MacRumors

Drone videographer Matthew Roberts is continuing to capture footage of Apple's new headquarters, Apple Park, as construction on the campus grows nearer to completion. The latest video showcases a few finished amenities, like the dining terrace outside of the spaceship's atrium where employees can eat lunch.

Within the spaceship building, landscaping is said to be "nearly complete" and rows of trees can be seen surrounding the courtyard's finished central pond. The new video also captures a glimpse at the Visitor's Center, which was completed for the press to visit in September during the iPhone X event, and opened to the public this past November.

Some progress has been made on the entrance and exit road leading to the campus, with a security checkpoint added to the Wolfe Road entrance to Apple Park, placed in front of the underground tunnel.

Despite all of the finished buildings, areas of the campus are still riddled with construction equipment and dirt mounds, proving that Apple Park's long construction period isn't quite over yet. One of the main unfinished locations appears to be a large, empty area in front of the fitness center where landscaping needs to be completed.

When construction on Apple Park began in 2013, a completion date of Summer 2017 was set. Although employees began moving into the campus earlier in spring, it now appears that construction will finally be finished sometime in the early part of 2018.

Third party sleep tracking app AutoSleep reached version 5.0 on Tuesday, introducing a slew of new features and improvements, including iPhone X support and live sleep tracking on Apple Watch.

With later models of Apple Watch benefiting from major improvements in battery life, many Watch owners now wear their device to bed. Despite this, Apple still doesn't provide a native sleep tracking feature in watchOS, which has allowed third-party apps like AutoSleep to step in and fill the void.

While AutoSleep can track sleep quality and duration using just an iPhone, one of the app's biggest draws has been its Apple Watch component. Up until now, users had to sync the app to their iPhone to review calculated sleep metrics, but with AutoSleep 5, the Apple Watch app can now automatically track sleep without needing any help from an iPhone.

With sleep independently calculated on their wrist, users have the ability to scroll through sleep quality rings, deep sleep stats, and recharge summaries using the Digital Crown or by scrolling with a finger.

The Watch-based Lights Off feature, which lets users track how long it takes them to fall asleep, has also been rewritten. The progress display now has muted colors for viewing at night, and shows how much time the user has actually been asleep versus time spent just lying in bed.

Back on the iPhone app, sleep detection is now considerably faster, while motion detection has been discontinued for users who wear their Watch to sleep, but remains an option for non-Watch wearers.

The information screens have also been unified, so instead of metrics and graphs being on a separate tab, everything now appears on one scrollable screen. In addition, sleep quality rings have been redesigned and are now more clearly labeled, making key information more easily available at a glance.

The sleep analysis graph has been moved to just below the sleep clock, and reveals different data points such as sleep zones and heart rate as the user scrolls. Elsewhere, the configuration and troubleshooting sections of the app have been modified to be easier to use, and AutoSleep now has additional share options for sleep recording notetakers and social media users.

In addition to iPhone X layout optimization, several other improvements have been made under the hood, according to the developer. More information can be found in the release notes for AutoSleep 5, which costs $2.99 on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Apple has appointed one of its longest serving executives as its new head of sales in India, as the company goes in search of a bigger share of the country's massive smartphone market.

Michel Coulomb will replace Sanjay Kaul as lead of sales operations, according to Reuters. Coulomb has worked with Apple since 2003, and was most recently Apple's managing director in South Asia, according to details available on his LinkedIn profile.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Economic Times reported that Kaul would be leaving after six years with Apple, citing people familiar with the matter.

Rumors of the new appointment followed news on Monday that Apple has increased retail prices for most of its iPhones in India, after the government last week raised taxes on imported phones in an effort to boost local manufacturing.

In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Made in India initiative, customs duty on phones increased to 15 percent from 10 percent. Apart from iPhone SE units which are assembled in Apple's Bengaluru-based plant, the price of iPhone models rose by about 3.5 percent across the board. The most expensive model, a 256GB iPhone X, now costs 105,720 rupees ($1,646), up from 102,000 rupees ($1,593).

Apple has been pursuing a range of tax and policy changes in recent months to help build out its iPhone assembly infrastructure in India, as it seeks to grab a bigger share of the world's third-largest smartphone market.

Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Apple had asked the Indian government to defer a planned increase in import taxes on mobile phone parts, in order to give the company time to expand its manufacturing in the country, but that plea appears to have fallen on deaf ears.

Apple's sales in India rose 17 percent to $1.81 billion in the fiscal year to March 2017, but that's a lot slower than the 50 percent growth in the previous year. Apple's market share in the country remains at around 2 percent.

The official app for social news and discussion site Reddit is receiving a major update today, introducing several new features and interface tweaks to allow the app to better compete with popular third-party apps like Apollo.

There's a new Theater Mode designed to let iOS users view GIFs, photos, and videos in full-screen in either portrait or landscape mode, and there is a new option to open links in Safari View Controller instead of using the native in-app browser.

Live comments and a new chat feature, which has been in beta testing on the main Reddit site, is launching in the iOS app starting today. Live comments allow breaking news and hot topics to be discussed in real time, while chat allows for one to one conversations for those who opt into the beta test.

"Flair," used as a sort of informational label for identifying posts on Reddit, can now be added on mobile, and a cake icon will be displayed on a user's "cake day," aka the anniversary of when a person first joined Reddit. In-feed usernames for original posters will make it more clear who first shared content on the site.

For moderators, there's a new "Mod Mode" that can be switched on to allow moderators to approve, remove, and flag content on the site, and a "Mod Queue" feature allows for easier management of large subreddits. There's access to Modmail 2 and beta moderator features. Banning, muting, and other existing actions have been simplified.

Today's update to the Reddit app is the most significant update it's seen since the company took over Alien Blue and then retired it in favor of an official Reddit app back in April of 2016.

Reddit told TechCrunch that it is focusing more on the mobile experience as many younger Reddit users prefer mobile devices. 58 percent of Reddit users that are 18 to 34 prefer to use mobile web and mobile apps for viewing the site.

Reddit is now up to 330 million monthly active users, with over 9 million posts per month.

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

Update: The new version of Reddit is now live in the App Store.

After a fake app for MyEtherWallet.com rose to gain prominence on the iOS App Store last week, another scam has hit Apple's App Store in the form of a fake version of the popular side-scrolling shooter Cuphead, which is an Xbox One and PC exclusive (via TouchArcade). The app is still on the App Store as of writing and sells for $4.99, listing what seems to be Cuphead's actual developer -- StudioMDHR Entertainment Inc. -- as the app's seller, which is an incorrect description of the developer's real name: StudioMDHR.

When news of the fake app spread online this morning, StudioMDHR took to Twitter to confirm that this is not a real version of Cuphead and it will be working to contact Apple and remove the app as soon as possible.

Cuphead launched on September 29 as an exclusive for Microsoft Windows PCs and the Xbox One console. StudioMDHR has hinted that it has "plans to support" other platforms in the future, but those plans appear to be focused on macOS and not iOS. For the fake app, the App Store listing appears to use real screenshots from the game, while a video shows off touch screen controls with a joystick and A and B buttons appearing as the inputs to control the main character.

Apple's app review process tends to be very strict, so it's again unclear how a fake app asking users for money made it past the company in the first place. For MyEtherWallet, that fraudulent app also charged people $4.99, making it as high as #3 on the App Store's Finance charts and existing on the store for over one week. Apple eventually removed the app from the App Store, which it is expected to do for Cuphead as well.

Update 7:32 a.m. PST: Apple has removed Cuphead from the iOS App Store.

Today marks the 18th day of Best Buy's 20 Days of Doorbusters holiday shopping event, and brings with it a $200 discount on the original price of the higher-end, stainless steel models of last year's Apple Watch Series 2. While stainless steel cases were occasionally marked down this season, aluminum models tend to get the heaviest discounts, so Best Buy's sale prices are definitely a good opportunity for anyone who's been looking for a non-Sport Apple Watch and who doesn't mind owning a previous generation device.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of 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 models appear to be selling fast, with some requiring you to find a nearby store for stock since they are sold out online. The full list of Series 2 models on sale is below:

• 42mm Stainless Steel Case and White Sport Band - $349.00, down from $549.00
• 42mm Space Black Stainless Steel Case and Space Black Sport Band - $349.00, down from $549.00
• 38mm Stainless Steel Case and Milanese Loop Band - $399.00, down from $599.00
• 42mm Stainless Steel Case and Milanese Loop Band - $449.00, down from $649.00
• 38mm Space Black Stainless Steel Case and Space Black Milanese Loop Band - $449.00, down from $649.00
• 42mm Space Black Stainless Steel Case and Space Black Milanese Loop Band - $499.00, down from $699.00
• 38mm White Ceramic Case and White Sport Band - $949.00, down from $1,149.00

Although not part of the Doorbuster event, Best Buy also has $50 off the aluminum Series 1 models this week, knocking down 38mm to $199.00 and 42mm to $229.00. Right now, Target is beating those prices with 38mm at $179.99 and 42mm at $209.99 while supplies last. Additionally, Best Buy has savings of up to $150 on select MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and 12-inch MacBook devices.

For those interested, the headlining Doorbuster item today are the Bose QuietComfort 25 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones, priced at $149.99, down from $279.99.

Our exclusive promo code for 15 percent off any full-priced item at Nomad has also been extended to December 20, giving you an extra couple of days to shop the retailer's website for accessories like Apple Watch stands, iPhone X cases, and more. Visit our blog post for more information on the exclusive promotion, and then place your order at Nomad before 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday to get your discount.

Anyone looking for deals on Mac software might be interested in a 20 percent off sale on Affinity's creative apps Affinity Photo (Mac, iPad, and Windows) and Affinity Designer (Mac and Windows). Developer Serif announced today that this discount will run through January 5 for all versions of its apps on Mac, iOS, and Windows PC.

The price brings the desktop apps to $39.99, down from $49.99, while Affinity Photo on iPad is getting an extra 25 percent discount and will run for $14.99 from the iOS App Store during the sale [Direct Link]. Here is a quick description of each app from Serif:

Affinity Photo, available on Mac, Windows and iPad, pushes the boundaries for photo editing software. Its huge toolset is specifically engineered with creative and photography professionals in mind. Whether you are editing and retouching images, or importing RAW files and creating expansive multi-layered compositions with hundreds of layers, it has all the power and performance you will ever need. The iOS version was this month named App of the Year by Apple.

Affinity Designer, on Mac and Windows, is a complete vector graphic design solution brought to life in the fastest, smoothest, most precise software around. Each feature, tool, panel and function has been developed with the needs of creative professionals at its heart. With continuous innovation and development, the result is a ground-breaking application that will revolutionise how you work.

For those keeping an eye on Best Buy's sale as it winds down this week, tomorrow will see a discount on MacBook and on the last day the retailer will mark down a big-screen smart 4K TV. Make sure to head over to our full Deals Roundup to stay updated on these sales and more as the holiday shopping season continues.

iPhone trivia game HQ continues to surge in popularity. Tonight, over two-thirds of a million users played along for a chance to win $10,000.

HQ tweeted that over 680,000 users played Sunday evening's game, easily a new all-time record, while the in-game counter showed over 700,000 players were connected at various points of the roughly 15 minute show. That's more than twice as many players as some HQ games drew just last week.

For those of you who are just learning about HQ as you read this article, it is a free-to-play live trivia game show—sort of like Jeopardy—in which players attempt to answer a series of 12 questions correctly to win a cash prize. To reduce cheating, players have less than 10 seconds to answer each question.

The app launched on iPhone in September, with an Android version promised by Christmas Day. HQ attracted an audience in the lower thousands during its earliest days, with prizes starting at around $100, but the game has become an absolute viral sensation and now pulls around 300,000 to 400,000 or more players every game.

As the game's popularity has grown, so have the prizes. 107 winners split a prize of $10,000 on Sunday—that's roughly $93 each—and HQ even gave away $10,000 twice in one night earlier this month. Once players have won at least $20, they can cash out their U.S. dollar winnings via PayPal.

Unfortunately, as it has ballooned in size, HQ has experienced several technical difficulties. The most common issue is lag, but there are sometimes bigger problems. Saturday night's game initially saw no correct answers displayed, for example, resulting in the show being delayed by about 45 minutes.

HQ games take place every day at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time, and there's an extra game at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time on weekdays. The shows are usually hosted by comedian Scott Rogowsky, with occasional guest hosts ranging from electronic music artist Dillon Francis to on-air personality Sharon Carpenter.

While it remains to be seen if HQ will be able to maintain its popularity over the long term, it might be the fastest growing thing that isn't named Bitcoin right now. If you haven't yet joined in the fun, download the app from the App Store now and opt into notifications to be alerted when a new game starts.

In iOS 11, the native camera app includes functionality that allows you to scan QR codes and access QR code content like URLs without having to download a third-party app.

Here's how to scan a QR code when you run into one:

1. Open the Camera app on the iPhone or iPad.
2. Make sure you have adequate lighting so the camera can pick up the QR code.
3. Align the camera with the QR code.

That's all there is to it. From there, the camera will read the QR code and provide you with a notification to access whatever it contains.

QR codes can include contact information, calendar events, website links, phone numbers, email addresses, Wi-Fi information, and more, so they can be pretty handy, and it's nice to have the built-in scanning feature available when you need it.

December historically has been the busiest month for iOS game releases, and so far this year has not disappointed. We're absolutely drowning in unbelievable ports, great game releases, and even more amazing titles scheduled to launch next week. The only problem is how truly spoiled iOS gamers are when it comes to choice -- If you're at all into mobile gaming, you probably have a massive backlog already. Whether you download these games now or just mentally bookmark them, they should at least be on your radar.

Gorogoa is a puzzle game where players are put to the task of manipulating four panels of illustrations. Playing the game involves discovering the puzzle's goal, and trying to execute on it using familiar touch gestures of zooming and rearranging these panels around. Here's an excerpt from our review:

With its sense of artistic cohesion and its inventiveness, Gorogoa impressed me as few other puzzle games have, and I can't see any player who enjoys puzzle games even a bit not enjoying it. It might not be the longest game in App Store history, but it also doesn't overstay its welcome, which can be an issue with story-heavy puzzle games. Gorogoa really is a gem of a game that belongs on most people's devices and one that will cast its magic on you as soon as you start playing. ...Read More

Fez Pocket Edition is a pint-sized version of Polytron's hit puzzler, Fez. The game is a 2D platformer, but its main puzzle mechanic involves rotating the 2D world in 3D, exposing new faces of the world to explore. For instance, a tiny platform in one dimension, when rotated 90 degrees, suddenly could become a walkway. We also reviewed Fez:

Fez is a very good game, and I love how the player never really faces any consequences for failure. It goes a long way in creating an experience that's fun from beginning to end, instead of being loaded with frustration because you ran out of continues and missed a jump. The virtual controls are basically in line with most other games that have reasonably decent virtual button configurations, but the "real" way to play Fez is with an MFi controller.

Whether you pair a controller, or wrestle with virtual buttons, as long as you're actually playing Fez, you'll be in for a great time. ...Read More

Square Enix has been all over the App Store lately, and Life is Strange is an incredibly welcome addition. It's a point and click adventure game with a unique twist: Your character has the ability to rewind time, which allows you to alter the story both in good and bad ways. We absolutely loved it in our review, and the only thing stopping us from scoring the first episode higher was some annoying technical issues which I'm sure will be ironed out in future updates:

Since this is the first episode, Dontnod did a great job with making me hate the episodic format upon release. The first episode literally had me craving for more and the wait for episode 2 was unbearable. You won’t need to worry about that because Episodes 2 and 3 are available right now via in app purchase with the remaining episodes launching early next year. I hope the visual issues and some performance issues are ironed out because this could end up being the best way to experience Life is Strange. The lack of proper controller support is baffling because this exists on multiple consoles. Out of all the point and click adventure experiences available today, Life is Strange is my favourite by a long shot. I hope this does well for Square Enix so they can port Life is Strange: Before the Storm as well. ...Read More

Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty! has tons of history behind it. It's a ground-up remake of the original Oddworld released on the Playstation, which eventually made its way to PS4 and now to the App Store. Gameplay hinges around solving puzzles and platforming by controlling other creatures in game with a feature called GameSpeak which was incredibly innovative in its day. We have lots of good things to say in our review:

Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty! is a faithful port of an excellent classic remake. If you game with an MFi controller, it's a ridiculously easy title to recommend. In the absence of that option, you need only ask yourself how well you can cope with what is a relatively complex layout of virtual buttons. If nothing else, the controls are better here than they were in the other mobile Oddworld titles. If you were okay with those games, you'll be more than fine here. If not, you may want to skip this one. But I really do suggest giving them a solid go. The game is fantastic, and if you have to spend a little time adjusting to the controls to experience it, you'll still find the effort worth it in the end. ...Read More

It's wild just how many Ace Attorney games there are on the App Store, and Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth is the latest to join the long list of titles mobile gamers have to choose from. This time around, we follow Phoenix Wright's rival and sometimes-ally, Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth, and the game virtually abandons the courtroom in favor of focusing on the investigations themselves. Here's an excerpt from our review:

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth is a little different from the usual Ace Attorney game, but it carries a similar feel and quality that should please fans of the other games. The mobile version is sensibly improved from the original Nintendo DS release, as well. Adventure game fans would do well to give this game a look. As with other Ace Attorney games, it's a bit of a long haul, with over 20 hours of play required to reach the ending, but you won't notice the time passing by for a pretty good portion of that. ...Read More

Inside hit the App Store this week, and its just as brutally unforgiving as its predecessor, Limbo. This 2.5D platformer begins with a boy running through the woods in a surreal dystopian world filled death. The amount of times you'll die playing through this game is unreal, and deaths are particularly gruesome. That being said, even though we didn't have a ton of fun with the game, we gave major props to what a high quality port it is in our review:

I probably would've scored Inside quite a bit lower had the port not be so unbelievably well done. I started playing it on my iPad, and it occurred to me that I should check and see if it's iPhone X optimized. I downloaded the game on my iPhone, and not only is it in full iPhone X widescreen, but it just automagically loaded my save game from my iPad on the first launch without me needing to do anything. This kind of cross-compataibility and iCloud syncing magic is the exact kind of future I want to be living in. Developers bringing their games to the App Store from other platforms should take a good long look at Inside.

If you enjoyed Limbo (or similar trial and error puzzle games), chances are you didn't even need this review to smash the buy button- You'll really dig Inside. However, if you're like me and aren't really into the obtuseness of it all, there's a lot to like about it but I'm not sure I'd consider the game a must-have. ...Read More

Next week Bridge Constructor Portal hits the App Store (on the 20th, to be precise), and we absolutely cannot wait. The Bridge Constructor series of games have been among the best bridge builders on the platform, and who doesn't love a completely unexpected Portal mashup? GLaDOS coming to iOS seems like a dream come true, and I really hope they manage to slide in some additional Portal world building. Needless to say, when this launches, we'll also have a review up.

That's about it for the world of iOS gaming this week. This is just a tiny, tiny snippet of what's been happening, so if you're even remotely interested in mobile gaming be sure to follow along with the day to day developments over on TouchArcade.