MacRumors

Apple's introduction of widgets on the Home Screen in iOS 14 has driven a surge in interest among users looking to customize their iPhone, and that has reportedly had a knock-on effect for Pinterest, whose iOS app has seen record downloads as users flock to its content seeking design inspiration.

As reported by TechCrunch, App Store intelligence firm Apptopia was first to note the impact of the iOS 14 customization trend on Pinterest. According to its data, Pinterest saw a record high number of daily downloads on September 21, with around 616,000 new installs globally.

Offering similar numbers, market intelligence firm Sensor Tower estimated 680,000 Pinterest installs across iOS and Android the previous day, as users searched for photos to use for custom icons or wallpapers to go with their new widgets.

Sensor Tower estimates that Pinterest's downloads record was actually broken on September 20, with around 800,000 installs worldwide, or a 32 percent week-on-week growth from the 607,000 installs it managed on September 13, a few days before iOS 14 was released to the public.

The interest has also caused Pinterest to jump from number 47 on the Top Free iPhone Apps charts in the ‌App Store‌ to number 7 in just two days. The app currently sits at number 1 in the Lifestyle category on iPhone, although it has hovered around the number 1 and number 2 position since February 2020.

The report notes that the driving motivation for the growth in Pinterest installations can be seen on Pinterest's home page, which has been showcasing the new iOS 14 customization possibilities available to users.

The Pinterest home page today showcases iPhone design trends as one of its "Daily Inspirations," where the collection "Trending wallpapers and aesthetic homescreen ideas" is currently sitting at the top of the page. Here, users are finding iPhone backgrounds and sharing other custom designs and icon sets for people to use in their own creations.

One possible ‌Home Screen‌ customization that has taken on a life of its own is the ability to create custom icons using Apple's Shortcuts app. The process involves creating a Shortcut to open an app, and then adding an image to that Shortcut on the home screen.

A TechCrunch spokesperson said that Gen Z has been the main reason for the surge in interest, as this group grew 50 percent year over year in June 2020 and they tend to use Pinterest as a resource for design inspiration.

A number of Apple Watch owners who have updated to watchOS 7 are reporting an issue involving missing GPS mapping data after recording exercise in Apple's wrist-based Workout app.

Several MacRumors readers have been in touch to highlight the problem, which was first noted in a thread on Apple's support communities by a user who upgraded their iPhone XS Max to iOS 14 and Apple Watch Series 4 to watchOS 7.

Later, I went for a walk. I used the Outdoor Walk activity on my Watch, but this time didn't take my iPhone. When I returned, and attempted to upload the activity to Strava, I received a warning that no GPS/route data was present. I checked the Fitness and Health apps, and sure enough, there was no route on the map - only the starting point.

I spoke to someone at Apple Support and they suggested I turned off/back on a couple of related privacy settings. I have since tried another Outdoor Walk activity, without the phone present, and the problem persists - no GPS/route data.

My wife also tried the same this evening, after upgrading her iPhone X and S4 Watch too. She had the same results - i.e. with just the Watch, no GPS/route information was saved with the activity.

The thread currently runs 16 pages and includes multiple users reporting similar issues with tracking GPS data on Apple Watch Series 3, 4, and 5 models.

In the majority of cases, users record a workout on their watch while leaving their iPhone at home, but when they later look at the Activity app it only shows the workout's starting point on the GPS map, and nothing else. Some users are also reporting sync issues with Strava and problems with additional workout stats, including heart rate information.

It's not clear what's causing the problems, but Apple is apparently aware of them, so hopefully a solution is on the way in watchOS 7.1, the beta of which went out to developers last week.

Twitter has rolled out a new Share Tweet pop-up menu in its official iOS app after it began testing the feature with some users last month.

The new-look sharing menu gives users quick access to Twitter contacts that were recently used in Direct Messages, as well as shortcuts to apps such as Messages, WhatsApp, and Gmail.

The native iOS Activity view (formerly called the Share Sheet) can still be accessed using the "Share via..." option at the end of the row of options in the Share Tweet menu, or users can long press the Action button in Twitter to bring up the Activity view directly.

The new Share Tweet definitely offers a more compact set of options than the native iOS Activity view, but users who have customized their Action extensions will note that it doesn't provide the same customization options as the latter, and it doesn't include AirDrop links either.

To access the new Share Tweet menu, make sure you've updated to version 8.37 of the official Twitter app on iOS.

Following his report earlier this week indicating that Apple will be accelerating adoption of mini-LED displays in its iPad and Mac notebook lineups thanks to better than expected development from potential secondary supplier Sanan Optoelectronics, analyst Ming-Chi has released a new report today sharing a bit more perspective on the mini-LED display market as it relates to Apple.

Kuo says that Epistar remains Apple's initial partner for mini-LED chips, but that Sanan and others should be able to quickly join Apple's supply chain as existing patents are not expected to serve as significant barriers to entry. As a result, mini-LED efforts by Apple and its suppliers have effectively moved from the "technology development" stage to the "economies of scale/cost" stage.

While Sanan has seen rapid development of its mini-LED capabilities that could allow it ship large quantities of the chips to Apple in the first half of 2021, Kuo says that Epistar has experienced some yield issues that have led Kuo to reduce his fourth-quarter 2020 display shipment estimates by 50% to between 300,000 and 400,000.

Kuo has said that Apple has at least six iPad and Mac products with mini-LED displays in its pipeline for launch by the end of 2021, but he indicates that the initial batch of displays coming through the end of 2020 will be for an iPad Pro.

Apple's mini LED dies will be mass-produced in 4Q20, but due to yield issues related to the production process of display module materials, the 4Q20 display shipments have been revised down by 50% to 300,000-400,000. We believe that the mini LED display in 4Q20 will be used for the new iPad Pro.

Kuo has long predicted that a high-end 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro‌ would likely be Apple's first mini-LED product.

As indicated in his earlier report, Kuo sees fierce price competition among Apple's mini-LED suppliers in 2021, predicting that Apple's costs for the mini-LED dies will drop by 50% in 2021 and a further 35% in 2022.

Mini-LED displays, which use on the order of 1,000 to 10,000 individual LEDs, can offer deeper, darker blacks, brighter brights, richer colors, and better contrast compared to traditional LED-based displays, though the technology comes at a significant increase in cost for the time being.

After announcing last week that it would be launching its online store in India on September 23, the store has now gone live, opening up direct sales for Apple in a largely untapped market with significant growth potential.

As in other countries, Apple's Indian online store offers a full range of Apple products and accessories, with shopping assistance from Apple Specialists, free no-contact delivery, a trade-in program for iPhone sales, free one-on-one online training sessions with certain product purchases, build-to-order Mac options, and multiple payment options.

Apple's latest Apple Pay Promo allows Jimmy John's customers who spend $10 or more to redeem a free drink with their purchase using Freaky Fast Rewards and ‌Apple Pay‌.

Jimmy John's customers can get the deal when they spend at least $10 when ordering ahead in the Jimmy John's app, on the jimmyjohns.com website, or in store, with the free drink available through September 27.

The deal is valid only at participating locations, and the Freaky Fast Rewards program from Jimmy John's is required to place a qualifying order that's paid for with ‌Apple Pay‌. One reward is available per Freaky Fast Rewards account.

Following the release of iOS 14 last Wednesday, Apple has stopped signing iOS 13.7, which means downgrading to iOS 13 after upgrading to iOS 14 is no longer possible.

Apple routinely stops signing older versions of software updates after new releases come out in order to encourage customers to keep their operating systems up to date.

As of Monday, iOS 14 was installed on approximately 26 percent of active iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices, and earlier today, the first jailbreak for iOS 14 devices was released. The jailbreak only works with devices that have an A9 chip and earlier because of new security mitigations put in place by Apple.

iOS 14 is the current publicly available version of iOS that people can download, but there's also a version of iOS 14.2 that has been provided to developers and public beta testers. iOS 14.2 introduces a new Shazam Music Recognition feature for the Control Center, while also bringing some other Apple Music-related Control Center tweaks.

Apple with iOS 14 introduced widgets on the Home Screen, leading to unprecedented levels of customization for the iPhone. Combined with Shortcuts that let you change an app's icon, iOS 14 lets you create a whole new look for your ‌Home Screen‌.

We've been following along with some of the creative alternative Home Screen designs that MacRumors readers have come up with and thought we'd even try to build out a custom app icon and home screen setup to mimic an old school Mac design. In the video up above, you can check out our superficial attempt at making iOS 14 look like Mac OS X Aqua, arguably one of the most iconic Mac looks.

Widgets are simple enough to use and hundreds of apps are now updating with innovative widgets that you can add to the Today Center and the ‌Home Screen‌ with just a few taps. ‌Widgets‌ run the gamut from weather to fitness to finance and travel, so there's a good chance most of your favorite apps have widgets you can incorporate into a design.

There are also apps that are dedicated just to making different customizable widgets with unique styles and functions, such as Widgetsmith, or Widgeridoo, which are essential to custom designs. We've used Widgetsmith for our OS X setup because it lets us create widgets with custom graphics.

‌Widgets‌ are simple enough to use, but taking a ‌Home Screen‌ design to the next level requires custom icons, something possible through Apple's Shortcuts app. Custom icons are more pretty than useful, and everything you create a custom icon for will route through the Shortcuts app, which is less than ideal.

We've seen custom designs that have taken hours upon hours to create, and even our own Aqua theme took quite some time to complete, so expect to invest some time if you want a unique iPhone ‌Home Screen‌. Our setup looks fantastic and is reminiscent of an old-school Mac, but it's worth noting that it's not particularly functional. Most of our widgets are really just for show, so creating a design that's nice looking and useful is a real effort.

If you want to recreate our "Mac OS X Aqua theme" for the iPhone, we've got a link to the assets available here. All the elements, however, are really just a carefully crafted illusion. But we'd love to see a developer build functional Mac OS X Dashboard styled widgets, and for Apple to allow for transparency in icons and widgets.

Wondering how to set it all up? Just check out our how to on using Home Screen widgets and our how to on customizing app icons using Shortcuts.

Have you made an awesome ‌Home Screen‌ setup that you want to share? Post it down below in the comments, and feel free to share your icon skins, wallpapers, and widget setups.

Apple today updated its iWork apps designed for iOS devices, introducing new iOS 14 features and support for Pages, Numbers, and Keynote.

All three of the apps now support the Scribble feature that was introduced in iPadOS 14, allowing Apple Pencil owners to handwrite anywhere in any text field within the iWork apps, with the written text then converted right into typed text.

The new feature will let ‌Apple Pencil‌ users write out Pages documents, Numbers spreadsheets, and Keynote presentations without having to swap over to the keyboard to fill in data.

Apple has also added new editable shapes in each of the apps along with support for the redesigned iOS and iPadOS 14 image picker. Full release notes for each app are below:

Pages

• Use Scribble to write by hand with ‌Apple Pencil‌, and your words will automatically convert to text. Requires iPadOS 14.
• Select from new report templates to help you get started.
• Enhance your documents with a variety of new, editable shapes.
• Easily find pictures and videos using new zoom and search capabilities in the redesigned image picker. Requires iOS 14 or iPadOS 14.

Keynote

• Use Scribble to write by hand with ‌Apple Pencil‌, and your words will automatically convert to text. Requires iPadOS 14.
• Use the new Outline View to focus on the structure and flow of your content without other distractions.
• Play YouTube and Vimeo videos right in your presentations.
• Movie export now supports a wide selection of formats and frame rates.
• Hold the option key while dragging an object to duplicate it.
• Easily find pictures and videos using new zoom and search capabilities in the redesigned image picker. Requires iOS 14 or iPadOS 14.
• Enhance your presentations with a variety of new, editable shapes.

Numbers

• Use Scribble to write by hand with ‌Apple Pencil‌, and your words will automatically convert to text. Requires iPadOS 14.
• Forms are now easier to create and customize. Add a form to any table or use the new Basic Form template.
• Improved performance when working with large tables.
• Easily find pictures and videos using new zoom and search capabilities in the redesigned image picker. Requires iOS 14 or iPadOS 14.
• Enhance your spreadsheets with a variety of new, editable shapes.

Apple has also updated the Mac versions of Pages, Keynote, and Numbers with new report templates and editable shapes.

All of the new updates are available from the iOS App Store and macOS ‌App Store‌ as of this morning.

• Pages for iOS [Direct Link]
• Keynote for iOS [Direct Link]
• Numbers for iOS [Direct Link]
• Pages for macOS [Direct Link]
• Keynote for macOS [Direct Link]
• Numbers for macOS [Direct Link]

Apple's iWork apps for Mac and iOS are free downloads for all users.

Linksys today announced that its line of Linksys Velop Tri-Band mesh routers are now compatible with HomeKit, making good on a promise to introduce ‌HomeKit‌ support.

Unfortunately, support is being implemented on a rolling basis. A limited number of Velop Tri-Band users in the U.S. will be able to update their routers to add ‌HomeKit‌ support through a free firmware update made available in the Velop app for iOS and iPadOS.

After the initial launch, a phased rollout will continue to bring ‌HomeKit‌ support to other users in the United States along with those in other countries.

With ‌HomeKit‌ integration, Linksys Velop routers will be able to be managed through the Home app on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, providing secure access to HomeKit-enabled accessories. There are options to define how each accessory is able to communicate within the home and through the internet.

Through ‌HomeKit‌, Velop users can choose to firewall off ‌HomeKit‌ accessories to prevent them from communicating with other WiFi devices on a home network and untrusted internet services to prevent hacking attempts and provide better security for connected home devices.

HomeKit-compatible Velop Tri-band model numbers that work with ‌‌HomeKit‌‌ include A03, WHW0301, WHW0301B, WHW0302, WHW0302B, WHW0303, and WHW0303B.

Linksys has been working on ‌HomeKit‌ support for some time. Back in February, the company mistakenly updated its website with information suggesting the ‌HomeKit‌ update would roll out in the near future, but Linksys later clarified that the launch timing was inaccurate.

Apple today seeded the eighth beta of an upcoming macOS Big Sur update to developers for testing purposes, close to a week after releasing the sixth beta and more than two months after the new update was unveiled at the Worldwide Developers Conference.

The macOS Big Sur beta can be downloaded through the Apple Developer Center and once the appropriate profile is installed, subsequent betas will be available through the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences.

macOS Big Sur introduces a refreshed design to the Mac operating system, overhauling the entire look from the curvature of the window corners to the dock icons to the system sounds. Everything feels fresh but familiar, with a lighter and more modern appearance. There's a new customizable Control Center that mirrors the Control Center on iOS devices, putting key system controls right at your fingertips.

The Notification Center has been redesigned with iOS-style widgets that are available in multiple sizes, plus there are more interactive notifications that are now grouped by app to make it easier to see what's going on. Safari is faster and more battery efficient, plus there's a new start page that can be customized with wallpapers and sections that include Reading List and iCloud Tabs, which makes Safari more tailored to your individual usage needs.

Tabs have been redesigned, there's a built-in language translation feature, Chrome and Firefox Extensions can be ported to Safari, and YouTube supports 4K video playback. There's also an option to choose which sites an extension works with for greater privacy. Speaking of privacy, a new Privacy Report feature lets users know the trackers Safari is blocking when you visit websites.

Messages is more similar to the Messages app on iOS with support for pinned conversations, mentions, inline replies, and Memoji creation, plus the built-in search feature has been overhauled to make it easier to find links, photos, and conversations in the app.

Apple redesigned the Maps app to add support for Look Around, indoor maps, and Guides, which are lists of notable attractions, restaurants, and more created by trusted sources. Maps can also be used to generate directions for cycling routes and electric vehicle trips that can be sent to iPhone, and shared ETA updates are now viewable on the Mac.

Photos includes a better Retouch tool, Apple Music's For You section has been replaced with a Listen Now section, HomeKit Secure Video cameras support Face Recognition and Activity zones, and Siri can answer a wider range of questions than before.

In the future, the macOS Big Sur App Store will help users better understand privacy practices with clear info on the information that an app collects, and after installing macOS Big Sur, you'll see faster updates that begin in the background and then finish more quickly to make it easier to keep your Mac up to date.

Apple in the third beta of macOS Big Sur changed the battery icon for the Battery section in System Preferences, refining the design to make it look more clean and streamlined. The beta testing period also brought a new design for the Music app icon (it's red), and some color changes to the buttons and icons inside the music app.

According to Apple, the eighth beta of macOS Big Sur fixes an issue with the kernel that could cause applications to quit unexpectedly. Apple says that this beta qualifies for 50 percent of the Apple Security Bounty bonus payment for security researchers who discover issues that are unknown to Apple or reintroduced in this release.

For more on everything that's new in macOS Big Sur, make sure to check out our roundup.

Apple is on the cusp of launching its first 5G iPhone models, according to Marc Allera, the CEO of British Telecom's consumer brands BT and EE.

"We are just days away from Apple's next major launch, a 5G iPhone, which will be a huge boost for 5G," said Allera, in an internal video presentation shared with the company's employees today. "Teams in all parts of Consumer have been preparing all year to win this launch, and be Europe's number one partner for Apple."

Apple's services chief Eddy Cue made a brief appearance during the video, praising EE for becoming the first carrier to offer smartphone plans bundled with multiple Apple services, including Apple Music, Apple Arcade, and Apple TV+.

While new iPhones are usually announced in September, multiple reports claim that Apple plans to unveil its iPhone 12 lineup in October this year. This timeframe was effectively confirmed by Apple itself, which during its June quarter earnings call indicated that supply of new iPhones would be available "a few weeks later" this year.

Four new iPhone 12 models are expected, including one 5.4-inch model, two 6.1-inch models, and one 6.7-inch model, all with OLED displays, 5G support, and a new flat-edged design. Rumors have suggested that Apple may opt for a staggered launch, with some models launching later than others, but the exact order of the rollout remains to be seen.

Microsoft has today announced plans to bring a new design to its Outlook for Mac app along with several other improvements and features for Outlook on iOS and watchOS.

In preparation for the public release of macOS Big Sur, Microsoft has been testing a new design for Outlook on Mac. The design includes Microsoft's Fluent icons and several design cues from Big Sur such as rounded corners. To make the design more simple, Microsoft's Ribbon interface has been removed. The end product is an amalgam of the design languages of Apple and Microsoft.

Reading and writing emails has been improved with the implementation of a new mail compose UI, single-line views, and an "ignore" feature. Collapsible panels and a compressible message list allow for greater customization of the main view.

Outlook's contacts system has also been tweaked, with separation of contacts and co-workers within events and emails, detection of frequent contacts, and a new feature to mark contacts as favorites. Calendar and search has been improved with groups and emphasis on relevance, and there is greater integration with Microsoft Teams.

Microsoft's sync technology from iOS, Android, and Windows Mail will also be coming to Outlook for Mac, resulting in much faster sync between platforms. Support for iCloud and IMAP accounts is also said to be coming soon. The update is set to arrive for all Mac users in mid-October.

Microsoft also announced a number of smaller updates to Outlook for iOS, including a new calendar widget to display upcoming meetings from multiple accounts on the home screen, emoji reactions, voice commands, and an expansion of Play My Emails to Canada, Australia, India, and the UK.

Apple Watch complications will be coming to Outlook for watchOS 7, allowing users to see their number of unread emails or calendar status. These additions to Outlook for iOS and watchOS are marked to arrive later this year.

Apple's system status page indicates that a handful of its services are currently down or experiencing issues, including Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple TV Channels, the App Store, the Mac App Store, the iTunes Store, and more.

The multi-service outage appears to be quite widespread and affects users on multiple devices, including the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV. However, not all users are affected, so your mileage may vary.

Update 9:53 a.m.: Apple says that all issues have been resolved.

Dubai-based streaming video service STARZPLAY today announced that it is now available through Apple TV Channels.

Starting today, customers in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt can sign up for a seven-day free trial and subscribe directly to STARZPLAY in the Apple TV app for $11 per month. Apple TV Channels content can be streamed on demand or downloaded for offline viewing.

STARZPLAY offers both Hollywood and Arabic movies, TV shows, documentaries, kids' entertainment, and original content. The service features thousands of titles, ranging from the original series "Baghdad Central" to fan favorites like "The Big Bang Theory." The service is a subsidiary of the U.S. network STARZ.

Built into the Apple TV app, the Apple TV Channels feature allows users to subscribe to and watch content from participating services without downloading any apps, including HBO, STARZ, Showtime, EPIX, and more.

The Apple TV app is available on the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, Apple TV, select Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices, and select Samsung, LG, and VIZIO smart TVs.