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

The Next Web points to a Tweet from developer Shahruz Shaukat noting that the desktop version of iTunes is currently experiencing an interesting glitch in which searching for "podcast" or "podcasts" in the U.S. iTunes Store yields only a single app result: Apple's own Podcasts app. Clicking through to "See all" under both iPhone and iPad apps similarly displays only Apple's app. Default ...

The Dark Sky weather app was originally funded via a Kickstarter campaign. It is designed to provide precipitation predictions for the very short term and aims to tell you if it will rain at your location in the next hour. This information can be useful for commuters and joggers, and this intense focus cuts a bit of a niche in the crowded world of iOS weather apps. Dark Sky's developers raised...

A couple weeks after dropping the price of the iPhone 4S to $149, Sprint has further slashed the price to $49 after a mail-in rebate for a $100 American Express gift card. Apple will price-match Sprint's offer, giving buyers in retail stores a $100 Apple Store gift card. All these purchases require agreeing to a new two-year contract.This may be the lowest price for the iPhone 4S yet in the...

As we noted earlier this week when iOS 6 Beta 4 was released to developers, one of the newest features in the release was the addition of a "Wi-Fi Plus Cellular" setting to the General/Cellular control panel.The setting appears to allow apps to fall back on the iPhone's cellular data connection when having difficulties moving data via the Wi-Fi connection, something that can happen with a weak...

Apple is currently offering a wide selection of current generation iPads in the refurbished section of the Apple Online Store. Discounts range from 6% to 10%, but all the machines are a flat $50 off.These discounts are typically short-lived, so if you're in the market for one of these machines, grab it quick:- Refurbished iPad with Wi-Fi 16GB - Black - $449- Refurbished iPad with Wi-Fi 32GB...

On his show tonight, comedian Conan O'Brien poked fun at Samsung's claims that it didn't copy Apple's iPhone and iPad. Conan ran a parody video, purportedly made by Samsung, featuring a fictitious Samsung spokesperson emulating British designer Jony Ive and inviting customers to visit a Samsung retail store to visit a Samsung Smart Guy. ...

After reports that iOS 6's Springboard automatically adjusts to support the rumored 1136x640 resolution of the next iPhone, developer Cédric Luthi determined how accomplish that feat. Earlier today, my friend Peter Steinberger asked if there is a way to tweak the iOS simulator device size. So I investigated, and found a pretty elegant solution. Without further ado, here is how to change the size ...

Bank of America, the massive US bank, has finally added mobile check deposit to its iPhone and iPad apps. Bank of America personal customers can remotely deposit up to $5,000 in checks per month ($1,000 per month for new accounts) by taking photographs of the front and back of their checks inside the BofA app. Business and Platinum account holders have slightly higher monthly limits.Bank of...

Subscription music service Spotify has added iOS 6 support in its latest update, which should please the "developers" using the beta of Apple's next mobile software.Among the other changes are a few bug fixes and the ability for iPad users to show more stations.What's newA lot of folks like the iOS 6 support we’ve brought to this update. We do too. But we also like:• New: iPad users...

Ahead of the reported announcement of the next iPhone on September 12, Sprint has dropped the price of the iPhone 4S to $149.99 when purchased with a new two-year contract, as noticed by All Things D.In addition to the reduced price, Sprint is also waiving the $36 activation fee. The special price is only available via Sprint's website. The iPhone 4S remains at its normal $199 price on the...

Nuance, the company behind the speech recognition technology in the Siri and Dictation features on the iPhone, iPad and OS X, has released a new Siri-like API called Nina. Developers will be able to integrate Nina into their apps allowing the use of voice commands like Siri allows.CNET has more information on the launch:In order to differentiate their applications from others, developers will...

Though Apple has had some difficulties with its iAd mobile advertising network, the company just published a new case study (via TechCrunch) and video promoting the success Land Rover had advertising with iAd on the iPhone.Among the other more interesting tidbits on Apple's 'Brands' page are some statistics on iOS usage including that users spend 73 minutes per day on average using apps, and...

Apple.pro points [Google translation] to several images posted to Chinese microblogging site Sina Weibo showing what is claimed to be the rear shell of the "iPad mini". We certainly can not speak definitively to the authenticity of the images, and anything posted randomly to a microblogging site is clearly suspect until additional supporting evidence is discovered, but we have elected to share...

Firemonkeys, the new combined studio from EA combining the IronMonkey and Firemint gaming studios, has announced the development of Real Racing 3 for iPhone and iPad. Real Racing and Real Racing 2 have been widely viewed as some of the most cutting edge iOS games available.Real Racing 2 was one of the first games to support 1080p output on the iPad 2 and the first game to take advantage of the ...

Apple has updated its Apple Store iOS app with unnamed 'performance enhancements' and the option to preload iWork onto Macs purchased via the app.Apple used to offer iWork preloaded on Macs and included the install DVD inside the box, however once iWork became available only via the App Store, the company removed that option. Yesterday, the preloading ability was returned to the standard Online ...

AMD today announced the return of Jim Keller, who has spent the past four years as a director in the platform architecture group at Apple after joining the company as part of the 2008 acquisition of P.A. Semi. Keller, who previously was a key contributor to AMD's Athlon 64 and Opteron 64 projects before moving on to positions at other companies, will be returning to the company as corporate...

News Corp.'s celebrated tablet newspaper The Daily will lay off 50 of its 170 employees and slash costs by creating all digital pages in the newspaper in vertical format only, rather than designing pages in both vertical and horizontal formats, among other things, reports All Things Digital:Employees who produce the paper’s editorial page and sports coverage will be heavily hit by the layoffs, ...

Chinese news agency Xinhua reports that consumer organizations in the country are taking a closer look at Apple's warranty repairs, criticizing the company over a number of policies including the use of reconditioned parts rather than new ones.According to the company's after-sale clauses, customers have to agree that Apple repairers utilize used or reconditioned parts to replace damaged parts on ...