MacRumors iPhone and iPad Blog: Apps, News, and Rumors

This week, B&H Photo introduced a new sale focusing on the older models of Apple's 12.9-inch iPad Pro from 2017. This is the ‌iPad Pro‌ with a Home Button and bezels, prior to the major design update seen on the lineup in 2018. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with B&H Photo. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running. ...

The Home app is what allows you to easily control your HomeKit-compatible devices using your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. You can use the app to do everything from turning on smart lights or adjusting a smart thermostat to opening and closing automated window shades. Before you start with the app, make sure the smart accessory that you want to use with it is HomeKit-enabled. If your smart product...

One of the main benefits of using Apple's HomeKit framework is the ability to control your HomeKit-compatible devices when you're away from home. For instance, if you are about to leave the office, you can use the Home app or ask Siri on your iPhone to increase the temperature of a connected thermostat at home so that it's nice and cozy when you arrive. Before you can trigger actions when...

Creating an iPhone or iPad backup should be routine for most users, as it's a simple procedure and the easiest way to recover your data if your device is replaced, lost or stolen. There are two types of backup available to iOS users. iCloud backups are encrypted automatically and stored in the cloud, and you can create and use them anywhere with a Wi-Fi connection. iTunes backups on the...

All Apple iPhones and iPads include accelerometers that enable them to detect which way they are being held and automatically adjust the screen orientation to fit. The feature is particularly handy for viewing certain types of content that benefit from the wider landscape orientation, like media or web pages for example. If your iPhone or iPad screen doesn't rotate into landscape mode...

In this week's deals, Anker has kicked off a new set of discounts and as usual they offer the perfect chance to purchase portable chargers, Lightning cables, and wireless chargers at a great price. AnkerNote: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running. Anker offers two...

Late last year, United Kingdom broadcaster Channel 4 released a tvOS app for its "All 4" on-demand streaming service, allowing viewers to stream the channel's shows for free on Apple TV. This week, the All 4 app updated with integration for Apple's TV app, meaning that all of the shows that users watch in the All 4 app will sync in their Up Next queue in the TV app. All 4 shows will also...

Apple Pay has expanded to more banks this week, including Westpac in New Zealand, ING in Spain, Consors Finanz and Viabuy in Germany, Bank Millennium in Poland, Arbejdernes Landsbank and Spar Nord in Denmark, and Aktia in Finland. ‌Apple Pay‌ has also rolled out to Monese cardholders in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Sweden, ...

Verizon today announced a new cellular plan that's designed for kids, with parental controls built in that will help parents keep track of their kids' activity. Just Kids includes Verizon's Smart Family Premium parental controls (a $9.99/month value), which lets parents keep track of where their kids are, limit screen time and time spent online, and set content filters through one app. The...

Toyota this week announced that CarPlay and Android Auto will be standard features in its all-new 2020 Yaris Hatchback in the United States. The subcompact vehicle is equipped with a seven-inch touchscreen display protruding above the dashboard, complete with ‌CarPlay‌, Android Auto, Bluetooth, and SiriusXM. As in other Toyota vehicles, ‌CarPlay‌ remains a wired implementation, with two USB...

A Swiss court has backed Swatch in a trademark row with Apple over the watchmaker's use of the "Tick Different" slogan, which Apple has argued unfairly references the Californian company's successful 1990s "Think Different" ad campaign for its own gain. Image: Swatch Reuters reports that in a ruling released on Tuesday, the Federal Administrative Court agreed with Swatch that Apple's "Think...

iPhone assembler Foxconn is close to trialing production of Apple's latest smartphones in India, according to a new report out today from Bloomberg. The trial run of the iPhone X range of devices would come before Foxconn starts full-scale assembly at its factory outside the southern city of Chennai, the people said, asking not to be identified as the plans are private. Wistron Corp. already...

Logitech today announced the launch of the Slim Folio Pro, a new keyboard case that's designed for the 11 and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models. The Slim Folio Pro is a folio-style case for the ‌iPad Pro‌ with a built-in backlit keyboard that's an alternative to the Smart Keyboard offered by Apple. Logitech's Slim Folio Pro connects to the new ‌iPad Pro‌ models using a Bluetooth connection rather ...

It's been ten months since DirecTV Now ended its last Apple TV offer, and today the company has debuted a new version of the deal to coincide with its recently-launched subscription bundles. This time around, if new subscribers prepay for four months of DirecTV Now's cheapest subscription tier (now $50/month, due to price hikes), they'll get a 32GB Apple TV 4K at no extra cost. In the end,...

Google Maps has temporarily gained a new trick for April Fools', with users of the mobile app able to play a geographical version of the classic game Snake. To play the game, simply launch the Google Maps app, tap the menu icon in the top-left corner of the interface, then select Play Snake. Pick which city you'd like to play in – options include Cairo, London, San Francisco, São...

Apple in 2019 made the unprecedented move of canceling work on the AirPower, the wireless charging mat that was supposed to charge the Apple Watch, iPhone, and AirPods all at once. There are already a number of AirPower-like alternative products on the market, and we're likely going to be seeing additional replacements in the future. None of these accessories do exactly what the AirPower...

Kwamaine Jerell Ford, a Georgia hacker who was caught breaching the Apple accounts of professional musicians and athletes, today pled guilty to accessing those accounts and stealing credit card information from his victims. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Virginia (via The Verge), Ford targeted high-profile athletes and musicians and tricked the victims...

For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Southern Straps to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win a set of Apple Watch bands and a Watch Roll that's designed to organize your all of your Apple Watch bands and accessories. Southern Straps makes a range of Apple Watch bands in nylon and leather, and recently expanded into organization with the launch of the Watch Roll, a clever little...