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

Google Assistant for iOS has been updated with native iPad support today. The design looks essentially the same as the iPhone version, but with an interface optimized for the larger 7.9-inch to 12.9-inch screen sizes of Apple's tablets. Like rivals Siri, Alexa, and Cortana, Google Assistant is a digital assistant that can set reminders, schedule calendar appointments, answer questions, and...

Last October, Disney announced that its "Disney Movies Anywhere" service would be expanding to become simply "Movies Anywhere," allowing customers to collect all of their digital films into one centralized location. Previously, the digital retailers supporting the service were iTunes, Amazon Prime Video, VUDU, and Google Play, but today the latest retailer has joined: FandangoNOW. FandangoNOW...

Facebook is set to launch a news section for its Watch platform and is testing different video partnerships with around 10 publishers, according to a report by Axios today. Launched back in August, Watch is a section of Facebook in the U.S. for mobile and desktop that's designed to showcase TV shows exclusive to the social network. Along with serving as a platform for end users to watch...

United States President Donald Trump this afternoon issued an executive order blocking Broadcom from acquiring Qualcomm in a deal that would have been worth more than $117 billion, reports Bloomberg. The president's order came following a recommendation from the Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS) in the United States, despite Broadcom's efforts to save the proposed transaction over the...

Apple today seeded the fifth beta of an upcoming watchOS 4.3 update to developers, one week after seeding the fourth beta and a three weeks after releasing watchOS 4.2.3, a minor update focusing on bug fixes. 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...

The price for Google's YouTube TV subscription service will be increasing to $40 per month for new subscribers starting tomorrow, up from the current price of $35 per month. Google first warned potential subscribers about the new pricing for YouTube TV in February, and today is the last day to sign up at the current $35 per month price point. Existing subscribers will continue to be able to...

Apple engineers are slated to join in on several discussions covering display technology and augmented/virtual reality at Display Week, which is set to take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center from May 22 to May 25. Apple's Cheng Chen, a director of Display Optics and Platform Technologies, will kick off the event chairing a keynote session that covers three discussions: "OLED Leading...

Apple Maps recently inked a deal with Ito World, which adds bike-sharing data to Apple Maps in more than 175 cities across 36 countries, reports TechCrunch. The feature went live this morning, and Apple Maps users can now type "bike sharing" or a specific service name like GoBike into the search bar to get results for nearby bike sharing options. Apple previously had some available...

Apple today seeded the fifth beta of an upcoming tvOS 11.3 update to developers for testing purposes, one week after seeding the fourth beta and three weeks after releasing the tvOS 11.2.6 update. Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models, the tvOS 11.3 developer beta can be downloaded onto the Apple TV via a profile that's installed using Xcode and Apple Configurator....

Amazon is now allowing users to make phone calls, video calls, and send messages from an iPad, Android, or Fire tablet to an Alexa-enabled Echo device. Previously, users had to activate calls or send messages using an Echo, so now it should be easier to communicate within Amazon's Alexa ecosystem (via Engadget). To receive calls, users need any device with the Alexa app installed or an Echo...

Rihanna is the world's most streamed female recording artist on Apple Music, ahead of Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, and Ariana Grande. Apple recently announced that the Barbadian singer has become the first female artist to surpass two billion streams worldwide on Apple Music, having achieved the milestone on International Women's Day last Thursday. Work!@Rihanna sets new streaming record on #In ...

At CES in January, Philips announced that it was working on a line of Hue lights for outdoors, so that users could connect and control their lighting on a patio, balcony, or other environment outside. Today, the company has revealed the first set of Philips Hue outdoor range products that will be launching in the United States and Europe this July. Philips noted that the outdoor products...

Over the weekend, iFixit shared its latest teardown, this one for Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S9+ smartphone. The Galaxy S9 and S9+ will both launch this Friday, March 16 for around for $720 and $840, respectively, and some initial reviews took to comparing the devices to Apple's iPhone X. iFixit did so as well in the new teardown, starting off by trying to get into the back of the S9+ to look...

Apple has updated its Made for iPhone, Made for iPad, and Made for iPod logos, and accessory makers have 90 days from when the change was announced in mid February to begin using them, according to ChargerLab. Apple's new Made for iPhone, iPad, and iPod logos via ChargerLab The new decals look similar, but they have Apple logos in place of iPhone, iPad, and iPod icons. Apple has also moved...

WhatsApp has quietly extended the time window in which users can delete a message they already sent to a person or group in the latest version of the popular messaging app. First noticed by WABetaInfo and reported by The Verge, the change in v2.18.31 means users now have up to one hour, eight minutes, and 16 seconds to "delete for everyone" any message already sent over the platform, rather...

The ability to view live metric data is one of the most important feedback functions of any Apple Watch fitness app. In this article, we're going to show how you can easily customize the metrics that the stock Workout app shows you when you raise your wrist during exercise. Checking in on your progress during a workout is best achieved with a quick glance at your watch screen, so choosing...

Amazon's Alexa personal assistant, built into dozens of different products, today gained a new "Follow-Up Mode" that's designed to allow users to ask multiple questions in succession without the need to repeat the "Alexa" wake up word. As noted by CNET, Follow-Up Mode allows Alexa to continue to listen for five seconds after an initial response to see if you have an additional request....

Netflix is testing a new gamified streaming experience for children, the company confirmed in a statement provided to Variety this morning. The new feature lets kids collect "patches" for watching episodes of certain shows. Netflix says the patches, which have been available for a few weeks for some users, are designed to allow for a more interactive experience for children. Image from ...