MacRumors

In the aftermath of a deadly shooting at a Texas Church on November 5th, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies failed to immediately ask Apple for help unlocking shooter Devin Patrick Kelley's iPhone, reports Reuters.

According to a source that spoke to Reuters, the FBI did not contact Apple for about 48 hours after the shooting, missing a critical window where the iPhone in question might have been easier to unlock.

If the iPhone had Touch ID enabled, the shooter's finger might have been able to be used to unlock the device. But that unlocking method would have needed to be used within a 48 hour window, as Touch ID is disabled after 48 hours have passed since it was last activated or when the iPhone is powered off.

Christopher Combs, head of the FBI's San Antonio field office, said on Tuesday that the shooter's smartphone is being transferred to the FBI's crime lab in Quantico, Virginia as authorities have not been able to unlock it.

Little is known about the shooter's smartphone at this time. Sources told the Washington Post that it's an iPhone, but it's not known which iPhone it is nor which version of iOS it's running. It's also not known if Touch ID was indeed enabled on the phone at this point.

As we learned with the San Bernardino case, Apple will not provide authorities with the tools to unlock the iPhone, but the company can and will provide iCloud data if compelled by court order. It is not known if Apple has already received a court order asking for iCloud information.

Update: Apple has provided a statement on the situation with the smartphone owned by the Texas shooter.

We were shocked and saddened by the violence in Texas last Sunday, and we join the world in grieving for the families and the community that lost so many loved ones.

Our team immediately reached out to the FBI after learning from their press conference on Tuesday that investigators were trying to access a mobile phone. We offered assistance and said we would expedite our response to any legal process they send us.

We work with law enforcement every day. We offer training to thousands of agents so they understand our devices and how they can quickly request information from Apple.

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.

Over the course of the next couple of weeks, I'm taking a close look at iPhone X cases from a wide range of manufacturers. Case reviews aren't often featured on MacRumors, but with the launch of the iPhone X and its entirely revamped design, we felt that it was worth exploring some of the case options out on the market.

This is the third review in the series, with the other two available here and here.

For all of my reviews, I'm looking at the general usability of iPhone X cases. Extreme drop tests and in-depth testing aren't covered because those factors are less important than how a case works on an average day, and it's often fairly easy to tell from design how protective a case is going to be.

Factors like bulk, button accessibility, general protection, grip, thickness, and appearance are what I focused on below.

Nodus

Nodus is known for its line of high-quality leather cases, and its Access Case 3 has been made available for the iPhone X. Priced at £49.99 (~$65), the Access is a folio-style case that's surprisingly slim.

The Access has a simple design that actually holds the iPhone X in place with adhesive that Nodus calls micro suction, with "millions of microscopic suction cups" holding onto the iPhone. The adhesive (or micro suction) doesn't feel particularly sticky when touched and so it doesn't pick up lint and other detritus, but it grips tightly to the glass of the iPhone X.

➜ Click here to read more...

Following an exclusive deal back in September, MacRumors and Magix have again partnered to offer our readers an exclusive discount on the multimedia software maker's Sound Forge Pro Mac 3 bundle. With the discount, you can buy Sound Forge Pro Mac 3 for $229, a $328 discount on the traditional price of $557. Our earlier discount brought the price down to $249, so the new sale is a chance to get the bundle for $20 cheaper.

If you're interested, the exclusive discount will be available beginning today, November 8, and run through Thursday, November 30.

Sound Forge Pro Mac 3 is an advanced audio waveform editor that has been optimized and designed for macOS, offering users multi-channel recording and editing, mastering for music and dialogue clips, and support for high-resolution audio recording at 24 bits with sampling rates as high as 192kHz. The suite's full features are extensive -- also including customizable window layouts, file conversion automation, and the iZotope's RX Elements and Ozone Elements tools -- so make sure to head over to Magix's website for more details.

With just over two weeks until Thanksgiving in the United States, as well as Black Friday one day later, pre-Black Friday deals have begun appearing for many retailers. Best Buy has a plethora of discounts on Apple and Apple-related products that you can get your hands on right now, including sales on the iPad mini 4, 10.5-inch iPad Pro, select MacBooks, Philips Hue products, Apple Smart Keyboard, Apple Pencil, and much more.

Best Buy's pre-Black Friday sale will last from November 8 to November 11. We've highlighted some of the best deals below, but if you want more information on all of the discounts be sure to head over to our full Black Friday Roundup, which also covers pre-Black Friday sales from all retailers in the lead-up to November 24.

• $125 off iPad mini 4
• Up to $150 off 10.5-inch iPad Pro
• $150 to $250 off select MacBook models
• $150 off iPhone 6s purchased on installment from Verizon, AT&T, or Sprint
• $50 off Apple Watch Series 1 models
• $220 off Beats Studio Wireless headphones
• 50% off select MacBook cases
• Up to $10 off Apple Smart Keyboard or Apple Pencil
• $40 off Philips Hue White Ambiance Starter Kit
• $40 off Philips Hue Lightstrip

Adorama also has discounted multiple Apple products, with sales launching for iMac, MacBook, iPad, Apple TV 4K, and even accessories like the Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Keyboard. These deals are hitting below the listed price at other Apple resellers like B&H Photo and MacMall, leading to quite a few notable sales as we head into the holidays. That's particularly true of the accessories and new Apple TV 4K, which are discounted at Adorama from between $10 and $20 when compared to other retailers.

• 27-inch 5K iMac (Mid 2017): 3.4GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 1TB Fusion Drive, Radeon Pro 570 4GB- $1,649.00, down from $1,799.00

• 12-inch MacBook (Mid 2017): 1.2GHz Dual-Core Intel Core m3, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD - $1,169.00, down from $1,299.00

• 13-inch MacBook Pro (Mid 2017): 2.3GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD - $1,599.00, down from $1,699.00

• 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (Late 2016): 3.3GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7, 1TB SSD, 16GB RAM, Intel Iris Graphics 550 - $2,299.00, down from $2,899.00

• 10.5-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi, 256GB - $729.00, down from $799.00

• Magic Mouse 2 - $59.00, down from $79.00

• Magic Keyboard - $79.00, down from $99.00

• Apple TV 4K, 32GB - $169.00, down from $179.00

For those interested, Adorama offers interest free financing through its credit card, with a few stipulations. You can find more information on the card here.

There are plenty more deals going on in Adorama's sale, and other discounts circling this week, so head over to our full Deals Roundup for more information. If you're looking for pre-Black Friday and Black Friday-specific deals, don't forget to visit our Black Friday Roundup.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with these vendors.

While the iPhone X has been available to purchase for over five days now, availability of the device at Apple's retail stores has been extremely limited over that time, especially outside of the United States.

Fortunately, a new Twitter-based tool called Robinhood Monitor makes it much easier to know exactly when and where iPhone X stock becomes available, at least in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, and the UK for now.

Robinhood Monitor:

• Australia
• Canada
• Hong Kong
• United Kingdom

Robinhood Monitor parses the backend of Apple's Reserve and Pickup system and automatically tweets when an iPhone X becomes available at any Apple retail store, including color, capacity, and the location of the store.

As soon as an iPhone X becomes available, head to Apple's Reserve and Pickup page for your country and try to place a reservation as quickly as possible.

Reserve and Pickup:

• Australia
• Canada
• Hong Kong
• United Kingdom

Placing a reservation allows you to pick up an iPhone X within a designated 30-minute window from the store that showed availability. Remember to bring a form of payment and a piece of government-issued photo ID with you.

Behind-the-scenes videos for Taylor Swift's upcoming "reputation" album are available exclusively on Apple Music, the singer announced on Twitter today.

While Swift is sharing exclusive content on Apple Music, rumors suggest her new album will not be immediately available on the streaming service when it launches this Friday.

Swift is said to be planning to hold "reputation" from streaming services for at least a week after the album's launch to promote album sales via iTunes and retail stores.

At the current time, several singles from the new album are streamable on Apple Music, including "Look What You Made Me Do," "Gorgeous," "...Ready For It?" and "Call It What You Want." The full 15-track album can be pre-ordered on iTunes for $13.99.

Just a day after Twitter officially rolled out support for its new 280-character limit for tweets, popular third-party Twitter client Tweetbot has been updated with support for the new feature.

Tweetbot users who have Tweetbot for iOS installed will now be able to take full advantage of the new character limit once the app update has been installed. Tweetbot has not yet updated Tweetbot for Mac with support for the new feature, but an update should be coming soon.

Twitter started testing the new 280-character limit in late September before rolling it out globally yesterday. The updated character limit is available for all languages with the exception of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, as those are not affected by what Twitter calls "cramming."

According to Twitter, during the testing period, most people with access to the 280 character limit continued to share tweets that featured under 140 characters, so the company does not believe the new limit will "substantially change" timelines for most users.

Right now, since the feature is new, there is an uptick in the number of people testing the 280-character limit, but Twitter believes that will die down within a couple of weeks.

Tweetbot can be downloaded from the App Store for $4.99. [Direct Link]

Update: Tweetbot for Mac has also been updated with support for the new 280-character limit.

Workflow, the popular automation app Apple purchased earlier this year, was today updated to introduce support for iOS 11 and iPhone X.

The new version of the app allows users to drag and drop files onto a workflow to run the workflow using that file, and it adds HEIF and HEVC support to the Convert Image and Encode Media actions, respectively.

Support for new iOS 11 Health data types including Insulin Delivery, V02 Max, Waist Circumference, Resting Heart Rate, Walking Heart Rate Average, and Heart Rate Variability has also been added.

With the Get File and Save File actions, there's now support for retrieving and saving multiple files at one time, and there's also a new option to specify a default "From" address when using the Send Email action. Apple has also introduced a long list of bug fixes, listed below:

• Fixed the Tweet and Post on Facebook actions on iOS 11
• Fixed an issue where text items could unexpectedly be converted to image metadata dictionaries
• Fixed an issue where granting access to Ulysses may not work
• Fixed an issue where workflows launched from the Complication would not run on watchOS 4
• Fixed an issue where the Text action may randomly scroll to the top while typing
• Fixed an issue where the Send Message via WhatsApp action contact field did not work properly
• Fixed an issue where the Convert Image action may crash in the Today Widget or Action Extension
• Fixed an issue where the Show Directions action may not use the correct travel mode when opening Google Maps
• Fixed an issue where messaging the attendees of an event may include yourself
• Fixed an issue where VoiceOver may not focus on an action after it's added to a workflow
• Fixed an issue where the Select Photos action did not work with VoiceOver when "Select Multiple" was turned on
• Fixed an issue where a Workflow Input variable may not be editable after being added from the variable bar
• Fixed a crash when inserting variables into the List and Dictionary actions
• Fixed an issue where some files may not be selectable in the Dropbox and Box file pickers
• Fixed an issue where a ghost workflow may appear while workflows are being reordered
• Fixed an issue where passing a comma-separated list of email addresses into the Send Email action did not work
• Fixed an issue where the Get Contents of URL action did not support passing a JSON body in DELETE requests
• Fixed an issue where saving a file to Dropbox when a file already exists with the same name did not properly append a number to the filename
• Other bug fixes and minor additions

For those unfamiliar with Workflow, it's an automation tool that can essentially do anything. It allows users to create workflows to accomplish tasks like creating GIFs from a series of photos, pulling images from a web page, translating an article, posting photos to multiple social networks at once, calculating a tip, and more.

Since Apple acquired the app, it has been free to download. Regular improvements have been introduced, including bug fixes and new actions.

Workflow can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Minneapolis has the fastest average LTE speeds of all major cities in the United States, according to a recent study conducted by OpenSignal.

OpenSignal found that the average LTE download connection in Minneapolis was 21.5 Mbps, almost twice as fast as the 11.65 Mbps average it measured in Las Vegas, which was the slowest among the 35 cities it tracked.

Four out of the five fastest cities were in the Midwest region, with Minneapolis joined by Detroit, Chicago, and St. Louis in the rankings.

OpenSignal said 29 of the 35 cities exceeded the national LTE download average of 13.98 Mbps. When compared to global speeds, though, only 14 cities had 4G speeds higher than the worldwide LTE download average of 16.6 Mbps.

OpenSignal collected its data from millions of smartphones with its app installed under conditions of normal usage.

It's not Friday, but we're doing an extra giveaway this week, in partnership with MagBak. If you're not familiar with MagBak, it's a magnetic case that originally started out as a popular Kickstarter.

The latest MagBak cases are for the iPhone X, Apple's newest flagship iPhone. The MagBak for iPhone X is made from a soft, flexible rubber material that protects the iPhone on all sides. MagBak is available in Black, Gray, Blue, and Red.

There are cutouts for the camera, mute switch, Lightning port, and speakers, but the rest of the iPhone is covered, giving it protection from drops and bumps. There is a lip around the MagBak that also keeps the display from getting scratched when the iPhone is placed face down on a surface. A plastic material at the sides adds grip, so it's easy to hold onto the iPhone X in the case.

The MagBak isn't just a simple case, though. It has built-in magnets that allow it to mount to any magnetic surface, like a refrigerator. It also ships with two magnetic "MagStick" strips that can be applied to any flat surface via adhesive, allowing the iPhone X to be mounted in the car, in the kitchen, and more.

In addition to shipping with two magnetic MagSticks, MagBak also bundles the MagBak with an alcohol-based cleaning pad to be used before placing the MagSticks and a SIM tool. There's a cutout inside the MagBak case for the SIM tool, so you can make sure you always have one with you.

MagBak for iPhone X is normally priced at $39, but we have 15 cases to give away. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the giveaway restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

Last month, HBO announced a new project called "Mosaic," a murder-mystery TV show that allows you to interact with and discover branching paths based on characters you choose to follow. This interactive version of Mosaic has now arrived in the form of an app for iOS and tvOS, and in 2018 a traditional, linear version of the story will debut on HBO. HBO will air the plot line that creators Ed Solomon and Steven Soderbergh envision for the series, which viewers can compare with their own versions.

The free app allows you to choose from various viewing orders, character decisions, and branching information options over the course of a 7.5-hour mini series, which stars Sharon Stone, Garrett Hedlund, Beau Bridges, Paul Reubens, and more. "Mosaic" won't just be a one-off series, with Soderbergh telling TechCrunch that he has made two more "made-for-Mosaic" shows, which will be coming after this first series launches. Soderbergh referred to the app as an "open source format" that will be available to other creatives in the future.

Soderbergh says “I looked at this as sort of an open source format that other fimmakesrs can come in and push.” Beyond the next two Mosaic titles he’s making, it’s unclear if other creators will launch their own separate apps based on the Mosaic tech, or if today’s app will become a hub for viewing or even buying this branching narrative content.

Soderbergh explained that the outcome of the story doesn't change because of choices you make, but that the app is more focused on what information you have -- or lack -- based on the branches you've taken. On Apple TV and iOS devices, the branching narrative will pop up with options after the end of certain scenes, letting you decide what a character should do next or switch to another plot line completely.

As you delve more into the mystery, you'll unlock "Discoveries" with extra clips, documents, and secrets that serve as additional pieces of the show's overall puzzle.

“The outcome and the events of the story don’t change based on your choices” says Soderbergh who avoided making Mosaic an overly-complicated video game. “It’s merely what information do you have about the story based on what you’ve been following.’ Some people like to just keep making choices and get to the end of a path, some people like to minesweep” jumping between separate characters in chronological order.

The Mosaic app was developed by PodOp, which was said to have filed 14 patents for the technology behind the interactive storytelling experience. The developer built storyboard management software that assisted Soderbergh and Solomon in planning out and scripting the branching narrative, as well as analytics tools that will help HBO and the creators see how audiences respond to the new format. If you'd prefer to wait for a more traditional experience, HBO's linear cut of the show will be six hours and debut on January 22, 2018.

You can download Mosaic on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV for free starting today. [Direct Link]

Following the success of Pokémon Go, TechCrunch is reporting today that developer Niantic Labs' next augmented reality game will be themed around the world of Harry Potter. The smartphone app will be called "Harry Potter: Wizards Unite" and is set to launch in 2018.

Specific details about the app's gameplay have not yet been released, but it's said that "there will be significant influence" from Niantic's original game, Ingress, which also influenced Pokémon Go. The developer's previous two games task players with exploring the real world to perform in-game actions, defending locations, and collecting items. Still, it's unclear which aspects of the Harry Potter universe would be used to create an augmented reality experience.

Niantic Labs had tremendous success with Pokémon Go, which paired their expertise in building location-based augmented reality mobile experiences with a top-flight IP with a ravenous fan base. So, it stands to reason that we should expect a similar fan response to Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, an AR title set to launch in 2018, co-developed by Warner Bros. Interactive and its new sub brand Portkey Games.

The app is now official, bu the details are still scarce, with the launch timeframe of just sometime next year, but it sounds like there will be significant influence from the Niantic game Ingress, which allows players to roam the real world collecting power-ups, defending locations and exploring their environment.

Augmented reality is quickly becoming a popular feature on smartphones, particularly for Apple's products. This year, the company debuted ARKit in iOS 11, greatly expanding the reach and availability of AR apps on the iOS App Store. Company CEO Tim Cook is constantly referencing his excitement for the technology, and a report by Bloomberg earlier today reinvigorated rumors that Apple is now on a "very aggressive" timeline to debut AR glasses by 2020.

Update: The official Harry Potter: Wizards Unite website is now up and running, so you can visit it to sign up and get updates about the game. Niantic also posted about the new AR app on its own blog, explaining that players "will learn spells, explore their real world neighborhoods and cities to discover & fight legendary beasts and team up with others to take down powerful enemies."

Instagram this week announced that users can now add photos or videos that are more than 24 hours old to Stories.

Instagram removing the 24-hour limitation reflects a continued assault on Snapchat, which should come as no surprise given Instagram has essentially been copying Snapchat for well over a year.

Just like you normally would, swipe up from the camera to open your Camera Roll or tap the gallery icon. Scroll to choose your photo or video, and tap to select what you want to share to your story, which still disappears after 24 hours itself.

If you choose a photo or video that's more than 24 hours old, you'll automatically see a new sticker that helps you add context for when it was taken. The sticker can be rotated, resized, or removed as usual.

The updated version of Instagram is available now on the App Store [Direct Link].

In 2009 developer Zynga debuted Words With Friends, a Scrabble-like game on the iOS App Store that quickly became one of the most popular and well-known apps associated with iPhone gaming. Today, Zynga is launching the first proper sequel to the game, Words With Friends 2, as a brand-new and free app on the App Store, and it'll carry over all of your friends, running games, and settings from the first app.

In terms of gameplay, Words With Friends 2 plays the same as the original, offering up a word-creation board game against your friends in an asynchronous multiplayer experience. Additionally, Zynga said that it has added in a few new features to the sequel, "requested from the Words With Friends player community," including a Solo Challenge that pits you against an AI bot, a team versus team Lightning Round, and an enhanced Social Dictionary.

Solo Challenge is meant to help you develop your strategy and vocabulary in a single player-style experience of "increasingly tough matches." The Lightning Round mode is Zynga's first-ever synchronous multiplayer feature, allowing you to play against more than one person in the same match by joining a team of five total players, resulting in a "faster and more competitive" mode than the traditional gameplay.

All of the new features come in an app that's also newly designed with a "refreshed, modern look and feel," according to Zynga.

“As one of Zynga’s most popular and iconic forever franchises, Words With Friends continues to connect millions of people around the world every day through a shared love of social wordplay,” said Bernard Kim, President of Publishing, Zynga. “Words With Friends 2 honors the rich, pop-culture legacy and beloved social gameplay of Words With Friends, while introducing innovative features in the largest refresh in the game’s eight-year history.

We’re proud to bring our loyal fans a brand-new experience that’s inspired by all the ways they want to play. Whether it’s teaming up in our first-ever synchronous multiplayer mode with Lightning Round or improving their vocabulary prowess in Solo Challenge, Words With Friends 2 gives players more opportunities to master their favorite word game than ever before.”

Zynga mentioned that over the course of eight years, more than 140 billion words have been played in Words With Friends, and to this day over 6.5 million matches are created every day. The popular original game spawned numerous spiritual successors created by Zynga and tackling other well-known game genres, including Hanging With Friends, Chess With Friends, Matching With Friends, Crosswords With Friends, Boggle With Friends, Word Streak With Friends, and more.

You can download Words With Friends 2 on the iOS App Store for free beginning today [Direct Link]. The sequel is also available on Google Play for Android devices.

Samsung has decided not to include a fingerprint scanner under the display of its next-generation Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ smartphones due to continued technical difficulties, according to South Korea's The Investor.

Instead, the fingerprint scanner will likely remain positioned on the back of each device, just like the current Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ models.

Fingerprint scanning is one of three biometric options for unlocking the Galaxy S8 alongside iris scanning and facial recognition. Samsung says all three solutions provide "defense-grade security" around the clock.

Shortly after the Galaxy S8 launched, however, videos surfaced showing that Samsung's facial recognition system could be fairly easily duped with a picture of someone. The iris scanner was also tricked with contact lenses.

In fine print on its website, Samsung admits that its facial recognition system is "less secure than pattern, PIN, or password." Facial recognition can't be used to authenticate access to the Galaxy S8's Secure Folder or Samsung Pay.

"It is important to reiterate that facial recognition, while convenient, can only be used for opening your Galaxy S8 and currently cannot be used to authenticate access to Samsung Pay or Secure Folder," the company told Ars Technica in March.

Apple was widely rumored to be attempting to integrate Touch ID under the display on the iPhone X, or even on the side or back of the device, but the company's hardware engineering chief Dan Riccio suggested it ditched any form of fingerprint scanning after hitting "early line of sight" with Face ID.

Samsung's facial recognition system is unquestionably less secure than Face ID, which uses significantly more advanced 3D facial recognition and has a 1 in 1,000,000 chance of being duped by a stranger, according to Apple.

Apple is so confident in Face ID that it is planning to abandon Touch ID in favor of the TrueDepth system on all of its new iPhone models released in 2018, according to well-connected KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Apple says Face ID only has a possibility of being less reliable for identical twins, siblings who look alike, and children under 13 years of age, the latter because their distinct facial features may not have fully developed.

Apple's Face ID security paper explains how the TrueDepth camera projects and reads over 30,000 infrared dots to form a depth map of your face, along with a 2D infrared image. This data is used to create a sequence of 2D images and depth maps, which are digitally signed and sent to the Secure Enclave.

Face ID is designed to confirm user attention, ensuring a lower false match rate, and mitigation against both digital and physical spoofing.