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

Walmart today has the 2017 10.5-inch iPad Pro (512GB, Wi-Fi only) on sale for $765.83, down from $949.00. This deal is the best available online for the latest 10.5-inch iPad Pro, compared to retailers like B&H Photo and Adorama, which are both offering the same model for $924.00. At the time of writing, only the Gold and Rose Gold options have received the discount, while the Silver and Space...

Last September, AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile announced a team-up with the mission of developing a mobile authentication solution for both businesses and consumers. One of the main reasons the carriers created the "Mobile Authentication Taskforce" was to help users who have to manage "dozens of difficult-to-remember passwords" for numerous apps. Today at Mobile World Congress, the...

One week after launching an Instacart promotion for Apple Pay users, Apple's latest offer for Apple Pay customers is $5 off movie tickets with ticketing service Fandango. To get the discount, Apple said that you'll have to order two or more movie tickets in a single transaction within the Fandango app [Direct Link] or on Fandango.com, enter the promo code "STARPOWER" at checkout, and then...

Google this week announced that its workplace chat app for Mac, PC, iOS, and Android, called "Hangouts Chat," has come out of the Early Adopter Program beta and will be available to anyone who pays for a core G Suite service. Hangouts Chat is an expansion of Google's Hangouts platform and the company's answer to services like Slack, HipChat, Workplace by Facebook, and Microsoft Teams (via TechCrun...

Over on our YouTube channel, we're continuing on with our new monthly series that highlights new, interesting, and useful apps that we think are worth checking out. Because there are so many apps available on the iOS App Store, it can be hard to find new content, and it's also easy to overlook great older apps. Our app lists are designed to include apps -- both new and old -- that we...

In iOS 11, Apple Maps gained a new lane guidance feature, which is designed to let Maps users know which lane they should be in to avoid missing a sudden turn or an exit. The feature was initially limited to the United States and China, but since the release of iOS 11, Apple has been working to expand it. As of this week, Apple has made lane guidance features available in Austria, South...

Spotify today filed to go public and plans to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the name SPOT, reports CNBC. Shares of the company have privately traded as high as $132.50, giving the company a valuation of ~$23 billion based on ordinary shares traded in private transactions. According to Spotify's filing with the SEC, the streaming music service boasts 159 million monthly...

Twitter today announced the official launch of a new Bookmarks feature, which is designed to allow Twitter users to save tweets for later access. All tweets now feature an updated "share" icon that's used for both bookmarking and sharing tweets, and Twitter says the share icon is meant to make it easier to save and share privately or publicly. Bookmarking a tweet to save it for later can...

Apple today on the iOS App Store shared a new interview with the founders of MoviePass, touching on the service's origins and its integral ties to the iPhone and modern smartphone app development. MoviePass debuted in 2011, but grew in popularity last August when the company dropped its subscription price to $9.95/month, which lets customers see one standard 2D film every day in the theater In ...

Apple Maps has been updated with transit data in Columbia, Charleston, and Greenville, enabling navigation and directions with public transportation in South Carolina's three largest metropolitan areas. By selecting the Transit tab in Apple Maps on iPhone, iPad, or Mac, users can now access bus routes from The COMET in Columbia, CARTA in Charleston, and Greenlink Transit in Greenville. These ...

Today marks the official transfer of Apple's Chinese iCloud services from a hosting location in the United States to servers owned and operated by state-run Chinese company Guizhou-Cloud Big Data (GCBD) (via CNN). With the move, all Chinese users' iCloud accounts will now be hosted on GCBD's servers, along with the iCloud encryption keys needed to unlock an iCloud account. Apple made the...

Images of Fitbit's next smartwatch have been obtained by Wearable, following the fitness firm's recent confirmation of a new device launch later this year. During an investor's call yesterday revealing weaker-than-expected results, Fitbit CEO James Park said the company will introduce a smartwatch in 2018 that will have "mass appeal", seemingly confirming lackluster sales of its Ionic...

In iOS 11 and later, it's possible to add an Apple TV Remote interface to the Control Center that will allow you to quickly navigate and control playback on your 4K Apple TV or fourth-generation Apple TV using your iPhone or iPad. It's a great solution if you just can't get on with Apple's Siri Remote, and doesn't require you to install an app. In this article, we'll show you how to set up the...

Amazon is acquiring Ring, the company that makes a range of WiFi-enabled home security products that include video doorbells, reports GeekWire. The two companies are expected to officially announce the acquisition news later this afternoon, but provided a statement to GeekWire."Ring is committed to our mission to reduce crime in neighborhoods by providing effective yet affordable home security...

Apple this afternoon shared two new iPhone photography tutorial videos on its website, focused on composing images using the telephoto camera and experimenting with framing. Each short video walks users through a series of step-by-step instructions on how to use the camera to capture unique shots. In the telephoto camera video, for example, Apple suggests using the telephoto lens to...

AT&T today announced a series of deals launching this Thursday, March 1 that will be available only for customers in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. The offers vary from city to city, and the carrier noted that each one will last for a "limited time" only. The city-specific deals are debuting alongside the launch of AT&T's new Unlimited Plus Enhanced and Unlimited Choice Enhanced plans,...

Apple has reportedly hired engineer Michael Abbott for an unspecified role within the company, according to information obtained by MacGeneration [Google Translate]. Abbott's job history includes vice president of engineering for Twitter, team lead for the Azure cloud platform at Microsoft, and senior vice president of apps and services at Palm, where he helped create webOS. More recently,...

The United States Patent and Trademark Office today granted Apple a patent related to a "Case for wearable electronic device," and it's described as an accessory that would let users charge their Apple Watch while on the go while also storing a few extra bands (via Patently Apple). Similar to portable battery packs, or Apple's own AirPods case, users would charge the Apple Watch case itself, and...