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

Mother's Day is coming this Sunday, May 13, and many accessory companies have deals lasting through Sunday -- and even Monday -- for any last-minute shopping that you might be doing for your mom and other moms. We've rounded up a quick list of some of the sales below, as well as offers from the major carriers, and even some discounts happening on Apple's iTunes Movies store. Accessories Note: ...

For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Choetech to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win a 5W or 7.5W Qi-based wireless charger that's compatible with the iPhone X, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and future iPhones with wireless charging support. Choetech is a company that offers a range of affordable iPhone and iPad accessories on Amazon, including several wireless chargers. Today's...

Snapchat has adjusted its iOS app interface to placate a large number of dedicated users who complained about the recent redesign, reports The Verge. Snap unveiled its radical redesign in November with the goal of creating a personalized user experience that's easier to navigate, especially for newcomers. But the change didn't go down well with many long-time users, so much so that 1.2 million ...

The Apple Watch Series 3 with LTE connectivity today became available for purchase in Denmark, Sweden, India, and Taiwan. Apple first announced plans to expand availability in those countries in April, and began taking pre-orders for LTE devices on May 4. Cellular connectivity is available through "3" in Denmark and Sweden, while in India, Reliance Jio and Airtel will be offering support for...

MacRumors has partnered with popular accessory maker Anker to offer our readers a set of exclusive promo codes, with savings of up to 30 percent on eight Anker products. These include two iPhone X cases, two Lightning cables, a 7.5-watt Qi-compatible charger, two USB wall outlets, and one surge protector. All of Anker's products are sold on Amazon, so if you're interested in any of the...

YouTube recently began rolling out support for high dynamic range video content on iPhone X, as noted by users on the MacRumors forums and Reddit. HDR videos provide a broader range of colors and luminance compared to sub-HDR content, and the format also supports quality video playback on a wide variety of screen sizes. For iOS users, YouTube videos in HDR can be viewed on the iPhone X, but...

Valve today announced the upcoming launch of the Steam Link app, which is designed to allow Steam users to play Steam games on the iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV using either a 5GHz network or a wired Ethernet connection to a host PC or Mac. Because of the requirement to stream via an Ethernet connection or a 5GHz network, it won't be possible to play Steam content on the go, but it will be handy...

Hulu today announced the launch of a Live TV Guide that's designed to allow subscribers to its live television service to access a dynamic list of the television programs that are currently available to watch. Hulu first introduced a Live TV guide option on the web as a test project last fall, and promised an interface redesign with the Live TV guide back at CES in January. As of this morning, ...

Yahoo this week began testing a new messaging app on iOS and Android called "Squirrel," aimed at organizing private group chats with friends, family members, and work acquaintances. The app's main feature is that group access is private and people can only be added through invitation links (via TechCrunch). Squirrel looks visually similar to apps like Slack and Discord, offering groups access...

Apple has stepped up its policy of removing apps from the App Store that violate its guidelines by sharing location data with third parties without explicit consent. As noted by 9to5Mac, Apple appears to have ratcheted up its software scrutiny in the last few days by informing affected developers by email that upon re-evaluation, their app violates two sections of the App Store Review...

Apple recently expanded the indoor mapping feature first introduced in iOS 11 to new locations, including the Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport and indoor malls located in Dallas and Houston, Texas. The additions were noted on Apple's Feature Availability page for iOS 11. At launch, indoor maps were only available in a handful of airports and malls around the world, but Apple has been steadily...

At the 97th annual ADC Awards, which honors the best work in design, advertising, motion, and other commercial creative arts, Apple's "Barbers" ad for the iPhone 7 Plus won a Best of Show award. First introduced in May 2017, the "Barbers" ad features a barbershop where images captured with an iPhone 7 Plus are used to advertise the shop's skills. The attractive images, taken with the iPhone 7...

Google today outlined several new features coming to Google Maps at its Google I/O developer conference in Mountain View, California this morning. First and foremost, this summer, Google Maps will be updated with a new personalized "For You" section that offers up recommendations based on your interests. The Maps app is gaining a dedicated "For You" tab that is designed to "tell you what you...

Fandango today added a "Buy Tickets" button on the company's Instagram profile, letting visitors to the page purchase tickets to films currently in theaters as well as pre-order tickets for unreleased movies (via The Hollywood Reporter). The move is said to be part of an overall push by Instagram into a "shoppable tags" commerce feature, and comes after the social network debuted a native...

Microsoft on Tuesday announced changes to its revenue sharing model with developers that will significantly undercut Apple and Google. Starting later this year, the company says developers will receive 95 percent of the revenue earned from sales of their apps, in-app purchases, and new subscriptions on the Microsoft Store, excluding games and apps sold in volume to organizations, but only...

Ring today launched a standalone "Neighbors" app on iOS [Direct Link] and Android devices, pulling out the local security and crime-prevention feature from the main Ring app into a standalone experience. With Neighbors, Ring connects users in a nearby area who own any model of the Ring doorbell, and allows them to upload footage of criminal activity to make it easier to prevent and catch...

Twitter is testing a new feature for its mobile apps called "Secret conversation," which would allow users to send direct messages that are encrypted (via TechCrunch). The end-to-end encryption would put Twitter's messaging platform on the level of apps like Telegram or WhatsApp, ensuring that a conversation between users is only ever seen by those sending the messages and not a surveilling third ...

Philips has announced Hue 3.0 for iOS and Android, a major update to the smart lighting system app that introduces a new-look interface, new scene options, and a redesigned color picker. "In designing the upgrade, we took advice from lighting designers, user experience specialists and, most importantly, from our customers," said Philips Lighting marketing chief Jasper Vervoort. "The result is ...