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

Takashi Tokita, longtime director at producer at video game company Square-Enix, announced today that the company will be releasing a mobile-optimized version of Final Fantasy VI for iOS this Fall, reports Kotaku. The game was originally released in 1994 as Final Fantasy III in North America, and follows the release of various Final Fantasy games on iOS, with Final Fantasy V [Direct Link] being...

Apple has been granted authorization by the Brazillian National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) needed to sell the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c in the country, reports ZDNet. The new devices have received approval to operate with 4G technology avaliable in Brazil on the 2600 MHz band, while previous models had been limited to the 700 MHz band level. The devices will be produced domestically at the...

Following a brief promotion earlier this week in which Best Buy reduced pricing on the iPhone 5c by $50 just two weeks after launch, an internal document obtained by TechnoBuffalo reveals that the retailer will offer a minimum $100 gift card toward the purchase of the iPhone 5s or iPhone 5c for any working smartphone. The promotion will begin this Friday, October 11 and run through October 19. ...

U.S. carrier T-Mobile today is announcing a new addition to its "UnCarrier" smartphone plans, adding unlimited texting and 2G data roaming in 100 countries, as well as voice calls from those countries at 20 cents per minute, reports AllThingsD.Data speeds will be slow, but likely adequate for basic email and perhaps even for mapping and navigation apps. Users will be able to purchase increased...

Apple began offering free apps, books, and music via its Apple Store app back in August, and today the company has made hit endless running game Temple Run: Oz available at no cost. Normally priced at $0.99, Temple Run: Oz was created through a partnership between developer Imangi and Disney to promote the "Oz the Great and Powerful" movie. Like other Temple Run games, Oz is an endless runner...

Foursquare’s new automatic recommendation service, initially introduced on Android in August, is rolling out to iPhone users. The company has released a new version of its iOS app today, which introduces a redesign and will give a “few thousand” users access to the feature. With the new recommendation system, Foursquare runs continually in the background, monitoring location to provide...

Yahoo's image and video hosting website Flickr has released an update to its iOS app, which contains a new "Auto Upload" feature that saves images in their original resolution and uploads them directly to the service. Auto Upload can also be toggled to save images only when connected to a Wi-Fi network or enabled on both Wi-Fi and cellular connections, and all saved images are marked as private...

Facebook is preparing significant updates for its primary iOS app and its Facebook Messenger app in the near future, reports 9to5Mac. The main Facebook for iOS app will reportedly feature the social network's "Graph Search" feature, which was introduced last year and allows for users to enter specific search queries for better results. Meanwhile, an updated Facebook Messenger app is set to...

Apple hasn't produced a dedicated camera since it released the QuickTake in 1994, but a new collaboration between Apple's senior vice president of design Jony Ive and Leica gives a glimpse of what an Apple camera could look like today (via Pop Photo). Ive has designed a one-of-a-kind Leica M Rangefinder to be auctioned off at Sotheby's to benefit Product (RED). The camera, which utilizes a...

In line with a report from last month, iPod creator Tony Fadell's company Nest today announced the launch of Nest Protect, a $129 connected smoke and carbon monoxide detector for the home. The detector wirelessly connects with other units and with the Nest Learning Thermostat to enhance the functionality of each product while also offering a more informative and flexible experience for users.These...

Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo sustained a record loss of 66,800 subscribers for the month of September, with the drop attributed to a lack of stock of the new iPhone 5s, reports Reuters. Rival Japanese carriers Softbank and KDDI saw gains of 270,700 and 232,700 subscribers respectively, according to Bloomberg, with all three carriers offering the iPhone 5s free on contract through special...

Eric Schmidt called Android a more secure mobile operating environment than the iPhone today during a 45-minute question-and-answer session at the Gartner Symposium / ITxpo, reports ZDNet. The answer came when Schmidt was prompted by a Gartner analyst: Gartner analyst David Willis, who is chief of research for mobility and communications and who runs Gartner's Senior Research Board, said to...

Amiga Games today announced that it is planning to re-release some of its classic games for iOS later this year, "in time for the 2013 holiday season." Originally introduced in the late 1980s, the Commodore Amiga PC offered a variety of 16-bit games. ranging from Captain Planet and Lemmings to Shadow of the Beast. Amiga Games will customize its classic Amiga titles for Apple’s iOS,...

Beats will launch its Beats Music service in the United States within the next couple of months, reports The Next Web. The service will be available via the web and an iOS app, directly competing with other available music services like Spotify, Pandora, Rdio, and Apple's newly released iTunes Radio. According to Beats COO and president Luke Wood, Beats Music will focus on both content...

Skype today updated its iPhone and iPad apps to version 4.13, introducing a slight redesign that better fits the aesthetic of iOS 7. Though the Skype apps already used a "flat" iOS 7-style design, additional white space has been introduced for an overall cleaner look. The app also includes improvements to accessibility with better Voice Over integration and enhancements to both audio and video ...

In a note published to clients late last week, a survey by investment research firm Canaccord Genuity (via Fortune) revealed that the new iPhone 5s was the top-selling phone at all four major U.S. carriers in September, with the lower-cost iPhone 5c second in sales at AT&T and Sprint. The Samsung Galaxy S4 placed ahead of the iPhone 5c in sales at Verizon and T-Mobile, with the firm attributing...

Photo sharing service 500px has released a significant update to its iOS app, which includes features such as a new edge-to-edge design for full resolution photos as well as new swipe gestures for inline "Like" and "Reply" actions. The iPad version of the app now also displays an improved photo details drawer showing user interaction such as likes and favorites, and a refined Flow interface...

Following announcements from Best Buy and RadioShack that they will be offering $50 gift cards to iPhone 5c customers that will bring the prices down to $50 for a 16 GB model with a two-year contract, Walmart will be undercutting even those offers starting today by dropping its pricing to $45, reports MarketWatch. While Best Buy's current offer is good only through next Monday and RadioShack's ...