MacRumors

Santander Bank recently announced that it is launching Apple Pay support to its customers in the United States for the first time, allowing any MasterCard branded credit or debit card distributed by Santander to be added to Apple's mobile wallet. After being added in Apple Pay, Santander MasterCard holders can use the service on a compatible iPhone to pay at participating retailers, purchase items within apps, or shop on the web.

Santander said that Apple Pay is one of many customer-focused innovations it has launched over the past few months, which include an update to the company's mobile app that added in a mobile check deposit feature as well as Touch ID log-in support. Additionally, the company mentioned that more updates will continue to roll out throughout 2017.

Santander Bank's 2.1 million customers are principally located in the northeast U.S., including Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Santander has already introduced Apple Pay support to its customers in Spain and the United Kingdom.

"Our customers have been telling us that they want to do more on-the-go digital banking using their mobile devices," said Michael Cleary, Santander's Head of Consumer and Business Banking. "At Santander, we pride ourselves on listening to our customers. We've responded to their feedback by investing more resources in our mobile banking platform and upgrading the digital tools and services customers need to truly bank anywhere with Santander, and Apple Pay is a great example of that innovation."

The bank has set up a new Apple Pay webpage on its site to guide users through the steps needed to add a credit or debit card into the Wallet app on iPhone and iPad. As with all other Apple Pay-supported banks, the service is available on iPhone 6 and later, iPhone SE, Apple Watch, the late 2016 MacBook Pro, and iPad mini 3 or later within apps and Safari. Macs introduced in 2012 and later can also be used, but checkout will have to be confirmed through an Apple Pay-enabled iPhone or Apple Watch.

Apple CEO Tim Cook today tweeted out a message as a means of celebrating National Sovereignty and Children's Day in Turkey, which will take place on April 23. Cook's tweet includes a picture of a few billboards that are up in Turkey, which showcase photographs taken by "young talents" within the country in order to celebrate the national holiday.

The newest video, uploaded yesterday, includes a slow-motion shot of seagulls.

As of today, third-party podcast app Overcast lets users sync downloaded pods to their Apple Watch for standalone playback.

The latest 3.1 update brings the much-requested feature to the popular podcast app, which was designed by Instapaper developer Marco Arment.

To take advantage of the new feature, users should access the Queue Menu (⁺≡) and select the Send to Watch option. Pending transfers should appear in the Downloads screen.

Overcast recently received a design overhaul to bring it up to speed with visual changes introduced in iOS 10. The latest update also includes a new dark app icon option for premium members (a $9.99 in-app purchase).

Overcast 3.1 is available as a free ad-supported app for iPhone and iPad from the App Store. [Direct Link]

WhatsApp users on iOS can now ask Siri to read to them their latest messages when they go handsfree, following the latest update to the chat app.

Version 2.17.2 brings the feature to users running at least iOS 10.3 on their devices, along with some other tweaks and updates to the messaging platform.

In the My Updates screen, it's now possible to select multiple statuses at once and forward or revoke them, and the old Voice Call icon has been replaced with a "+" icon, which when tapped displays a list of contacts for making both voice and video calls.

Elsewhere, the two-step verification interface has been redesigned to make it easier to set up, while the Group Info, Contact Info, and Calls sections have also received interface overhauls to make them simpler to use. The camera now also remembers its last state of usage.

Lastly, support for the Persian language has been added to the chat service.

WhatsApp is available as a free download on the App Store for iPhone. [Direct Link]

Google Home received a major update to its voice recognition system on Thursday that lets owners set up the smart speaker to recognize multiple account holders.

The software update means that up to six people can connect their Google account to one speaker and Google Assistant will be able to distinguish users by the sound of their voice. Amazon is said to be working on a similar feature for its Echo range of devices.

The feature works by listening to how individual users say the phrases "Ok Google" and "Hey Google", and then runs the samples through a neural network that can detect certain voice characteristics and match vocal analyses in a matter of milliseconds. Google says the process happens "only on your device" and the samples aren't sent anywhere else.

ArsTechnica asked Google how confident it was in the speaker's ability to distinguish users only by voice. Google responded by explaining that the feature was still being refined. "We don't recommend that users rely upon voice identification as a security feature," said the company.

The feature began rolling out in the U.S. yesterday, and Google says it will expand to the U.K. "in the coming months".

Puzzle game Cut the Rope: Magic has been named Apple's App of the Week, and as a result, it will be available for free for the next seven days. Normally priced at $0.99, this is the first time Cut the Rope: Magic has been available for free since it was released in December of 2015.

Anyone who has played a game in the Cut the Rope series will be familiar with the gameplay mechanics in Cut the Rope: Magic, which involves solving puzzles and slicing ropes to get treats to Om Nom.

In this version of the game, Om Nom transforms into different magical characters as players progress through the levels, and there are new graphics, sound, and gameplay elements. On Nom can become a bird, baby, fish, mouse, spirit, and dragon, all of which have unique abilities for completing puzzles.

A magical mishap has accidentally teleported Om Nom to a mystical world filled with challenging puzzles for players of all ages. Can you use Om Nom's new skills to solve an evil wizard's tricks and traps? The latest installment of this globally popular entertainment franchise puts a fresh spin on Cut the Rope's iconic physics-puzzle gameplay, introducing more than 160 all-new magic-themed levels across a richly imagined, colorful world.

Cut the Rope: Magic will be available for free until next Thursday, when a new App of the Week will be chosen. It can be downloaded from the App Store. [Direct Link]

Apple Maps has had a Transit tab since iOS 9, enabling iPhone users to navigate using buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation.

At launch, the feature was limited to Baltimore, Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Sydney, Toronto, and over 300 cities in China. Since then, Apple has been working to expand support for public transportation to other cities around the world.

Newer additions include Atlanta, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Honolulu, Houston, Kansas City, Manchester, Melbourne, Miami, Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Montréal, New Orleans, Portland, Pittsburgh, Prague, Rio de Janeiro, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, Seattle, and Vancouver, B.C.

Now, there is evidence to suggest that Apple Maps will soon support transit directions in several other cities around the world.

MacRumors reader Bernd Keuning, who keeps close tabs on Apple Maps and has been a reliable tipster, believes that we might soon see transit directions enabled in the following cities and countries, as station outlines visible on the map in each area have increased significantly in the past few weeks:

• Adelaide, Australia
  

• Perth, Australia
  

• German states of Hamburg, Bremen, Niedersachsen, and Schleswig-Holstein
  

• Las Vegas, NV
  

• Madrid
  

• The Netherlands
  

• Paris
  

• Phoenix, AZ
  

• Rome
  

• Singapore
  

• Taiwan
  

Keuning also expects Apple Maps to eventually support transit directions in the following cities in the United States and Canada, but it might take longer for the feature to expand to these areas, as only a single or handful of red station outlines have been added over the past few weeks in most of these locations:

• Albuquerque, NM
  

• Buffalo, NY
  

• Calgary, Alberta
  

• Edmonton, Alberta
  

• Orlando, FL
  

• Ottawa, Ontario
  

• Nashville, TN
  

• Norfolk, VA
  

• St. Louis, MO
  

• Tucson, AZ

Apple Maps typically adds station outlines to a city shortly before expanding support for transit directions to the area. MacRumors has verified that each city listed above does have at least one station outline in Apple Maps.

Keuning believes that the first areas to support Transit in Apple Maps next could include Adelaide, including at least all services from Adelaide Metro and Great Southern Rail intercity service to Melbourne, and the Netherlands, including international trains to Brussel, Berlin, Frankfurt, and possibly Paris.

Google Maps has offered wider support for transit directions for quite some time, but it's nice to see Apple Maps catching up with careful consideration.

A complete list of cities that support Transit in Apple Maps is available on the iOS Feature Availability page of Apple's website.

Back in January, accessory maker Elago launched the W3 Charging Stand for Apple Watch, which housed Apple's modern wearable within a silicone shell that looked just like the Macintosh computer from 1984. This week, Elago is launching another nostalgic accessory, this time allowing users to turn their iPhone 7, 6s, or 6 into an old Mac.

Called the M4 Stand for iPhone, the charging stand functions exactly like the Apple Watch version: users slide their iPhone into the side of the silicone housing, and there's a pass-through rail underneath the stand for Lightning cable organization. In terms of size, the M4 Stand is about 5.8 inches long, 4.3 inches wide, and 5 inches tall.

View your iPhone through a blast from the past. Your iPhone fits perfectly into the stand and transforms it into an old Apple monitor.

The M4 Stand is made with scratch-free silicone to prevent damage to your iPhone and cable; the material's unique properties allow the stand to feel soft to the touch and provide weight to plant your stand on any flat surface.

The M4 isn't compatible with any Plus versions of the iPhone, nor will it work with an iPhone that's in any sort of protective case. Elago did mention, however, that the company's line of "Slim Fit" cases are compatible with the M4 Stand.

The M4 Stand for iPhone is available in Black and Classic White on Elago's website for $29.49. Elago is also selling both the Black and Classic White M4 Stand on Amazon at a slightly higher price of $29.99.

At Shopify’s Unite developer conference in San Francisco today, the software-focused e-commerce company has debuted a new hardware product, which it simply calls the "Chip & Swipe Credit Card Reader" (via TechCrunch). Similar to other card readers, Shopify's product allows merchants who run small businesses to accept a wide variety of credit cards as payment options, although it lacks Square Reader's NFC support for services like Apple Pay.

The Shopify Chip & Swipe Reader is a modular solution that allows the reader to be detached from its base so merchants can handle card swipes from any angle. To dock, the reader connects to the base via micro USB, but Shopify said that the reader itself could handle an entire week's worth of transactions before needing to be docked and charged. Different mounting accessories beyond the simple dock sold at launch are said to be coming in the future.

“What people forget is that it’s not just the merchant that’s touching the hardware, like a cash register,” Shopify VP of Product Satish Kanwar said. “When it comes to a card reader, it’s the shopper that’s interacting with the device and inputting their card as well. What we realized is that it’s really hard to get a good balance of good quality, versatility and something that provides that delightful experience in something that’s also affordable.”

Shopify's reader will be free to all Shopify merchants without a current Shopify point-of-sale solution (the company also has a sales terminal with full tap, swipe, and chip payment compatibility that does support Apple Pay). For everyone else, the new reader will cost $29, and will process payments at 2.4 percent per transaction. The reader will connect to both iOS and Android devices via Bluetooth.

Merchants interested can pre-order the device today, and the launch window is currently predicted as sometime in June. There's also a 14 day free trial for those who sign up for pre-orders.