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

Apple's HomePod speaker is best enjoyed when linked to an Apple Music subscription, since this allows you to make the most of Siri's enhanced music smarts and its DJ-like role as a personal music curator, or "mixologist", as Apple calls it. As ‌Apple Music‌ subscribers will know, the streaming service learns your music preferences based on what you say and play, which helps it populate the...

Apple has discounted its BeatsX, Solo3 Wireless, and Powerbeats3 Wireless headphones by $30 to $60 for a limited time in the United States. BeatsX — regular $149.95, now $119.95 Beats Powerbeats3 Wireless — regular $199.95, now $159.95 Beats Solo3 Wireless — regular $299.95, now $239.95Apple's discount on Beats Solo3 Wireless headphones also applies to the newer "Neighborhood Collection"...

Following a Target BOGO deal earlier in the week, PayPal on eBay has now launched a better discount on App Store & iTunes cards: you can get the $100 iTunes card for $85 while supplies last. Similar to previous sales on PayPal's Digital Gifts eBay storefront in the lead up to Christmas last year, you'll get the iTunes code delivered to you via email, and it's valid only on purchases made in the...

Facebook is said to be testing a "downvote" button among some users of the social network, according to a report on Thursday. The "dislike"-like option apparently appeared in the comments section of posts within Facebook groups and on old Facebook memories content, as shown in screenshots shared with The Daily Beast. A Facebook spokesperson denied that the company is "testing a dislike...

Before you can start using your new Apple HomePod, you'll need to set it up using an iPhone or iPad that's synced to an iCloud account. During the setup process, ‌HomePod‌ will link the ‌iCloud‌ account to personal request features accessed through the speaker via Siri voice commands, such as the ability to send messages, set up reminders, and get calendar notifications. It will also...

Apple's TV app gained a new News section late on Thursday. The dedicated section is appearing for users in the United States with devices running the latest iOS 11.2.5 and tvOS 11.2.5 releases. The new News option offers live streaming access to Bloomberg, CBS News, Cheddar, CNBC, CNN, and Fox News. The aggregated streams can be viewed directly within the TV app, although like other sourced ...

Florida resident Jason Colon was listening to his AirPods while at the gym this week when they started to malfunction, and a white smoke allegedly started pouring out. According to Colon, he then left the AirPods sitting on a piece of gym equipment and ran to get help, and when he got back, one of the AirPods was charred and destroyed. "It was already like this. It was already popped. I...

Now that the HomePod is available in Australia, where it is Friday, February 9, Apple has shared its official HomePod User Guide, providing an overview of all the features for new HomePod owners. The guide offers a detailed walkthrough on getting the HomePod ready to use out of the box, with information on HomePod controls, HomePod settings, and using AirPlay. There are also dedicated...

Hulu on Reddit this week announced that it will begin rolling out support for 60 frames per second live streams on its "Hulu With Live TV" cord-cutting service, launching in time for viewers to stream the Olympics and March Madness. Hulu said it was aware that 60fps streaming was "one of the most-requested features" by its viewers, leading to this week's announcement (via Cord Cutters News). ...

Yesterday Snapchat announced its first-ever live television event coverage, aimed at key highlights coming out of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. Today, the company is revealing an enhanced version of its custom Geofilters with a new paid "Create Your Own Lens" studio that lets users build and edit their own personalized selfie Lenses for major events and parties. Snapchat's "Create Your Own ...

Nintendo last week announced that its next mobile game will be "Mario Kart Tour," but with a launch date aimed at any time before the company's fiscal year ending March 2019, not much information is known about the game. Today, DeNA CEO Isao Moriyasu was reported as saying that Mario Kart Tour will be free-to-start (via TouchArcade and The Wall Street Journal). The "free-to-start"...

Following a discount on bundles for movies in the Cloverfield and Mission: Impossible franchises earlier this week, Apple on iTunes has now launched a collection of "Award Winning" film bundles focused on categories from the Academy Awards. The sale is debuting just under one month before the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday, March 4. The categories include Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Picture, ...

Apple customers in the United Kingdom who pre-ordered HomePod have started receiving shipping despatch notifications this morning. Those who ordered before initial supplies began dwindling earlier this week can expect deliveries to arrive sometime on Friday, which is Apple's official launch day for HomePod. Images via @ryancarter_94 As expected, it looks as if Apple is relying on DPD to...

Apple will work with two Chinese suppliers in 2018 to ensure a stable supply of 3D sensing modules for use in this year's iPhone and iPad line-up, according to a report on Thursday by ET News. Last month The Investor claimed Apple was planning a $820.9 million investment in LG Innotek to secure supply of 3D sensing modules, which are key components of the iPhone X's new TrueDepth camera...

Over a year ago now, we reported on claims that popular mobile chat platform WhatsApp was looking at introducing a peer-to-peer payments system, beginning with a rollout for users in India. Today, the first iPhone screenshots of such a system appeared online via social media, revealing a list of Indian banks that will apparently support the service at launch. The images indicate that the...

iCloud Keychain is a feature of your Apple account that you can use to keep your website login credentials, personal details, credit card details, and wireless network information up to date and available across all your Apple devices. With so many usernames and passwords to remember these days, iCloud Keychain provides a convenient way of always having this information at hand. And with its...

Instagram has never offered an option to publicly re-share images and content posted by other people, but the company is now testing a feature that would let you share public news feed posts from other people to your Instagram Story. Instagram this morning confirmed to TechCrunch that it is indeed exploring such a feature, which is available to only a small percentage of Instagram users....

The YouTube app for the Apple TV received a complete design overhaul today, introducing a new interface that's similar in design to the YouTube app for iOS, YouTube on the desktop, and the YouTube app for other television platforms. Rather than a single navigation bar at the top that links to sections like Search, Home, and Subscriptions, there's a new universal search bar that's easier to...