MacRumors

Apple Arcade today added six new games to the subscription service, all available to play on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV (via Engadget):

• Discolored by Shifty Eye: A surreal, first-person puzzle adventure game that tasks you with restoring the color to a once-vibrant world.
  

• Guildlings by Sirvo Studios: A story-driven episodic adventure from the maker of Threes, telling a lighthearted coming-of-age fantasy story about a group of friends on a mythical quest.
  

• Sociable Soccer by Rogue Games: A fast-paced, cross-platform soccer game that includes gameplay on the soccer field and also a full team management system.
  

• UFO on Tape: First Contact by Revolutionary Concepts: An AR game that puts you in the shoes of a UFO hunter.
  

• Takeshi & Hiroshi by Oink Games: A 1-hour long short story about two brothers, taking place in the real world and inside of a role playing game that one of the brothers is making.
  

• Marble It Up: Mayhem! by The Marble Collective: A puzzle game where you have to safely navigate a marble across vast and treacherous landscapes.

All six games are available to play on iPhone, ‌iPad‌, and ‌Apple TV‌, with Discolored, Guildlings, and Sociable Soccer also available on Mac.

With the addition of these six games, ‌Apple Arcade‌ has now reached 100 total games on iOS and tvOS, and 92 on macOS. Apple has been adding new games to ‌Apple Arcade‌ over the weeks, following the service's launch on September 19.

With a $4.99/month subscription to ‌Apple Arcade‌, you can gain unlimited access to these 100 games for iPhone, ‌iPad‌, and ‌Apple TV‌ (as well as many on the Mac). If the game is on ‌Apple Arcade‌, it does not have any in-app purchases or ads of any kind.

Apple products are visible in an average of 32 camera shots in each episode of "The Morning Show," and an Apple logo is visible in roughly one-third of those shots, based on a tally count by The Wall Street Journal.

In one four-second scene in episode one of the flagship Apple TV+ series, nine Apple products are shown as two characters walk and talk through a newsroom, according to WSJ's report.

As far as product placement goes, it's an impressive count for the newsroom drama, which debuted last week to a mixed critical reception but a generally favorable audience reaction, according to review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

"The Morning Show" stars Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell, and reportedly costs more than $15 million per episode, but as a vehicle to push Apple's own products, it could be worth tens of millions of dollars. WSJ:

"The Morning Show" wastes little time giving Apple screen time. The first scene of the first episode opens with the character of executive producer Chip Black, played by Mark Duplass, sprawled on the floor of his office in the dark, feet away from a Mac computer, when the iPhone next to him lights up with an incoming call. About 20 seconds later, Steve Carell's soon-to-be-disgraced anchor, Mitch Kessler, is awakened by his iPhone. In total, there are 31 shots of Apple devices in Episode 1, including eight with the company's logo.

Other Apple products that get decent screen time in the series include MacBooks and iMacs, iPads, and AirPods and Apple Watches. Even the HomePod speaker makes a cameo on a producer's office desk.

Spending on product placement has doubled since 2012 to about $10 billion, according to PQ Media, a media research firm that tracks the industry. However, Apple has said it doesn't pay for product placement, and people close to "The Morning Show" told WSJ that producers weren't under pressure to include Apple products in the shows.

Of course it helps that Apple products are very popular – the iPhone has a 35 percent share of the U.S. smartphone market – so it stands to reason that Apple products will appear in shows depicting modern life. Apple products often show up in other TV series not affiliated with Apple, too. But as WSJ notes, the iPhone appears in "The Morning Show" so much that it can seem like an appendage.

Some viewers may consider the flagship series to be overzealous in its product placement, but the very fact that Apple is able to promote its hardware in a subscription service that was designed to help lessen the company's dependency on its iPhone business at a time of slowing sales, is a sweet sort of irony. If the service is a success, it could well be a virtuous circle for Apple's long-term product revenues.

"In a changing world where people watch less traditional television, especially younger audiences, how do you reach them?" said Patrick Quinn, president of PQ Media. "One way to do that is to launch your own streaming service and show off your product. Not everyone can do that, but Apple can."

Apple is providing customers with a free 7-day trial for ‌‌Apple TV‌‌+, which is priced at $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year. Apple is also offering all customers who purchased an ‌‌Apple TV‌‌, iPhone, iPad, Mac, or iPod touch after September 10 one free year of access to ‌‌Apple TV‌‌+.

Apple shipped an estimated 6.8 million smartwatches in the third quarter of 2019, according to research firm Strategy Analytics.

Apple doesn't disclose Apple Watch sales in its earnings reports, grouping the wrist-worn device under its "Other Products" category, so we have do go from estimated figures, which can vary between research firms.

If Strategy Analytics' figures are accurate, Apple Watch shipments are up 51 percent compared to the third quarter of last year.

Apple shipped 6.8 million smartwatches worldwide in Q3 2019, rising an above-average 51 percent from 4.5 million in Q3 2018. Apple Watch remains a long way ahead of the chasing pack and its global smartwatch marketshare has grown from 45 percent to 48 percent in the past year. Apple Watch continues to fend off strong competition from hungry rivals like Fitbit and Samsung. Apple Watch owns half the worldwide smartwatch market and remains the clear industry leader.

The figures suggest Apple's closest wearables rival remains Samsung, which shipped 1.9 million smartwatches in Q3 and took 13.4 percent of the global market share. Fitbit, which was recently acquired by Google, dropped to third place, losing just under 4 percent of its market share (11.3 percent).

According to the report, the global smartwatch market grew considerably, with shipments reaching 14 million units in total, up 42 percent year on year. Notably, Apple Watch growth outpaced overall market growth, indicating that Apple is eating an increasingly bigger slice of the burgeoning wearables sector.

Disney+ is coming to Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom on March 31, about four months after it launches in the U.S. on November 12.

Disney CEO Bob Iger announced the launch date for the European markets yesterday during an earnings call, the same day it was revealed that the streaming service would be available on Amazon Fire TV streaming devices.

Disney+ will also be on LG and Samsung smart TVs, Roku's streaming devices, Apple TV, iOS, Android, Xbox One, and PS4 at launch.

Disney+ is already available in the Netherlands, where it launched as a free pilot trial back in September. Iger said on Thursday that Disney+ is coming to more countries and additional launch dates will be announced soon.

Iger didn't mention how much European customers would have to pay to access its 500 feature films and over 7,500 shows, including the entire Pixar library and a raft of original content.

The service will cost $6.99 per month in the U.S. and will cost 6.99 euros per month in the Netherlands from November 12.

Popular YouTuber MKBHD today shared a video that compares Apple's original iPhone released in 2007 with the new 2019 iPhone 11 Pro, which was released 12 years later.

The video goes over details like camera quality, design, feature set, and more, offering an interesting look at just how much the iPhone has changed over the course of the last decade.

There are no surprises here given the impressive number of technology updates that have been implemented over the years, but it's still a fun look back at how different things were in 2007.

Compared to the 5.8-inch iPhone 11 Pro, the 3.5-inch original iPhone almost looks like a toy because of its small size, though there are undoubtedly some iPhone fans who miss the tiny screen and the ability to easily use a device one-handed.

Some of the biggest iPhone upgrades have come in the form of camera improvements. The single-lens 2-megapixel camera available in 2007 was decent back in the day and can still put out web cam-quality photos, but today we have 12-megapixel triple-lens cameras with features like Portrait Mode and Night Mode that can rival some DSLRs.

As MKBHD points out, the comparison between the original iPhone and the iPhone 11 Pro is also interesting because it leaves us imagining what kind of technology changes we might be seeing in another 12 years. It's impossible to see that far ahead, but folding technology, super fast 5G connection speeds, and more could be coming in the not too distant future.

Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming macOS Catalina 10.15.2 update to developers, one week after releasing the macOS Catalina 10.15.1 update.

The new ‌macOS Catalina‌ beta can be downloaded using the Software Update mechanism in System Preferences after installing the proper software from the Developer Center.

There's no word yet on what improvements the second update to macOS Catalina will include, but it most likely focuses on performance improvements, security updates, and fixes for bugs that weren't able to be addressed in the macOS 10.15.1 update.

When we find out what's new in the macOS Catalina 10.15.2 beta, we'll update this article.

‌macOS Catalina‌ is a major update that eliminates iTunes in favor of new Music, Podcasts, and TV apps, nixes support for 32-bit apps, adds a new Find My app, brings a new Photos interface, and includes multiple privacy enhancements and other app refinements.

For full details on what's new in ‌macOS Catalina‌, make sure to check out our macOS Catalina roundup.

Apple today released iOS and iPadOS 13.2.2, updates to the iOS 13.2 software that was released on October 28.

The iOS and ‌iPadOS‌ 13.2.2 updates are available on all eligible devices over-the-air in the Settings app. To access the updates, go to Settings > General > Software Update.

iOS and iPadOS 13.2.2 are minor updates focusing on performance improvements and bug fixes for issues that were not able to be addressed in iOS 13.2 rather than major outward facing changes.

According to Apple's release notes, the update fixes an issue that could cause apps running in the background to unexpectedly quit, which led to background apps refreshing more often than normal. These frequent app refreshes of Safari, YouTube, and other media apps, led to multiple user complaints. Apple has addressed this problem in the iOS 13.3 beta too.

The update also resolves an issue where the iPhone could lose cellular service after a call, and it fixes a bug that caused cellular data to be temporarily unavailable. Apple's full release notes for the update are below:

iOS 13.2.2 includes bug fixes and improvements for your iPhone. This update:

- Fixes an issue that could cause apps to quit unexpectedly when running in the background
- Resolves an issue where iPhone may temporarily lose cellular service after a call
- Addresses an issue where cellular data may temporarily not be available
- Fixes an issue that caused replies to S/MIME encrypted email messages between Exchange accounts to be unreadable
- Addresses an issue where using Kerberos single sign-on service in Safari may present an authentication prompt
- Resolves an issue where charging may be interrupted on YubiKey Lightning-powered accessories

The release notes for the iPadOS 13.2.2 update are the same, with the exception of the fix for cellular issues.

iPadOS 13.2.2 includes bug fixes and improvements for your iPad. This update:

- Fixes an issue that could cause apps to quit unexpectedly when running in the background
- Fixes an issue that caused replies to S/MIME encrypted email messages between Exchange accounts to be unreadable
- Addresses an issue where using Kerberos single sign-on service in Safari may present an authentication prompt
- Resolves an issue where charging may be interrupted on YubiKey Lightning-powered accessories

Apple has also seeded the first beta of an upcoming iOS 13.3 update that brings Communication Limits in Screen Time, and a toggle for turning off Animoji and Memoji stickers on the emoji keyboard.

European Union Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager today acknowledged that her department has received "many concerns" over Apple Pay and potential anticompetitive issues, noting that "people see it becomes increasingly difficult to compete in the market for easy payments," reports Reuters.

Vestager's comments come after the European Commission sent a questionnaire to a number of companies in August seeking information on whether Apple was restricting online payment options.

The questionnaire asked if companies were under a contractual obligation to enable a certain payment method and also if such contracts included conditions for integrating Apple Pay in their apps and websites.

Regulators wanted to know if Apple has rejected merchant apps as incompatible with the terms and conditions for integrating Apple Pay in their apps.

Apple touts the safety and security of ‌Apple Pay‌, but critics have claimed that Apple stifles competition by locking down the NFC chip in iOS devices to only work with ‌Apple Pay‌, making it difficult for other payment services to compete.

Antitrust concerns over ‌Apple Pay‌ are not the only issue for Apple and the EU at the moment, as the European Commission is also still dealing with Spotify's complaint that Apple's App Store unfairly disadvantages third-party app developers in favor of its own apps and services.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

BritBox, a streaming service offering shows from ITV, the BBC, Channel 4 and Channel 5, has launched in the United Kingdom (via BBC).

Priced at £5.99 a month, the joint-venture between ITV and the BBC is being pitched as an additional streaming service for viewers who want to view classic British television programs and films, rather than as a direct competitor to Netflix.

BritBox will mostly feature classic series like Cracker, Prime Suspect, Brideshead Revisited, Ashes to Ashes, with comedies including Absolutely Fabulous, Extras, Blackadder and Fawlty Towers. Some archive programs that have been on services like Netflix will now move to BritBox.

More than 600 classic episodes of Doctor Who will be available to stream by Christmas, while shows and movies from Channel 4 and Film4's back catalog will be available in 2020, and original shows from Comedy Central UK will also feature.

Other shows available on the service include Downton Abbey, Gavin & Stacey, Wolf Hall, Love Island and Broadchurch, but it will also include new shows, starting with the drama Lambs of God, which stars The Handmaid's Tale's Ann Dowd, The End of the F****** World's Jessica Barden, and Essie Davis from The White Princess as nuns living on a remote island.

However, some of ITV and the BBC's biggest hits of recent years, such as Killing Eve, Peaky Blinders, and Bodyguard, will not be on it at first, either due to deals with other streaming platforms or because they are still on the broadcasters' own catch-up platforms.

The Guardian reports that the streaming venture has been given a major boost through deals with BT, Channel 4, and mobile company EE.

One of the deals will make BritBox available to tens of millions of EE mobile customers across the U.K., while a wider deal with BT – which owns EE – will make Britbox available to the millions of customers who subscribe to its pay-TV service.

Meanwhile, Channel 4 will provide thousands of hours of TV and film content to BritBox as part of a three-year deal, meaning shows from all the U.K.'s main TV channels will be available on one catch-up platform for the first time.

BritBox enters a streaming market long-dominated by Netflix and Amazon Video, but now quickly flooding with rival services jostling for attention. Apple TV+ launched last week featuring $2 billion worth of original programming, while Disney+ is due to arrive on November 12 boasting 500 feature films and over 7,500 shows, including the entire Pixar library and a raft of original content.

BritBox is available in the U.K. via iOS and Android apps, ‌Apple TV‌, web browsers, and "smart" Samsung TVs released in 2017 or later. BritBox launched in the U.S. two years ago with a different catalog of content and has attracted 650,000 subscribers.

Apple today announced a new employee benefit that's designed to ease the transition back to work for new parents, expanding on the 16 weeks of leave that parents are already provided with an additional four-week grace period.

Apple's head of retail and human resources shared details on the changes with Fast Company.

"What we find a lot of times is people are really excited to get back to work," says O'Brien, Apple's head of retail and human resources. "At the same time, [they] feel like they need to make sure things are really stable and successful at home. And that weighs heavy on people's minds, I think."

Apple's new policy will give parents a four-week period after returning from leave where they'll be paid like full-time employees but will have the flexibility to work part-time or set their own hours with a manager's oversight.

The updated transition period will be available to all new parents, including those who adopt or take in foster children (non-birth parents are allowed six weeks of paid leave rather than 16). Retail workers are also able to take advantage of the parental leave changes.

Along with the new transition period, Apple is expanding leave for adoptive parents by four weeks through a Paid Family Care benefit that lets parents take time off for family illness. Apple is also tripling its financial assistance for families that choose to adopt, providing up to $14,000 towards an adoption.

For all employees, Apple is improving its mental wellness benefits and will double the number of free counseling sessions available to employees per year along with providing telemedicine options.

According to O'Brien, Apple is hoping to make it easier for parents to ultimately return to work after a period of leave. "I think many times working parents feel like they need to deal with that quietly and make it seem perfectly seamless," O'Brien told Fast Company. "We all know life is complicated. So [we're] making it really clear that we're supporting them in that journey."