anymore."

Niantic has today updated Pokemon Go to version 1.3, bringing several improvements, tweaks and fixes to the game. The main addition is a dialogue option for users who may be playing while driving, while the "Nearby" feature has been transformed into "Sightings" as the developer continues work on testing a new tracking system.

If players are going over a certain speed, the game will now warn them that they're moving too fast. To continue playing, users have to click a button that tells the app that they're a passenger and not a driver. Throws have also seen improvements, with the curve ball throw receiving accuracy adjustments while the "Nice," "Great" and "Excellent" throws now receive the appropriate experience from the game.

The game's "Nearby" feature has also been changed into "Sightings." The new feature, which Niantic says it is testing with a subset of users, points out Pokemon that have been sighted in the area. Behind illustrations of nearby Pokemon are illustrations of grass. Unlike before, tapping on a singular Pokemon does focus on a single Pokemon. In last week's Pokemon Go update, Niantic disabled the vague and difficult-to-understand "three steps" tracking mechanic.

Other minor changes and fixes include art for the Mystic, Insight and Valor team leaders , the ability to change a user's nickname, a fix for achievements that were showing incorrect medal icons and a fixed and re-enabled battery saver mode.

Pokemon Go is available in the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Hyundai USA has expanded CarPlay and Android Auto to the 2016 Azera, Veloster, Sonata Hybrid, and Sonata Plug-In Hybrid, in addition to the 2015 Azera, via a free software update available now on the MyHyundai website. The automaker has now completed the rollout of smartphone integration across its 2017 model year lineup.

Hyundai customers can install the CarPlay update themselves by watching the do-it-yourself video below, or a Hyundai dealership can perform the update for an installation fee. The process can take between 1 and 4 hours to download and upload the CarPlay update, depending on your network speed, according to the company.

Azera and Veloster are first-time CarPlay vehicles, joining Hyundai's growing lineup of vehicles that support Apple's car-based software, including the 2015 Genesis Sedan, 2015 Sonata, 2016 Elantra GT, 2016 Genesis Sedan, 2016 Sonata, 2016 Tucson, 2017 Elantra, 2017 IONIQ, 2017 Santa Fe, and 2017 Santa Fe Sport.

Apple periodically updates a list of available CarPlay vehicles on its website, but it has yet to add newly-supported BMW 2 Series models.

Hulu today announced that the company is ending the free, ad-supported tier of its streaming service and focusing on an all-subscription model that will more closely align it to rivals Netflix and Amazon Prime (via Variety). Hulu's free service -- which let users watch the most recent episodes of shows after they aired live on TV -- will still continue, but is being transitioned to a new platform called "Yahoo View," thanks to a distribution partnership between Hulu and Yahoo.

In the free-to-use site Yahoo View, users will be able to watch the five most-recent episodes of shows from networks like ABC, Fox, and NBC, but will now have to wait eight days after they originally air. Yahoo View will also provide clips previewing upcoming episodes and entire seasons of anime and Korean drama series. Users can expect Hulu's free service to be phased out "over the next few weeks."

Hulu senior vice president Ben Smith said that the main reason behind the move was that the company's free service "became very limited and no longer aligned with the Hulu experience or content strategy." With the elimination of the ad-supported tier, users will have just two options to watch Hulu: its basic $7.99 per month service with commercials, or a higher-tier $11.99 per month option without commercials.

“For the past couple years, we’ve been focused on building a subscription service that provides the deepest, most personalized content experience possible to our viewers,” Hulu senior VP and head of experience Ben Smith said in a statement. “As we have continued to enhance that offering with new originals, exclusive acquisitions, and movies, the free service became very limited and no longer aligned with the Hulu experience or content strategy.”

For now, Yahoo View is available only on the web, but the company said that mobile apps will be coming soon, although no release window was given. Since Yahoo shuttered its digital online video service, Yahoo Screen, earlier in the year, the acquisition of Hulu's former free content is expected to help bolster Yahoo's standing as a contender in the ever-expanding online streaming competition.

For Hulu, the move comes just under a week after Time Warner bought a 10 percent stake in the company to join Disney, 21st Century Fox and Comcast/NBC Universal as shareholders. Looking forward, Hulu is also prepping a live TV streaming service for sometime in 2017, which would add another subscription tier onto its streaming options with a service that focuses on quality over quantity, since the company "isn’t looking to offer all the hundreds of channels found in the traditional cable bundle."