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

Bloomberg has been granted an exclusive look inside a Chinese iPhone manufacturing plant where Apple claimed it has addressed cases of excessive overtime. Pegatron Corp.'s sprawling facility on the outskirts of Shanghai covers an area equal to 90 football fields and employs some 50,000 people in the iPhone assembly process. After accusations that employees were forced to work long,...

After a world premiere on HBO last night, Beyoncé's newest album "Lemonade" launched on Jay Z's music streaming service Tidal, with a period of timed exclusivity not divulged by the service. According to sources knowledgeable of the launch plans for Lemonade, that exclusivity window might be just 24 hours, with the album's release on services including iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play expected to ...

Apple today informed developers that starting on June 1, 2016, all watchOS apps submitted to the App Store must be native apps built with the watchOS 2 SDK or later. When the Apple Watch first launched, watchOS apps were reliant on the iPhone to run on the Apple Watch, but with watchOS 2, Apple introduced support for native apps. With native app support, developers can build apps that are able ...

Best Buy is currently offering users a hefty discount of $200 off of two models of the Stainless Steel Apple Watch, available now through Monday on the retailer's website. Those interested can purchase a 38mm and 42mm Apple Watch with Milanese Loop for $449.00 and $499.00, respectively. The Black Sport Band with Space Black Stainless Steel case has also received a similar discount, with the 38mm...

Rumors surrounding this year's iPhone 7 have focused on its removal of the 3.5mm headphone jack, and its 2017 successor has even been the center of a few reports, but this week Barclays analyst Mark Moskowitz has speculated Apple will skip its traditional "S" upgrade cycle next year altogether. Citing industry sources, Moskowitz says the Cupertino company won't debut a spec-bumped, internally...

Apple today updated its Apple Store app to add expanded 3D Touch support for iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus devices. 3D Touch Quick Actions were previously available, allowing users to quickly access orders, a store list, accessories, and the shop, but as of today, the Apple Store app also supports Peek and Pop gestures within the app itself. Using a force press on a link listed in the app will...

Apple today provided developers with the second beta of an upcoming 9.2.1 update to tvOS, the operating system designed to run on the fourth-generation Apple TV. tvOS 9.2.1 is a minor update that comes one month after the launch of tvOS 9.2, a major update that introduced a range of features from Bluetooth keyboard support and dictation to Siri search for the App Store and app folders. tvOS...

Facebook has announced a new feature coming to its standalone Messenger app that will let users start up group calls with up to 50 friends and family members. Rolling out now to the iOS and Android Messenger apps, the update will use previously established group chats within Facebook's messaging client as a springboard for starting a voice call with the group's members (via TechCrunch). Users...

SanDisk's iXpand Flash Drive, which is able to transfer files between an iPhone and a PC, has been around since 2014, giving iPhone and iPad users a simple way to back up their photos, offload extra content, and expand the storage space on their devices. Today, SanDisk is ready to debut a second-generation iXpand Flash Drive, introducing the same file transfer functionality in a smaller...

The launch of the iPhone SE in China has squeezed market share from local brands causing handset makers to rein in their inventory stockpiling for future component shipments, according to sources in the supply chain (via DigiTimes). The introduction of the relatively low-priced iPhone SE into the Chinese market has reportedly affected the performance of brands including Huawei, Xiaomi...

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published an Apple patent today that describes a hybrid analog/digital stereo headphone system capable of switching seamlessly between wired and wireless audio modes (via AppleInsider). The patent for "Audio class-compliant charging accessories for wireless headphones and headsets" distinguishes the system from traditional headphones by its use of an...

Stanford University this week launched its latest iOS development course on iTunes U, which was once again created by Paul Hegarty. For the last several years, Stanford has provided its iOS development courses on iTunes U free of charge to those who wish to learn to create apps for iOS devices. The 2016 course has been updated with iOS 9 and Swift, with course prerequisites listed as C...

Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming watchOS 2.2.1 update to developers, two weeks after seeding the first watchOS 2.2.1 beta and a month after releasing watchOS 2.2, a significant watchOS 2 update that introduced new features like multi-watch support for iPhones and Maps improvements. The second watchOS 2.2.1 beta can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on an...

Apple's intention to remove the 3.5mm headphone jack from this year's iPhone 7 has been a well-publicized rumor since last November, with the widespread belief that the company would use a Lightning port to provide both charging and as a source for audio output on 2016's iPhone. Today, however, Chinese company LeEco announced a line of smartphones that will beat Apple's rumored removal of the...

Apple Watch Hermès can now be purchased at Apple and Hermès stores, and select fashion boutiques, in an additional 17 cities as of this week. In the U.S., the models are now available in Bellevue, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Portland, and Washington D.C. In Europe, the new cities include Barcelona, Brussels, Florence, Madrid, and Manchester. Apple Watch Hermès has also expanded...

First making its name as the go-to app for music recognition software, Shazam has expanded into other media content like TV commercials, movie trailers, and radio ads in the past. This week, however, the company is officially announcing its push into brand-specific advertisement with a new initiative called "Shazam for Brands" (via AdAge). Using data accumulated from how users interact with...

An open letter expressing "deep concerns" about a U.S. draft encryption bill that would force smartphone makers to decrypt data at the behest of the government was published yesterday, signed by four coalitions representing Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and other major tech companies. The letter is addressed to the bill's sponsors, Senators Richard Burr and Dianne Feinstein, and warns of...

Apple has begun rolling out iTunes web previews for Apple TV apps, allowing Apple TV users and developers alike to easily share links to Apple TV apps on the web. The change was first spotted by Slide to Play's Jeff Scott (via MacStories). Previously, Apple only had iTunes web previews enabled for iOS and Mac OS X apps, making it very difficult for users of the fourth-generation Apple TV to...