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

Google today announced that it will acquire part of HTC's mobile division in a deal that's worth $1.1 billion. Under terms of the agreement "a team of HTC talent" will join Google's hardware organization. The HTC employees moving to Google worked as part of the "Powered by HTC" unit that developed the Google Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones. Google also gained a non-exclusive license for HTC...

Starting with iOS 11, Apple added a new emergency feature to the iPhone, which is designed to allow you to quickly and discreetly place a call to emergency services. In the United States, SOS dials 911, and in other countries, it works with local emergency response teams. Emergency SOS is activated through a series of button presses on an iPhone running iOS 11 or later, and the buttons you...

Although Apple has fumbled with social network features within its music apps in the past, the company is trying again with an all-new social sharing ability in iOS 11. There's no exact name for the feature, but Apple describes it as a way for you to discover music that your friends are listening to through sharing playlists, artists, and albums on your own personal Apple Music profile. If you ...

Safari in iOS 11 introduces a new tracking prevention feature that's meant to protect your privacy and make it harder for companies to track your browsing habits across multiple websites. Disabling Cross-Site Tracking isn't going to cut down on the number of ads that you see, but it will make it harder for advertisers to gather data about what you've been browsing to deliver targeted ads....

In iOS 10, Apple introduced the Messages App Store, allowing users to jump into miniature versions of their favorite apps so they could do things like choose a movie time, send their location, pay a friend, give a recommendation from Apple Music, and attach stickers. With the launch of iOS 11, the app drawer and selection experience of Messages apps have been streamlined, and this guide will walk ...

iOS 11 brings new functionality to Siri, including a translation feature that allows Siri to translate words and phrases spoken in English to a handful of other languages. Translation is super simple to use, and while the translations aren't always perfect, they get the gist of what you're attempting to say across to someone who speaks another language. Using Siri Translate Activate...

One of the common complaints about Siri is the vocal component -- speaking to ‌Siri‌ must be done verbally, which can be embarrassing and inconvenient in social situations. Apple hasn't provided a clear cut solution like an integrated ‌Siri‌ and Spotlight search feature, but iOS has had a Type to ‌Siri‌ feature since iOS 11. Type to ‌Siri‌ is a function designed for those who are unable to...

Ahead of the launch of the Apple TV 4K, Apple has updated its iTunes Store on Mac, iOS, and Apple TV with several sections highlighting a range of 4K HDR movies that are available to purchase or rent. The 4K section lists dozens of movies broken down into categories like New Releases, Visually Stunning, Action & Adventure, Drama, Comedies, and more. Quite a few new releases are available...

There are a lot of little small tweaks and feature changes buried in iOS 11, and an option for a one-handed keyboard is one of them. With the one-handed keyboard, the entire on-screen keyboard can be shifted to either the left or the right so you can type more comfortably with a single hand even with a phone as large as the iPhone 7 Plus. The feature is compatible with 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch...

Alphabet-owned Nest Labs today held an event in San Francisco to unveil a whole new range of Nest home security products. Nest products don't integrate with Apple's HomeKit setup, but are popular competing connected home solutions. Starting in 2018, Nest will release the Hello, a small smart doorbell device that's able to stream 160 degree HD live video from your door directly to your phone....

One new feature in iOS 11 lets you easily record the screen of your iPhone as you navigate around the user interface, which can be useful when trying to help someone remotely troubleshoot an iOS problem or when making videos to share online. Since iOS 11 officially launched to the public yesterday, many users on Twitter and other sites have begun to worry that people will be able to screen record ...

iOS comes with a handy new Control Center function that allows you to record what you're doing on your screen. It's great if you want to capture gameplay, walk someone through a tutorial in an app, demonstrate a bug, and more, and it's available on both iPhones and iPads. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Enabling Screen Recording Button If you don't have the...

Your AirPods are equipped with accelerometers and other hardware that allow them to respond to a double tap, and though it isn't obvious, these gestures can be customized to your liking. Here's how: Make sure your AirPods are connected to your iPhone or iPad, either when you're wearing them or with the case open and nearby your device. Open up the Settings app. Choose "Bluetooth." Ne...

We've previously covered rumors that Google has been working on a "mini" version of its $129 Google Home smart speaker, which is expected to be unveiled at the company's Pixel 2 smartphone event scheduled for October 4. But it looks as if details and images of the "Home Mini" have already been leaked, courtesy of DroidLife. According to the tech site, Google Home Mini is the official name of...

Amazon is actively developing a pair of smart glasses with Alexa virtual assistant built in, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. Designed like a regular pair of spectacles, the device will enable Alexa to be invoked by the wearer at any time and at all places, the report said, citing people familiar with Amazon's plans. The founder of Google Glass is said to be working on Amazon's ...

After months of negotiations, Toshiba has decided to sell its memory chip unit to a global consortium that includes Bain Capital, SK Hynix, Dell, and Apple, reports Reuters. No official announcement has been made by Toshiba as of yet, but the company is expected to announce the sale on Wednesday. As of Tuesday, Toshiba was said to be leaning towards a group backed by Western Digital, but...

Promise Technology's recently released Apollo Cloud 2 Duo storage device is able to interface with the iOS 11 Files app thanks to a new update that was introduced to the accompanying Apollo Cloud iOS app today. The Apollo Cloud 2 Duo is a personal cloud storage solution designed to give families and small businesses the cloud's ease of use with the security of local storage. The...

T-Mobile today announced that its prioritization point is being increased from 32GB to 50GB, allowing customers to use more data before facing slower speeds during periods of high network congestion. As the company explains, it uses a prioritization system to manage network traffic and prevent a small subset of its most active users from affecting other users. After a customer has used 50GB of ...