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

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...

It's been a full weekend for the first batch of Apple Watch pre-order customers to experience Apple's wrist-worn device for themselves. While some issues like the impact of the Watch on an iPhone's battery life remain in contention, many early adopters agree the wearable's ten available watch faces offer a deep amount of customization for Apple's most personal device yet. All of the different...

If you are one of the lucky few to receive your Apple Watch on launch day, you are probably excitedly going through the steps to setting up and customizing your device. With a completely new operating system to get used to, we’ve got a couple of tips for getting your Apple Watch ready for daily use. Apple Watch Overview Apple yesterday released a user guide for its wrist-worn device that...

Alternative insurance protection plan service SquareTrade today confirmed support for both the Apple Watch Sport and mid-tier Apple Watch models. The plans sit near the cost of AppleCare+ for the Watch, but cover accidental damage done to the device, unlike the additional charge required in AppleCare+. The SquareTrade Apple Watch plans offer customers options with and without deductibles. So,...

Apple has outlined that the Apple Watch battery is designed to retain up to 80% of its original capacity at 1000 complete charge cycles, which gives the watch's battery a lifespan of about two-and-a-half to three years based on fully charging the wrist-worn device once per day. Comparatively, the MacBook and iPad can also receive up to 1000 complete charge cycles while retaining up to 80% of...

Amid the fanfare of the Apple Watch launch, a few eagle eyed employees at Team Android today discovered an unusual easter egg within Google Maps. Visiting these specific coordinates on the outskirts of Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Team Android found an image of the Google Android mascot urinating over the Apple logo to be embedded within the map itself. It's yet to be made clear who exactly created ...

As many users in the United States slept Thursday night, Apple began slowly emailing Apple Watch pre-order customers with a confirmed April 24 delivery date about a "Personal Setup" program designed around the Watch. Aimed to visually guide new users through the Apple Watch's setup process and beyond, the Personal Setup program is a video session with an Apple employee where the company does...

Early Apple Watch models were found to have a hidden diagnostic port used to allow Apple engineers to diagnose problems with the devices, but reports at the time were unsure if the feature would be included in models shipping out to consumers. Apple Watches have now arrived in Australia, giving us our first opportunity to further investigate the diagnostic port. MacRumors reader MrLaforge...

Earlier this week, Apple began sending out emails to iOS developers, offering them a chance to purchase a 42mm Apple Watch Sport with a Blue Sport Band guaranteed to ship by April 28, 2015. Apple had a limited number of devices to provide to developers, and used a lottery system to determine who would get the chance to purchase one of the available watches. Developers who registered for a...

Apple today updated TestFlight with support for WatchKit apps on Apple Watch and minor stability and performance improvements. Starting today, developers will no longer have to exclude their WatchKit extensions for Apple Watch when seeding a beta iOS app to testers through TestFlight. TestFlight is a beta testing service that enables developers to seed pre-release versions of their apps to...

Boating and navigation app SeaNav US [Direct Link] reported this morning that Apple is no longer welcoming the app on the App Store due to the mention of Pebble support, or "any other mobile platform", within the app's description. SeaNav notes that its iOS app has been previously approved by Apple with no fuss, and have only faced roadblocks after receiving the rejection email this morning. ...

One of the main conveniences of the Apple Watch is that it provides at-a-glance information without needing to take your iPhone out of your pocket, whether you are stuck in a meeting, walking down the sidewalk or watching Netflix on your couch. For a task as simple as checking the weather, the ability to simply look at your wrist will make Apple Watch weather apps very appealing for a lot of...

ElevationLab early this morning revealed a new product aimed at charging and securely fastening the Apple Watch, called the "NightStand." Aimed at securing the Watch with a strong base, NightStand isn't only one of the more reasonably priced Apple Watch stands to come along, but has the unique functionality of being able to mount vertically onto surfaces as well. Similar to ElevationDock,...