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

Effective today, the Apple Pencil no longer needs to be purchased at the same time as an iPad to be eligible for AppleCare+ coverage, according to an announcement shared with Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers today. This means that if a customer has AppleCare+ for iPad, coverage now extends to any first-generation or second-generation ‌Apple Pencil‌ the person may own even...

Sony today announced that its PlayStation Vue app for the Apple TV has been updated with multi-view support, allowing users to watch up to four live channels on one screen. The new PlayStation Vue feature for ‌Apple TV‌ comes just ahead of the NCAA March Madness season, with the goal of letting sports fans keep an eye on all of the ongoing games or mix and match live games with news or other...

Apple today seeded the sixth beta of an upcoming tvOS 12.2 update to developers for testing purposes, one week after seeding the fifth beta and more than a month after releasing the tvOS 12.1.2 update. Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models, the new tvOS 12.2 developer beta can be downloaded onto the ‌Apple TV‌ via a profile that's installed using Xcode. Once the initial...

Apple today seeded the sixth beta of an upcoming watchOS 5.2 update to developers, one week after seeding the fifth watchOS 5.2 beta and two months after releasing watchOS 5.1.3. Once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Apple Developer Center, the new watchOS beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General --> Software...

Despite starting at a higher price of $499, the new 10.5-inch iPad Air released today qualifies for the same $69 tier of AppleCare+ as 9.7-inch iPad and iPad mini models. AppleCare+ for the latest iPad Pro models remains $129. ‌AppleCare‌+ is an optional warranty plan that extends the ‌iPad Air‌'s warranty period to two years from the original purchase date of the device, and adds up to two...

Alongside new iPad mini and a new 10.5-inch iPad Air, Apple today launched new Smart Covers for each device line. There's also one new color for the Smart Folio case that fits the third-generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro. For the iPad mini and 10.5-inch iPad Air, you can get a Smart Cover in Papaya, Charcoal Gray, Pink Sand, and White. The ‌iPad mini‌ Smart Cover costs $39.00 and the 10.5-inch ‌iP...

Apple today announced that its iWork suite of apps for iOS will be updated next week with enhanced Apple Pencil integration. Keynote, for example, will gain new animation options that let users draw an animation path for any object, and an all-new user interface for implementing build effects such as move, rotate, and scale. iWork apps for iPhone and iPad include Pages, Numbers, and Keynote. ...

There are two noteworthy flash sales happening today only, with discounts that knock the price of the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro and 12.9-inch iPad Pro to new all-time-low prices. As a note, the MacBook Pros on sale are the latest 2018 models, while the ‌iPad Pro‌ is the older model with a home button that launched in mid 2017. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with these vendors....

Apple has stopped selling the second-generation 10.5-inch iPad Pro, originally released in June 2017, after launching a new 10.5-inch iPad Air today. The 10.5-inch ‌iPad Pro‌ had remained available from $649 following the release of 11-inch and 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro‌ models in October 2018, but it has been replaced by the 10.5-inch iPad Air with a cheaper starting price of $499. The new ‌iPa...

Spotify on Monday began offering all premium Family plan subscribers in the U.K. a free Google Home Mini smart speaker. From today, both new and existing family plan subscribers can claim their free Google speaker, worth £49, simply by heading to the Spotify website. The offer ends on 14 May 2019. Spotify's premium family plan costs £14.99 per month and allows up to six people to access...

For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Satechi to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win a Type-C Aluminum Monitor Stand Hub designed for the iMac or the ‌iMac‌ Pro. Priced at $89.99, Satechi's USB-C iMac Hub raises the foot of the ‌iMac‌ to what Satechi says is an optimal viewing angle and adds an array of useful easy-access ports. It includes three 5Gb/s USB-A ports, a 5Gb/s USB-C...

Google this week updated its Gboard app for iOS devices with a new ability to translate text into any language supported by Google Translate (via All Things How). This means that users can now send iMessages in different languages right from their keyboard, without visiting an external app. To see the translation feature, make sure that your Gboard app is updated to version 1.42.0 and then...

Valve today announced an expansion of its game-streaming app Steam Link, now named Steam Link Anywhere (via The Verge). The original Steam Link app let users stream PC games on Steam to a mobile device within their home, but Steam Link Anywhere lets users stream games from their PC to any compatible device with internet service, excluding Apple devices. Apple rejected the original Steam...

IKEA today confirmed its plans to announce the Symfonisk line of speakers during the Milan Furniture Fair, which takes place next month. The Symfonisk speakers come out of a long-term partnership between IKEA and Sonos, resulting in unique products like a speaker that doubles as a bookshelf. Neither company has released information about what the final version of the speakers will look like, ...

Several of Apple's iCloud services are experiencing issues this morning according to Apple's System Status page. Find My iPhone, ‌iCloud‌ Backup, iCloud Drive, ‌iCloud‌ Keychain, ‌iCloud‌ Mail, ‌iCloud‌ Notes, iWork for ‌iCloud‌, Photos, News, and more are all unavailable for an unspecified number of users. The outage has been going on since approximately 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time, so if...

Dropbox users who have a free Dropbox account are now limited to using that account on a total of three devices, according to new information added to the Dropbox website and spotted on Twitter (via The Verge). Dropbox says that as of March 2019, "Basic" users, which is the free tier, can add their account to three devices. Dropbox users who already have their account attached to more than...

Shazam this week updated to version 12.10, introducing a new feature that adds time and date information for every Shazam you take in the My Shazam section of the app. With this small change, you can scroll back through your history of Shazams and see when exactly you listened to each song, as far back as the release of iOS 7 in 2013. To see the new feature, make sure your Shazam app is...

Fibaro has been making smart home devices and HomeKit-compatible products for a few years now, and the company has several sensors that work with HomeKit, including the Flood Sensor. The Flood Sensor, along with the Button that we reviewed last year, are the two Fibaro branded ‌HomeKit‌ accessories available for purchase from Apple. Fibaro's Flood Sensor is designed to detect water,...