MacRumors

LivingSocial has brought back a deal centering on Apple Music, which last appeared in November. With the offer, you can get a four month subscription to Apple's streaming music service for free, adding one extra month onto the existing three month free trial and saving you $9.99.

Like the previous offer, LivingSocial's deal is only available for new subscribers who sign up for individual membership plans on Apple Music.

In other deals from this week, T-Mobile recently announced a partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Film that will allow T-Mobile customers to get discounted tickets to five select movies in 2018. Starting on January 23, users will be able to purchase $4 movie tickets for Maze Runner: The Death Cure, and then later in the year for Red Sparrow, Deadpool 2, Alita: Battle Angel, and X-Men: Dark Phoenix. The promotion will be housed in the T-Mobile Tuesdays iOS and Android apps, and once the $4 tickets are claimed there, customers can redeem them through the Atom Tickets app [Direct Link].

Additionally, Amazon has a connected dashboard camera -- called the VAVA Dash Cam -- discounted for $99.99 with promo code VADASH01, down from $149.99. The camera captures 1080p 60fps videos in daytime and nighttime, includes 360-degree swivel coverage, can record in-car audio, and a connected steering wheel remote button lets you take instant snapshots and videos of events as they happen.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

The device is particularly aimed at unexpected accidents, with an iOS app able to save pictures and videos from the VAVA cam and make it easier to share with an insurance company. VAVA's Amazon promo code will expire on January 20 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

If you're looking for a slightly cheaper model, well-known brand Aukey has the Aukey Dash Cam for $64.99, although it lacks certain features like 360-degree view coverage. Aukey's model also includes a 2-inch LCD screen so you can replay captured videos directly on the device, since it doesn't support smartphone connectivity.

Finally, at Best Buy four models of the Apple Watch Series 2 have been marked down, focusing on the higher-end stainless steel cases with the Milanese Loop. Apple Watch Series 2 deals began appearing more often following the launch of the Series 3, but the best discounts mostly hit aluminum models. Now, Best Buy's latest stainless steel sale prices are matching the discounts previously seen during a sale from October 2017.

• 38mm Stainless Steel Case + Milanese Loop Band - $479.00, down from $599.00

• 38mm Space Black Stainless Steel Case + Space Black Milanese Loop Band - $529.00, down from $649.00

• 42mm Space Black Stainless Steel Case + Space Black Milanese Loop Band - $579.00, down from $699.00

• Apple Watch Edition 38mm White Ceramic Case White Sport Band - $1,099.00, down from $1,149.00

The retailer also has a special offer for those thinking about trading in their MacBook, with select working models earning up to $450, received in the form of a Best Buy gift card and available in-store only. Coupled with a discount of $150 to $200 off the latest MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models, there is potential for significant discounts on one of Apple's latest laptops.

For a longer list of this week's sales and discounts, head over to our full Deals Roundup.

In iOS 11, Apple introduced a new feature that lets you add a quick drawing or sketch to an email message right within the Mail app. It's a simple, easy-to-access feature, but it's a little bit hidden, so you might not know that it exists.

1. Open up the Mail app.
2. Compose a new email or reply to an existing email.
3. In the body of the email, tap to bring up the options menu.
4. Tap the arrow at the right of the options menu twice.
5. Select "Insert Drawing."

That's all there is to it. Once you've selected "Insert Drawing," you'll be taken to a blank screen with a variety of simple drawing tools like a pen, pencil, marker, and eraser, along with a selection of colors to use.

Create your drawing using the provided tools, and when finished, tap the "Done" button and it'll be inserted right into the body of your email.

Instagram was today updated with a new feature that displays when you were last active, with the new activity indicator accessible via the direct messages section of the app.

In Direct, under a person's name, you'll now see when they last opened up the Instagram app with a message like "Active Now" or "Active 2h ago." This is similar to how other apps like Facebook Messenger work, letting people you've previously interacted with know when you're online.

The activity indicator is enabled by default and appears to be limited to people you've chatted with via direct messages. According to The Verge, your online status is visible to people you follow or have previously DM'd, with the info not accessible to general followers.

If you would prefer not to have your online status available on Instagram, you can turn it off in the Settings app under a new option called "Show Activity Status." If you disable the feature, no one will be able to see when you're online, but you also won't be able to see the online status of your friends.

The activity indicator appears to be a feature that's been quietly rolled out to all iOS and Android users.

In related news, Instagram is currently testing another new feature called "Type," which is designed to allow users to share text-only posts via Instagram Stories. The text-only feature appears to be similar in design to the Facebook feature that lets you accentuate text-only posts with large fonts and colorful backgrounds, as seen in this video shared by The Next Web.

In November, AT&T shared its plans to launch its "5G Evolution" network -- which isn't true 5G -- in select areas of Minneapolis as part of its overall plan to boost cellular coverage in the city during Super Bowl LII. This week, three of the major United States cellular carriers -- AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile -- each outlined their own plans to ensure that customers retain quality coverage in the Twin Cities on the weekend of February 4.

AT&T's upgrades:

• Upgraded in-stadium Distributed Antenna System (DAS) offering "nearly 220% more LTE capacity."
• More than 800 hidden antennas in the stadium to help manage wireless traffic.
• DAS installed at 16 total locations in Minneapolis.
• 10 Cell on Wheels (COWs, or temporary towers) deployed to further support reliability of AT&T's network.
• 5G Evolution with 256 QAM, 4x4 MIMO, and 3-way carrier aggregation in select areas on supported smartphones.

Verizon predicted a "blizzard" of data usage for the Super Bowl this year, and said it's been working for two years on preparing the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area for the event. Verizon focused on its more permanent updates, which include boosted performance in the U.S. Bank Stadium and other venues throughout the Twin Cities area.

Verizon's upgrades:

• 24 new permanent cell sites and more than 230 permanent small cell sites.
• Introduction of LTE Advanced features to 4G LTE network "for greater capacity and faster peak data speeds."
• Addition of 48 percent more antennas to DAS inside stadium.
• New neural host DAS in Mall of America to boost network capacity by 900 percent.
• Similar system added to Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport to boost network capacity by more than 1,000 percent.

T-Mobile laid out similar upgrades it's been working on for the last two years, which it said make its LTE network "the fastest in the Twin Cities." Those on T-Mobile's network can expect boosted network capacity in the U.S. Bank Stadium, the Minneapolis Convention Center, Xcel Energy Center, and locations like the Armory, Nicollet Mall, downtown St. Paul, Mall of America, and the International Airport.

T-Mobile's upgrades:

• Boosting network capacity 30x in U.S. Bank Stadium, 35x in the convention center, and 16x in Xcel Energy Center.
• Doubling the amount of LTE spectrum in the Twin Cities, along with carrier aggregation, 256 QAM, and 4x4 MIMO.
• Deploying more than 120 small cells across Minneapolis and surrounding areas.
• Increasing upload speeds up to 40 percent inside the stadium with Centralized Radio Access Network (C-RAN) technology.

Sprint's news on boosted Super Bowl network coverage came in a press release last month. Sprint users will get much of the same bonuses as the other carriers, with the company installing a DAS with 800 antennas inside the stadium, as well as small cells installed on lamp posts and street lights throughout Minneapolis. There will also be the "Sprint Magic Box," which Sprint described as the "world's first all-wireless small cell" to be placed in hundreds of locations across the Twin Cities to boost indoor data speeds by an average of 200 percent.

Although it won't launch in time for Super Bowl LII, T-Mobile has also provided more details on its own plans for a true 5G network, while commenting on AT&T's "#Fake5G" debut in 2017. T-Mobile said its schedule for 5G hasn't changed, and is still on track to debut nationwide by 2020. The company said it's been "encouraged" by confirmed chipset and OEM plans to launch wider support for 5G smartphones in 2019, which will initiate broad support for a "real 5G" network.

Many Facebook Messenger users have taken to social media today to point out a frustrating keyboard bug occurring within the iPhone app (via TechCrunch). According to the affected users, Messenger is "totally broken" and freezes after they type a few words in a chat window.

Users have tried force closing the app, as well as deleting and reinstalling it, but nothing has yet fixed it. Facebook confirmed that it is looking into the bug, "but for now there's no word from the company on what is causing it and how it plans to fix it."

One user reported that the bug caused their iPhone 6s Plus to crash, and another theorized that the source of the problem might be with the app's autocorrect function.

Earlier this week, Facebook vice president of messaging products, David Marcus, admitted that Messenger's mobile app has become "too cluttered." In response to this, the company will invest in "massively simplifying and streamlining" Messenger in 2018.

Mobile game developer Jam City this week launched the first trailer, as well as revealed a few new details, for its upcoming iOS and Android role-playing game set in the Harry Potter universe, called "Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery." The game shouldn't be confused with the other upcoming Harry Potter iOS game, "Harry Potter: Wizards Unite," which is the augmented reality title being created by Pokémon Go developer Niantic.

In Jam City's game (the developer behind "Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow"), players will be able to create their own Hogwarts student, attend classes, gain new spells, interact with other students, and more as they progress through their education at the school. Jam City said that this marks the "first game" where you can role play as your own customized student at Hogwarts.

In terms of story, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is set in the 1980s, after Harry Potter is born but before he enrolls at Hogwarts. The game features both "large plot arcs" and "smaller stories" that relate to relationship quests with fellow students, and an "encounter system" that will make your decisions impact both quests and how certain characters interact with you.

The game is set in the time between Harry Potter’s birth and his enrollment at Hogwarts, when Nymphadora Tonks and Bill Weasley were students. The avatar customization system allows you to continually upgrade your avatar as you gain new expertise and magical skills - you can even choose your own pet. You will join one of the four Houses before progressing through your years at Hogwarts, participating in magical classes and activities such as Potions and Transfiguration. Building your skills will come in handy as you solve mysteries and go on adventures. As players improve their skills, they will unlock new locations, spells and other magical abilities.

Before the game officially launches in spring 2018, Jam City will debut it at A Celebration of Harry Potter, an event at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida starting January 26. Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is also launching under Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment's game label Portkey Games, which the company said is dedicated to launching new games that let players "explore, discover and be at the center of their very own wizarding world adventure."

Twitterrific issued a couple of notable updates for its macOS and iOS apps today that include new haptic feedback, chronological threads, and more.

First up, version 5.18.3 of the third-party iOS Twitter interface introduces haptic responses whenever a user likes or retweets content, or pulls down to refresh a thread. On that note, and in a move that should please users keen to switch away from Twitter's native app, threads in Twitterrific now display in chronological order for consistency.

Elsewhere, the developers have made it easier to display and hide reference tweets when replying to or quoting them. Users can now tap the original tweet to expand and collapse it, which allows for a lot more screen space when composing on smaller devices.

A couple of interface tweaks have also been implemented to improve the user experience, such as moving the unread indicator dot beside the timestamp, to make it less distracting. Lastly, push notifications and the Today view now work from behind more firewalls and proxies, while a Report Abuse option has been added to the tweet actions menu.

Apart from the haptic features, the above improvements have also been implemented in Twitterrific v5.2.3 for macOS, along with some additional tweaks.

For example, clicking a mention/message notification will now re-use an available account window rather than opening a new one on the desktop. Tooltips have also been added to tweet action buttons and the main window tabs, while an Option-Tab keyboard shortcut is now available for switching between thread/replied tabs.

Twitterrific for iOS v5.18.3 is a free download on the App Store for iPhone and iPad. [Direct Link] while Twitterrific 5.2.3 for Mac is $19.99 on the Mac App Store [Direct Link].

Apple is planning to lease a four-story 128,000 square-foot office building in Culver City, reports Los Angeles real estate news site The Real Deal.

The building, located at 8777 Washington Boulevard, was originally going to be leased by HBO, but HBO backed out. The location includes office space and 4,500 square feet of ground-level retail.

In addition to the new office building in Culver City, Apple is also said to be leasing an 85,000 square-foot campus at 5500 Jefferson Boulevard located near Culver City.

Apple's Beats subsidiary is already located in Culver City, and it's likely Apple will use the new office space for its video content team and original content efforts.

Apple originally planned to lease space at The Culver Studios, but that space ultimately went to Amazon.