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

Apple is gearing up to launch Apple Pay in Sweden next week, according to a report by Swedish site MacPro [Google Translate]. The site stated that the first financial partner with Apple Pay in Sweden will be the bank Nordea, and that the two companies will jointly announce the mobile wallet collaboration one week from today, on October 24. During its third quarter earnings call in August,...

Apple TV's universal search feature now supports a selection of additional apps in the United States and other countries. In the United States, fourth- and fifth-generation Apple TV users can now search for movies or TV shows on BBC America, Classix, and Oxygen, an NBC-owned channel that primarily airs true crime programming. In Canada, newly supported apps include Apple Music, CBC TV,...

After announcing support for job applications within the Facebook app on iOS earlier in 2017, Facebook this week has been testing out a LinkedIn-like résumé/CV "work histories" feature for certain mobile users. Discovered by developer Jane Manchun Wong, and shared by The Next Web, the feature lets Facebook users share their work experience with potential employers without having to leave the app. ...

Google's official search app for iOS has been updated this week with more navigation options in the United States and other countries. In addition to Google Maps, you can now use Apple Maps or Waze for navigation when searching for places and addresses in the Google app. When you search for an address and tap the navigation button, a menu opens with the three options for directions:...

PayPal today announced that "more than two million" retailers in the United States will now accept online payments from the PayPal-owned, peer-to-peer payments platform Venmo. Users with Venmo accounts will be able to pay on retailer apps like Forever 21, Foot Locker, and Lululemon starting this week (via Reuters). With the addition of Venmo into the checkout process of these apps, Venmo...

The BBC today updated its Radio iPlayer app to support Apple CarPlay, allowing vehicle drivers with the feature to listen to BBC radio more safely when behind the wheel. A simplified touch interface has been adopted for the new in-car version, designed to be easy to fast-forward in a show or skip through entire episodes. Apart from CarPlay and Android Auto support, the update also brings...

Google is removing an experimental calorie estimator from its Maps iOS app, following criticism from users that the feature amounted to unsolicited health advice and could do more harm than good (via TechCrunch). The feature began rolling out to some users last week and shows an estimate of the calories that would be burned if a selected walking route was taken. The calorie estimator not ...

Google updated its Photos app on Monday with a new facial recognition feature that lets users organize pictures of their family pets more easily. Since it was launched, Google Photos has employed facial recognition to identify humans and help users sort their snaps by friend or family member, similar to how Faces works in Apple Photos. The latest version of Google's own photos app builds...

Best Buy this week has launched a sale on Apple's iPad mini 4, mirroring the $100 discount that Target placed on the 7.9-inch device late last week. You can get the 128GB iPad mini 4 from Best Buy in Space Gray, Silver, and Gold for $299.99, down from $399.99. There are also a few markdowns for the tablet on its cellular versions, depending on which carrier you choose. Most notably, Best...

Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming tvOS 11.1 update to developers for testing purposes, a week after seeding the second tvOS 11.1 update and a month after releasing tvOS 11 to the public. Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models, the tvOS 11.1 beta can be downloaded onto the Apple TV via a profile that's installed using Xcode on the Mac. The tvOS 11.1...

Apple today seeded the third beta of an upcoming watchOS 4 update to developers for testing purposes, a week after releasing the second 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 Watch...

LEDVANCE today announced an expansion to its line of HomeKit-enabled Sylvania lights, introducing the Indoor Flex Strip Full Color and the Soft White A19 Bulb, both of which are joining the existing HomeKit-compatible A19 Full Color Bulb. The Soft White A19 Bulb is less expensive than the Full Color Bulb at $26, and it offers only a soft white shade instead of multiple colors. It is an 800...

DxO today announced a new update for its DxO One iPhone-connected camera accessory, introducing a new time-lapse option with exclusive "Auto Ramping" technology and multi-camera Facebook Live capabilities. There are also a few new accessories that were revealed today, including an external Battery Pack, Cable Back Door, and Tilt Stand. The version 3.0 update to the DxO One iOS app streamlines...

Apple recently added a new Bluetooth speaker to its retail and online stores, called the "SoundLink Micro" and created by Bose. Spotted by Japanese blog Mac Otakara [Google Translate], the $109.95 speaker seems to have appeared on Apple's website around October 11, and has subsequently launched in some retail stores as well. The SoundLink Micro is designed for durability and comes with an IPX7 ...

Apple Maps has added public transit directions for Ireland, as pointed out by developer Steven Troughton-Smith on Twitter. With the updated directions, users in Ireland can now choose from a few different public transportation routes when traveling around Ireland. Transit directions are available in a few cities like Dublin and Cork, including transportation provided by Bus Éirann, Aircoach,...

Apple Park is officially nearing completion as 2017 winds down, according to a new drone video that has captured footage of the company's campus. Shared by Matthew Roberts, the video comes nearly one month after an update in late September showed off Apple Park at sunset, and almost one year after "major landscaping changes" appeared around the campus. Now, according to Roberts, Apple Park...

Apple manufacturer Foxconn has started shipping the first iPhone X units to countries in Europe and the Middle East, according to a Chinese report on Monday. China-based Xinhuanet said the first batch of 46,500 units have already been shipped out from Zhengzhou and Shanghai to the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates, respectively. However, the initial shipments of iPhone X units were...

T-Mobile this week quietly announced plans to tweak the way its "Mobile Without Borders" feature works, adding a 5GB data cap. Introduced in 2015 as an Un-carrier initiative, Mobile Without Borders is a T-Mobile feature that's designed to extend LTE coverage and calling to Mexico and Canada at no additional charge. It was designed to use a customer's normal voice, message, and LTE data...