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

Hot on the heels of news that Apple has set aside $1 billion for original TV programming over the next year, Netflix revealed on Wednesday that it will spend seven times that amount in 2018. In a new interview with Variety, Netflix's chief content officer Ted Sarandos quoted the number of $7 billion, which is up from more than $6 billion in 2017 and $5 billion in 2016. The vast majority of...

Images claiming to offer a glimpse of the wireless charging pad circuitry to be paired with Apple's upcoming "iPhone 8" have been shared on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo today by technology website ZEALER (via iClarified). The two photos show several assembled inductive charging kits in a plastic tray and a black PCB board of bare circuitry modeled on the assembled kits. As with most...

AT&T today announced that it's reactivated a deal offering new DirecTV Now subscribers a 32GB fourth-generation Apple TV at no cost with the purchase of a 3-month prepaid DirecTV Now subscription. A DirecTV NOW subscription starts at $35 per month for the most basic package, so subscribers will need to pay $105 up front to get the deal. AT&T offered a similar deal back when the service first...

Apple has disabled Apple Pay support on websites selling white nationalist and hate group apparel and accessories, reports BuzzFeed. While Apple did not provide a comment on its decision to pull Apple Pay from the websites, an Apple spokesperson pointed out Apple Pay guidelines that prevent the payments service from being used on sites promoting hate, intolerance, and violence based on race,...

iFixit today released a collection of all-new Fix Kits for iPhone 7 devices that guide users through replacing batteries, cracked screens, and even the front and rear camera modules and sensors on an iPhone. The new battery Fix Kits for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus join previous kits already available for iPhones as far back as the iPhone 4s. iFixit said that these battery replacement kits...

Facebook today announced an update coming to its iOS and Android mobile apps, as well as its main website, that is aimed to make birthdays more "meaningful" for users based in the United States. Two weeks ahead of your birthday, Facebook said it will now send you a message in your News Feed with the option of creating a fundraiser. If you opt-in, you can choose from any of the 750,000 U.S....

iDevices, the company behind several HomeKit-enabled light switches and outlets, today announced the debut of its latest product, the Dimmer Switch. iDevices' new Dimmer Switch, like its wall switches, is an in-wall product designed to replace a traditional light switch. The Dimmer Switch includes customizable dimming capabilities that can be controlled via the iDevices app, the Home app, or...

ESPN is releasing a new tvOS app for the fourth-generation Apple TV that allows viewers to watch up to four live sporting events simultaneously. The multicast feature means a sports fan could, for example, watch two NFL games, an MLB postseason game, and an NBA game on a Sunday in October all at once, with each stream taking up an equally-sized quadrant of the TV. There are multiple...

A massive four-hour power outage that affected 17 cities and counties across Taiwan on Tuesday had no material impact on the production of new iPhones, according to industry analysts speaking with Nikkei Asian Review. iPhone 8 dummy model sandwiched between an iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus Apple suppliers Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, PowerTech Technology, and ChipMOS Technologies said the ...

Twitter this week began expanding a new section of the Explore tab on iOS and Android, where it will populate tweets aimed at each unique user based on their own interests. Twitter confirmed the update's appearance to BuzzFeed, and it follows a few months after Twitter debuted a notable redesign for its mobile apps and website. The new categories in Explore include topics such as "Popular in...

Google's second-generation Pixel smartphone will be made by HTC and feature "squeezable" sides to perform different functions, according to a filing with the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday. The filing essentially confirms that the Google Pixel 2 will borrow the squeezable frame from the HTC U11. Screenshots included in the document show the feature is to be called "Active Edge"...

Facebook today announced plans to make several changes to the Facebook News Feed with the intent of making it "more conversational and easier to read and navigate." The "look and feel" of News Feed is being refreshed with improved color contrast to make typography more legible, larger link previews to make it easier to read links, circular profile pictures, and updated icons and Like, Comment, ...

Walmart's streaming movie service VUDU will be available on Apple TV starting on Tuesday, August 22, following the official launch of the new VUDU app, reports Variety. With the launch of a dedicated Apple TV app, VUDU users will no longer need to AirPlay content from an iOS device in order to watch VUDU content on the Apple TV. VUDU first confirmed work on an app for the...

Popular Facebook-owned image sharing site Instagram is today being updated with comment threads, a small but long-awaited feature that will bring better organized comments for the first time. With comment threads, comments on Instagram will more closely resemble comments on Facebook, with replies clearly listed under top-level comments. Prior to comment threading, all comments, even those that ...

Apple, Twitter, Snap, Facebook, Microsoft, and a collection of other technology companies have filed a legal brief this week, aimed at the Fourth Amendment and its "rigid analog-era" protections that lag behind protecting users in the modern age (via Reuters). The brief was filed in regards to the case Carpenter v. United States, which is a Supreme Court case focusing on the warrantless search ...

In its ongoing push into retail, Amazon today announced the opening of five "Instant Pickup" locations in the United States, allowing Prime subscribers to choose from a selection of "daily essentials" that are made available for pick up in two minutes or less (via Reuters). The essential items include snacks, drinks, electronics, and Amazon's own devices. The Instant Pickup process begins...

Schlage today released a new Wi-Fi adapter that enables iOS and Android users to control the Schlage Sense Smart Deadbolt away from home. Schlage Sense is a Bluetooth-enabled smart deadbolt compatible with HomeKit, allowing homeowners to control it using Siri voice commands or the Home app on iOS 10 or later. The lock has a touchpad and comes in various finishes. The adapter plugs into a...

Drone company DJI this week announced a new "local data mode" that breaks any internet connection between the DJI drone and a user's smartphone, which the company said will greatly enhance security and data privacy when users enable the mode (via Reuters). The announcement comes a few weeks after the United States Army ordered its members to stop using DJI drones due to "cyber...