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

Google today announced the launch of its new mobile app payment platform "Pay with Google," following a sneak peek of the feature during its I/O conference this past May. Using Pay with Google, Android smartphone owners can access any of the credit or debit cards they've added to their Google Account -- sourcing products like Google Play, YouTube, Chrome, and Android Pay -- and quickly choose...

Following Miitomo, Fire Emblem Heroes, and Super Mario Run, Nintendo appears finally ready to reveal details for its fourth iOS gaming app, Animal Crossing. The company has confirmed on its Japanese website [Google Translate] that a new Animal Crossing-focused Nintendo Direct will debut this Wednesday, October 25 at 12 p.m. local time in Japan, meaning the direct will take place on October 24 in...

The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus accounted for 16 percent of total iPhone sales in the July-September 2017 quarter, which means the new smartphones "look much more like an 'S' model" in terms of sales. According to a report sent to MacRumors today by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, the new devices actually represented a smaller sales percentage than 'S' devices have in past years,...

Like most (all?) weeks in the world of iOS gaming, there's no shortage of things happening and games being released. I spent last weekend at the Hearthstone Summer Championship and wrote about the experience. It's downright incredible to see how huge esports are getting, particularly when Blizzard invites you to hang out in their real-deal esports arena they just built inside of the studio that...

Former Amazon Studios executive Morgan Wandell is Apple's latest hire for its video team, reports Variety. Wandell will take on the role of head of international creative development for worldwide video at Apple, reporting directly to Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg, former Sony execs who now lead Apple's original programming efforts. Wandell will start work at Apple's new Culver City office ...

For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with InvisibleShield to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win an InvisibleShield Glass+ screen protector for the iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, or iPhone 8 Plus. Most people are likely familiar with InvisibleShield screen protectors, because this is a product that's been around for quite some time. There are several options available for the...

Apple today seeded the fourth beta of an upcoming watchOS 4 update to developers for testing purposes, four days after releasing the third watchOS 4.1 beta and a month after releasing the new watchOS 4 operating system to the public. Once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Apple Developer Center, the new watchOS 4 beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple...

Elevation Lab first made a name for itself with the original Elevation Dock, which was one of the most popular docks on the market when it came out in 2012. Since then, the company has continued making docks and stands for iPhone and Apple Watch. The fourth iteration of the original Elevation dock, the ElevationDock 4, was introduced this September, just in time for the debut of the iPhone...

Last year, PayPal launched within Facebook Messenger as a way for users to shop and complete payments directly through the messaging app. Today, the two companies are expanding the focus of this feature and opening up peer-to-peer payments for Facebook Messenger users who have linked their PayPal account to the app. With a rollout starting today, Facebook Messenger users will be able to tap on ...

Spotify is expanding its music streaming service today with a new section of the mobile app and desktop site called RISE, which is "designed to identify and break the next wave of music superstars." Spotify said that each artist highlighted in RISE will be showcased through multi-tiered marketing and editorial programming, including within the app itself and promotion on social media....

Google revealed on Thursday that it would follow Apple's lead in lowering the amount of money app developers must pay for mobile subscriptions processed through the company's Play Store (via The Verge). Adoption of the subscription model by iOS developers has increased over recent months, causing some controversy within the app-using community. Apple incentivized developers to sell their apps ...

Microsoft today updated its Cortana app for iOS, improving the way the AI assistant works on iOS devices. Designed to compete with Siri, Cortana is a personal assistant that can do things like set reminders, schedule calendar appointments, answer queries, and offer up information you're interested in through machine learning techniques. Today's iOS app update introduces a revamped look that...

"Give Me Future," a documentary covering the free concert Major Lazer performed in Havana, Cuba in the spring of 2016, is coming to Apple Music on November 17. Apple shared a trailer for the documentary on its YouTube channel yesterday evening. Directed by Austin Peters, documentary offers a behind-the-scenes look at the Major Lazer concert in addition to exploring Cuban culture and offering ...

Verizon is working on a streaming television service that was originally meant to debut in 2017, but its launch date has been pushed back to 2018, reports Bloomberg. Verizon is now said to be aiming to launch its online TV service in the spring of 2018, marking yet another delay as the company struggles to find a way to compete with the many existing services on the market. Staff shuffling,...

Google yesterday updated its Chrome for iOS app, which serves as an alternate browser option for those who would prefer to use Chrome instead of the default Safari browser. The latest version of Chrome includes support for the iOS 11 Drag and Drop feature on the iPad, allowing iPad users to drag a URL from Chrome into another app or vice versa. Also included in the update are new Today...

Robotics company Sphero skyrocketed to popularity in 2015 with the release of BB-8, a miniature iPhone-controlled toy droid modeled after the BB-8 character in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. As the release of the The Last Jedi approaches this December, Sphero has introduced two new Star Wars-themed robotic toys, BB-9E and R2-D2. R2-D2 is a well-known classic droid that's starred in Star...

PayPal's Digital Gifts storefront on eBay today has a 15 percent discount on $100 iTunes gift cards, letting those interested purchase the card for just $85 while the deal lasts. As a bonus, the gift card is electronic, so you'll get a code sent to your email for the iTunes credit within a few minutes after checkout. Head over to PayPal Digital Gift's eBay page right here to check out the...

Popular text editor Ulysses received a substantial update on Thursday, adopting features and UI design concepts that bring the universal app into greater alignment with iOS 11. Foremost in the changes is support for Drag and Drop in iOS 11, enabling users to rearrange sheets by picking them up and moving them around. It's also now possible to drag images and text passages from other apps to...