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

Back in July, Apple introduced the "Apple Machine Learning Journal," a blog detailing Apple's work on machine learning, AI, and other related topics. The blog is written entirely by Apple's engineers, and gives them a way to share their progress and interact with other researchers and engineers. Apple today published three new articles to the Machine Learning Journal, covering topics that are...

Facebook's iOS app is today being updated with a new feature that will let users take 360-degree photos using the camera function directly within the Facebook app, reports TechCrunch. Facebook has supported 360-degree images for some time, but it previously required users to take a panoramic photo with their smartphone or use a separate app. Now users can open the camera, choose the 360...

Social video app Musical.ly has been updated to version 6.0.1 today, bringing a few notable additions like a refresh to the overall design of the app, a new section that suggests videos users might like to watch, and updates to profile pages (via Variety). Musical.ly, which launched in 2014, rose in popularity thanks to its focus on user-created lip-sync videos. The app allows anyone who...

Ahead of the launch of iOS 11, developers have been busy experimenting with ARKit, Apple's upcoming augmented reality platform, to see how it could be used in various everyday scenarios and contexts. The latest demo to catch the eye comes courtesy of ModiFace (via 9to5Mac), which specializes in creating augmented reality apps for the beauty industry. The company recently uploaded a video...

China-based smartphone vendors are set to follow Apple lockstep into the all-screen handset era as competition in the Chinese smartphone market heats up in the second half of 2017 (via DigiTimes). With much of the media attention focused on the imminent launch of Apple's "iPhone 8" with edge-to-edge OLED display this September, rival mobile makers including Huawei, Xiaomi, and Gionee have been ...

Hulu is set to phase out the Live TV app it introduced earlier this year as it condenses its functions into the subscription service's main iOS app, which has received a new lick of paint in the process (via The Verge). "Heads up! We are saying goodbye to our Hulu with Live TV app so you can have all your TV in one place. We will soon unify the two Hulu apps currently available in the Apple...

DJI this week announced an incoming update for its newest drone, the DJI Spark, which will further enhance the drone's battery management system to "optimize power supply during flight." DJI was unclear by how much this might extend the Spark's flight time beyond its original ~16 minutes of in-air time. Additionally, the firmware update offers better stability for the Spark's Palm Launch...

Latch, a company that designs locks for use in apartment buildings, today announced the launch of its latest product, the Latch C. Latch C is compatible with HomeKit and according to Latch, is the first HomeKit smart lock designed for enterprise use. The Latch C will let apartment dwellers unlock their doors with their iPhones, via the Home app, Siri, or a dedicated Latch app, eliminating the...

The front-facing 3D sensor on Apple's upcoming iPhone 8 will be the device's "crown jewel," able to unlock the iPhone 8 in a "few hundred milliseconds" to give users quick access to their smartphone and quickly authenticate Apple Pay purchases. The statement comes in a new report by Bloomberg, and follows on the heels of a recent article by The Korea Herald which used similar language to...

Streaming movie and TV service VUDU has officially launched as an app on the fourth-generation Apple TV, allowing users to stream their collection of UltraViolet movies, as well as over 4,000 free "Movies on Us" titles, natively on Apple TV. As expected, the VUDU Player app on Apple TV is limited in one respect -- users can't rent or buy any movie or TV show directly from Apple TV, so they'll...

Google will launch an all-new Pixel-branded Chromebook and a miniaturized version of its Google Home smart speaker alongside new Pixel smartphones at an event this fall, according to a source familiar with the company's plans. Details are scant on the new Pixel notebook, which will revive the Chromebook line after two years of inactivity, but AndroidPolice suggests it could be the fruition of...

Facebook's Safety Check service is set to become a permanent feature of the social media network on both mobile and web, with the next update of the iOS app. The Safety Check feature first appeared in 2014 to help users let loved ones know they are safe if they are close to a crisis. Facebook announced on its Disaster Response page that the service will roll out to become a permanent feature...

Apple recently dropped the price of the HomeKit-enabled D-Link Omna 180 Cam HD camera from $199.95 to $149.95 in the United States, a $50 discount off of the launch price. Apple's website doesn't mention a discount, suggesting the base price of the accessory has been lowered. The price has also been lowered in Canada from $269.95 CAD to $199.95 CAD, and it's also been discounted in several...

Back in April, Apple product designer and Siri co-founder Tom Gruber gave a TED Talk, where he spoke about his vision of the future of computers and artificial intelligence. The full 10-minute TED Talk was today published on YouTube, giving us a chance to hear his complete thoughts on the future of AI and Siri. In his talk, Gruber says computers should be used to lessen human failings,...

Apple's progress in 3D sensing design and mass production is 1.5 to 2 years ahead of Qualcomm's, according to a new investor's note released today by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Kuo believes that Qualcomm is behind in both software and hardware development for 3D sensing, and won't be able to ship the technology until 2019. As Qualcomm is the "most engaged" company when it comes to 3D ...

Apple today seeded the seventh beta of an upcoming watchOS 4 update to developers, one week after seeding the sixth beta and more than two months after introducing the watchOS 4 update at its 2017 Worldwide Developers Conference. 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...

Apple today seeded the seventh beta of an upcoming tvOS 11 update designed for the fourth-generation TV, one week after seeding the sixth beta and over two months after releasing the first beta during the 2017 Worldwide Developers Conference. Registered developers can download the tvOS 11 update by connecting the Apple TV to a computer with a USB-C cable and installing the beta software using...

Chicago-based independent record label Drag City has released nearly all of its back catalog of music -- which began with the label's inception in 1990 -- onto Apple Music this past weekend. To celebrate the addition, Apple has created a new banner for the record label, allowing subscribers to listen to Drag City playlists categorized by various genres and artists. In its description of the...