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

The QuickType keyboard on the iPad has been updated in iOS 11 to introduce a super handy new Flick feature designed to let you enter numbers and symbols without the shift key. When you upgrade to iOS 11 and take a look at the keyboard on the iPad, you'll notice that all of the keys now display letters and number/symbols. A tap lets you enter the main letter on the keyboard, while a flick lets...

T-Mobile and Sprint are said to be "close to agreeing" to terms regarding a deal that would merge the third and fourth largest United States wireless carriers together. People close to the deal told Reuters that Sprint parent company SoftBank would own 40 to 50 percent of the combined company, while T-Mobile parent company Deutsche Telekom will gain the majority stake. The terms of the deal...

Netflix today updated its iOS app to add support for iOS 11 and Dolby Vision high dynamic range (HDR) video on compatible devices. According to Netflix, Dolby Vision is available on iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, and the 12.9 and 10.5-inch iPad Pro models. Netflix's HDR content is also available on the new Apple TV 4K. Netflix first promised to introduce HDR quality content for mobile...

iOS 11 has introduced a simple blanket solution for those who want to hide text previews for all of their apps at one time, bringing about a quick remedy for anyone concerned about privacy on iPhone and iPad. In previous iterations of iOS, you could only toggle the "Show Preview" notification setting on or off for select apps, and the feature was largely exclusive to a few of Apple's own...

watchOS 4 introduces an expanded Heart Rate app that's able to track your current heart rate, your resting heart rate, average heart rate while walking, and your recovery rate after exercising, providing more information about your overall health. It's also able to send alerts if it detects a heart rate above 120 when you're not exercising. These features are available on the new Apple Watch ...

Apple's Family Sharing feature allows you to share music, movies, apps, photos, and more with family members, and in iOS 11, Family Sharing extends to Apple's iCloud Storage plans. When you purchase a 200GB or 2TB iCloud Storage plan, all members of your family can share the storage space. Depending on how many family members you have, family plans offer more storage at a better price than...

iOS 11 includes a new "Automatic Setup" feature, which is aimed at making it quicker to get a new device ready to use right out of the box. Automatic Setup streamlines the setup process for new iPhones and iPads, transferring over preferences, Apple ID and Wi-Fi info, preferred settings, and iCloud Keychain passwords. Automatic Setup is not the same as restoring from an iCloud backup and it...

Apple CEO Tim Cook this afternoon announced on Twitter that Apple plans to donate $1 million to recovery efforts in Mexico. "While there is life, there is hope," Cook wrote in the tweet announcing the donation. On Tuesday, a powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit Central Mexico, causing widespread devastation in Mexico City and surrounding states. Hundreds of people died in the disaster as...

If you have an iPhone 8, Apple Watch Series 3, or Apple TV 4K scheduled for delivery tomorrow, be aware that Apple requires its courier partners like UPS and FedEx to collect a signature upon delivery since they are valuable items. Fortunately, if you won't be home during the day, Apple offers the option of printing, filling out, and affixing a pre-signed notice to your door, allowing the...

When you take a screenshot in iOS 11 or later, there's a new feature that's designed to let you open it right up and edit it with Apple's Markup tools. Using the screenshot editing feature, you can capture what's on the screen of your iPad or iPhone and then add text, crop, highlight specific areas, and more. Using Instant Markup Press the Home button and the sleep/wake button...

With the launch of iOS 11 and watchOS 4, Apple made it easier than ever to turn your own personal photography into an Apple Watch face. As long as you're running iOS 11 or later and watchOS 4 or later on your iPhone and Apple Watch, follow these steps to quickly add one of your Camera Roll pictures onto the face of your Apple Watch, where you can even turn it into a kaleidoscope faces. Turning ...

If you're waiting for the new Apple TV 4K to arrive tomorrow, Apple has already opened up the ability for you to purchase 4K HDR movies on iTunes as of last week. Although any movie you own in HD will be automatically upgraded to the enhanced 4K HDR format, Amazon is offering customers the chance to increase their iTunes film collections this week with a discount on the $100 iTunes gift card...

Starting with iOS 11, Apple began offering a new feature that provides suggestions on how you can save space on your iOS device. These built-in space-saving suggestions, which can be found in the Settings app, can help you free up space on your iPhone when storage space is running low. Toggling on Space Saving Suggestions Open the Settings app. Scroll down and tap on "General." Choo...

Popular smart light bulb manufacturer LIFX has been promising to add HomeKit support to its bulbs for quite some time now, and with an app update released this morning, some LIFX bulbs are now HomeKit compatible. The 3.8.1 LIFX app update adds HomeKit support for LIFX, LIFX GU10, LIFX Downlight, and LIFX+ bulbs. It's only the third-generation bulbs that work with HomeKit -- original bulbs and...

Instagram today expanded its selection of face filters to live video, allowing users to swap between filters when filming live content. To use face filters during a live video, Instagram users can tap on the bottom right corner to browse through the filters and then apply them. Starting today, you can play with face filters while sharing live video. Whether you're channeling a kitten or...

watchOS 4 brought several new features to the Apple Watch, including a new flashlight function that lights up the face of the Apple Watch so you can have an extra light when you're digging around in a bag, trying to open a door in the dark, or wherever else you might require a little bit of light. It doesn't put off as much light as an iPhone screen, but it's handy in a pinch, especially since ...

Saudi Arabia today lifted a ban on services that provide access to calling someone over the internet, part of government efforts attempting to attract more business to the country. This means that "all online voice and video call services," including Apple's FaceTime and Microsoft's Skype, opened up for user access last night at midnight (via Reuters). These apps and services previously...

ALDI today announced it will now accept all forms of contactless payments, including Apple Pay, at all of its nearly 1,700 stores in the United States. Shoppers can pay for their groceries by tapping their contactless-enabled bank card, smartphone or other wearable device on a payment terminal. Contactless payments are safe and secure, and have the same protection as making a payment with your ...