MacRumors

Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming tvOS 17 beta to developers for testing purposes, with the update coming two weeks after Apple introduced the first beta.

apple tv 4k yellow bg feature
Registered developers are able to download the tvOS 17 update by opting in to the beta through the Settings app on the Apple TV. A registered developer account is required.

tvOS updates don't typically garner as much attention as updates to iOS and macOS, and are never as feature rich, but tvOS 17 brings FaceTime to the TV for the first time. The ‌Apple TV‌ 4K can connect to an iPhone or iPad that serves as the camera, with the ‌FaceTime‌ interface showing up on the TV's screen.

All of the ‌FaceTime‌ features are available, including Center Stage to keep you front and center, plus there are new gesture-based reactions that let you use your hands to generate on-screen effects. For example, if you make a heart with your hands, the screen will display hearts.

Split View for ‌Apple TV‌ lets users watch television with friends and family using SharePlay, and there are controls for transferring calls between the TV and an ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌ as needed. Third-party apps like Zoom will also be able to take advantage of this functionality, so those apps will also work on the TV screen.

Control Center on ‌Apple TV‌ has been revamped and it is easier for users to access key settings and information, plus there is a new feature that allows the ‌iPhone‌ to locate a Siri Remote that's been misplaced.

tvOS also features a range of new aerial screen savers, adds support for third-party VPN apps, introduces Dolby Vision 8.1 on compatible devices, and more. Details can be found in our Apple TV roundup.

Apple has announced that the visionOS software development kit (SDK) which will allow third-party developer to build apps for the upcoming Vision Pro headset is now available via Xcode 15 beta 2. The launch comes after Apple announced at WWDC that the SDK would be available later this month.

apple vision pro sdk

Starting today, Apple’s global community of developers will be able to create an entirely new class of spatial computing apps that take full advantage of the infinite canvas in Vision Pro and seamlessly blend digital content with the physical world to enable extraordinary new experiences. With the visionOS SDK, developers can utilize the powerful and unique capabilities of Vision Pro and visionOS to design brand-new app experiences across a variety of categories including productivity, design, gaming, and more.

Apple says it will open developer labs next month in Cupertino, London, Munich, Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo to provide developers with hands-on experience on Vision Pro hardware and support for developing their apps.

Applications for Apple Vision Pro developer kits will also be accepted starting next month, while developers of 3D apps and games based on Unity will also be able to port their apps to ‌Apple Vision Pro‌.

Related Roundups: Apple Vision Pro, visionOS 2
Buyer's Guide: Vision Pro (Buy Now)
Related Forum: Apple Vision Pro

Apple is introduced new functionality for almost every iPhone app and feature with iOS 17, and CarPlay hasn't been left out. We haven't seen the total overhaul of ‌CarPlay‌ that Apple promised last year as of yet, but there are a handful of new features that were added in iOS 17.


SharePlay for the Music App

SharePlay works with the Apple Music app in ‌CarPlay‌, which means everyone in the car, passengers included, can contribute to an ‌Apple Music‌ playlist.

shareplay carplay
As long as the car owner has an ‌Apple Music‌ subscription and initiates a SharePlay session from ‌CarPlay‌, other people in the car can choose music to play. Each person can scan a QR code generated by the main user to get access to the playlist to add songs to the in-car ‌Apple Music‌ queue.

Only the person who starts the SharePlay session has to have an ‌Apple Music‌ subscription. Everyone else can use ‌Apple Music‌ to contribute without having to pay.

EV Charging Station Improvements

If you have an electric vehicle, the Apple Maps app can provide real-time charging availability for the charging networks that are compatible with your car. The update should make it easier for EV owners to locate nearby charging stations on a trip.

Messages Updates

The Messages app in ‌CarPlay‌ has a revamped interface that makes it easier to quickly reply and re-read a message without taking too much attention away from the road.

Wallpaper

iOS 17 includes new wallpaper options, which can be expanded to the ‌CarPlay‌ interface.

The All-New CarPlay Experience

Apple at WWDC 2022 previewed the next-generation version of ‌CarPlay‌, which will offer deeper integration with vehicles in the future. Apple did not talk about the new ‌CarPlay‌ experience at WWDC 2023, but the company did say in 2022 that the first cars with the updated technology will be coming in late 2023.

Multi Display CarPlay 2
‌CarPlay‌ will support multiple displays, showing up across all of the displays in a vehicle, including the instrument cluster. Apple will be able to offer a consistent experience throughout the car, and ‌CarPlay‌ will integrate with the speedometer, tachometer, odometer, fuel gauge, and more.

next generation carplay multi display
The vehicle's climate controls will also be accessible through ‌CarPlay‌ in upcoming vehicles, letting users adjust temperature and activate other in-car climate features through the ‌CarPlay‌ interface.

With the revamped ‌CarPlay‌ experience slated for a 2023 launch, we can likely expect to see additional ‌CarPlay‌ features coming in future iOS 17 updates. Car brands that will support next-generation ‌CarPlay‌ include Acura, Audi, Ford, Honda, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Porsche, and Volvo.

Read More

More information on all of the new features in the iOS 17 update can be found in our iOS 17 roundup.

Related Forums: iOS 17, iPadOS 17

Starting with iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and macOS Sonoma, Apple is making Communication Safety available worldwide. The previously opt-in feature will now be turned on by default for children under the age of 13 who are signed in to their Apple ID and part of a Family Sharing group. Parents can turn it off in the Settings app under Screen Time.

communication safety feature yellow
Communication Safety first launched in the U.S. with iOS 15.2 in December 2021, and has since expanded to Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, and the U.K. With the software updates coming later this year, Apple is making the feature available globally.

Communication Safety is designed to warn children when receiving or sending photos that contain nudity in the Messages app. Apple is expanding the feature on iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and macOS Sonoma to cover video content, and it will also work for AirDrop content, FaceTime video messages, and Contact Posters in the Phone app.

When the feature is enabled, photos and videos containing nudity are automatically blurred in supported apps, and the child will be warned about viewing sensitive content. The warning also provides children with ways to get help. Apple is making a new API available that will allow developers to support Communication Safety in their App Store apps.

Apple says Communication Safety uses on-device processing to detect photos and videos containing nudity, ensuring that Apple and third parties cannot access the content, and that end-to-end encryption is preserved in the Messages app.

iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and macOS Sonoma will be released later this year. The updates are currently available in beta for users with an Apple developer account.

Related Forums: iOS 17, iPadOS 17

Google today launched a humorous "BestPhonesForever" ad campaign that pits the latest Pixel smartphones against the iPhone, painting the ‌iPhone‌ as an old, outdated phone that was once great, but can no longer keep up with the younger smartphones (via 9to5Google).


There are a series of five ads. In "Plateau," the ‌iPhone‌ laments being 14 years old and unable to keep up with Pixel features like 30x zoom, astrophotography, and AI. The Pixel smartphone comforts the ‌iPhone‌ by mentioning the ‌iPhone‌'s blue bubbles.

"The bubbles! The bubbles! Is all I have to show for all my years on earth the color of a bubble? I mean, millions of people have waited in line for me," bemoans the ‌iPhone‌. Eventually, the ‌iPhone‌ runs out of battery, and the Pixel phone is left calling for a charger. "Ah quick! Somebody get a Lightning charger!"


In another ad, the two smartphones are star gazing and the ‌iPhone‌ is lamenting that it isn't able to see the stars like the Pixel can with its astrophotography mode, while a third ad makes fun of Apple's privacy stance on public WiFi.

"I'm freaking out! Quick, get off the public Wi-Fi," says the ‌iPhone‌ dramatically. "There are... hackers, in this place." The Pixel smartphone reassures the ‌iPhone‌ that the Pixel has a built-in VPN that keeps it safe, a function not available on the ‌iPhone‌.


In a fourth spot, the pixel smartphone suggests shooting some videos before noticing that the ‌iPhone‌ has a dead battery. The Pixel uses Qi-based charging to charge up the ‌iPhone‌ on the fly. A final video sees the ‌iPhone‌ jealously recounting all of the Pixel's features. The Pixel shows off its latest feature, folding technology, and the ‌iPhone‌ faints in shock. "What year is it? Do we have flying cars yet?" asks the ‌iPhone‌.


Google is using the "BestPhonesForever" tag with the new campaign, which is highlighting the Pixel Fold. Google came out with the Pixel Fold back in May, with the smartphone priced at $1,800. Apple has not yet come out with a foldable smartphone and there is no word on when the company plans to do so.

Tag: Google

Amazon today has Apple's 9th generation 64GB Wi-Fi iPad for $249.99 in both Silver and Space Gray, down from $329.00. You'll need to add the iPad to your cart and head to checkout in order to see the final sale price.

10Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

At $79 off, this is a match of the all-time low price on this version of the 2021 iPad. The last time we tracked this deal was in March, so if you've been waiting to buy the 9th gen iPad, now is definitely a great time.

Note: You won't see the deal price until checkout.

For even more iPad deals, head to our full Best Deals guide for iPad. In that guide we track the best discounts online for iPad, iPad mini, iPad Air, and iPad Pro. Head to our full Deals Roundup to get caught up with all of the latest deals and discounts that we've been tracking over the past week.

Related Roundup: Apple Deals

Apple today released iOS 16.5.1, iPadOS 16.5.1, macOS 13.4.1, and watchOS 9.5.2 updates, with the software adding security improvements. If you haven't updated yet, you should as soon as you can as these updates address actively exploited vulnerabilities.

General iOS 16 Feature Yellow
According to Apple's security support document, there are fixes for two vulnerabilities that may have been used by hackers and bad actors for system attacks.

A kernel vulnerability that can result in arbitrary code execution with kernel privileges was addressed with improved input validation for an integer overflow. Apple says that it is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited against versions of iOS released before iOS 15.7, so you are likely safe if you've been running iOS 16.

There is also a WebKit vulnerability that could allow maliciously crafted web content to execute code, and Apple says that it has received a report that the issue may have been actively exploited.

You should update your devices running iOS 16, iPadOS 16, macOS Ventura, and watchOS 9. If you have an older device, Apple has also released iOS 15.7.7, iPadOS 15.7.7, watchOS 8.8.1, macOS 11.7.8, and macOS 12.6.7.

Related Forums: iOS 16, macOS Ventura

Apple today released macOS Ventura 13.4, a minor update for the macOS Ventura operating system that was released last October. macOS Ventura 13.4.1 comes more than a month after the launch of macOS Ventura 13.4.

Ventura Macs Feature Blue
The ‌‌‌‌macOS Ventura‌‌‌‌ 13.4.1 update can be downloaded for free on all eligible Macs using the Software Update section of System Settings.

According to Apple's release notes, the update provides important security fixes and is recommended for all users. Apple has also released macOS 11.7.8 and macOS 12.6.7 security updates for those who are unable to run Ventura.

Related Forum: macOS Ventura

Apple today released watchOS 9.5.2, a minor bug fix update for the Apple Watch. watchOS 9.5.1 is a free software update that comes three weeks after the launch of watchOS 9.5.1, another bug fix update.

watchOS 9 header
watchOS 9.5.2 can be downloaded for free through the Apple Watch app on the iPhone by opening it up and going to General > Software Update. To install the new software, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery, it needs to be placed on a charger, and it needs to be in range of the ‌‌‌‌‌‌‌iPhone‌‌‌‌‌‌‌.

According to Apple's release notes for the update, it includes important security fixes and it is recommended that all users download the software. Apple has also released watchOS 8.8.1 for those unable to upgrade to watchOS 9.

Related Roundup: watchOS 11
Related Forum: Apple Watch

Apple today released iOS 16.5.1 and iPadOS 16.5.1, minor updates to the iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 operating system updates that came out last September. iOS 16.5.1 comes over a month after Apple released iOS 16.5.

iOS 16
‌‌iOS 16‌‌‌.5.1 and iPadOS 16.5.1 can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. It can take a few minutes for the updates to propagate to all users because of demand.

According to Apple's notes for the update, the update includes important security fixes and is recommended for all users. It also addresses a bug that could prevent charging with the Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter. Reports in May suggested that the Camera Adapter was not working with iPhones and iPads that had been updating to the iOS 16.5 and iPadOS 16.5 updates, with the adapter failing to power connected devices.

Apple has also released an iOS 15.7.7 security update for iPhone users who are unable to upgrade to the iOS 16 operating system.

Related Forum: iOS 16

Amazon today announced that its annual Prime Day sale event will take place beginning Tuesday, July 11 and run through Wednesday, July 12. Amazon began Prime Day back in 2015, and since 2019 the event has been running for two days straight every summer.

prime day 2023
Shoppers can expect massive discounts on an array of products, including Apple devices. Some deals will last the entire run of the sale, but there will also be lightning deals that drop every 30 minutes and last for select periods, or until they sell out.

To get in on these Prime Day deals, you will need to be an Amazon Prime member. If you aren't, you can join Prime via a free 30-day trial to participate in this year's Prime Day. Once your trial is over, Prime membership will run for $14.99/month or $139/year. For students, that's $7.49/month or $69/year.

Amazon is already highlighting early Prime Day deals that you can shop now, weeks ahead of the event. For now, this mainly includes Amazon devices like Kindles, Echo Dot, Fire TVs, and other Amazon branded products.

Once Prime Day kicks off, Amazon's website will be filled with lightning deals on everything from tech products to home appliances, clothing, toys, and much more. We'll be covering all of the best deals you can get throughout Prime Day, particularly on all of the Apple products that appear, so be sure to keep an eye on the MacRumors front page starting July 11.

Last year, Prime Day discounts were available to Amazon Prime members in Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, the UK, and the United States. Although Amazon has not confirmed exact countries for 2023, shoppers can expect the same countries to participate again this year.

Additionally, Amazon held two Prime Day events last year, one in July and a second in October. Given that we're only now hearing about the July event, we don't know yet if the retailer will again host a second Prime Day, which it called "Prime Early Access," in the fall. If and when that is announced, you can also expect us to cover all of the deals that come out.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Today we're tracking a series of discounts on both Apple's previous and current generation MacBook Pro, offered by B&H Photo and Amazon. You'll find the M1 models from 2021 at B&H Photo, while the newest M2 computers are on sale at both retailers in most cases.

M1 MacBook Pro

Starting with the M1 Max notebooks, B&H Photo is offering steep discounts on a pair of high-end configurations. You can get a 14-inch M1 Max MacBook Pro (32-core GPU, 64GB RAM, 2TB SSD) for $2,499.00, down from its original price of $4,099.00. It's only available in Space Gray at this price.

14 inch macbook pro blueNote: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

There's also a 16-inch M1 Max MacBook Pro (32-core GPU, 64GB, 4TB) for $3,199.00 in Silver and Space Gray, down from $4,899.00. Both of these computers are custom high-end configurations of the 2021 MacBook Pro, offering more memory and storage over the stock models that Apple sells.

M2 MacBook Pro

We're also tracking a few discounts on Apple's latest MacBook Pro at Amazon and B&H Photo. These markdowns include a return of the best-ever price on the entry-level 10-Core M2 Pro, 512GB 14-inch model at $1,749.00, down from $1,999.00.

Apple MacBook Pro M2 Feature Blue Green

You can only get Space Gray at this discounted price, which is a match of the previous all-time low price on this model. As of writing, only B&H Photo is offering the sale on this version of the 14-inch MacBook Pro.

In a rarer discount, we're also tracking a new sale on the 12-Core M2 Max, 1TB 14-inch MacBook Pro at Amazon. You can get this notebook for $2,849.00, down from $3,099.00. Only Silver is available at this price on Amazon, but B&H Photo has both colors.

In terms of the larger screen model, Amazon also has a few notable discounts on the 16-inch MacBook Pro. You can get the 12-Core M2 Pro, 512GB 16-inch notebook for $2,249.99, down from $2,499.00. This deal is available in both colors and they're both in stock with delivery estimated for around June 23 to June 26.

Lastly, you can get the 12-Core M2 Pro, 1TB 16-inch MacBook Pro for $2,449.99, down from $2,699.00. Both colors are on sale at this price, and delivery dates for both are still estimated for around June 23.

If you're on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week.

Related Roundup: Apple Deals

The Information's Wayne Ma today reiterated several features that Apple apparently developed but did not announce for the Vision Pro at WWDC earlier this month, including various fitness and wellness apps, full-body tracking, and more.

apple vision pro
Ma said some of the features could remain in development, while others may have been abandoned. Apple is not releasing the Vision Pro until early 2024, and has yet to reveal complete details about the device, so there may be additional features that will be available at launch. Apple can also add features with visionOS software updates.

On fitness and wellness apps:

At one point, though, Apple planned many more fitness and wellness applications for the headset, according to former employees who worked on the device. Some employees discussed collaborations with brands such as Nike for working out with the headset, while others investigated face cushions that were better suited for sweaty, high-intensity workouts, said one of the people. One proposal even involved wearing and interacting with content on the Vision Pro while on a stationary bike, a former employee said.

On full-body tracking:

Apple has yet to complete full-body tracking, which it had planned for the device, according to multiple people who worked on it. That feature is among the reasons the device has two cameras that point downward and can see the wearer’s body and hands. Apple representatives told developers earlier this month that full-body tracking wouldn’t be available when the device ships next year, according to screenshots of an Apple-hosted Slack conversation following the Vision Pro launch event.

The report added that Apple had planned to make 3D content available on Apple TV+, but that could be announced later. Apple also apparently did not emphasize gaming on the Vision Pro as much as it was planning to at an earlier stage, and the ability to use the headset as an external display for a Mac is apparently not as advanced as once planned.

The full article at The Information offers more details. Over the coming months, the Vision Pro's full feature set should become clearer.

Related Roundup: Apple Vision Pro
Buyer's Guide: Vision Pro (Buy Now)
Related Forum: Apple Vision Pro

Photography has become a staple use of the modern iPhone, and Apple isn't resting on its laurels in its efforts to advance what you can do with a photo in iOS 17.

8 New Photo Features Feature 1
Below we've listed eight new photo-related features and improvements coming with Apple's latest mobile operating system, which is expected to get its official release in the fall. Can't wait until then? The iOS 17 beta is available now.

1. Pet Recognition

In iOS 17, Apple has improved the image recognition capabilities of the Photos app, which can now recognize not only your family and friends, but also your beloved pets.

ios 17 pets photos
The ‌‌Photos‌‌ app's ability to detect animals isn't new, but now it can identify animals that are important to you by taking into account the number of photos that you have of them. That's why the "People" album has become the "People and Pets" album, where you can add the names of your pets and confirm additional photos.

2. One-Tap Crop

In iOS 16, cropping images in the ‌Photos‌ app involves tapping into the Edit interface, choosing the crop tool, and adjusting the crop from there with either pinch zoom gestures or by dragging the corners of the cropping tool.

ios 17 crop photos app
In iOS 17, Apple has made the process quicker and easier. Now when you zoom into an image, there's a new "Crop" button that appears in the upper right. Tapping it brings up the crop interface with the zoom level that you've selected, so you can crop into the part of the image that you prefer with just a couple of taps.

3. Turn Photos into Animated Stickers

In iOS 16, Apple added a neat "remove subject from background" tool for plucking things out of images. In iOS 17, Apple has supercharged the feature, and now you can use it to make your own custom animated stickers for use in Messages.

ios 17 stickers create
When long-pressing a subject in a photo, the pop-up menu includes a new "Add Sticker" option that exports the selected subject into Messages' sticker interface. From there, you can add effects like a white sticker outline, a "puffy" sticker effect, a glittery effect, and more. Subjects pulled from Live Photos even have the option of animating.

4. Get Recipes for Food

When viewing your photos, Apple has enhanced Visual Look Up in iOS 17 in a few ways, one being the ability to find recipes for similar dishes when meals are recognized in the picture.

visual lookup recipes
When an image of food is identified in the ‌Photos‌ app, a knife and fork icon appears at the bottom of the interface. The Look Up Food option gives you direct links to recipe websites, so now you can get inspiration about what to cook, without having to trawl the web yourself in Safari.

5. Straighten Your Shooting Angle

For the last few years, the Camera app's Grid mode has included a somewhat-hidden leveling feature for top-down photos, popping up a floating crosshair to help make sure you're lined up properly above your subject.

ios 17 camera level
In iOS 17, Apple has enhanced the camera leveling functionality, separating it out from the Grid mode to its own option and expanding it to include a horizontal level for more traditional straight-on photos.

The Level option displays a broken horizontal line on the screen when your ‌iPhone‌ senses you're lining up for a straight-on shot and you tilt your device slightly out of horizontal. The line appears white while your phone is out of level and then turns yellow once you achieve a level orientation to indicate success.

6. Look Up What You Just Lifted

In iOS 17, when you use the "remove subject from background" tool, you can now look up information about the subject in question, thanks to a new option in the popup menu.

lookup lifted subject
Not only that, the ‌Photos‌ app now also offers the ability to pause video on any frame and look up information on a subject.

7. Visual Look Up for Auto Symbols

Apple hasn't publicly promoted this feature, but Reddit users digging into the iOS 17 beta have discovered that Visual Look Up can now detect car symbols on vehicle dashboards.

lookup auto symbols

Image credit: yahlover

When the ‌Photos‌ app identifies one or more symbols in an image, iOS 17 presents the name of the icon and a short description of its meaning, and offers up links to learn more about each symbol in Safari.

8. Tweaked Editing Tools Interface

Lastly, Apple in iOS 17 has made some quality of life improvements to the ‌Photos‌ app editing interface to make it a little more intuitive. The Cancel and Done buttons have been moved from the bottom of the screen to the top, and the tool icons have been given text descriptions to make their function clearer.

photos ui comparison

‌Photos‌ app editing UI in iOS 16 (left) vs iOS 17

In order to make it more obvious whether Adjust, Filters, or Crop is currently selected, Apple has also changed the indicator from a yellow circle beneath the active icon, to a triangle pointing down at it from above.

Related Forums: iOS 17, iPadOS 17

If you open up Spotify's desktop app on a Mac or PC today, things should look a lot more "mobile." That's because the company has redesigned the "Your Library" and "Now Playing" interfaces to make them more aligned with Spotify's smartphone app.

spotify desktop redesign
"Your Library" is now located in the sidebar to let you access saved music and podcasts. Spotify says its research has shown that the new library helps users save time by providing a better overview, while making it easier to switch between playlists. Users can also now move and pin the playlists in the Library, as well as drop songs into the editable listed playlists.

Elsewhere, the "Now Playing" view takes up the right-hand side of the app, showing the currently playing song or podcast. According to Spotify, "You can even find more information about the song and artist here, as well as information on tour dates and merch — making it easier to connect with your favorite artists and discover more about them. For select podcasts, you can even follow transcripts as you listen."

By default, Friend Activity is now hidden, but easily accessible via a new Friends icon beside the user profile icon in the top-right corner of the window. You can also now hide the library by clicking "Your Library" for a more compact layout.

Previously, the only way to find playlists was through the search bar, where users had to trawl through not only their own content, but results from the entire Spotify catalog. Now, when it’s expanded, the new Library design allows users to toggle through their dedicated music, podcast, and audiobook feeds and search Your Library exclusively.

Spotify says the desktop app revamp began rolling out on Tuesday and will eventually make its way to all users over the next week.

Tag: Spotify

Google today outlined several new features available for or coming to the Chrome app for the iPhone and iPad, including deeper integration with Google Maps, Google Calendar, and Google Lens.

chrome for ios
Chrome for iOS now uses AI to detect addresses on webpages and show a location directly on a mini version of the Google Maps app in Chrome, so there's no need to swap apps to see map-related information about a search term.

Google Calendar events can be created directly in Chrome without needing to swap apps. Chrome users can press and hold on a detected date and choose the option to add it to Google Calendar. The Chrome app will automatically create and populate the calendar event with time, location, and description.

Google has expanded the translation functionality in Chrome, and it is now possible to highlight a specific passage and long press to get a translation right in the Chrome Browser.

With upcoming deeper Google Lens integration, Chrome users will be able to use the camera to search new pictures and pictures in the camera roll to identify plants, translate languages, and more. The Lens icon will show up in the Chrome on iOS address bar.

Chrome for the ‌iPhone‌ and the ‌iPad‌ can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Starting in July, ads in the App Store's Today tab will have a more compact design and be fully visible without any scrolling. The new ad format will include the app's icon, name, and subtitle, along with an "Ad" label and a "Get" button.

Compact App Store Ads Feature
The new ad format will be shown on iPhones running iOS 16.4 and later. Today tab ads will not be available on iOS 16.3 and earlier. Existing ads will automatically switch to the new format in July, with no action required from advertisers.

Ads in the Today tab currently appear as a full-height card that can only be viewed after scrolling past the first unsponsored slot.

App Store Ads
Since the ads will no longer have a custom graphic, Apple says the approval process will be quicker and easier. The compact format will also make the ads more distinguishable from unsponsored content in the Today tab, so this is a change that should be well received by both advertisers and App Store users.

Apple began showing ads in the Today tab in October 2022. The upcoming ad format change was first reported by 9to5Mac.

Apple's upcoming Beats Studio Pro headphones today showed up in FCC filings, which means we are getting closer to a potential launch date. Apple has not yet acknowledged the Beats Studio Pro headphones, but they were spotted in the macOS Ventura 13.4 update back in May.

beats studio pro
The headphones feature an A2924 model number and an ID of BeatsStudioPro1,1. The Beats Studio Pro will be a new version of the Beats Studio3 over-ear headphones, which are several years old at this point.

Software code suggested that the Beats Studio Pro headphones will be released in collaboration with Samuel Ross of A-Cold-Wall, who just joined Beats as a "principal design consultant." The design looks to be largely identical to the Beats Studio3 headphones, but Apple will likely add internal improvements to justify the "Pro" moniker.

The headphones could feature an updated Apple-designed chip and additions like improved Active Noise Cancellation and a Transparency Mode. Apple also plans to add "Hey Siri" support, a feature that is not available in the current Studio3 headphones.

We are expecting the Beats Studio Pro headphones to be released later this summer, and FCC information usually comes out a few weeks to a month ahead of launch.