MacRumors

Apple seeded the fourth beta of iOS 8.4 to developers yesterday with a fix for a messaging bug that causes an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to crash after receiving a specific string of Unicode characters via iMessage or SMS (via HDBlog.it). The bug also affects the Mac and Apple Watch and extends to third-party messaging apps such as Snapchat, Twitter and WhatsApp, as the issue is tied to the way banner notifications process Unicode.

Sending the string of characters to an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch results in an immediate respring, causing the device to crash and quickly reboot. From there, if the Messages app was opened at a list view, the Messages app crashes automatically when you try to open it. If it was opened to the conversation where you received the message, the app will open, but attempting to go to another conversation causes Messages to crash.

Apple recently published a support document on its website with a temporary workaround for the problem, and ensured that a permanent fix would be issued in a future software update. That fix has arrived in the form of iOS 8.4, which will be released ahead of Apple Music's launch on June 30. In the meantime, affected users can ask Siri to "read unread messages" and use Siri to reply to the malicious message in order to regain access to the Messages app and delete the message.

Spotify today announced that it now has more than 75 million active users and 20 million paid subscribers worldwide as the Sweden-based streaming music service prepares to compete with Apple Music, available June 30 on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac and PC.

Spotify doubled the 10 million paid subscribers it had through May 2014 in just one year, and has now paid over $3 billion in royalties to artists, songwriters and rights holders, including more than $300 million in the first three months of 2015 alone.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Spotify has also raised $526 million in a funding round that values the company at $8.53 billion, giving it significantly more financial backing to take on Apple Music and other rivals in the increasingly competitive streaming music market. Spotify will reportedly invest the capital raised from investors in expansion and new forms of content to further differentiate itself.

Spotify operates at a loss due to significant royalties and revenue sharing with music label partners, although the company aims to become profitable through continued subscriber growth. The company announced plans last month to add video programming and podcasts from partners such as ABC, BBC, ESPN, NBC, Comedy Central, Conde Nast, Maker Studios, Turner Broadcasting and Vice Media.

Apple Music was announced earlier this week as a streaming music service, live global radio station and social platform for artists to connect with fans. The subscription-based service costs $9.99 per month with a three-month free trial for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac and PC. Apple TV and Android versions of the service will be available in the fall. Apple Music launches June 30 on iOS 8.4 and iTunes.

Apple has published a support document on its website confirming that it has been using a fleet of vehicles to collect street-level imagery for Apple Maps. Apple outlines that it will blur faces and license plates on images, as Google Maps does for Street View, and lists where Apple Maps vehicles will be driving in the United States, England and Ireland between June 15 and June 30.

"Apple is driving vehicles around the world to collect data which will be used to improve Apple Maps. Some of this data will be published in future Apple Maps updates. We are committed to protecting your privacy while collecting this data. For example, we will blur faces and license plates on collected images prior to publication."

Apple has been driving around fifth-generation Dodge Caravans equipped with LiDAR camera equipment on the roof to collect street-level imagery in the United States, starting with major cities and metropolitan areas in the south, northeast and midwest regions of the country. The mapping vehicles have been spotted in at least a dozen states to date as they continue moving further inland.

MacRumors has been tracking Apple Maps vehicles in the United States for the past several months, with the first sightings occurring in New York City in August 2014. Since then, using verified photos with GPS metadata, we have confirmed Apple Maps vehicle sightings in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco and many other areas. Many of those locations are listed below.

• Anaheim, California
• Atlanta, Georgia
• Chicago, Illinois
• Dallas, Texas
• Las Vegas, Nevada
• Los Angeles, California
• Maui, Hawaii
• Miami, Florida
• New York City, New York
• Orlando, Florida
• Palo Alto, California
• Phoenix, Arizona
• Salt Lake City, Utah
• San Diego, California
• San Francisco, California
• Sunnyvale, California

Apple confirms many of these locations in the support document, while adding Oahu, Boston, Detroit, St. Louis, Seattle, Tucson and surrounding counties as additional U.S. regions it will be surveying in the second half of June. Apple Maps vehicles will also head overseas to collect street-level imagery in Birmingham, Dublin, Essex, Kent, London and several other cities and counties in England and Ireland.

The collection of street-level imagery is part of Apple's larger shift towards in-house mapping data, in order to reduce its reliance on third-party companies such as TomTom, which has provided data for Apple Maps since it launched. Apple is also allegedly taking photos of businesses, storefronts and other points of interest to replace photos currently provided by Yelp and other third parties.

Send your photos of Apple Maps vans to tips@macrumors.com.

A day after the WWDC keynote address, Apple SVP of Marketing Phil Schiller joined Daring Fireball's John Gruber on Gruber's podcast, The Talk Show. The episode has not yet been posted, but The Verge was on hand to document the interview. Schiller addressed concerns about 16 GB iPhones, the decision between thin devices and battery life and the single USB port on the MacBook.

Gruber suggested to Schiller that the Cupertino company's iOS devices should come with larger storage capacities on the low end, as the 16 GB of storage provided in the base iPhone 6 or 6 Plus is harder to live with with the current size of apps. Schiller countered that services like iCloud could make up the difference.

"The belief is more and more as we use iCloud services for documents and our photos and videos and music," he said, "that perhaps the most price-conscious customers are able to live in an environment where they don't need gobs of local storage because these services are lightening the load."

Schiller also said that using 16 GB storage for lower-end models allows Apple to save money for use on higher-end components in other parts of the device, like the camera.

When asked about the relationship between the thickness of a phone and battery life, and whether maintaining the thickness of its devices could lead to more power-efficient internals and bigger batteries, Schiller said that Apple has the right balance with its devices. He points out that a device with a larger battery and thickness becomes heavier and takes longer to charge. Schiller notes that Apple tries to figure out the tradeoffs with every device it makes, and he thinks the company has made "great choices" in those tradeoffs.

The Apple SVP also acknowledged that the new MacBook, with its one USB-C port and new keyboard, isn't for everyone. However, he said he believes that Apple is a company that needs to release forward-thinking products like the new MacBook, which is an effort to push the world into a place where users don't plug things into their laptops. Schiller said he wants an Apple that's "bold and taking risks and being aggressive."

Apple has faced criticism for its "bold decisions" in the past, with users unsure of whether a 16 GB device is enough for a daily driver, concern about whether new devices will have improved battery life with thinner designs and products with new technology that come with heavy initial limitations.

While the episode has not yet debuted online yet, it should be available on Daring Fireball in due time.

Update: Full video of the interview is now available. There is some profanity, primarily during the introductory section before Gruber and Schiller take the stage.

Following yesterday's debut of Apple Music, Jimmy Iovine and iTunes Chief Eddy Cue sat down with Billboard to discuss the new service and app, which combine on-demand streaming music with 24/7 radio and a social networking platform where artists can interact with fans.

According to Cue, the $9.99 individual price point for Apple Music wasn't a sticking point for the company as some earlier reports suggested, but the company was invested in negotiating a reasonable family subscription price. Apple Music lets up to 6 family members share an account for $14.99, a price point that Cue says will get entire families on board with the service.

I think the cost of an album for a month of subscription is fair. Could you argue, $7.99 or $8.99? Who cares. I think where subscription is missing the boat is on the family -- you have a spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend kids ... the concept of signing up for these individual subscription plans multiple times is just not going to happen so we spent a lot of time with the labels to convince them that the real opportunity here is to get the whole family. With that, all boats rise.

On the subject of streaming music cannibalizing iTunes downloads, Cue says he expects some of the customer base to subscribe instead of buying music, but he believes downloads will "go on for a long, long time." "There are lots of people who are very happy downloading," he said. "And I think they'll continue to."

Explaining the reasoning behind a 24-hour human-curated radio station, Iovine explained that over the past 15 years, radio's become manufactured, something he'd like to change. "It's either genre-based or beat-driven or research-driven," he said. "So I said, let's build something that's got none of that that just plays music because it's great."

Cue and Iovine also did interviews with The Wall Street Journal and The Guardian, sharing much of the same information, but in the latter interview, the duo also spoke on Apple Connect, the social networking component of Apple Music. The point of Apple Connect and Apple Music in general, said Cue, was to give artists and labels control over content sharing.

"Our viewpoint was very simple: let the artist and label control it. They can put it up on Connect for free if they want to, or they can put it up behind the [subscription] paywall, or they can make it available on the iTunes Store for sale. They're in control of their music and how they want to distribute it," says Cue.

Iovine added commentary suggesting a music service needs to be "a win for everybody." "We wanted to give artists a place where there's a rhyme and a reason," he said. "Where there's a payoff! And not just a financial payoff, but an emotional payoff. A creative payoff."

Apple Music, with its on-demand streaming service, Beats 1 radio station, and Apple Connect platform, will officially launch on June 30, as part of the iOS 8.4 update. As previously mentioned, it will be priced at $9.99 for individuals and $14.99 for families. Existing Beats subscribers will be able to transition their subscriptions to Apple Music.

At yesterday's WWDC keynote, Apple unveiled its next generation operating systems for Mac and iOS, introducing both OS X 10.11 El Capitan and iOS 9. We've done a hands-on overview of the two new operating systems, to give you a look at some of the changes that Apple has implemented.

With iOS 9, there are several underlying improvements that improve battery life and reduce the amount of storage space the operating system takes up, a huge benefit for users with 16GB devices. Siri's become more intelligent, and the whole OS has been updated with "Proactive" features that help you better manage your life.

A revamped search screen on the left of the home screen offers up a list of commonly used apps, favorite contacts, restaurant and venue recommendations, and important news, all available at a glance. Maps gained Transit directions, Notes has new features, there's a new News app, and we're finally getting a much-desired split-screen multitasking feature for the iPad.

And those are just the big changes -- check out our roundup of hidden features, too, and visit our iOS 9 forum to learn even more about the new version of iOS.

OS X 10.11 El Capitan is named for a notable mountain within Yosemite, signifying its position as an update that builds on and refines the features introduced with OS X Yosemite. El Capitan includes improved window management features with a new Split view for displaying two full screen windows at once, plus it has an improved Spotlight search with natural language support, and updates to apps like Notes and Maps.

Safari has gained features like Pinned Sites and a mute button that can silence audio from any tab, while Mail supports new gestures and Smart Suggestions. Most importantly, El Capitan improves system performance, making many tasks on the Mac faster than before. It also includes Metal for much improved graphics performance.

Want to know more about El Capitan? Make sure to visit our OS X 10.11 forum, where members are discussing the new update and sharing many smaller changes that went under the radar.

El Capitan and iOS 9 are both available to registered developers, and Apple plans to provide them to public beta testers in July. A public release of both software updates will come in the fall.

Apple today seeded the fifth beta of OS X 10.10.4 to developers and public beta testers, approximately two weeks after releasing the fourth OS X 10.10.4 beta and two months after releasing the first OS X 10.10.4 beta. OS X 10.10.4 has been in testing since mid-April, following the early April release of OS X 10.10.3, which included the new Photos for OS X app.

The new beta, build 14E33b, can downloaded through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store or through the Mac Developer Center.

OS X 10.10.3 brought several consumer-facing changes including the new Photos for OS X app, a redesigned emoji picker, and diversified emoji, but OS X 10.10.4 appears to be an under-the-hood update that brings performance enhancements and bug fixes.

Thus far, OS X 10.10.4 betas have not included outward facing design changes or feature additions, but the last beta introduced a significant behind-the-scenes update that may improve networking performance for users who have experienced issues with OS X Yosemite.

Discoveryd, a somewhat problematic networking process that has been linked to multiple bugs in OS X 10.10, was removed in favor of the older bug-free mDNSresponder.

It is not clear when Apple plans to release OS X 10.10.4 to the public, but the fact that we've now received five betas suggests we may be nearing the end of the beta testing period.

Apple today seeded the fourth beta of iOS 8.4 to registered developers for testing purposes, nearly a month after seeding the third iOS 8.4 beta and almost two months after launching the first iOS 8.4 beta. iOS 8.4 has been in testing since mid-April, following the early April release of iOS 8.3. Today's beta is the third that public beta testers have received.

Today's beta update, build 12H4125a, is available as an over-the-air download and through the iOS Developer Center.

iOS 8.4 beta 4's release notes still include a number of lingering issues with the new Music app that will need to be resolved before the software can be released to the public. Problems include an inability to use Siri with iTunes Radio, issues with AirPlay streaming, a lack of station sharing, and more.

iOS 8.4's major feature is an all-new Music app that includes a revamped look, as seen in the walkthrough video below. The Music app's new design shows pictures of artists in the Artists view and it offers a new MiniPlayer with a redesigned look for "Now Playing." There are personalized playlists, global search capabilities that make it easier to search within the Music app, and a streamlined design for the radio feature to bolster music discovery.

iOS 8.4's redesigned Music app comes ahead of the debut of Apple Music, which was introduced at the Worldwide Developers Conference yesterday. The upcoming streaming music service is similar to Apple's existing Beats music service, but it's been renamed and deeply integrated into the Music app.

We will see the public release of both the new music service and iOS 8.4 on June 30.

GM today announced that its luxury car brand Cadillac will add CarPlay and Android Auto support to its 2016 model year vehicles, which will begin rolling out this summer.

CarPlay will be available in all 2016 vehicles equipped with a CUE 8-inch multi-touch screen, excluding the SRX Crossover, while Android Auto will be phased in at a later date.

"Cadillac CUE provides owners a smart and simple way to access both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. A “Projection” icon will appear on the CUE screen, to enable simpler, easier access to key smartphone functions, including navigation, contacts, hands-free text messaging and select applications supported by Apple or Google."

CarPlay-equipped vehicles have a built-in touchscreen display that provides quick and easy access to Maps, Phone, Messages, Music, Podcasts and third-party apps such as Spotify, Rdio, iHeartRadio, CBS Radio and MLB At Bat. CarPlay also uses Siri voice control and interfaces with your vehicle's knobs, dials and buttons for hands-free or eyes-free control of your iPhone.

Apple also introduced a handful of CarPlay improvements during its WWDC keynote this week, including support for apps developed by carmakers to control the in-car experience and compatibility with larger and wider screens. CarPlay will also function wirelessly in future vehicles, eliminating the need to take your iPhone out of your pocket or bag after getting in your vehicle.

GM is also adding CarPlay support to 14 new 2016 Chevrolet models later this year.

With Apple's big Worldwide Developers Conference keynote wrapped up, the company has posted a full video of the event on its website, letting viewers who missed the keynote watch all the announcements on their own time. Apple also shared the keynote on iTunes (HD and 1080p) and should upload the full-length video to YouTube soon.

During the keynote, Apple also shared several videos on Apple Music and a video on the App Store, which we've listed below.

- Apple Music - Music needed a home...so we built it one.
- Apple Music - Worldwide
- Apple Music - History of Sound
- The App Effect

Along with the videos, you can also check out our full list of media event highlights below, featuring all of MacRumors event coverage. The list includes posts with details on what Apple announced and in-depth posts on specific features that we added throughout the day.

- Live Coverage of Apple's WWDC 2015 Keynote: iOS 9, OS X 10.11, Apple Music, and More
- Apple Announces OS X El Capitan With Split View, Contextual Spotlight, Updated Apps and More, Launches in Fall
- Apple Announces Metal for OS X El Capitan
- Apple Pay Coming to the United Kingdom Next Month, Discover Card Support Arriving This Fall
- Apple Introduces 'News' App to Bring Personalized Stories to iOS 9
- Apple Announces Multitasking Experiences for iPad with iOS 9
- Apple Announces Swift 2, Open Source for iOS, OS X and Linux
- App Store Surpasses 100 Billion Lifetime Downloads
- Apple Announces 'Apple Music' With 'Beats 1' Live Radio Station, Launches June 30 for $9.99/Month
- Apple Announces watchOS 2 With Native Apps, Third-Party Complications, and More
- Apple Announces iOS 9 With Proactive Siri, Maps Transit, iPad Multitasking and More
- Apple Merges iOS, WatchOS and Mac Developer Programs
- 'Move to iOS' App Allows for No Hassle Android-to-iOS Data Transfer
- Dedicated iCloud Drive App Included Within Settings of iOS 9
- Apple Confirms Activation Lock Safety Feature for watchOS 2
- iOS 9 Tidbits: Battery Saving Features, Search for Settings, Keyboard Changes, Email Attachments, and More
- OS X 10.11 El Capitan Runs on All Macs Capable of Running Yosemite
- Apple Music to Support Saving Playlists and Songs for Offline Listening

Update 6/15/15: Apple has now uploaded the full WWDC video to YouTube.

Following today's Worldwide Developers keynote, Apple held an event to announce the winners of its prestigious Apple Design Awards. Apple's Design Awards are handed out each year and highlight a selection of the year's best apps available on iOS and Mac, honoring all kinds of apps from utilities to games.

Apple created its design awards to recognize high-quality apps that combine design and technology in creative, compelling, and powerful ways. Along with significant recognition and a trophy, Apple gives its Design Award winners a selection of Apple products each year.

This year's winners include popular calendar app Fantastical 2, personal automation tool Workflow, and stock trading app Robinhood. Games recognized included Shadowmatic and Crossy Road.

iOS and Mac
- Shadowmatic [iOS]
- Robinhood [iOS]
- Crossy Road [iOS]
- Workflow [iOS]
- Does Not Commute [iOS]
- Vainglory [iOS]
- Pacemaker [iOS]
- Metamorphabet [iOS]
- Fantastical 2 [Mac]
- Affinity Designer [Mac]

Student Winners
- Jump-O [iOS]
- Elementary Minute [iOS]

2014 winners of the Apple Design Awards included Threes!, Leo's Fortune, Blek, and Monument Valley. 2013 winners included Letterpress, Yahoo! Weather, and Evernote.

Apple covered the major new features of iOS 9 during today's keynote event, introducing a more intelligent and proactive Siri, split-screen multitasking for the iPad, major performance enhancements, Transit directions in Maps, a new News app, and more, but there are hundreds of other minor improvements that went unmentioned.

We've gathered up a list of some of the more notable changes and hidden new features in iOS 9 that have not yet been mentioned, to give you a better idea of what we can expect to see when the new operating system is released in the fall.

iCloud Drive - It wasn't mentioned during the keynote, but there's a new optional iCloud Drive app on iOS that can be turned on in the Settings menu. The app lets you access files stored in iCloud Drive.

Keyboard changes - The shift function has been altered once again, making it easier to determine when it's activated and when caps lock is turned on. With shift pressed, all letters on the keyboard are now shown in upper case. With shift off, letters on the keyboard are lower case. On iPad, there are new edit controls, and the keyboard now uses the new San Francisco font.

Find My Friends/iPhone - Find My Friends and Find My iPhone are both default apps with iOS 9 and come installed automatically. Before these needed to be downloaded from the App Store. Find My Friends can be added to the Notification Center, where it tracks the location of your friends.

Battery saving - Using ambient light and proximity sensors, your iPhone now knows when it's facedown on a table and will not turn the screen on, even when a Notification is received. Other enhancements add an additional 1 hour of battery life to the iPhone with iOS 9, and there's a new Low Power Mode that increases battery life another three hours. You'll get pop ups suggesting you turn on Low Power Mode when your iPhone reaches 20% and 10% battery life.

Battery settings - To go along with all the new battery features, there's a new dedicated "Battery" section in the settings app, where Low Power Mode can be turned on. It also displays more detailed battery usage information that can be sorted by apps using the most and the least amount of power. With Low Power Mode, background activity, motion effects, and animated wallpapers are disabled. Battery information is also displayed in the Notification Center, for both Apple Watch and iOS device.

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