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

Hunter Douglas has finally brought Apple HomeKit support to its PowerView Motorization system, which is designed to control Hunter Douglas motorized window shades. The PowerView Motorization Hub lets users control, time, and set their window shades to raise, lower, and tilt on an automatic schedule. Originally released in 2017, the system only supported Amazon and Google services out of the...

Apple supplier Dialog Semiconductor on Wednesday reported a slight rise in fourth-quarter operating profit, but warned investors that its revenue in 2019 would decline as it finalizes a deal with Apple to license its iPhone power management technology. According to Reuters, shares in Dialog rose by nearly 4 percent after its forecast of a single-digit percentage revenue drop this year came...

LG today announced that its new smart TVs will receive a software update in mid 2019 with support for AirPlay 2 and HomeKit. LG first revealed plans to add ‌AirPlay‌ 2 and ‌HomeKit‌ to its latest smart TVs at CES in January. At the time, it said the features would arrive in 2019, and today's announcement narrows down the timeframe to the middle of the year.New LG TVs will receive an upgrade...

Need help deciding whether Apple or Google has the right music streaming service for you? Then keep reading. Apple Music launched in 2015 and was a relative latecomer to the streaming services market, but Apple's continual development of the platform has made it into one of the most popular choices for enjoying digital music. Google's music strategy on the other hand has been confusing in recent...

Apple has objected to an apple logo trademark that Norway's Fremskrittspartiet or Progress Party filed for back in November, according to the Norwegian Patent Office. The image in question features a red apple with a stem and a green leaf that also has a white "F" on the front, an icon used by the Fremskrittspartiet. In an objection letter provided to Norway's Patent Office, Apple says...

Over the weekend, it was discovered that Facebook had hidden a "Dark Mode" toggle in the latest version of FaceBook Messenger. On Monday Facebook confirmed the release of the hidden feature but also promised a full roll out in the "coming weeks." Dark mode in Facebook Messenger can be enabled by sending a crescent moon emoji in Messenger. Facebook describes the process as "Simply send a ...

TestFlight users who have signed up to beta test Apple's Swift Playgrounds coding app can now download the Swift Playgrounds 3.0 Beta, which is available as of this morning. Swift Playgrounds uses Swift 5.0, the beta version of Apple's coding language. The full extent of what's new in Swift Playgrounds 3.0 isn't clear as of yet, but Apple's release notes for the beta update provide a bit of...

In July 2017, reports surfaced that Spotify had set its sights on Apple Podcasts and was planning a strong push into the space with a vastly reimagined podcasts segment that would become the default podcast listening app for many users. Today, The Verge has detailed Spotify's ongoing plans to make the service a premium podcast destination. To start, Spotify intends to fix podcast discovery...

SoundCloud today announced the launch of discounted student memberships, offering students the chance to subscribe to SoundCloud Go+ for $4.99/month instead of the traditional price of $9.99/month. SoundCloud Go+ for Students is available to all students enrolled at a Title IV degree-granting college or university, and they'll be eligible for up to four consecutive years. Students will gain...

Smart home company August today revealed the August View, a new wire-free doorbell camera that streams video of your doorstep directly to an iPhone or Android smartphone. The August View is the next in line of the company's smart video doorbells, following the Doorbell Cam Pro, but like its predecessor, the new device does not support HomeKit. August View streams 1440p resolution video to a...

Anker is well known for providing reliable and low-cost charging accessories for Apple device owners, and today the company has a huge Deal of the Day sale on Amazon that's discounting over a dozen items by as much as 40 percent off. Shoppers should note that no codes are needed for today's flash sale, as each discount has been automatically applied. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner...

Apple Music and Spotify are the biggest players in the music streaming space -- and for good reason. Spotify essentially created the market as it exists today and has millions more users globally than any other service, but Apple Music is catching up, thanks to its deep integration in Apple's popular iOS ecosystem. Both Spotify and ‌Apple Music‌ offer as much music and related content as...

Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming watchOS 5.2 update to developers, two weeks after seeding the third watchOS 5.2 beta and over a month 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 ...

Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming tvOS 12.2 update to developers for testing purposes, two weeks after seeding the third 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...

A few notable deals have appeared today to kick off the week, including a sale on the 10.5-inch iPad Pro, 13-inch MacBook Pro, a discount on Apple Watch Series 3 at Target, markdowns on HomeKit-compatible smart lighting products from Koogeek, and more. 10.5-inch iPad Pro (2017) Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may...

Ultimate Ears, a company known for its line of rugged, colorful speakers with high-quality audio, is now letting customers create their own designs when they buy one of its BOOM 3 portable Bluetooth speakers. Announced today, myBOOM studio lets customers select from thousands of fabric styles, colors and patterns for different parts of the speaker including the caps, spine, hang loop, and...

The Philips Hue line of lights have been controllable via an indoor motion sensor for some time, but Signify is today introducing an Outdoor Motion Sensor that's designed to control the range of outdoor Hue lights that are now available for purchase. The Outdoor Motion Sensor works just like the indoor Smart Motion Sensor, automating your lights and other HomeKit products to come on when...

Over the weekend we noted that Facebook had added a "hidden" setting in Facebook Messenger that allows you to turn on a long-awaited Dark mode. The new mode was found by several sites and users and remains hidden for now. How to Turn on Dark Mode in Facebook MessengerSend just the 🌙 emoji to anyone (or even yourself). Tap on the moon emoji in the chat after you send it. A pop up should...