MacRumors

Nike today updated its Nike+ Run Club iOS app with a new Challenges feature that aims to help users stay motivated throughout the week by letting them see how their mileage stacks up against other users in the global Nike running community.

The new challenges appear in the Club section of the app. As of writing there are three challenges to join, including a 15K February Weekly Challenge, a 50K March Weekly Challenge, and a 100K March Weekly Challenge. Tapping on one sends you to a summary screen that tells you how many runners are currently participating and how long the challenge runs for.

Tapping on the Join button enrolls you in the challenge, but you can leave it at any time through the challenge overflow menu (the three dots in the upper right corner of the screen). It also looks like you can only participate in challenges if your privacy setting is set to "Friends (social)" or "Everyone (public)".

Completing challenges earns users achievement badges, similar to those found in Apple's Activity app. In addition to the weekly challenges, Nike says there will also be occasional special Nike Challenges, which sound a lot like Apple's seasonal/one-off challenges that many Apple Watch users will be familiar with.

The Nike app's last major feature update came in October, when Nike introduced Audio Guided Runs to coincide with the launch of Apple Watch Series 3 models.

The Nike+ Run Club app can be downloaded on the iPhone and all Apple Watch models, but with Nike+ models, there's an option to launch the Nike+ Run Club app from the exclusive Nike watch faces.

Nike+ Run Club is available from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Apple today released a minor software update for the Apple Watch, upgrading watchOS 4.2.2 to watchOS 4.2.3. The watchOS 4.2.3 update comes one month after the release of watchOS 4.2.2, a minor update focusing on bug fixes.

watchOS 4.2.3 can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General --> Software Update. To install the update, the Apple Watch must have 50 percent battery, it must be placed on the charger, and it must be in range of the iPhone.

Today's update addresses minor bugs discovered since the release of watchOS 4.2.2, and it includes a fix for a bug that causes device crashes when a specific character in the Indian language Telugu is sent, received or input into an app. Similar fixes have also been released for macOS High Sierra and iOS 11.

watchOS 4.2.3 will be succeeded by watchOS 4.3, an update that's currently in beta testing and slated for release in the spring. watchOS 4.3 introduces portrait orientation support for Night Stand mode, and it reintroduces support for controlling music played on the iPhone with the Apple Watch.

Apple today released a new update for tvOS 11, the operating system designed to run on the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TVs. tvOS 11.2.6 comes one month after the release of the tvOS 11.2.5 update, which focused on bug fixes and other under-the-hood improvements.

tvOS 11.2.6 can be downloaded over the air through the Settings app on the Apple TV by going to System --> Software Update. Apple TV owners who have automatic software updates turned on will be upgraded to the tvOS 11.2.6 automatically.

As a minor 11.x.x update tvOS 11.2.6 focuses on performance improvements and bug fixes to address issues that were discovered following the release of tvOS 11.2.5. It is being released alongside bug fix updates for iOS, macOS, and watchOS to address a problem that caused devices to crash due to an inability to render a specific character in the Indian language Telugu.

tvOS 11.2.6 will be followed by tvOS 11.3, an update that is currently being beta tested and is slated for release this spring.

It's been well over two years since monthly drone updates have been shared online covering the construction progress of Apple's second campus in California, called Apple Park. Over the weekend, drone videographer Matthew Roberts posted his latest video on YouTube, but instead of covering the newest updates to the campus, the video captured a drone that malfunctioned and crashed over Apple Park.

Roberts said the crashed drone's operator got in touch with him, asking for help in locating the downed drone on Apple's new campus and sharing the footage from the crash with Roberts. The drone that crashed is said to be one of DJI's devices, so the owner was able to review a cached version of the video on the DJI app on their phone/tablet following the incident. "There were no signs of premature failure," the owner said, and it's still unclear why the drone malfunctioned.

Roberts eventually discovered the drone crashed among the solar panels on the roof of the main Apple Park building. The drone's owner has contacted Apple and notified them of the incident, and Roberts said that "it remains to be seen" if Apple will return the drone back to its owner. In the video, it appears that the drone has remained mostly intact following the crash.

In the latest monthly update of Apple Park shared by Roberts earlier in February, the new campus was described as seeing increased activity from employees now that more have moved in, with bicycles appearing throughout parking lots and on walkways. The maintenance facility has also been completed, but Apple is still working on landscaping in a large area located between the main building and Steve Jobs Theater.