Pandora Grants Free Tier Listeners Access to On-Demand Features if They View 15-Second Ad

Thursday December 14, 2017 6:31 am PST by
Pandora today announced that it will now let those who use the company's free, ad-supported tier access on-demand listening after viewing a 15-second video ad. Listeners can search for a specific song, album, playlist, and then they'll have an option to view the ad in question, after which a Pandora Premium listening session will unlock. Previously, users on Pandora's free tier had to listen ...

SoundCloud Debuts New Home Experience Focusing on Personalized Music Curation

Thursday December 14, 2017 4:55 am PST by
SoundCloud is today launching a brand new home experience within its iOS app that the company said will make it easier to discover new content from the service's community of creators. The new home tab offers curated recommendations, personalized playlists, and "exclusive culture-focused audio content." All of these recommendations will come direct from SoundCloud's creators, and users will...

Apple Now Offering Free Next-Day Delivery of Last-Minute Holiday Gifts

Thursday December 14, 2017 4:02 am PST by
Apple's online store is now offering free next-day delivery for all in-stock items ordered by 3 p.m. local time on December 22 in the United States. Apple normally offers free two-day delivery for most products, but it expands free next-day delivery to all in-stock items towards the end of every holiday shopping season to help customers purchase last-minute gifts in time for Christmas....

Twitterrific 5.18 for iOS Gains New Black Theme Made for iPhone X, Tweet Poll Detection, and More

Thursday December 14, 2017 12:22 am PST by
Third-party Twitter app Twitterrific reached version 5.18 on Thursday, bringing several improvements including an additional dark visual theme and tweet poll detection. In what should come as good news to heavy users on iPhone X, Twitterrific has added a new energy-saving "true black" theme, which now appears as an option alongside the existing dark theme. The Theme panel has also been...

iOS 11 Indoor Maps Feature Now Available at More Than 40 Airports and Malls

Wednesday December 13, 2017 5:05 pm PST by
Starting in iOS 11, Apple introduced support for indoor maps for select malls and airports around the world. Indoor maps have been slow to roll out, but Apple has been steadily adding additional mall and airport maps since September. Apple today began listing indoor maps for malls and airports on its iOS 11 feature availability page, giving us a clear picture of exactly where the indoor...

Episodic Game 'Life is Strange' Available for Pre-Order on iOS Ahead December 14 Launch

Wednesday December 13, 2017 2:49 pm PST by
Life is Strange, a popular episodic narrative-style game that was first released in 2015, is finally coming to iOS devices on December 14. Life is Strange follows the story of Max Caulfield, a photography student who discovers she can rewind time. Players help Caulfield investigate the disappearance of fellow student Rachel Amber, using Max's time-rewinding abilities to look for clues and make ...

Redbox Launches New Digital Movie and TV Rental Service

Wednesday December 13, 2017 1:58 pm PST by
Redbox, the company that offers physical movie rentals via kiosks around the United States, today launched a new digital Redbox On Demand service designed better compete with other digital TV and movie services. Redbox On Demand, available as a public beta, allows customers to rent or purchase movies and TV shows for streaming. The service offers many of the same new-release movies that are...

Apple Releases New Firmware for HomePod

Wednesday December 13, 2017 12:26 pm PST by
Alongside the iOS 11.2.5 beta that was seeded to developers this afternoon, Apple released new firmware for the HomePod. The new firmware is not available through the Developer portal like a standard beta software update, but it will be downloadable by testers who have a HomePod. The update is also listed on third-party software sites, making it available for download by the public....

Apple Seeds First Beta of watchOS 4.2.2 to Developers

Wednesday December 13, 2017 12:17 pm PST by
Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming watchOS 4.2.2 update to developers, a little over one week after releasing the watchOS 4.2 update, which introduced Apple Pay Cash on the Apple Watch. 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 to...

Apple Seeds First Beta of tvOS 11.2.5 to Developers

Wednesday December 13, 2017 12:14 pm PST by
Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming tvOS 11.2.5 update to developers for testing purposes, a little over one week after releasing the tvOS 11.2 update. Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models, the tvOS 11.2.5 developer beta can be downloaded onto the Apple TV via a profile that's installed using Xcode. We don't yet know what features or changes might be...

Apple Releases Minor tvOS 11.2.1 Update With HomeKit Fix

Wednesday December 13, 2017 9:10 am PST by
Apple today released a new update for tvOS 11, the operating system designed to run on the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TVs. tvOS 11.2.1 comes a little over one week after the release of the tvOS 11.2 update. tvOS 11.2.1 can be downloaded over the air through the Settings app on the Apple TV by going to System --> Software Update. Apple TV owners who have automatic software updates turned ...

Apple Music Rival Tidal Reportedly Facing Money Problems Amid 'Stalled' User Growth

Wednesday December 13, 2017 6:44 am PST by
Streaming music service Tidal is facing money problems and could run out of working capital within the next six months, according to a report this week by Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (via The Verge). The report stated that the money issues likely stem from Tidal's user growth, which is said to have "stalled" recently. Sprint bought a 33 percent stake in Tidal this past January, and...

Gamevice's iPhone Gaming Controller Gets Price Drop and Integration With Sphero Droids

Wednesday December 13, 2017 5:00 am PST by
Gamevice, a company that makes a Made for iPhone/iPad gaming controller for iOS devices, today announced that its partnership with Sphero has expanded, allowing the Gamevice gaming controller to be used with Sphero droids. Starting today, the Gamevice, which already works with the Sphero app, can be used to pilot the BB-9E, BB-8, and R2D2 from Sphero, giving droid owners a better control...

Nintendo Looking for Additional Mobile Software Developers After DeNA Partnership Falls Behind Schedule

Wednesday December 13, 2017 4:15 am PST by
Nintendo is looking to hire more software developers to help it create mobile video games in the vein of Super Mario Run and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. According to people familiar with the matter speaking with The Wall Street Journal, Nintendo has decided to expand its roster of smartphone game developers after its partnership with DeNA "fell behind schedule." Nintendo and DeNA first...

Workouts++ 2.0 Brings Apple Watch Podcast Playback, Siri Integration, Location Tracking, and More

Wednesday December 13, 2017 2:30 am PST by
Free third-party fitness app Workouts++ got its 2.0 release on Tuesday, bringing a wealth of new features and improvements to the software, almost a year after its debut on iOS and Apple Watch. Users looking for an alternative to the native watchOS Workout app should find plenty to pique their interest in this update, which makes the most of new APIs available since the release of watchOS 4...

Things 3.3 Update Brings New 'Mail to Things' Feature to the To-Do App

Tuesday December 12, 2017 5:36 pm PST by
Popular to-do app Things reached version 3.3 today and gained a new feature that enables users to generate to-dos from anywhere by sending an email to their Things Cloud account. Previously, Things offered four ways to add to-dos: Quick Entry, Siri, 3D Touch, and the Add to Things extension. However, the limitation of these methods is that they're only available from within the Apple...

Android App 'weMessage' Lets You Get iMessages on Your Android Smartphone With a Mac

Tuesday December 12, 2017 2:10 pm PST by
There's no official way to get iMessages on a non-iOS device like an Android smartphone, but a new Android app aims to provide a workaround, at least temporarily. weMessage is designed to allow you to get iMessages on an Android device, but for it to work, a Mac is required. weMessage uses a weServer app on a Mac, which takes iMessages that are delivered to a Mac and forwards them to an...

Apple Bolsters Video Team With Hires From Hulu and Legendary Entertainment

Tuesday December 12, 2017 1:33 pm PST by
Apple's original content video team continues to grow with the addition of two recently hired TV veterans who will handle business affairs for the division, reports Variety. Philip Matthys, who previously worked for Hulu, and Jennifer Wang Grazier, who was with Legendary Entertainment, have both joined Apple. Matthys was hired last month, and Wang Grazier, who will report to Matthys, will...