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

Apple Maps has been updated with comprehensive transit data for the New Orleans, Louisiana metropolitan area, enabling iPhone users in the city and select suburbs to navigate using public transportation, including RTA buses and streetcars. Jefferson Transit buses and Amtrak routing is also available in the area. Apple introduced Transit in Maps as part of iOS 9 in select cities around the...

Apple remained the fourth largest smartphone vendor in China in 2016, beaten out by Oppo, Huawei, and Vivo in first, second, and third places, respectively, according to new data from research firm IDC. As a whole, IDC said it was a good year for the smartphone market in China, which saw a 19 percent year-over-year growth in 2016, and a 17 percent quarter-over-quarter growth in the fourth quarter ...

Snapchat has secured the rights to stream six exclusive mini episodes of hugely popular BBC nature documentary series Planet Earth II (via The Verge). The short run of mobile episodes is due to start on February 17, one day before the full series is scheduled to begin broadcast on BBC America. The 4-6 minute episodes accessible to Snapchat users will consist of content shown on the BBC in...

Apple has fired the latest salvo in its continuing battle with Australia's banks over the future of mobile payments, accusing the industry of continually trying to obstruct the expansion of Apple Pay into the country (via Bloomberg). In a submission to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) published on Monday, Apple said the banks' attempts to delay or even block the...

Apple CEO Tim Cook paid an unexpected visit to an Apple Store in the port of Marseille, France, earlier today, according to French tech blogs Mac4ever.com and iPhone.fr. Both staff and shoppers got an unexpected surprise when Cook arrived unannounced at the commercial shopping mall of Terrasses du Port, where an Apple Store – the country's 20th – opened last May. Photo: Philippe Gouy Cook ...

Jawbone is officially exiting the consumer wearables market to focus on developing medical products for direct sale to clinical practitioners, according to a new report. Speaking to TechCrunch on Friday, sources familiar with the matter said Jawbone's latest pivot away from its fitness tracker and Bluetooth speaker business involved working on a health product for the medical sector, including ...

For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Satechi to give MacRumors readers a chance to win a prize pack that includes wireless headphones, a headphones case, and a stand for the headphones. Satechi's Aluminum Wireless Headphones are designed to match Apple's line of iPhones and are available in four complementary colors: Space Gray, Silver, Gold, and Rose Gold. Priced at $69.99, the...

It's been nearly a year since a U.S. federal judge originally ordered Apple to help the FBI hack into an iPhone owned by Syed Farook, one of the shooters in the December 2015 attacks in San Bernardino. As we learned in the months after the initial court order -- which Apple continually opposed -- the FBI enlisted the help of Israeli mobile software developer Cellebrite to open up the iPhone 5c in ...

Popular messaging app Viber has received an update that brings a number of new features to the platform, including the ability to send Secret Messages. Users are now able to specify how long photos, videos, and chat messages can be accessed for after being viewed by the recipient. The time limit options for viewing a Secret Message are 1, 3, 7, and 10 seconds. Viber has also added the...

Apple has hired a former Spotify executive to head up its Apple Music label relations team, according to Business Insider. An Apple spokesperson confirmed that former Spotify VP of content Steve Savoca has been recruited to oversee the music streaming service's global label relations, which work out of New York. Savoca is tasked with building relationships with smaller, independent labels,...

Apple has agreed to a deal with the government of Indian state Karnataka to begin manufacturing iPhones in Bangalore, reports The Times of India. The Karnataka government announced that it had approved Apple's proposal to "commence initial manufacturing operations" in a press release. Apple's desire to open a manufacturing hub in India started after Prime Minister Narendra Modi began...

To celebrate the two-year anniversary of Outlook Mobile, Microsoft is today introducing a major feature for the iOS version of the Outlook email app -- add-ins. For the first time, add-ins are able to be used with the mobile version Outlook, mirroring functionality available on the desktop.Add-ins can help you get more done on the go, and save you valuable time spent switching between apps. This...

Subaru today announced it will debut its all-new 2018 Legacy at the annual Chicago Auto Show next week. The mid-size sedan will be one of Subaru's first vehicles to support CarPlay alongside the 2017 Impreza introduced last year. CarPlay and Android Auto will be available through Subaru's STARLINK multimedia system with Bluetooth connectivity and iPod controls. The standard system has a...

Connected smart home company Wink today announced the addition of August Smart Locks into its collection of supported brands, which already includes GE, Nest, Philips, Schlage, and more. Now, any users who have an August Smart Lock paired with an August Connect (which provides remote access to the lock) can add their lock into the Wink mobile app on iOS. The advantage of using Wink, similar to ...

Google yesterday updated the iOS version of Google Chrome with two new features for the iPhone and iPad web browsing app. On iOS devices that support 3D Touch, users can now 3D Touch on Google Chrome to bring up a quick access menu that now includes "Scan QR Code," directly integrating a feature that traditionally requires users to download a random third-party app to be able to scan codes. ...

A new collaboration between Apple, IBM, and United Airlines was announced today, with the companies joining together to bring "a robust suite of enterprise iOS apps" to United's flight attendants and gate agents as a means to make the customer's flying experience smoother. In total, Apple and United Airlines have issued over 50,000 iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches to front-line employees of...

Apple is weighing up the possibility of developing a wearable battery module to charge an Apple Watch while it's being worn, according to a patent published on Thursday (via AppleInsider). Details of the invention were released by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, under the title "Charging apparatus for wearable electronic device". The module uses an inductive element to transmit power to...

Nintendo's newest mobile smartphone game, Fire Emblem Heroes, is officially out on the iOS App Store in the U.S. [Direct Link], as well as in Japan, Australia, Europe, and over 30 other countries. Announced last spring, Fire Emblem on smartphones adopts the tactical role-playing gameplay of the popular franchise, with a few mobile-optimized tweaks. These changes mainly center around battle maps...