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

Stanford University has opened up submissions to faculty members for an Apple Watch Seed Grant, an inaugural program "focused on innovative uses of the Apple Watch in healthcare" (via Cult of Mac). The program is designed to "stimulate and support" the creation of new uses for the Apple Watch in the healthcare field, an area that Apple has long been a proponent of since the wearable launched in...

In iOS 10.2, released on December 12, Apple introduced the new "TV" app, which serves as an Apple-designed TV guide that aims to simplify the television watching experience and help users discover new TV and movie content. In the United States, the TV app replaces the standard "Videos" app and serves as a television hub on iOS devices, but it appears the new app doesn't work well with content...

As promised, Twitter today discontinued the original Vine app and service, transitioning it into a new "Vine Camera" app designed to allow users to make six-second looping videos that can be saved to the iPhone's camera roll or shared directly on Twitter. Videos posted to Twitter from the Vine Camera app will loop like they did in the standard Vine app, but aside from allowing users to capture ...

A report last week by Slice Intelligence suggested that Apple's AirPods captured an estimated 26 percent share of online revenue in the wireless headphone market since launching on December 13. Ben Arnold, an executive director and industry analyst at NPD Group, has today submitted a report that claims Slice Intelligence's data "paints an incomplete picture of the wireless headphone market" (via C...

ING Direct appears to be sending a survey about Apple Pay to its customers in Australia, according to a tipster who sent us the photo below. While the bank has yet to officially implement Apple Pay, the survey suggests support could be imminent for its "Orange Everyday" debit and credit cards. ING Direct Australia had nearly 420,000 customers with Orange Everyday accounts open as of...

Announced last September two days before the Apple iPhone 7 event, and originally planned to launch in November, Bragi's $149.00 wireless Bluetooth hearable, called "The Headphone," is now available for all users to purchase online. The Headphone includes a number of changes from Bragi's The Dash ($299) in order to make it cheaper, ranging from having physical inputs instead of touch inputs and...

Smart home brand Nest has announced it is making its products available in four more countries across Europe, with Spain, Italy, Germany, and Austria being added to its official retail roster. From February 15, customers in the above regions will now be able to buy the Nest 3.0 learning thermostat (249 euros), the Protect smoke alarm (119 euros), and the company's indoor and outdoor cameras...

Wirecard launched its mobile payment solution, boon, in France today, allowing iPhone owners to use prepaid virtual credit cards in their Apple Pay wallet. Launched in the U.K. in May of last year, boon is independent of any bank and offers a pre-paid account with a digital MasterCard that users can top up via wire transfer, debit or credit card. The moble payment app works at any NFC-enabled...

Samsung's investigation into what caused some Galaxy Note7 smartphones to catch fire has concluded that the battery was the main reason, according to sources who spoke to Reuters on Monday. Rumors had suggested Samsung pushed suppliers to meet tighter deadlines for an earlier launch in order to beat the iPhone 7, leading to critical oversights that led to some batteries catching fire. A person ...

Amazon launched Anime Strike this week, the company's first self-branded content to appear under its Channels subscriptions program for Prime members. Anime Strike offers U.S. Prime members access to over 1,000 anime TV shows and movies for an extra $4.99 per month on top of the $99 Prime subscription. Amazon says the adult-themed channel will serve up seinen classics as well as weekly anime...

In the wake of major reveals surrounding the Nintendo Switch and its launch titles, Nintendo has announced a new app coming to smartphone devices that will allow parents to set granular control settings on their family's Switch console (via IGN). The free "Nintendo Switch Parental Controls" app will offer various settings like time limits and remote sleep mode activation, all without a parent...

Foxconn and Sharp are looking closer than ever to building a manufacturing plant within the United States, according to one Sharp executive who said that the plan is still "on the table" (via Nikkei). The plant would mainly be focused on the manufacturing of LCD panels for TV sets and home appliances, but Foxconn is said to be considering moving iPhone production stateside as well. The news...

Feral Interactive has announced it is bringing ROME: Total War – Barbarian Invasion to iPad this March. The title is a standalone expansion pack to the critically acclaimed ROME: Total War, which was faithfully ported to iOS late last year. As with the previous Creative Assembly conversion, the iPad release of Barbarian Invasion promises a full port of the original desktop game, supplemented...

Smart wireless thermostat maker Ecobee is rolling out a firmware update to Ecobee3 devices that brings individual HomeKit support to the device's remote sensors for the first time. The Ecobee3 enables owners to use additional remote sensors to keep track of ambient temperature as well as detect motion in different locations within the home. With firmware version 3.7.0.969, currently rolling...

Google is rolling out an update to Google Maps for iOS that lets users request a ride from Uber without ever having to leave the app. Previously, users of Maps could get a ride cost estimate and start the process of hailing a ride, but would eventually be kicked into the Uber app proper for confirmation and payment. Now however, users can book and pay for an Uber directly within Google...

Snapchat has been updated with an improved universal search feature that makes it easier for users to find friends, groups, stories, and other content on the social network, reports TechCrunch. The new universal search bar is located at the top of the Snapchat app, making it accessible when browsing, sharing a photo, and more, an improvement over the previous search features that were split up ...

Apple today announced that the size limit of a tvOS app bundle has increased from 200MB to 4GB, allowing developers to include more media in their app submissions for a "complete, rich user experience upon installation." Previously, tvOS apps were limited in size to 200MB, but were allowed to download additional resources after being installed. This led to short initial installation times, but ...

Best Buy is holding a flash sale that offers U.S. customers a $100 iTunes gift card for $85, which is 15% off, until 12 p.m. Pacific Time. The gift card is a physical version delivered with free two-day shipping to most U.S. addresses. iTunes gift cards can be used to purchase apps, games, music, movies, TV shows, books, and more on the App Store, iTunes Store, the iBooks Store, and the Mac...