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New Mac App Subscription Service 'Setapp' Offers 60 Mac Apps for $9.99 Per Month

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Following a beta testing period of more than a month, Mac app subscription service Setapp today officially launched to the public, making a collection of Mac apps available to users for a low monthly fee.

Priced at $9.99 per month, Setapp is designed to be an alternative to the Mac App Store. Through the Setapp service, more than 60 apps across a wide range of categories are available to customers. Access to apps is unlimited and includes all updates and in-app purchase content.


Setapp offers many popular Mac titles like RapidWeaver, CleanMyMac, Ulysses, Blogo, CodeRunner, Pixa, Focused, iMazing, Marked, Screens, Pagico, iStat Menus, and more.The team behind Setapp hopes that once the concept catches on with developers, the service will be able to offer somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 apps.

"If you want to get the most out of your Mac, you need great software and if you're like most Mac users, you're probably always on the lookout for new stuff that helps you get more done during your day without wasting too much time or money," said Oleksandr Kosovan, founder and CEO of MacPaw and its Setapp division. "Setapp is the ultimate 'unstore' option that gives you unlimited access to lots of great software without the anxiety of non-refundable, expensive purchases."

To use Setapp, customers install the Setapp app, which creates a folder in Finder on the Mac. The folder includes a library of apps, which users can install and use as long as a Setapp subscription is active.

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Using one of the Setapp apps does require a subscription, so access is revoked if a subscription is canceled. An online connection is required for updates, but all software can be used offline.

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For developers, Setapp aims to provide a steady stream of revenue. The company offers 70 percent of the total revenue generated by their apps, which is based on which applications customers use during a billing cycle. Two-thirds of the remaining 30 percent is also given to developers as part of a partner fee based on the value of each subscriber brought to the platform.

Setapp can be downloaded from the Setapp website for free starting today.

Tag: Setapp
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Apple Has 'Constructive' Meeting With India About Local Manufacturing Opportunities [Updated]

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Apple on Wednesday said it appreciated the "constructive" dialogue it had held with officials from India regarding the expansion of its local operations in the country.

Earlier this month, reports indicated that a high-level meeting would be taking place between the two sides, with Apple seeking concessions from the Indian government if it agreed to manufacture products locally. That meeting now appears to have taken place, although in a statement given to Reuters today, Apple offered little hint as to the outcome of those discussions.

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"We've been working hard to develop our operations in India," Apple said in a brief statement. "We appreciate the constructive and open dialogue we've had with government about further expanding our local operations."

Apple was said to be going into the meeting looking for a number of tax and other incentives, including long-term duty exemptions, but the Indian government recently appeared to push back against those demands, suggesting that it would review its entire mobile manufacturing policy instead.

However, the government's IT ministry offered the most recent indication that the government was willing to listen to Apple, saying it would consider any requests for incentives with an "open mind".

In a report by The Times of India last month, Apple was said to be looking into building an iPhone manufacturing plant in Bangalore, with Wistron as a partner. Earlier this week it was revealed that Apple had tapped Wistron as its first major supplier in India for this year's iPhone 8.

Update: According to a senior official in the Indian government, Apple's deal with the country to manufacture products locally is nearly close to completion. The official told The Wall Street Journal that "it's almost a done deal."

Tag: India
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Jawbone Leaves Users in the Lurch as Customer Support Goes Silent

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Owners of Jawbone products have been met with a wall of silence from the speaker and activity tracker company's customer support, it was reported on Wednesday.

Customers told The Verge they had contacted Jawbone in recent months or weeks about faulty products and had not received any response, while calls to the company's support number are being continually met with automated messages about busy lines.

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The company's support Twitter account hasn't tweeted since December 21, 2016, and the Jawbone Facebook page does not respond to comments left by frustrated customers, with many of the comments apparently hidden from public view. Meanwhile, review aggregator website Trustpilot.com currently gives Jawbone an average one-star rating.

Jawbone did not respond to requests for comment regarding its lack of customer support, despite the fact that the company's products are still available to buy through Amazon, if not Jawbone's own website.

Reports that the company has been struggling to stay afloat date back to May of last year, when it ended production of its UP line of fitness trackers and sold its remaining inventory to a third-party reseller at a discounted price.

At the time, Jawbone denied claims that it was going out of business and said it was focusing on advanced sensors to sell to other wearable makers, but recently both the head executive of product and the chief financial officer left the company.

According to a report in the Financial Times, Fitbit attempted to buy Jawbone last year, but it only offered a fraction of the $1.5 billion valuation the company had at the beginning of 2016. Jawbone and Fitbit have also been involved in a series of lawsuits over patents and trade secrets over the last year.

Tag: Jawbone
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Apple Offers More Details About Upcoming App Store Review Policy Changes

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App StoreYesterday, Apple announced it was introducing new App Store review features in iOS 10.3 and macOS Sierra 10.12.4 that would allow developers to respond to customer reviews for the first time. A few more details of note have emerged from Apple since then, courtesy of The Loop's Jim Dalrymple and Daring Fireball's John Gruber.

Speaking to Gruber, Apple said that developer responses to App Store reviews will show up in the store as a single response, but rather than having threaded conversations appear, customers will be able to edit their reviews and developers will be able to edit their replies. Notably, iOS users can now use 3D Touch to label reviews left in the App Store as "Helpful", something that couldn't be done before.

Currently, App Store review rating averages are reset each time a developer updates their app. However, although in-app review request prompts are to be limited to three a year, this limit won't be reset each time a developer subsequently updates their app. This is likely to frustrate developers, but it looks as if Apple has come down on the side of customers who are often subject to apps hassling them too frequently for reviews.

Perhaps most significantly for users, Dalrymple revealed that a "master switch" will be included in the next update that turns off user review request prompts across all installed apps.

On a final note, Apple told Gruber that existing apps won't have to change their review prompt behavior immediately after the APIs containing the policy changes have been implemented, but Apple offered no timeline for when the sanctions will come into force.

iOS 10.3 and macOS Sierra 10.12.4 are currently only available for developers, but Apple will likely release public betas for public beta testers in the near future.

Tag: App Store
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Apple Adopts San Francisco Typeface for Apple.com Website

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As of today, Apple has started changing the typeface on its Apple.com website to San Francisco, the font it first debuted alongside the Apple Watch in 2015.

On Apple's homepage and other web pages on the site, the San Francisco typeface is being used in many places where text is displayed, replacing the previous Myriad typeface. Bolder and easier to read, San Francisco has been used on iOS devices and Macs since iOS 9 and OS X 10.11 were introduced in 2015.

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San Francisco is a condensed sans-serif that's similar to Helvetica. It was created specifically for small displays like the Apple Watch, with extra spacing between letters to increase legibility. It also works well on larger Retina displays because of its clean design.

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Apple's website with old Myriad typeface on left, new San Francisco typeface on right

San Francisco is the first font Apple has designed in-house in many years. In the 80s and 90s, Apple used several fonts that were created in-house, but the company largely stopped making its own fonts in the early 1990s.

Apple isn't yet using the San Francisco typeface for its entire website, but may continue the transition over the coming days.

(Thanks, Nick!)

Tag: San Francisco
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Hands-On With the New Night Shift Mode in macOS Sierra 10.12.4

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macOS Sierra 10.12.4, seeded to developers this morning, introduces a major new feature: Night Shift for the Mac.

First introduced for iOS devices in iOS 9.3, Night Shift is designed to gradually shift the display of a device from a blue tint to a more yellow tint during the evening, cutting down on exposure to blue light. A quick overview of how Night Shift works on the Mac can be seen in the video below.

Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.

Night Shift can be toggled on and off using the new Night Shift switch located in the Today section of the Notification Center.

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Preferences for Night Shift are available in the Displays section of System Preferences. In this section, users can schedule Night Shift to come on at sunset and turn off at sunrise or set a custom Night Shift schedule. There's also a manual toggle and an option to change the color temperature of the display.

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Night Shift-style functionality has previously been available on Macs through the popular and well-known f.lux software, but it will be a built-in feature in macOS Sierra in 10.12.4, eliminating the need for a third-party app. F.lux continues to offer a bit more customization, however, with the option to turn it off on a per-app basis.

macOS Sierra 10.12.4 is only available to developers at the current time, but it should be made available to public beta testers in the near future. It will likely be beta tested for at least a month or two prior to release, so expect to see the update in March or April.

Related Forum: macOS Sierra
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Apple CEO Tim Cook Cashes in Another $3.6 Million in Stock

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cook_heroApple CEO Tim Cook sold an additional 30,000 shares of Apple stock over the course of the last few days, according to a disclosure shared by the U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission.

Based on the Apple's stock price of $120 to $120.41 at the time of the transaction, the sale, conducted as scheduled based on Cook's trading plan adopted back in August of 2015, netted Apple's CEO approximately $3.6 million.

Tim Cook also divested 30,000 Apple shares last week, so he's received a total of $7.2 million in 2017 thus far. Following this week's transaction, Cook continues to own just under 100,000 shares of Apple stock, valued at more than $117 million based on Apple's current stock price.

In early January, an SEC filing revealed Cook earned just $8.7 million in 2016, down from $10.28 million in 2015. Cook and other Apple executives only received 89.5 percent of cash incentives during the year due to Apple's failure to meet its target performance goals for net sales and operating income.

Cook's 2016 salary was, however, supplemented by the vesting of previously awarded stock bonuses worth approximately $137 million, tied to Cook's tenure and Apple's performance under his leadership.

Tag: Tim Cook
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What's New in iOS 10.3: Find My AirPods, APFS File System, New Apple ID Setting and More

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Released to developers this morning, iOS 10.3 is the third major update to the iOS 10 operating system. Its main feature is a new "Find My AirPods" mode for locating lost AirPods, but the update also includes many other smaller changes and feature tweaks.

There's a new profile option in the Settings app, iCloud usage is broken down more clearly, SiriKit has been updated to include bill paying functionality, and there's a new file system implemented when first installing iOS 10.3. Check out the video below for a quick rundown on all the new features introduced in iOS 10.3, and make sure to read the rest of the post for even more detail.

Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.

App animation - Apple has tweaked the animation for opening and closing apps very slightly. As they open, apps now have more rounded edges, a difference that's noticeable on apps that open slowly.

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Old animation on left, new animation on right

App switching using Command + Tab on an external keyboard is also faster.

Apple ID Settings profile - There's a new "Apple ID" profile option that's displayed at the top of the Settings app. It shows all Apple ID info, including all devices you're signed into, and it has links to iCloud, iTunes & App Store, and Family Sharing. All of these options used to be listed under an "iCloud" setting.

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iCloud storage breakdown - In the iCloud section of the new Apple ID Settings feature, there's a visual breakdown of how iCloud storage space is being used. It's more immediately clear how much space photos or iCloud backups are using. Tapping on the new storage option opens the standard iCloud management options. This section also lists all apps that use iCloud and includes the settings for Keychain, Find My iPhone, and iCloud Backup.

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Find My AirPods - Find My AirPods is a new option available in the "Find My iPhone" app. It keeps track of the last known location where AirPods were connected to an iOS device over Bluetooth, making a misplaced AirPod easier to find. It also allows users to play a sound to locate a lost AirPod. It does not work when the AirPods are in the case and its functionality is somewhat limited because AirPods have no connection of their own.

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SiriKit - SiriKit, the iOS 10 feature that lets third-party apps access Siri, is being updated with new features that will let Siri be used to pay bills, check on the status of payments, and schedule future rides from services like Uber.

CarPlay - CarPlay has been updated with shortcuts for launching the most recently used apps and the location of EV charging stations.

Maps - In the Maps app, there's now an option to 3D Touch on the weather icon to see a weather forecast and other weather-related details for your current location.

HomeKit - HomeKit has gained support for programmable light switches.

Apple File System - When installing iOS 10.3, the iPhone's file system will be updated to use Apple File System (APFS). Apple recommends making a backup before downloading the new update. Announced at WWDC last year, APFS is optimized for Flash/SSD storage and includes features like strong encryption, space sharing, copy-on write metadata, cloning for files and directories, snapshots, and more.

App icons (developer) - Developers will be able to update the icons for their apps at any time, with an update no longer required to push out new icon artwork.

Analytics - The "Diagnostics and Usage" option in the Privacy section of the Settings app has been renamed to "Analytics" in iOS 10.3. It continues to allow users to decide whether or not to send usage information to Apple to help the company improve its services. There's also a new "Share iCloud Analytics" section that allows analytics of usage and data from an iCloud account. Apple uses differential privacy to protect user information.

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iPad keyboard - Hidden in iOS 10.3 is a setting for a one-handed floating iPad keyboard layout that can be used on a 9.7-inch or smaller iPad. The feature, discovered by developer Steve Troughton-Smith, is not currently available.

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iOS 10.3 is currently only available for developers, but Apple will likely release a public beta for public beta testers in the near future. iOS 10.3 will likely remain in testing for a couple months before it sees a public release, so it could launch in March or April.

Related Forum: iOS 10
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Apple Forecasted to Report Record Earnings Next Week, but Will iPhone 8 Keep Driving Growth?

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Barclays estimates that Apple will report a record-breaking $76.6 billion in revenue when it announces its earnings results for the first quarter of fiscal 2017 on January 31. Apple reported revenue of $75.9 billion in the year-ago quarter, and offers guidance of $76 billion to $78 billion for this quarter.

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UBS estimates Apple will report revenue of $77.8 billion next week, which falls on the higher end of Apple's guidance. UBS analyst Steven Milunovich maintained a "buy" rating for Apple stock with a target price of $127—compared to $120 currently—in a research noted issued to investors today.

Meanwhile, Barclays analyst Mark Moskowitz lowered his price target for Apple's stock from $119 to $117 in a research note issued to investors today.

Moskowitz does not expect "meaningful upside potential" for Apple in 2017. He believes customers increasingly "mixing down" by opting for the iPhone 6s in favor of the iPhone 7 could weigh on Apple, while he is also concerned about China and India failing to emerge as growth catalysts in the next 12 months.

He said the so-called "iPhone 8" will potentially have "no must-have advanced features," making him skeptical of a meaningful growth rebound for Apple in the second half of this year. He added that smartphones have become "more than good enough" to serve the needs of most users over multiple years or until the device breaks.

While not likely to have a similar replacement cycle of PCs (i.e., 5-7 years), we think the smartphone market and thereby the iPhone franchise stand to face incremental headwinds this year and next, as the smartphone useful life extends to 3 to 4 years from 2 to 3 years previously. As a result, the prospect of revolutionary technology incorporated into the next iPhone (iPhone 8) is not likely to counter the expanding useful life of smartphones in general.

Specifically, he said OLED display options, bezel or bezel-less designs, an embedded Home button, and wireless charging are commonly mentioned in its discussions with industry participants about the next iPhone, but that the new features might not be able to reassert that "must have" element for customers.

Wireless charging in particular may be limited by the need to be close to a charging base. Moskowitz does not expect wireless charging over greater distances to develop until 2018-2019 at the earliest. He acknowledges that Apple could be making strides in this space by partnering with firms like Energous, but he maintains his view.

Nevertheless, he said Apple has a "sticky ecosystem" and a large cash balance that provide decent support for long-term investors.

Barclays predicted Apple has long-term growth opportunities related to India, its growing services category, the enterprise market, artificial intelligence, and possibly the cloud, but it does not expect those potential "what's next?" opportunities to emerge as "major needle movers" for the company over the next 12 months.

Tags: AAPL, Barclays, Earnings, Mark Moskowitz, Steven Milunovich, UBS
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'Theater Mode' Coming to Apple Watch

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apple-watch-series-2Apple hasn't released the first watchOS 3.2 beta to developers as of yet, but the company has shared release notes highlighting the new features that will be introduced in the update.

The most important new feature is a "Theater Mode" that's designed to let customers quickly mute the sound on their Apple Watch and disable raise to wake, preventing the screen from lighting up with arm movement.

With Theater Mode enabled, customers will still receive haptic feedback for each incoming notification, and information can be viewed by tapping the screen or pressing down on the Digital Crown.

According to Apple, Theater Mode was included in watchOS 3.1.3, but it does not yet appear to be available to consumers as an option, suggesting it will be activated when watchOS 3.2 is installed.

Rumors originally suggested a theater mode would be included in iOS 10.3, but it appears the mode was actually designed for the Apple Watch, where it arguably makes a lot more sense. That rumor said theater mode would be activated through a popcorn-shaped icon, so we may see that icon on the Apple Watch.

watchOS 3.2 also brings SiriKit to the Apple Watch, allowing customers to ask Siri to do things like send messages, send payments, book a ride, log a workout, make a call, or search through photos. SiriKit has been available on iOS devices since the release of iOS 10, but is new to the Apple Watch.

WatchKit Framework Enhancements and the AVAudioPlayer API are other new features being added in watchOS 3.2. Given iOS 10.3, tvOS 10.2, and macOS Sierra 10.12.4 were released today, we could see a watchOS 3.2 beta soon, but Apple has given no indication of when it will launch.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 10
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Caution)
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Developers Able to Respond to Customer Reviews in iOS 10.3 and macOS Sierra 10.12.4 [Updated]

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App StoreAlongside iOS 10.3 and macOS Sierra 10.12.4, Apple is introducing new App Store review features for developers.

Going forward, developers will be able to respond to customer reviews on the App Store "in a way that is available for all customers to see." This will allow developers to address negative reviews for the first time ever, something that has long been a point of contention in the iOS and Mac App Stores.

Previously, developers have had no way to respond to issues that customers report via an app review, or to further converse with a customer that has been having trouble with an app.

Developers are also able to ask customers to provide App Store ratings and reviews while using an app, allowing developers to get immediate feedback without requiring a customer to switch over to the App Store.

Apps are currently able to ask for reviews and ratings during usage, but doing so requires the App Store app to be opened up, interrupting an app or gameplay experience.

The new App Store ratings and reviews changes will be available to developers when iOS 10.3 and macOS Sierra 10.12.4 are made available to the public.

Update: Apple also plans to limit the number of times developers can ask customers to write an App Store review for an app. Only three requests per year will be permitted.

Tag: App Store
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iOS 10.3 Beta Includes New 'Find My AirPods' Mode for Locating Lost AirPods

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Apple's AirPods are wire-free, which makes them convenient to use, but it's also caused some concern from users who are afraid to lose their $159 earphones. In its latest beta, Apple has introduced a new feature to assuage customer fears - Find My AirPods.

Available in iOS 10.3, Find My AirPods adds your AirPods to the "Find My iPhone" app, listing them alongside all other Apple products. In the app, you can tap on the AirPods to cause them to play a little chirping sound that gradually gets louder for location purposes.

After activating the sound, you can choose to have it play solely through the left AirPod or through the right AirPod so you don't need to listen to chirping if only one of the AirPods is missing.

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The location of the AirPods is displayed on the iPhone's screen. The AirPods rely on the iPhone's GPS to display a location (or another iOS device) and will offer up the last known place where the AirPods were connected should the AirPods be misplaced.

Find My AirPods isn't a perfect solution because the AirPods have no built in cellular connectivity of their own, but with the ability to see the last known location, AirPods owners can at least go to that spot to attempt to reconnect, and the included sound capabilities help narrow down a location.

Find My AirPods is activated automatically when iOS 10.3 is installed. AirPods show up in the menu as soon as they're connected to an iOS device. iOS 10.3 is currently limited to developers, but a public beta should be available in the near future.

Related Forum: iOS 10
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Apple Seeds First macOS Sierra 10.12.4 Beta With New Night Shift Mode to Developers

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Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming macOS Sierra 10.12.4 update to developers, more than one month after releasing macOS Sierra 10.12.2 and four months since the debut of the new macOS Sierra operating system. macOS Sierra 10.12.4 one day after Apple released macOS Sierra 10.12.3.

The first macOS Sierra 10.12.4 beta is available for download through the Apple Developer Center or the software update mechanism in the Mac App Store. A public beta will likely be available for public beta testers later this week.

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We don't yet know exactly what features, bug fixes, or changes will be introduced in the macOS Sierra 10.12.4 beta, but because it accompanies iOS 10.3, it could be a more significant update that focuses on changes beyond bug fixes. According to Apple, the update includes a new Night Shift mode that automatically shifts the display color to the warmer end of the spectrum after night, offering Mac users an alternative to F.lux. Night Shift has been available on iOS devices since iOS 9.3.

macOS Sierra 10.12.4 also includes Shanghainese dictation support for converting text to speech, and Siri will soon gain the ability to display cricket scores.

Related Forum: macOS Sierra
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Apple Seeds First Beta of tvOS 10.2 to Developers

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Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming tvOS 10.2 update to developers for testing purposes, one month after releasing tvOS 10.1, the first major update to the tvOS 10 operating system. tvOS 10.2 comes a day after Apple released tvOS 10.1.1.

Designed for the fourth-generation Apple TV, the tvOS 10.2 beta can be obtained by connecting the Apple TV to a computer with a USB-C to USB-A cable, downloading and installing the software from a registered developer account via iTunes or Apple Configurator.

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Given the tricky installation requirements, tvOS betas are limited to developers and will not be provided to the public.

We don't yet know what's included in tvOS 10.2, but as a 10.x update, it could potentially include new features and design changes above and beyond the standard bug fixes and performance improvements. We'll update this post should any new features be discovered in the tvOS 10.2 update.

What's New in tvOS 10.2:

According to Apple's release notes, there's an accelerated scrolling option that allows users to scroll through content much more quickly, as described below:

Scroll views with a lot of content now have a behavior that allows users to scroll through them much more quickly. Several large swipes of the Siri remote will automatically switch into this mode. Additionally, users can swipe on the far right side of the remote to navigate specific indexes. If you see any unexpected behavior in your applications from this feature, please file a bug.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)
Related Forum: Apple TV and Home Theater
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Apple Seeds First Beta of iOS 10.3 With 'Find My AirPods' to Developers

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Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming iOS 10.3 update to developers, marking the third major update to the iOS 10 operating system that was released in September. The first iOS 10.3 beta comes more than a month after the release of iOS 10.2.

Registered developers can download the new iOS 10.3 beta from the Apple Developer Center or over-the-air with the proper configuration profile installed.

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As a 10.x update, iOS 10.3 likely brings bug fixes, performance improvements, and new features to iOS 10. While we won't know what's in the update until developers begin discovering changes, it is rumored to include a new "Theatre" mode with a "popcorn-shaped" icon in the Control Center.

What the rumored Theatre mode does is unclear, but should it be included in iOS 10.3, we'll find out its purpose soon enough. We'll update this post with new features that are found in the update.

Update: Apple has shared release details with several sites, outlining features that are included in the update. While the main feature is a new "Find My AirPods" option, there are also several smaller updates.

What's new in iOS 10.3:

- There's a new "Find My AirPods" tool to help users locate lost AirPods.
- SiriKit can be used to pay bills, check on the status of payments, and schedule future rides.
- The weather icon in the Maps app includes 3D Touch to show hourly forecasts.
- CarPlay includes new shortcuts for launching recently used apps.
- CarPlay's Maps now features EV charging station locations.
- HomeKit supports programmable light switches.
- Conversation View in the Mail app features navigation improvements.
- When installing iOS 10.3, it will update the file system to Apple File System (APFS), so it's important to make a backup before updating.

Related Forum: iOS 10
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The Pokémon Company Releases New 'Pokémon Duel' Strategy Game for iOS

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The Pokémon Company today launched its newest game designed for iOS devices, debuting Pokémon Duel. Pokémon Duel is a strategy board game where the goal is to collect a range of different Amiibo-style Pokémon figures, each of which has unique abilities.

Six Pokémon figures are used to build a deck, and with a deck, players can compete with other gamers around the world in ranked League Matches.


According to the app's description, the object of each game is to be the first player to get a figure to the other player's goal, carefully choosing a route and using strategy to outmaneuver an opponent.

The rules are simple! The object is to be the first player to get one of your figures to your opponent's goal. How will you get to the goal? You'll need to carefully choose your route! In duels, you and your opponent take turns moving your figures. Set up a strategic formation and attack your opponent, or simply block their path--it's all about tactics! Plan your strategy and defeat your opponents in this game of cat and mouse!

Pokémon Duel is compatible with iPhones and iPads running iOS 8 or higher. The game is free to play, but includes gems that can be purchased in-app to speed up and enhance gameplay.

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Pokémon Duel was previously available to iOS users in Japan, but is today expanding to the United States and other countries around the world.

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

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Gamevice Reveals New and Improved Gaming Controllers for iPhone 7, iPad Pro, iPad Air, and iPad mini

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Accessory maker Gamevice today debuted a collection of new mobile gaming controllers for the iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPad Pro 9.7-inch and 12.9-inch, iPad Air, and iPad mini, which all come with updated thumbsticks, improved buttons, a lighter build, and a Lightning connector for simple connection to each iOS device. The original version of the controller launched for the iPhone 6s in 2015.

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The iPhone 7 Plus Gamevice controller

Gamevice's controllers work by placing an iPhone or iPad into the space between each side of the controller, and connecting the smartphone or tablet to the accessory with the iPhone's Lightning port. The controller itself also has a Lightning port on the outside, so users can keep their iOS device charged while playing. When not connected to power, the controller is powered directly from the battery of the iPhone or iPad.

Like traditional gaming controllers, Gamevice includes two thumbsticks, a directional pad, shoulder buttons, four ABYX face buttons, and a menu button. The thumbsticks on Gamevice's controllers are horizontally aligned, similar to those on the PlayStation DualShock controllers. In addition to these features, the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus versions of the controller have a headphone jack.

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The iPad Pro 12.9-inch Gamevice controller

The full list of updates includes:

  • It’s lighter. The iPhone now powers Gamevice, meaning that it doesn’t need its own battery. What’s more, it draws no more power than headphones do.

  • It’s got Lightning. Out goes USB port, in comes a Lightning port - meaning that you can charge your iPhone and your Gamevice at the same time.

  • It’s ‘thumbier’. The thumb sticks have been upgraded to be more ergonomic and comfortable, giving improved control.

  • Full support for iPhone 7. Gamevice for iPhone now supports every iPhone since iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Its patented design turns your iPhone into a mobile video game console.

Within its own app on the iOS App Store, called Gamevice Live [Direct Link], the company has curated a collection of apps that support its controllers, now reaching over 900 games. Titles include Minecraft: Pocket Edition, Assassin's Creed: Identity, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, Bully: Anniversary Edition, and more.

The iPad Pro and iPad Air Gamevice controllers are available today on Apple.com, and the iPhone 7 and iPad mini versions will launch on January 31. All models cost $99.95.

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The iPad mini Gamevice controller

Some users have noted on Twitter that the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus Gamevice controllers have already begun appearing in some Apple retail stores ahead of their January 31 launch date.

Related Roundups: iPad Air , iPad Pro, iPad mini
Tag: Gamevice
Buyer's Guide: iPad Air (Buy Now), iPad Pro (Caution), iPad Mini (Buy Now)
Related Forums: iPad, iPhone
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Ford Hires Apple Marketing Director Musa Tariq as Brand Leader

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Ford today announced it has hired Musa Tariq as a Vice President and its Chief Brand Officer starting January 30. Tariq will work with Ford's marketing and communication departments to "define, build, and communicate" the carmaker's brand across the world as it further pushes into connected technologies.

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Tariq has served as Global Marketing and Communication Director of Apple Retail since August 2014, working on Apple Store initiatives. Prior to Apple, he was a social media director at Nike. He held the same position at Burberry, where he worked for Angela Ahrendts, who is now Apple's retail chief.

Tariq started his career in marketing and advertising, serving in leadership roles at ad agencies JWT and Saatchi & Saatchi.

Tag: Ford
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