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

This week, Google released a new app called Duo, which allows for FaceTime-style video calling. Unlike FaceTime, though, Duo allows for cross platform calls that work on both Android and iOS mobile devices, so it isn't limited to users who only have an iPhone. In the video below, we went hands on with Duo to see just how well it works and whether it's a serious FaceTime competitor. Subscribe ...

Apple is hiring a Lyrics Curation Manager and Lyrics Curators, presumably to work on the new Apple Music feature in iOS 10 that provides song lyrics alongside each Apple Music song that is playing. First noticed by MusicBusinessWorldwide, the job listings are for the Content Curation team, responsible for "maintaining the very best user experience possible around content." We're looking for ...

Nearly one month after Apple Pay launched in Hong Kong, the iPhone-based contactless payments service has expanded to The Bank of East Asia (BEA) and Hong Kong Telekom (HKT)'s Tap & Go contactless payments network. BEA customers can add eligible MasterCard and Visa credit cards to Apple Pay and receive 5,000 bonus points between now and August 22, while the first 30,000 customers that...

Hunter Fan Company has announced that Signal, the first ceiling fan with HomeKit support, is now available for $379 through its website, Amazon, Build.com, Home Depot, Lowe's, Menards, and in lighting showrooms throughout the United States. The Symphony, a cheaper version with white blades, will launch in the fall for $329. Hunter Fan Company first introduced the Signal and Symphony at CES...

After first launching in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Latin America, Obi Worldphone is now expanding availability to the United Kingdom with the launch of its flagship £99 smartphone, the Obi MV1. Former Apple CEO John Sculley is one of the co-founders of Obi, which "is in the business of making more affordable devices," as opposed to Apple's higher-cost iPhones (via Engadget). Images ...

Google has announced a new one-to-one video calling app for iOS and Android called Duo, which the company says aims to take the complexity and frustration out of video calling. Users of Duo sign into the app using just their phone number and Google then sends them a confirmation text. After that, users can video call anyone in their contacts list who also have Duo installed. Google says...

Apple has green-lighted its carrier billing feature for iTunes users in Taiwan and Switzerland, allowing them to charge app and media transactions directly to their cellphone bill (via Mashable). The two countries join Germany and Russia in allowing customers to pay for music, movies, apps, books (excepting Taiwan, since Apple doesn't sell books there), Apple Music memberships, and other...

Starting this week, Logitech-owned Jaybird's Freedom Wireless Bluetooth Headphones are available for purchase in two new exclusive colors from the Apple Online Store and Apple retail locations. Designed to match Apple's line of iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches, the two exclusive colors include a Space Gray and Rose Gold. The Space Gray Freedom earbuds feature Space Gray highlights on the...

Apple today seeded the sixth beta of an upcoming watchOS 3 update to developers for testing purposes, one week after seeding the fifth beta and two months after first unveiling watchOS 3 at its 2016 Worldwide Developers Conference. The sixth watchOS 3 beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on an iPhone by going to General --> Software update. To install the update, the ...

Apple today provided developers with the sixth beta of tvOS 10, the next-generation operating system designed to run on the fourth-generation Apple TV. tvOS 10 beta 6 comes one week after the release of tvOS beta 5 and two months after the operating system was first shown off at Apple's 2016 Worldwide Developers Conference tvOS betas are harder to install than beta updates for iOS and OS X....

In China, low-cost smartphones have brought an overall uptick in sales in the second quarter of 2016, while high-end devices -- from companies like Apple and Samsung -- continue to face declining sales numbers in the country (via DigiTimes). Local vendors in China are said to be "focused on promoting entry-level and mid-range 4G models," instead of trying to convince the Chinese public that Apple ...

Microsoft today updated its suite of Office apps designed for the iPhone, adding finger-drawing support to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. In January, the company added inking support to its productivity suite for the iPad Pro to take advantage of the Apple Pencil, but now iPhone users can also make use of the feature using their digits. A new Draw tab can be found in each of the three apps. ...

Apple continues to build upon the transit coverage of Apple Maps, today adding the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and the City of San Antonio to supported areas in Texas. The support marks the first expansion of transit coverage beyond the state's capital of Austin. In Dallas and Fort Worth, Apple will now offer up several city transit routes, including transportation by the Dallas Area Rapid...

Netflix has released the soundtracks for both its popular sci-fi series Stranger Things, and its new musical drama The Get Down, exclusively on iTunes and Apple Music. There are 36 total songs rounding out the "Volume 1" soundtrack for Stranger Things, and on August 19 a "Volume 2" is expected to launch on Apple's music services as well, with both volumes getting physical CD treatments on...

For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with well-known storage and memory company Lexar to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win a bundle that includes Lexar's Lightning-based MicroSD Card Reader and a high-performance 64GB MicroSD card. Lexar's MicroSD Lightning Reader is a tiny coin-sized dongle that makes it easy to transfer content from a microSD card to an iPhone or iPad, so it's an...

Sonos is a well-regarded brand known for creating some of the best multi-room home speaker setups, and in late 2015, the company debuted its latest product, a second-generation Play:5. The original Play:5 (once called the S5) came out in 2009, so the new Play:5 marks a long overdue update that brings a new design and better sound. As someone new to the Sonos ecosystem, the Play:5 (paired with...

Apple has recently added Australian streaming service Stan to the universal search function on the fourth-generation Apple TV, marking the first third-party service outside of the U.S. beyond Netflix to be supported. For those unfamiliar with universal search, it's a feature that allows users to conduct Siri voice searches or text-based searches to find TV and movie content across a wide...

Crashes, and subsequent fatalities, of small private planes have "fallen to the lowest levels in decades" thanks to mobile devices that give pilots "much better weather information" than a few years ago, along with other benefits. These devices mainly include Apple's iPad lineup and, in 2015, helped contribute to the lowest rate of fatal crashes ever recorded by the U.S. Federal Aviation...