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

Shortly after Apple first revealed that Nintendo was bringing Super Mario Run to the iPhone and iPad, many users discovered that Cupertino was also using the game's highly anticipated release as a test run for a new "Notify" system in the App Store. Upon searching for the title on their devices before it was available, users were given the option of tapping an orange "Notify" button where the...

Google has released an update to its Motion Stills app that lets users create moving text effects for inclusion in their videos. Motion Stills is designed to create unique GIFs from Live Photo images captured with the iPhone 7, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and iPhone SE. The app was released earlier this year and its main features were subsequently integrated into Google Photos for iOS. The ...

A $44 million investment pledge in an Indonesian R&D center has paved the way for Apple to be able to sell the iPhone 7 in the country, according to one of the country's senior government officials. A director-general overseeing electronics told Reuters that as a result of the three-year investment commitment, Apple had received a "local content certification" last month which would allow it...

Evernote tonight announced that it no longer plans to implement a controversial new privacy policy that caused some Evernote users to threaten to stop using the service. The policy was scheduled to go into effect on January 23, 2017 and allowed Evernote employees to read users' notes. After receiving a lot of customer feedback expressing concerns about our upcoming Privacy Policy changes over...

According to Apple's System Status website, the App Store, the Apple TV, Apple Music, and the Mac App Store are currently experiencing service issues. Many Apple customers have also been complaining of App Store issues on Twitter, Reddit, and other social networks. Affected customers are unable to download apps and in some cases, can't load the App Store at all. Service interruptions have ...

Popular game Goat Simulator has been named Apple's App of the Week, and as a result, it's available for free for the next seven days. This is the first time Goat Simulator has been available at no cost since it was introduced in September of 2014. In Goat Simulator, you take control of a goat, and the idea is to lay waste to the environment around you, doing as much damage and causing as much...

Apple recently updated its online refurbished store in the United States to include the sixth-generation iPod touch, offering discounts of $30 to $60 depending on model, which equates to savings of up to 16 percent. Refurbished entry-level 16GB models can be purchased for as little as $169, a discount of $30 off of the retail price. 16, 32, 64, and 128GB capacities in a range of colors are...

A federal jury for the U.S. District Court for Northern California today found Apple to be infringing upon a pair of wireless patents owned by Core Wireless, a patent holding firm with a large portfolio of more than 1,200 patents and applications, originally filed and later acquired from phone maker Nokia. Core Wireless was awarded $7.3 million in damages as part of the ruling, which Apple...

Twelve South today launched the latest in its line of BookBook cases, this one for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Like previous editions, the new BookBook includes wallet slots for credit cards and a driver's license, all housed in a vintage leather-bound case that looks like an old novel. A removable shell protects the iPhone 7 both inside of and out of BookBook, and the case can fold into a...

Home automation manufacturer Fibaro today announced a new set of HomeKit-enabled products that offer basic motion detection and home security, as well as a Flood Sensor, which the company calls "the first water sensing and leak detection device in the Apple HomeKit ecosystem." Each of the three new products -- Fibaro Flood Sensor, Fibaro Motion Sensor and Fibaro Door/Window Sensor -- include...

Weight Watchers today introduced a variation of its OnlinePlus subscription plan that includes a new 38mm model Apple Watch Series 2 with an annual membership. The subscription plan has an initial installment fee of $99.95 in the first month, followed by a monthly fee of $34.95 for the next 12 months, for a total price of nearly $520. Apple Watch Series 2 models start at $369, while a standa...

Instagram announced today that it now has more than 600 million users, with the last 100 million of those users joining the photo and video sharing service in the past six months, a period in which it has added several new Snapchat-like features. Instagram has doubled the 300 million users it had in December 2014. A lot has changed this year, but the Instagram community and the diversity of...

One year after testing color-coded rider pickups in Seattle through a system called "SPOT," Uber today announced that the initiative is now called "Uber Beacon," and beginning December 16 it will expand to Miami, Denver, Nashville, and Newcastle in the United Kingdom. Uber Beacon is a piece of hardware that attaches to a driver's windshield and "uses color-pairing technology" to match up drivers...

Pebble has moved to reassure its customers that software and services will continue to run through 2017, following Fitbit's acquisition of the company last week. Fitbit bought out Pebble for its software assets, not for its hardware, which has concerned many existing owners of Pebble smartwatches about the continued functionality of their devices. Today, however, Pebble sought to allay fears...

Web domain registrar GoDaddy and donation platform Causemo today separately announced they now accept Apple Pay on their respective websites. GoDaddy is providing Apple Pay to all of its online store merchants who enable credit card payments through Stripe on mobile devices. Causemo, a startup platform enabling non-profit organizations to acquire and retain donors, is providing Apple Pay ...

Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming tvOS 10.1.1 update to developers for testing purposes, just days after releasing the tvOS 10.1 update and more than a month after launching tvOS 10. Designed for the fourth-generation Apple TV, the tvOS 10.1.1 beta can be obtained by connecting the Apple TV to a computer with a USB-C to USB-A cable, downloading and installing the software from a ...

Instagram today launched a small update for its iOS and Android apps, allowing users to save a post they're interested in to check out later. Underneath each post in the feed users will find a small bookmark icon, and tapping it will send it to a new Saved Post section in the Profile tab. Saved Posts are private and only visible for you to view, and Instagram says that it'll help organize and...

Twitter today will begin rolling out a new update for its iOS and Android apps centered around the introduction of a full-featured live video client within the social networking app (via The Verge). The live video functionality is "powered by Periscope," but doesn't require users to have downloaded that app separately. The new update is an expansion of the "Go Live" Periscope button Twitter...