MacRumors

San Antonio Spurs player Matt Bonner recently revealed in an interview with Concord Monitor (via Yahoo) that he suffered from tennis elbow during the 2014-2015 NBA season, a condition that he theorized was caused by Apple's larger-screened iPhones and led to a lower-than-normal 3-point shot success rate.

"Everybody is going to find this hilarious, but here's my theory on how I got it," he said. "When the new iPhone came out it was way bigger than the last one, and I think because I got that new phone it was a strain to use it, you have to stretch further to hit the buttons, and I honestly think that's how I ended up developing it."

According to Bonner, his two-and-a-half months of tennis elbow made it so painful for him to shoot that he'd "almost be cringing" before catching the ball. He spoke to a Spurs strength and conditioning coach, who reported suffering from a similar injury after spending time playing a game on a larger-screened iPhone.

Tennis elbow is attributed to any activity involving the repetitive use of the muscles in the forearm, causing muscles and tendons to be damaged from excessive use and leading to pain and inflammation in the elbow. A quick Google search suggests that tennis elbow caused by iPhone is not a common condition, but a few others have complained about similar iPhone-related stress injuries over the years.

It's not entirely clear if Bonner was making a tongue-in-cheek joke when he gave the tidbit of info to the Concord Monitor, but at 6'10" tall, it's a bit difficult to believe he would have trouble using the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus or the 4.7-inch iPhone 6, even one-handed. As iMore points out, there's likely another cause for his elbow issues.

In the days and weeks after its launch last April, one of the biggest curiosities surrounding the Apple Watch was its tolerance to water. Thanks to a few initial tests -- from showers to high dive pools -- we now know that the Apple Watch is indeed a bit more waterproof than Apple promises, and with that in mind a few London-based iOS developers have created the "World's first swim app on the Apple Watch," and put it through its paces in a new video.

Having designed a similar app for the Pebble, Ted Bradley and his team decided to take that idea -- a lapping, time, and heart rate monitoring swim app -- and transplant it onto the Apple Watch. The developers put each smartwatch to the same test, swimming four full lengths of the London Aquatic Centre's 50 meter pool. The test proved successful, with the Apple Watch mirroring the Pebble's results of a four lap, 200 meter swim. Apple's smartwatch even continued to measure heart rate successfully, raising from an initial 88bpm to 138bpm immediately after the test finished.

The only downside for the app is that the Apple Watch experiences a tiny bit of lag when waking it up to check out lap times, the developers explaining that only when the screen is awake can the app run through the data samples collected from the swim and take a few seconds to parse through the information and display it on screen. Elsewhere, the swimming data isn't locked into the app, all of the workout and heart rate information getting delivered to HealthKit like any other workout and adding to a user's daily exercise and move goals.

Of course, even though the app works, the developers are still referring to it as an "interesting technology demo," seeing that App Store Guidelines will immediately shut it down for encouraging users to use the Watch "in a way that may cause damage to the device." In the end, the app's creators just hope that Apple hears the calls for a fully-waterproof smartwatch and includes such features in the device's next generation.

We really hope that Apple see the demand for an official, fully waterproofed Apple Watch. Once that is available, we’ll be able to ship a fully featured swimming app. In the mean time, it would be great to see swimming become a first class citizen in the Apple Health and Activities apps. Running and cycling both have their own distance graphs you can view in the dashboard whilst for swimming you have to drill down to individual workouts.

Although you can’t swim with the Apple Watch, many people swim with other devices as well as logging their swim workouts manually on other apps. If there is a future ambition for Apple Health/HealthKit, Apple Watch, the new Activity app and ResearchKit to all tie up and tell the narrative that "Apple user's live longer healthier lives", then recording all fitness activity, including swimming, is a must.

The full blog post, where Bradley goes into detail about everything from his inspiration for creating the swim app to architectural challenges the team faced in creating it, is definitely worth a read.

Apple has separated its three time-based categories into separate apps on Apple Watch. This allows you to quickly access the specific feature of the timer, alarm, and stopwatch you want with just a few taps.

While most of it is self-explanatory, we've got some tips for how to get the most out of each of these apps so they work the way you want, when you want.

Timer

The Timer app on Apple watch makes it possible for you to set a timer right from your wrist so you don't have to search out your iPhone to activate or even turn off the alert when time is up.

Tap the Timer app icon on Apple Watch to open it. Then rotate the Digital Crown to adjust the time. When ready, tap the Start button.

You can switch between a timer that goes from zero to 12 hours and a timer that goes from zero to 24 hours by firmly pressing the display screen.

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In late June, it was revealed that Apple had rounded up celebrity partners to host radio shows on its Beats 1 programming schedule, including Elton John, Pharrell and Dr. Dre. Today, the company announced that Dre's show, The Pharmacy, will premiere Saturday, July 4 at 3 PM PST and will broadcast every week thereafter at the same time.

The hour-long show will be co-hosted by Dre and Eddie Francis and feature recording artists Wyann Vaughn and DJ Pooh with music from DJ Jus Incredible, according to Billboard. Apple debuted the premiere date with a trailer for the program on Twitter.

Additionally, Apple Music today exclusively debuted the new music video for Eminem's latest single, "Phenomenal", promoting the event with a tease on the service's Instagram. The 7-minute video, which is referred to as a "music film" by Apple, features cameos from actors John Malkovich and Randall Park, Dr. Dre and both the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch. Previously, Eminem was the subject of the first Beats 1 guest interview with DJ Zane Lowe.

The Cupertino company has been trying to secure a wealth of exclusive content for Apple Music in hopes of luring customers to its service rather than competing music streaming services. Most recently, Pharrell's new single "Freedom" has been exclusive to the service as well as Dre's album The Chronic. It's likely Apple will continue to leverage its music industry contacts for future exclusives in the coming weeks and months.

In January, WayTools announced the TextBlade, a compact, collapsible keyboard for iOS devices and Macs that's quite unlike anything else that's available on the market. It replaces a full keyboard with eight large smart keys that take advantage of multilayering, giving users access to a complete set of keys and commands on a keyboard that fits into a pocket.

WayTools began accepting pre-orders for the TextBlade at that time, garnering a huge amount of interest from people who were excited about the promise of a better mobile keyboard. The company initially planned to ship in February, but as customers who pre-ordered know, the TextBlade has yet to ship, having faced unforeseen production problems that led to a series of design tweaks.

I visited WayTools in Santa Monica in March and was able to be one of the first people to see the TextBlade in person, give it a try, and watch it in action. The post that I shared of my experience garnered a huge amount of interest from MacRumors readers and other people curious about the TextBlade, and since then, I've been asked by readers on multiple occasions to share an update about what's going on behind the scenes at WayTools to cause the shipment delays.

As of today, I'm able to provide an update, following multiple conversations with WayTools' CEO Mark Knighton, where we walked through the delays and went over some of the new features that have been added to the TextBlade since January. WayTools will be publishing an in-depth blog post that goes into even more detail on the problems the company faced with production, and I'll update this post to add a direct link as soon as it's live.

Production Issues

Before launching pre-orders, WayTools did production runs and quality tests on the TextBlade and the parts ready to go, but transitioning from testing runs to mass production can expose unforeseen issues. With mass production, a product that might have been assembled by a small team is now put together in parts by a huge number of workers and if the production process isn't streamlined to the minutest detail, you're not always going to get a consistent product.

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Back in January, we shared a video of an iPhone 6 that went into space, protected by an iPhone case constructed by Urban Armor Gear. The iPhone 6 came out unscathed, so when Urban Armor Gear offered us the chance to get our hands on a few of its cases to check out for a review, we agreed.

Urban Armor Gear's line of cases are definitely unique, with an industrial-looking armored shell and an impact resistant inner core. Cases are available for several devices, but we checked out the company's Rogue Folio for the iPad Air 2, its Rogue Folio for the iPhone 6 Plus, and its Navigator case for the iPhone 6 Plus.

We liked the lightweight, rugged protection offered by each of the cases, but we had some qualms with each of the folio cases. The Rogue Folio for the iPad works as expected, keeping the iPad safe from drops and serving as a stand that offers multiple viewing positions, but when holding the iPad with the case on, the flap is loose and hard to grip.

The same goes for the Rogue Folio for the iPhone. It offers all-around protection, leaves the buttons easy to press, and holds credit cards, but the design of the folio is bulky, covers the camera, and feels downright sloppy.

The company's line of non-folio iPhone cases, which all have a different name based on color, are thin and light, and for the protection they offer, they don't add a lot of bulk to the iPhone. Ports are left open, buttons are easy to press, and a screen protector keeps the display safe. There's also a lip around the phone to prevent the display from touching a surface like a desk when facedown.

Urban Armor Gear's standard iPhone cases can be purchased from the company's website for $39.95, and are available in white, blue, orange, black, pink, and clear. The company's folio cases for the iPhone and iPad are available in red and black and can be purchased for $39.95 and $49.95, respectively.

Note: MacRumors received no compensation for this review.

After the launch of Apple Music earlier in the week, many users began searching and following their favorite artists on Apple's new social platform Connect, which aims to showcase new songs, videos, and pictures to fans of artists like Pharrell, Dr. Dre, and more, directly within the app. The process that artists have to take to create content for their fans was unknown, until today, when app developer and indie musician of the band Airplane Mode, Dave Wiskus, posted a detailed summary on his blog of the steps needed to make a post on Apple's new social platform.

Wiskus hoped that Apple's promise of Connect at WWDC meant a more level playing field between the musician and app developer worlds within the iTunes marketplace, and that "giving musicians any control at all over their brand identity on the iTunes Music Store," would create a more stress-free and inviting platform for musicians, especially independent ones. So, Wiskus and his band Airplane Mode decided to put Connect through the ringer: debuting a brand new track on the service and seeing if the fans' connection is as front-and-center as Apple intended.

The musician's first thoughts of the upload process are summed up in one word: "clunky." Wiskus found he needed the song he wanted to post to be in My Music in the iOS Music app, so for a brand-new, unreleased track, he had to sync it off his computer and then search for it on iOS. GarageBand updates for iOS and Mac released earlier this week also support uploads to Connect, but it is unclear if the format and process of using those apps was even more awkward or if Wiskus was unaware of these options. Other quirks with the upload process made it difficult to finalize details for his Connect post.

For Wiskus, the biggest personal drawback is actually the complete lack of any in-depth fan interaction for his band once the content is actually uploaded to Connect.

But the worst offense of all is this: I can see no way to invite people to follow us on Connect. I can share the link. I can even tweet about it. Yet there’s no way to know how many followers we have, encourage people to follow us, or directly engage with anyone who hasn’t already purchased a song from us on iTunes. That feels broken. Somehow people were able to comment, which is great, but it makes me sad that I feel no sense of… well, connection. And I really, really want that connection.

The indie musician makes multiple good points, especially in the lack of any in-depth social networking features on the service. Taking his band's new post as an example, Airplane Mode's post for the new song "Over It" got 7 loves and 4 comments, but the band can't determine its own follower count or the amount of people that actually interacted with the post.

Lacking as well is any interaction on a user's name or handle, which aren't clickable on iOS or Mac and PC, leaving musicians with no real way to browse their fan community in any meaningful way. But, as Wiskus notes, the service has laid the groundwork for a possibly richer version of itself in the future. "These are early days," the musician notes, "And there’s hope."

For the full story of Wiskus's experience with Connect, check out his full blog post.

Apple's new subscription-based music service launched earlier this week, and even if you've taken advantage of Apple's free three-month trial to see if it is worth your dime and time, there are a few things you may not have discovered yet about its features.

While our Getting Started guide gives an overview of how to get up and running, this article gives more details on some of the things you can do with Apple Music and how to make it work for you. If you've noticed any other features we haven't listed yet, feel free to let us know in the forums.

Add a Nickname to Your Profile

You could stick with your full Apple ID name, or change it to something that fits you better. Apple lets you add a nickname to your ID, which will be displayed on playlists and comments. Nicknames are unique, so the earlier you grab one, the better.

On iOS:

1. Open the Music app and tap on any of the main section icons in the bottom toolbar if you're not already on a main page.
2. Tap the silhouette profile icon in the upper left corner of the main screen.
3. Tap your name. Then tap the Edit button to add a nickname.

In iTunes:

1. Click on the arrow next to your name, and then click on your Apple ID.
2. Enter a nickname in the fill-in form.

Start a Station Based on a Song or Album

You can start a new station based on a song or album in either your music library or Apple Music. Tap the three dots next to the song or album to call up additional options. Then, tap "Start Station" on iOS or "New station from artist or song" on OS X to begin listening to tracks.

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Beats 1 is a multi-genre radio station for iPhone, iPad, Mac and PC that plays a wide variety of songs from indie and popular artists alike, but there is currently no way to identify tracks that have already been played in realtime. To solve that problem, web apps developer Callum Jones has created an unofficial Twitter account that live tweets songs as they are played on Beats 1 Radio (via The Next Web).

The new Twitter account is aptly named "Beats 1 Plays" and makes a single tweet each time a track is played on Apple's live 24/7 global radio station, including the name of the song and artist with a #Beats1 hashtag. Simply follow the account on Twitter and you will no longer have to worry about missing out on what is playing while you are not tuned in.

Beats 1 does offer archived playlists of songs that aired during the radio station's featured shows anchored by DJs such as Zane Lowe, Julie Adenuga and Ebro Darden. To access those playlists, open Apple Music, tap on the Radio tab, open the Beats 1 radio station, scroll down and select a featured show and tap on the Playlists tab.