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

Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming tvOS 11.3 update to its public beta testing group, one day after providing the third beta to developers and two weeks after releasing the second tvOS 11.3 public beta. The new tvOS 11.3 public beta can be downloaded by going to the Settings app on the Apple TV and navigating to the Software Updates section under "System." "Get Public Beta...

Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming watchOS 4.3 update to developers, two weeks after seeding the second beta and two days 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 going...

Dish Network today reported official numbers for its streaming television service Sling TV, which marks the first time that the company disclosed the service's subscriber numbers separately from its traditional pay TV numbers. According to Dish, Sling TV had 2.212 million subscribers as of the end of 2017, aligning with previous estimates that the service had well over 2 million subscribers (via T...

In December 2016, Facebook Messenger rolled out the ability for users to create group video chats with up to six members participating, and today the company has further streamlined the feature. Before today's update, if users were already in a one-on-one video or audio call they had to hang up, start a new conversation, and choose every member to invite to the new group chat. Now, while in...

Popular to-do app Things reached version 3.4 today and gained a trio of additional features made possible by the introduction of all-new Things URL links. Basically, the app now supports a special kind of link that starts with "things:" and enables users to send a variety of commands to the app. For example, it's now possible to link to your Today list, as well as the contents of your...

It's been just over one year since Fire Emblem Heroes launched on the iOS App Store in the United States, Japan, and over 30 other countries, and this week new data researched by Sensor Tower has titled the app as Nintendo and DeNA's "most successful mobile game to date." Over the course of its first year, Fire Emblem Heroes earned an estimated $295 million in player spending worldwide, helped by ...

Earlier in February, developer Snowman announced that "Alto's Odyssey" would be launching on iOS and tvOS Thursday, February 22, but the game has appeared one day early on both App Stores and is available to download right now for $4.99 [Direct Link] (via TouchArcade). Alto's Odyssey isn't featured yet on the United States App Store, but a search for it on both iOS and tvOS should surface the...

Apple is in talks to purchase long-term supplies of cobalt directly from miners to ensure a steady supply of the key battery ingredient amid industry fears of a shortage, according to a report by Bloomberg today. The companies that make batteries for Apple's iPads and iPhones depend heavily on the availability of cobalt, but Apple is said to have taken the issue into its own hands, prompted...

Apple this afternoon updated its YouTube channel with three new tutorials designed to walk people through using various photography features on the iPhone. The videos cover shooting an overhead photo on iPhone using the level feature, shooting in black and white, and adjusting slo-mo timing on iPhone to change the slow motion effect of a previously captured slo-mo video. Each video is ...

Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming tvOS 11.3 update to developers for testing purposes, two weeks after seeding the second beta and just a day 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....

Over the past few weeks Snapchat has been rolling out a major user interface overhaul to more and more users on its iOS and Android apps. Most users have responded negatively to the app redesign, which separates friends from brands so that users can focus on people they actually know, but condenses stories and text chats into one page. Today, Snap Inc. announced an additional update to Friends ...

Apple TV 4K models with 64GB of storage are finally back in stock following months of shipping delays for the larger capacity model. 64GB configurations are currently estimated for delivery in 1-2 days in the United States and several other countries on Apple's online store, while same-day pickup is now available at dozens of Apple's retail stores. Back in November, shipping estimates for ...

Following an ad for a senior product manager last spring that hinted at Spotify's interest in creating a hardware product, this week a collection of new job listings further suggest the launch of a physical Spotify product will be coming in the future (via Music Ally). The listings call for an Operations Manager: Hardware Product, Senior Product Manager: Hardware Production, and Project Manager:...

After over three years on the App Store, developer Nuance has decided to discontinue the gesture-based Swype Keyboard apps for both iOS and Android devices. The company's announcement of the iOS app's discontinuation came earlier this month, but it's only just begun to garner attention due to a confirmation of the Android app's removal given to XDA Developers. On Android, the company...

Samsung plans to slash its OLED panel output in response to Apple's decision to cut production of iPhone X due to "weak demand", the Nikkei Asian Review reported on Tuesday. Samsung will make OLED panels for 20 million fewer iPhones at its South Chungcheong plant in the January to March quarter, a lot lower than its original goal of supplying panels for 45 million to 50 million iPhones, according ...

Nike today updated its Nike+ Run Club iOS app with a new Challenges feature that aims to help users stay motivated throughout the week by letting them see how their mileage stacks up against other users in the global Nike running community. The new challenges appear in the Club section of the app. As of writing there are three challenges to join, including a 15K February Weekly Challenge, a...

Apple today released a minor software update for the Apple Watch, upgrading watchOS 4.2.2 to watchOS 4.2.3. The watchOS 4.2.3 update comes one month after the release of watchOS 4.2.2, a minor update focusing on bug fixes. watchOS 4.2.3 can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General --> Software Update. To install the update, the Apple Watch must...

Apple today released a new update for tvOS 11, the operating system designed to run on the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TVs. tvOS 11.2.6 comes one month after the release of the tvOS 11.2.5 update, which focused on bug fixes and other under-the-hood improvements. tvOS 11.2.6 can be downloaded over the air through the Settings app on the Apple TV by going to System --> Software Update....