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

As an Apple Music subscriber, you have the option to download songs, playlists and albums from the ‌Apple Music‌ catalog to your devices for offline listening. This obviously takes up local storage on your devices, but it also means you can still enjoy your music even if you don't have an active internet or cellular connection. Before you can download content from the ‌Apple Music‌...

Apple Music supports a star rating system that allows you to personally rate a song on a scale of 1-5, which is then saved in your library so you can remember and later sort tracks via the ranking system. You can enable star ratings on iOS devices from within the Settings app: tap Music in the apps list and toggle on the switch next to Show Star Ratings. The process required to get to...

Once you've familiarized yourself with the main sections of the Apple Music app, there are a few options that you can customize which can enhance your enjoyment of the streaming service. These are essentially tweaks to the Music app's Library section that can make navigating your music easier. Keep reading to learn what they are. Customize the Library View In the ‌Apple Music‌ app, the...

Apple Music isn't limited to owners of Apple devices – you can also subscribe to the streaming service on Android phones and tablets, and enjoy the same access to millions of songs, curated radio stations and playlists. You can get the ‌Apple Music‌ app for Android from the Google Play store or download it directly from Apple. Just make sure that your device has Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) or...

Google's "Keep" app for taking notes and making lists today expanded to the Apple Watch, allowing the app's users to use the note taking and list making functionality right on their wrists. With Google Keep for Apple Watch, you can create new notes or reminder lists, pin items to lists, and check off items on existing lists. Google Keep, for those unfamiliar with the app, is designed to...

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

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

GM was one of the early adopters of CarPlay, with the feature debuting on a few 2016 Chevrolet models and rapidly spreading across the company's various brands including Buick, GMC, and Cadillac. As part of a 2018 model year redesign intended to breathe some more life into its Regal sedan, Buick introduced the Regal TourX, an all-wheel drive wagon version that offers more cargo space to...

Following an announcement last year and launch in Europe, Eve Systems today released the portable LED lamp Eve Flare in the United States and Canada. Similar to Hue Go, Eve Flare lets you pick up and easily move the lamp around the house -- or to outdoor locations thanks to IP65 water resistance -- to bring light wherever you go. Eve Flare is compatible with Apple HomeKit and offers six...

SoundCloud today announced a new feature that allows creators to distribute their music directly to major streaming music services like Apple Music, Spotify, and Amazon Music (via Billboard). The tool will be included in SoundCloud Pro and Pro Unlimited subscription tiers for artists, and each artist will get 100 percent of earnings back from each streaming platform, meaning SoundCloud won't take ...

Printer company Epson today announced the launch of voice-activated mobile printing support for Siri, Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant. With the addition, iOS users can snap a photo and ask ‌Siri‌ to print to a compatible Epson printer thanks to ‌Siri‌ Shortcuts. You'll need the Epson iPrint app, which now supports Apple's new Shortcuts app on iOS. After the shortcut is installed, you can...

Sphero today debuted a Kickstarter for its latest robot, the RVR, a fully programmable and customizable RC car that the company says has "endless coding possibilities." The RVR Kickstarter begins its pledge levels at $199 and will have a final MSRP of $249, and marks Sphero's first ever Kickstarter project. The final goal for the project is $150,000. Sphero says that initial shipments will...

The Gardena Smart System is now compatible with Apple's HomeKit, thanks to the availability of a software update that brings ‌HomeKit‌ integration to Gardena devices like the Smart Water Control, Smart Irrigation Control, Smart Sensor, and Smart Power. Originally announced at CES 2019, the update pushed out today should automatically apply to existing Gardena Smart System owners, enabling...

Apple this week was awarded a patent for a potential Apple Watch design featuring a flexible microLED display that integrates with and encompasses almost the entire watch band. Titled "Display Module and System Applications" and published by the World Intellectual Property Organization, Apple's patent explores several designs that could one day make it into a future Apple Watch. In the...

In his wide-ranging research note today touching on Apple's product releases for 2019, Ming-Chi Kuo provided a glimpse at upcoming AirPods, iPads, iPhones, displays and MacBook Pros. Regarding the Apple Watch, however, he had only a brief mention:ECG supports developed for additional countries. New ceramic casing design added.Expanding Apple Watch ECG support to other countries is not...

In late November, Apple launched a limited time promotion that offers up to $100 in additional credit when trading in an iPhone 6 through ‌iPhone‌ 8 towards the purchase of a new ‌iPhone‌ XS or ‌iPhone‌ XR in the United States. Apple expanded the promotion to additional countries in late December. While no end date has been set in the United States, fine print on Apple's regional Chinese...

Apple today filed its 2018 Conflict Minerals Report with the SEC as part of its commitment to supplier responsibility. Apple said it remains "deeply committed" to upholding human rights across its global network of suppliers and "works to safeguard the well-being of people involved in its supply chain and to protect the places where materials are sourced." Apple commits to use minerals in ...

Normally when you add songs or albums from the Apple Music catalog to your library and then play them back, the tracks are streamed to your device or computer. This avoids using up local storage, but it also has a major drawback –- the content becomes unavailable if you don't have an active internet or cellular connection. Fortunately, you can avoid this situation altogether by...