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

Yesterday, Apple announced it was introducing new App Store review features in iOS 10.3 and macOS Sierra 10.12.4 that would allow developers to respond to customer reviews for the first time. A few more details of note have emerged from Apple since then, courtesy of The Loop's Jim Dalrymple and Daring Fireball's John Gruber. Speaking to Gruber, Apple said that developer responses to App Store...

Alongside iOS 10.3 and macOS Sierra 10.12.4, Apple is introducing new App Store review features for developers. Going forward, developers will be able to respond to customer reviews on the App Store "in a way that is available for all customers to see." This will allow developers to address negative reviews for the first time ever, something that has long been a point of contention in the iOS...

Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming tvOS 10.2 update to developers for testing purposes, one month after releasing tvOS 10.1, the first major update to the tvOS 10 operating system. tvOS 10.2 comes a day after Apple released tvOS 10.1.1. Designed for the fourth-generation Apple TV, the tvOS 10.2 beta can be obtained by connecting the Apple TV to a computer with a USB-C to USB-A...

The Pokémon Company today launched its newest game designed for iOS devices, debuting Pokémon Duel. Pokémon Duel is a strategy board game where the goal is to collect a range of different Amiibo-style Pokémon figures, each of which has unique abilities. Six Pokémon figures are used to build a deck, and with a deck, players can compete with other gamers around the world in ranked League...

Accessory maker Gamevice today debuted a collection of new mobile gaming controllers for the iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPad Pro 9.7-inch and 12.9-inch, iPad Air, and iPad mini, which all come with updated thumbsticks, improved buttons, a lighter build, and a Lightning connector for simple connection to each iOS device. The original version of the controller launched for the iPhone 6s in 2015. Th ...

Last May, Apple hired Nest's former Vice President of Technology, Yoky Matsuoka, to help run the company's health initiatives, but she ended up leaving Apple towards the end of 2016. Matsuoka is now joining the Nest team once again as the Alphabet-owed company has re-hired the robotics expert as the Chief Technology Officer for the Nest Learning Thermostat (via Bloomberg). In her new role, she ...

Apple continues to explore how wristbands might augment the feature list of future smartwatch models, as shown in a new patent granted today. First picked up by AppleInsider, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published details on Apple's designs for "Modular functional band links for wearable devices", which first surfaced last April. The patent describes a band made of a series of...

Samsung announced fourth quarter operating profits of $7.9 billion in its earnings call on Tuesday, 50 percent higher than the same period a year ago. The number was in line with Samsung's guidance earlier in the month and reflects record-high earnings from its memory chip division, glossing over the company's fire-prone Note7 woes, which are said to have cost it at least $5 billion since the...

WhatsApp for iOS received an update today, bringing some additional improvements to the messaging platform. For the first time, users can now tap "send" on messages when they don't have a connection, and the messages will be sent when a data connection is re-established. Multiple messages can be queued up in the offline mode, so users are free to carry on their side of a conversation until...

Pokémon Go finally launched in South Korea today, almost six months after the popular game's initial launch. Developers Niantic had to overcome some unique challenges to bring Pokémons to the hugely lucrative gaming market because of the way the game relies on Google Maps to work. Those functions are limited by the government for national security reasons, because the country is...

Apple today released watchOS 3.1.3, an update that follows the watchOS 3.1.1 update that was released on December 12 but pulled later that same day due to installation issues. watchOS 3.1.3 can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General --> Software Update. To install the update, the Apple Watch must have 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the...

Apple today released a new update for tvOS, the operating system designed to run on the fourth-generation Apple TV. tvOS 10.1.1 comes five weeks after the release of tvOS 10.1, the first major update to the tvOS 10 operating system. Apple only seeded two betas of tvOS 10.1.1 to developers before releasing it to the public. The tvOS 10.1.1 update can be downloaded on the fourth-generation Apple ...

Sprint today announced that it has acquired a 33 percent stake in Jay Z's music streaming service Tidal, which the carrier said will soon give its customers "unlimited access to exclusive artist content not available anywhere else." Under the deal, artists partnering with Tidal will create music only available to new and existing Sprint customers. As part of the deal, Sprint's chief executive...

Xiaomi vice president Hugo Barra today announced that he will be leaving the Chinese smartphone maker next month. The former senior Android executive at Google said he will be returning to Silicon Valley in February after the Chinese New Year to reunite with friends and family. He described moving to Beijing, some "6,500 miles out of his comfort zone," as the "greatest and most challenging...

Apple has tapped manufacturer Wistron as the first major supplier in India for this year's iPhone 8, following multiple reports that the company has been looking into manufacturing its products locally in the country. According to a new report from DigiTimes, Wistron will become the first original equipment manufacturer for 2017 iPhones, while Foxconn and a collection of other suppliers are being ...

Apple is investigating multiple reports from iPhone owners of AirPods randomly disconnecting and reconnecting during calls, MacRumors has learned. A MacRumors forum thread and a long thread on Apple's Support Communities website have been generated by AirPods users who are regularly experiencing Bluetooth connection dropouts during phone calls, despite the fact that the wireless earphones...

Following the closure of the Apple Watch pop up shop at Selfridges department store in London earlier this month, the shop at Galeries Lafayette in Paris has apparently also shut down, as Apple has removed its entry from the company's list of retail stores. The closure of the Galeries Lafayette shop this month was rumored back in October, and it leaves the Isetan Shinjuku location in Tokyo as...

Well-known case maker LifeProof today unveiled a new version of its waterproof NUUD iPhone case for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. The company put an emphasis on making a slimmer case while ensuring that it remained waterproof and drop proof (up to 6.6 feet), as well as dirt and snow proof. Like previous NUUD cases, the iPhone 7's screen is uncovered, providing direct display access "while...