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

Apple has confirmed on a support page on its website that dark wrist tattoos have the potential of interfering with the Apple Watch's heart rate sensor (via Trusted Reviews). It was reported earlier this week that some tattoos, particularly dark or saturated ones, can affect the Apple Watch's heart rate sensor and ability to register contact with the wearer's skin."Permanent or temporary changes...

Apple today updated its Apple Store app for the iPhone with support for the Apple Watch, making it possible for Apple Watch owners to get real-time order status updates, check on Genius Bar reservations, and find nearby in-store events and workshops, all on their Apple Watches. When opening the Apple Store app on the Apple Watch, the first option lists stores that are located nearby. Swiping ...

Less than a week after the release of the Apple Watch, a few issues with the wrist-worn device have been spotted by early adopters. The first issue involves full sleeve tattoos interfering with the Apple Watch's heart rare sensor and skin contact registration, while MacRumors forum member Smickers has shared a new video that shows an Apple Watch with a nonfunctioning band locking mechanism."So, I ...

Apple TV's shipping estimate slipped to 1-2 weeks on the Apple Online Store in the United States today, less than six weeks before Apple is rumored to announce a new version of the set-top box at WWDC 2015 on June 8-12. The shipping times initially slipped to 1-2 weeks on the Apple Online Store on late Wednesday before the set-top box returned to in stock on Thursday, only to slip to 1-2 weeks...

Apple today announced a "first-of-its-kind initiative" that will see the Cupertino company partnering with Japan Post Group and IBM to bring IBM-developed apps and analytics into the hands of senior citizens in Japan. The project hopes to connect its customers with apps related to services, healthcare, community, and family. The initial plan sees Japan Post Group entering the service into a...

Apple has added 20 new Flyover locations to Apple Maps, including cities and landmarks in the United States, Australia, France, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa and Spain. Apple Maps now has a total of 141 destinations for Flyover, which provides photo-realistic, interactive 3D views of select areas that users can zoom, pan, tilt and rotate through. The full list of...

Apple identified a Taptic Engine defect affecting the Apple Watch before shipping the device to any customers, according to Re/code. The report, citing people with knowledge of the matter, claims that no faulty Apple Watches reached customers, and reiterates that Apple has shifted the majority of production to Japanese supplier Nidec, which has not encountered the same issue.“I believe no...

Apple has reportedly hired four producers from BBC Radio 1 for its brand new music service, according to sources who spoke to Music Business Worldwide (MBW) (via AppleInsider). In February, Apple hired BBC Radio DJ Zane Lowe for its music services. Little more than two months after poaching Zane Lowe from BBC Radio 1, MBW understands that Apple has pinched four producers from the station ...

Apple's latest distribution numbers show that 81% of iOS devices are now running iOS 8 or later, less than one week after the release of the Apple Watch. 17% of devices used to access the App Store continue to run iOS 7 and the remaining 2% are running an earlier software version. iOS 8 adoption rose 2 percentage points since Apple shared its last distribution numbers earlier this month, with...

One of the most talked about new features of the Apple Watch is its ability to sync with an iPhone's Passbook app, displaying a user's credit cards and boarding passes easily on the wrist. Australian-based airline Qantas, however, has been facing a bit of a sizing issue with Apple's new wrist-worn device, with multiple users pointing out since the wearable's launch that a wrist wearing the Apple...

An iPad "test model" was one of the stolen items during a robbery and kidnapping at a Cupertino home earlier this month, reports the San Jose Mercury News. It's unclear whether the test device was for a previous iPad model or a future one. The robbers took the device, along with electronics, prescription drugs and cash valued at $7,500, from a Cupertino home during an incident in which a...

Although the main purpose of the Apple Watch is the wearable's at-a-glance look at bite-sized content on the wrist, many game developers showed up out of the launch gate with new game experiences for the device. Some games appear to still be stuck in the mind-set of play sessions that are slightly too lengthy for a wrist-worn gadget, but a few clever dev teams have built fun, short-burst apps...

On an Apple Pay update shared during today's second quarter earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that Best Buy will begin accepting Apple Pay in its iOS app today, with full Apple Pay support coming to Best Buy stores later in 2015. Best Buy's move to adopt Apple Pay is notable because Best Buy was previously a member of MCX, the Apple Pay competitor that's pushing the CurrentC payments ...

During today's Q2 2015 earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that the App Store saw its best quarter ever, with 29 percent growth year over year. The entire services category, which includes the iTunes Store, App Store, Mac App Store, iBooks Store, AppleCare, ApplePay, licensing, and other services also reached a record quarterly revenue of $5 billion, up 9 percent year over year, with...

Instagram for iOS received a major update today, adding three new filters to the app: Lark, Reyes, and Juno. Lark brightens up images and adds purple tones, while Reyes adds a vintage-looking fade with yellow tones. Juno is the boldest of the three new filters, brightening images and bumping up the contrast for a more stylized look. Today's three new filters come four months after Instagram...

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, one of the largest hospitals in Los Angeles, has updated its online medical records to enable access to HealthKit for more than 80,000 patients, reports Bloomberg. Cedars-Sinai joins The Mayo Clinic and Duke University Hospital as medical centers connected to the health platform, alongside more than 900 health, medical and fitness apps integrated with the service.“Th...

Over the past few weeks since Apple's "Spring Forward" event, model and founder of non-profit organization Every Mother Counts Christy Turlington Burns has kept a blog on Apple's official website describing her use of the Apple Watch in helping her prepare for the Virgin Money 2015 London Marathon. It's about that time...Wish me luck and some speed #everymileeverymother @everymomcounts ...

Blendtec and Tom Dickson have returned with the latest edition of their "Will It Blend" experiment, this time putting the Apple Watch in a blender to see how well it survives. Spoiler alert: it doesn't. Just like with every iPhone put through the blender treatment, the Apple Watch is quickly smashed and destroyed into tiny bits and pieces of metal. Last week, the Apple Watch Sport was put...