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

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...

Apple today settled a long-running lawsuit with Dynamic Advances and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute over accusations Apple's Siri voice-based personal assistant violated a 2007 patent owned by Rensselaer and licensed exclusively to Dallas company Dynamic Advances, reports the Albany Business Review. Apple will pay a total of $24.9 million to Dynamic Advances' parent company Marathon Patent...

A long-requested feature could be coming to the iOS and Android versions of Netflix, letting users download TV shows and movies for offline viewing instead of being stranded in areas without Wi-Fi or a cellular signal when wanting to watch the video streaming service. Netflix has been lagging behind its competitors in this regard, with companies like Amazon and YouTube allowing some form of...

Following an announcement earlier in the month, Apple today began selling the higher-end Apple Watch Hermès bands separately in its online store. Before today, the only way to get a band from the French lifestyle accessory brand was to buy an Apple Watch collection which included either the Single Tour, Double Tour, or Cuff bands, ranging between $1,100 and $1,500. Now those who already have...

Apple has been granted a patent today for an invention that enables a touchpad or touch surface to simulate textures like cool metal and hot cement. The patent, originally filed in 2013 and called "Touch Surface for Simulating Materials" (via Patently Apple), appears in a series of 62 others published today by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and includes details on the mechanisms that...

Apple kicked off its Earth Day celebrations last Thursday, outfitting retail employees with green shirts, decorating Apple Store logos with green leaves, and launching an "Apps for Earth" promotion that will see in-app purchases from partner apps donated to the World Wildlife Fund. Apple is also celebrating Earth Day, which takes place on Friday, April 22, with a selection of Earth-inspired...

Apple today updated its web portal designed for developers with a new section entitled "Making Great Apps for the App Store," aimed at helping developers grow their businesses and reach more users with their apps. Included are resources for planning apps, App Store guidelines, tools for submitting apps, and a section on developer insights featuring stories from developers who have created...

During a Friday call with reporters where Apple discussed the security of iOS devices, Apple shared some interesting statistic on iPhone unlocking that were highlighted this morning in a report from Ben Bajarin (via The Verge). According to Apple, the average iPhone user unlocks his or her iPhone 80 times per day, and 89 percent of iPhone users who have access to Touch ID have set it up and...

Apple today updated its Maps app to add Transit information in Seattle, allowing iOS users living in the city to incorporate public transportation options like the Link Light Rail, Monorail, buses, and more into Maps when seeking directions. Transit directions within Maps became available with the launch of iOS 9, and while Apple offered directions in a limited number of cities to begin with,...

It's been a while since Reserve Strap last updated its customers on the status of the device's shipping estimates, but a recent change to the Apple Watch's accessory port functionality in watchOS 2.0.1 has essentially left the band defunct and unable to ship to those who pre-ordered last summer. In each of the band's design mock-ups, the device would have connected to the accessory port on the ...

A few weeks after starring in her first advertisement for Apple Music, singer Taylor Swift has partnered with Apple again on a second ad for its streaming music service. In the video, which Swift tweeted earlier this morning, the singer again showcases Apple Music's "Activity Playlists" feature by focusing on the "Getting Ready to Go Out" category this time around. At the beginning of the...