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

Hunter Douglas recently launched its next-generation PowerView Motorization system designed to control Hunter Douglas motorized window shades. The new version of the PowerView Motorization supports Amazon and Google services out of the box, but with an update later this year, it will also support Apple's HomeKit. The PowerView Motorization Hub lets users control, time, and set their...

Tweetbot is one of the most popular third-party Twitter clients, and this week developer Tapbots has dropped the price of the latest version of the app -- Tweetbot 4 -- by 50 percent, from $9.99 to $4.99. The last time a similar price drop happened was December 2016, so the app had yet to see a discount throughout 2017. It's not clear how long the discount will last, but given the length of...

Logitech's Circle 2, introduced in June, is the second-generation version of its Circle home security camera. This new version features a redesigned body, wired and wire-free versions, accessories that let it be positioned anywhere, and, through a recent update, HomeKit support. Circle 2 is meant to be used as a home security device and it's ideal for keeping an eye on your house while you're...

Twenty years after launching as a download for Microsoft Windows computers in 1997, AOL Instant Messenger will be officially discontinued from December 15, 2017. AOL parent company Oath announced the end of AIM in a blog post earlier this morning, celebrating with a nostalgic recollection of how big the messaging platform was in the late 1990s and early 2000s. All good things come to an ...

Truphone today announced that its Apple SIM data plans for iPad are now available to purchase in Ireland and Portugal, with an additional 31 countries to follow by the end of 2017. The plans were already available in Australia, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and the UK. Truphone's Apple SIM plans provide iPad users with access to its data network in over 40 countries without...

Taiwanese manufacturer Win Semiconductors has reported a nearly 24 percent increase in third quarter revenue on a year-over-year basis, driven by the supplier's indirect foray into the iPhone X supply chain, according to DigiTimes. The firm's consolidated revenues hit a record monthly high of about $1.6 billion in local New Taiwan dollars in September, an increase of 13.4 percent from a...

Following yesterday's announcement of price hikes in the U.S., Netflix has now confirmed that some U.K. subscribers can also expect to pay more for the video streaming service going forward. Those on the Basic tier, costing £6 a month, won't see a price increase. However, that's where the good news ends, because anyone on the Standard tier, which includes shows in HD and the ability to...

Huawei continued to ratchet up its hype machine on Thursday by revealing on Twitter that its upcoming Mate 10 smartphone will feature a 4,000mAh battery. The Chinese company divulged the key detail via social media, which it has previously used to troll Apple as well as promote the built-in artificial intelligence capabilities of its forthcoming flagship device. The tweet was accompanied by...

Facebook quietly launched two official Workplace by Facebook desktop apps for the Mac and PC, TechCrunch discovered this afternoon. Workplace is Facebook's enterprise collaboration software designed to compete with Slack and other similar business apps. The apps are available as a beta, with download links located in the Help section for Workplace. The apps are designed to allow users to...

Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington, who passed away in July, filmed an episode of Apple Music's Carpool Karaoke: The Series just before his death. It was unclear whether or not that episode would eventually air, but Linkin Park announced today on Facebook that the episode starring Bennington will indeed be shown. In the Facebook post, the band says the episode will be streamed for free on...

Facebook's Messenger service was today updated with a new Apple Music chat extension, allowing Messenger users to link to Apple Music content to share songs and directly within the Messenger app. The extension can be accessed by tapping on the "+" icon next to the text bar to add Apple Music to a conversation. There's also an option to interact directly with the Apple Music chat bot to ask for ...

Apple today shared a trailer for "Bang! The Bert Berns Story," an upcoming documentary that chronicles the life of "Twist and Shout" songwriter and producer Bert Berns. Berns, a well-known record producer in the 1960s responsible for hits like "Brown Eyed Girl," "Here Comes the Night," "Piece of My Heart," and more, started out as a songwriter before moving on to Atlantic Records where he...

Following the launch of BB-8 in 2015, and R2-D2 and BB-9E last month, Sphero has introduced an all-new iPhone-controlled droid ahead of New York Comic-Con, which begins today. This one is R2-Q5 and is the Imperial counterpart to R2-D2, with a glossy black finish and matte gold trimmings. R2-Q5 first appeared in Return of the Jedi. Similar to Sphero's R2-D2 droid, R2-Q5 has functional...

Over a year after grandfathered subscribers on Netflix's original $7.99/month plan were introduced to the new $9.99/month pricing, Mashable reports that the standard streaming plan will be increasing by $1 starting for U.S. subscribers in November. This means that those who now pay $9.99/month to stream on two screens at once (the standard tier) will be paying $10.99/month soon. The top tier ...

Home security camera company Canary has updated the features included in its free and paid subscription packages over the past few days, removing multiple camera abilities that were once free to all users and placing them behind the company's $9.99/month paywall. Subscriptions increase to $14.99/month for 2-3 cameras, and an additional $4.99/month for each added device. Many Canary customers...

Microsoft today announced that its Edge web browser is coming to iOS, starting with a beta version for iPhone available today. Microsoft Edge will primarily appeal to iPhone users that use a Windows PC instead of a Mac thanks to a "Continue on PC" feature that enables users to push a website from the mobile to desktop version of the browser, like Apple's Handoff. Continue on PC...

After beginning as a small test in Portugal in September, Instagram this week is beginning to roll out a feature that lets you automatically share the same Instagram Story to your Facebook Story with the tap of a button. TechCrunch spotted the cross-platform Story syncing, and Instagram parent company Facebook subsequently confirmed the feature's rollout will be coming to all United States users...

The Indian government is now in the process of considering exemptions sought by Apple for setting up more units to assemble iPhones, according to a top bureaucrat in the country's commerce and industry ministry (via Reuters). The news came shortly after India's Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) gave Chinese smartphone maker Oppo clearance to open its own single-brand retail...