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

Uber has rolled out an update to its iOS app that enables riders to learn basic sign language on the go so they can communicate better with deaf and hard-of-hearing drivers. Uber announced the new feature in a post on its website, where it said the ride-hailing service had "thousands" of deaf drivers in the United States alone, and that the update was in support of National Deaf Awareness...

Google is working on a tabletop smart screen for video calling and more that will go up against Amazon's Echo Show, according to sources who spoke to TechCrunch. The Google device is internally codenamed "Manhattan" and will have a screen size similar to the 7-inch Echo Show, said two sources, one of whom reportedly received information directly from a Google employee. The device is said to...

Popular PlayStation game Flower, created by thatgamecompany, made its way to iOS devices in a surprise release this morning. Flower, first released in 2009, was published on iOS by Annapurna Interactive. In Flower, gameplay consists of controlling gusts of wind with the aim of blowing a flower petal around the world and picking up additional flower petals as you go. As flower petals swirl and...

Following a series of natural disasters that have impacted tens of thousands of people in the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean, Apple employees and customers have raised more than $13 million to provide shelter, food, and clean water in areas devastated by earthquakes and hurricanes. Apple shared the update in a news post released this morning. Funds have been raised in the wake of...

Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming tvOS 11.1 update to its public beta testing group, one day after seeding the tvOS 11.1 update to developers and a little over a week after releasing tvOS 11 to the public. The tvOS 11.1 public beta can be obtained by going to the Settings app on the Apple TV and navigating to the Software Updates section under "System." "Get Public Beta Updates" ...

As Apple Music and Spotify continue to battle for subscribers, each service has released new personalized playlists that curate a specific selection of songs for each user. Apple Music's latest addition was its "Chill Mix" this past June, and today Spotify has added onto its roster of personalized playlists with "Your Time Capsule." As explained by Spotify, Your Time Capsule will gather the...

Super Mario Run's "biggest update ever" has arrived one day early, with many players noticing the version 3.0.4 update is available to download as of this morning. One of the biggest new additions is "Remix 10," which lets players run through 10 super-short courses in a row to try to find and add Daisy -- the new playable character -- to their roster. There's also new full-size courses in...

ROLI, the company that makes a fun music creation system called BLOCKS, today announced the launch of its next-generation Lightpad Block, the Lightpad Block M. The Lightpad Block M is a light-up square grid that supports pressure-based multi-touch gestures to make music. The Lightpad M can recreate the sounds of drums, cellos, flutes, and hundreds of other instruments with just a touch. ...

Google Drive no longer hijacks file opening duties in Apple's Files and iCloud Drive apps on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. The app was updated today with a fix for the issue. Microsoft Word documents and other file types can now be viewed directly in in Apple's Files and iCloud Drive apps on iOS 11 and iOS 10 respectively. Since a previous update to Google Drive earlier this month, the...

ESPN yesterday announced an update to its iOS app that will let users stream their favorite sports shows on demand from their mobile device. Previously, users of the ESPN app were out of luck if they missed the live video streams of popular shows such as Around the Horn and Pardon the Interruption. But that's set to change, according to the channel's latest press release. "Our mission at...

Apple has expressed interest in buying advanced liquid crystal display (LCD) panels from Japan Display for use in some of its iPhones next year, according to a new report today from The Wall Street Journal. Earlier this month, Apple announced the iPhone X, its first smartphone to adopt OLED screen technology. OLED displays offer sharper contrast and brighter colors than traditional LCD panels, ...

After lengthy negotiations, Toshiba this morning officially agreed to sell its lucrative memory chip unit to a global consortium that includes Apple, in a deal reportedly worth $17.7 billion (via The Wall Street Journal). Toshiba said the legally binding agreement ensures the chip unit will remain a Toshiba affiliate even after it has become the property of the Bain Capital-led group, which...

Delta this week announced plans to offer free access to mobile messaging services on its flights starting in October. Delta will allow customers to use iMessage, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger to communicate with family and friends while in flight. Though Delta will let customers send text-based messages that include words and emoji, photo and video files are not supported. Free...

Apple design chief Jony Ive is one of the planned speakers at TechFest 2017, hosted by The New Yorker. Set to take place on October 6 from 8:45 a.m. to 6:30 p.m, the event will be held in New York City. Ive will talk about "designing the future," according to The New Yorker. No additional information has been provided on what topics Ive will cover, but with the launch of the iPhone X...

Since at least the iOS 11 beta, the App Store has been prioritizing old reviews from several years ago for some users. Now that the software update is publicly released, we're starting to receive more user reports about the change. The first review for Facebook's app is from 2008 On my own iPhone, the first review for Facebook is from 2008, the year the App Store launched. The reviewer called ...

On the heels of the launch of the Apple TV 4K with support for HDR and 4K, Amazon today unveiled its next-generation Fire TV, which also has 4K HDR support. The new device, which appears to replace both the Fire TV box and the Fire TV stick, features a 1.5GHz quad-core processor, an Alexa Voice Remote, Dolby Atmos support, 802.11ac WiFi, and 2160p video at up to 60 frames per second. Image ...

LIFX just recently introduced HomeKit support for its existing Wi-Fi connected smart bulbs, and today, the company is launching a new product with HomeKit compatibility, the LIFX Tile. The LIFX Tile is similar to the Nanoleaf Aurora, offering a series of five 7.87-inch square plastic panels that are meant to be attached to a wall using 3M adhesive. Tile panels can be arranged in any...

Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming tvOS 11.1 update to developers for testing purposes, one week after releasing tvOS 11 to the public. Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models, the tvOS 11.1 developer beta can be downloaded onto the Apple TV via a profile that’s installed using Xcode. It's not yet clear what new features or changes might be included in ...