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

Apple today announced that Apple Watch users can earn a special Thanksgiving Day badge and accompanying iMessage sticker by completing a walk, run, or wheelchair workout with a distance of at least 5K (3.1 miles) on November 23. As with the Veterans Day badge, this achievement is only available on devices that have United States set as the region. The distance can be recorded with the...

Microsoft has confirmed that Skype has been "temporarily removed" from the App Store on iPhone and iPad, according to a statement given to The New York Times. Apple told The New York Times that it was forced to remove a number of voice and video calling apps from the App Store in China to comply with laws in the country.We have been notified by the Ministry of Public Security that a number of...

One month after its announcement during a Nintendo Direct in late October, Nintendo today has begun rolling out Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp onto iOS [Direct Link] and Android devices worldwide, following a limited soft launch in Australia. The game was announced to be coming out tomorrow, November 22, but it has begun appearing on the iOS App Store for some users in the United States, United...

The United States Justice Department today filed a lawsuit to stop a planned merger between AT&T and Time Warner, reports Bloomberg. The DOJ believes such a merger would result in higher bills and fewer options for consumers."This merger would greatly harm American consumers. It would mean higher monthly television bills and fewer of the new, emerging innovative options that consumers are...

Apple Maps now provides lane guidance in five additional countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Apple Maps lane guidance on CarPlay in UK (Photo: Drew Post via Twitter) While navigating with Apple Maps via iPhone or CarPlay in those countries, a set of directional arrows will now appear at the top of the screen that indicate which lane your vehicle...

Spotify today launched its holiday discounts, giving new users three months of Spotify Premium for $0.99, after which they'll need to pay the traditional $9.99/month subscription cost or cancel their account beforehand. The sale is similar to discounts launched in years past, with Spotify encouraging new users to sign up to the music streaming service over the holidays. This year, there's an...

Nintendo on Twitter today confirmed that the company's upcoming iOS game, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, will launch worldwide on November 22. The confirmation of a release date comes nearly one month after the game was first unveiled in late October, after which it soft launched on the Australian iOS App Store and climbed to the top of the charts there faster than either Super Mario Run or Fire...

The fifth review of my iPhone X Roundup series focuses on Spigen, OtterBox, LifeProof, Totallee, and Sena. If you've missed my previous posts, I'm taking a close look at iPhone X cases from a range of manufacturers. We don't often feature case reviews on MacRumors, but with the launch of the iPhone X and its new design, we felt it was worth exploring some of the available case options. My...

Apologies for missing last week's iOS gaming roundup, but I've got a good reason: I was in Jordan judging Middle Eastern and North African mobile games for the International Mobile Gaming Awards (IMGA). It's an organization that for fourteen years now has been hosting international competitions looking for the best mobile games. I've been involved for several years now, and it's awesome...

For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Mophie to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win a powerstation USB-C XXL that's equipped with both USB-C and USB-A, so it can be used with a wide range of devices. The powerstation USB-C XXL, priced at $149.95, features a 19,500 mAh battery, which Mophie says is enough juice to provide USB-C laptops (the MacBook specifically) with up to 14 hours ...

Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming watchOS 4.2 update to developers for testing purposes, four days after seeding the third watchOS 4.2 beta and over two weeks after releasing the watchOS 4.1 update. Once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Apple Developer Center, the new watchOS 4.2 beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the...

Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming tvOS 11.2 update to developers for testing purposes, four days after seeding the third tvOS 11.2 update and over two weeks after the launch of tvOS 11.1. Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models, the tvOS 11.2 developer beta can be downloaded onto the Apple TV via a profile that's installed using Xcode. According to...

Apple has discounted its BeatsX, Solo3 Wireless, and Powerbeats3 Wireless headphones by $40 to $60 for a limited time in the United States. BeatsX — $149.95, now $99.95 Beats Solo3 Wireless — $299.95, now $239.95 Beats Powerbeats3 Wireless — $199.95, now $159.95Apple's discount on Beats Solo3 Wireless headphones also applies to the newer "Neighborhood Collection" colors. Apple's BeatsX...

With DirecTV Now's latest offer, if you sign up for four months of the streaming TV service at an upfront cost of around $140, you'll get the 32GB Apple TV 4K at no cost. DirecTV Now starts at $35/month for the "Live a Little" package, which adds up to $140 for four months of service (without any additions like HBO or Showtime). Higher tiers increase to $50/month, $60/month, and $70/month with...

Spotify updated its iOS app today with support for iPhone X, exactly two weeks since Apple's latest smartphone launched. The update removes the letterboxing of Spotify's interface on the iPhone X's 5.8-inch OLED display, which should come as welcome news to heavy users of the app, allowing them to see more of track lists and search results on the screen, and more artwork when browsing albums and...

Apple today reminded developers to update their Apple Watch apps to take advantage of features introduced in watchOS 4 and Apple Watch Series 3, like increased performance, new background modes for navigation and audio recording, direct connections to Core Bluetooth, and more. Apple also announced that starting on April 1, 2018, updates to watchOS 1 apps will no longer be accepted. All updates ...

Apple Maps vehicles will begin surveying Croatia and Portugal for the first time in a few weeks from now, according to Apple's updated list of locations. In Croatia, the Apple Maps vehicles will be in Split-Dalmatia County and Šibenik-Knin County beginning November 20. The vehicles will begin surveying the Alentejo region of Portugal starting December 4. Since 2015, Apple has been...

Facebook today announced the launch of a new "Facebook Creator" app and accompanying website, both of which are designed for people who want to create videos. Facebook Creator sounds similar to the tools available on YouTube. It is described as a "one stop shop for creators of all kinds," allowing users to create original video, stream live video, and connect with their community on Facebook. ...