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

Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming watchOS 6.2 update to developers, one week after releasing the watchOS 6.1.2 update with bug fixes. Once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Apple Developer Center, the new watchOS beta can be downloaded through the dedicated ‌‌Apple Watch‌‌ app on the iPhone by going to General > Software Update. To install the...

Apple's annual Back to School event launched in Japan today, with Apple offering students a gift card worth up to 18,000 yen ($165) when making a purchase. The highest gift card amount is available with the purchase of a MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac Pro, or ‌iMac‌, with Apple offering 12,000 yen for iPad Pro and iPad Air models. As noted by Japanese site Mac Otakara, the educational...

The latest slate of Anker products have been discounted on Amazon this week, and we're seeing solid sales on portable batteries, wireless chargers, USB-C wall chargers, Bluetooth speakers and headphones, power strips, and more. Many of the items have been automatically discounted, but some do require promo codes, which you can find below. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon....

Apple Card users will be able to export their transaction data in an OFX file format for use with third-party financial apps "within the next few days," a support representative said in an online chat with customer Jed Schmidt. The exporting feature rolled out last month, but only with CSV file support. Apple said an OFX option would be available in the future. The option to export...

Nearly five months after the release of iOS 13, Google has finally updated its Translate app with Dark Mode support on the iPhone and iPad, although the color scheme is dark gray rather than true black. Dark Mode in the Google Translate app is tied to the system-level appearance selected in Settings > Display & Brightness > Appearance. Google has been slowly adding Dark Mode support to...

A new vulnerability has been discovered in the Philips Hue smart lighting system that could let hackers gain access to the local host network and other devices connected to it. Discovered by Check Point Research and demonstrated in a video, the flaw relates to the Zigbee communication protocol used by Philips Hue bulbs and a number of other smart home devices, including Amazon's Ring,...

Apple was the fastest growing premium smartphone brand in India last year with 41 percent annual growth, according to new data gathered by Counterpoint Research. Premium smartphone shipments in the country reached a record high in 2019, increasing by 29 percent year over year. The growth is said to have been driven by affordable premium smartphones, aggressive offers like significant price...

Apple's head of business for Apple News+, Liz Schimel, has departed the company less than a year after the $9.99 per month service launched, reports Bloomberg. Schimel was responsible for relationships with advertisers and news partners for ‌Apple News‌+, and before that, she served as the president of international business at Conde Nast. Apple is said to be looking to hire a "notable...

"Verified," a video service from Genius, is available on Apple Music as of today, reports The Verge. "Verified" features artists like Billie Eilish and Cardi B explaining the meaning behind the lyrics of their songs. Under the terms of the deal, ‌Apple Music‌ will co-produce "Verified," and episodes will premiere on ‌Apple Music‌. After a set period of time, new content will also be available...

Every year in February, Apple hosts a company wide fitness challenge for all of its employees at its corporate and retail offices around the world. Employees are tasked with closing all three of their Apple Watch Activity rings every day during the month, and those that are successful earn a reward. Apple's 2020 challenge, which is in February because February is Heart Month, has been...

Microsoft today updated its Outlook app with full support for Split View on compatible iPad models, allowing users to multitask in a variety of ways, such as having an email and calendar open side by side. Split View also enables users to drag and drop text, photos, and files from one app to another, such as dragging text from Safari into an Outlook email. To drag and drop text, select the...

Google has emailed some users of Google Photos to inform them that some of their private videos were accidentally sent to strangers, reports 9to5Google. The "technical issue" is said to have affected people who used the Google Takeout service to download their data between November 21 and November 25 last year. The problem resulted in a small number of users receiving videos in their archive...

Apple is in negotiations with financial institutions in the Middle East to bring Apple Pay to Israel, reports the regional Calcalist website. According to the Hebrew-language publication, Apple representatives recently began a round of meetings with banks and credit card companies to formulate agreements to bring ‌Apple Pay‌ to the country. The report notes that many Israeli businesses...

Apple offers free Developer Program memberships to nonprofit organizations, accredited educational institutions, and government entities that distribute free apps on the App Store. These free memberships have been available in countries that include the United Kingdom, the United States, China, Japan, and Brazil, but as of today, they're also expanding to eight new countries. Eligible...

A big sale on nearly every model of the 2018 iPad Pro and 2019 iPad has opened up on Amazon today, providing up to $199 off these tablets. Both models are seeing lowest-ever prices in the sale, including new lows on both Wi-Fi and cellular options. Best Buy is matching the price of these iPads in a few instances as well. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a...

Amazon has opened up a new sale that's discounting a number of Apple Watch Series 5 models, including both GPS and cellular devices. The sale includes discounts of up to $50 off Series 5 models, with prices starting at $354.99 for 40mm Aluminum devices and rising from there. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small...

Amazon has discounted a wide range of iPad mini 5 models to kick off the week, providing lowest-ever prices on both Wi-Fi and cellular devices. Across the tablets being discounted, each sale represents the lowest-ever price that we've tracked on each model. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which...

Wistron's new plant in India plans to begin assembling printed circuit boards (PCBs) for iPhones, a first for the Taiwanese contract manufacturer that will save Apple having to pay import taxes on the vital smartphone component. Reuters reports that the PCB assembly will take place in Wistron's new iPhone plant, which is about 40 miles outside of Bengaluru, when it becomes operational by...