MacRumors

Sci-Fi puzzle adventure game Love You to Bits has been named Apple's App of the Week, and as a result, it will be free to download for the next seven days.

Released in February of 2016, Love You to Bits is normally priced at $4.99. In this game, players take on the role of Kosmo, a space explorer who is searching for the parts of Nova, his robot girlfriend that was destroyed in an accident.

Gameplay consists of exploring strange worlds of planets, solving puzzles, and hunting down hidden objects to uncover the details of the love story between Kosmo and Nova.

Universal
Explore enigmatic planets full of mind-boggling puzzles to be solved! Meet and outsmart dozens of bizarre creatures and aliens from all around the universe!

Breathtaking
Experience and rebuild a thrilling love story for all audiences: pure visual-storytelling with stylized visuals and a hair-raising soundtrack!

Cute
Reconstruct the touching past of Kosmo and Nova by collecting dozens of their hidden love-tokens.

Enduring
Coming soon, extra unique levels will be added to "Love You to Bits"! The adventure continues with no in-app purchases of any kind!

To play the game, an iPad 2 or newer, iPhone 4s or newer, or fifth-generation iPod touch is required. iOS 8 or later must also be installed.

Love You to Bits can be downloaded from the App Store. [Direct Link]

For more free and discounted apps, make sure to check out our Deals Roundup, which includes an up-to-date list of app deals. Our Deals Roundup is updated with new app deals multiple times a week and is a good resource for finding app sales.

Apple today updated its App Store with a major "Celebrating Indie Games" promotion that highlights a huge range of games created by independent developers and small app development companies.

Mushroom 11, a newly released puzzle platformer, is the main feature in the App Store right now, with Monument Valley, Device 6, Super Hexagon, Transistor, and Superbrothers: Sword & Sorcery also receiving top billing at the current time.

There are also a number of categories that have been updated with a selection of indie games, inclduing "Indie games celebrate innovation," "Outstanding gameplay," "Unforgettable stories" and "Incredible sound design."

According to our sister site TouchArcade, Apple's indie games promotion may be the reason some high profile indie titles are coming out over the course of the next few days, including Bit City, Typeshift, and Card Thief.

Most of the highlighted apps aren't on sale during this promotion, but it gives iOS gamers a way to find quality games that they may have missed.

Apple's new TV app for iPhone and iPad is currently available in the United States only, but that may change in the near future.

The fifth beta of iOS 10.3 seeded to developers and public testers on Wednesday appears to include the TV app in place of the Videos app for some Canadian users, including myself. For context, my iPhone 7 Plus's region is set to Canada and I am signed into an Apple ID account linked to the Canadian store.

While the TV app can be opened, it is not fully functional. The "Watch Now" tab directs users to the "Store" tab, which does not load properly. The main "Library" tab listing TV shows and movies in a user's iTunes library does work, as does the "Search" tab, which integrates with apps such as Netflix.

Additionally, a few Canadian users on Reddit claim they do not see the TV app on iOS 10.3 beta 5. Given this is pre-release software, it is unclear if Apple is actually testing the TV app beyond the United States, or if there is simply a bug or glitch. We'll know for sure when iOS 10.3 is officially released.

Apple launched the TV app on iOS 10.2 in the United States to simplify the television-watching experience and help users discover new TV shows and movies to watch. The app provides a unified experience for accessing your TV shows and movies across multiple video apps, such as Netflix, Hulu, and HBO GO.

Plex today announced that its new Plex Cloud service has officially launched, making it available to all Plex Pass users. Plex Cloud has been in beta testing since September of 2016, but is now ready for a wider release.

Plex Cloud is designed to allow Plex users to store their media in the cloud so that it's accessible from anywhere without the need to set up a local server.

Using a compatible cloud service, Plex Pass subscribers can create an always-on Plex Media Server that can stream any media content to any device with Plex installed in 60 seconds or less. As with a standard local server, media is organized using the Plex app for quick access to TV shows, movies, music, pictures, and more.

Because Plex Cloud relies on cloud storage, Plex Pass customers will need access to Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive. A subscription may be required, based on how much storage space is required for an individual's media library.

A Plex Pass is also required for access to Plex Cloud. The Plex Pass, which includes access to other upgraded features as well, is priced at $4.99 per month, $39.99 per year, or $119.99 for lifetime usage.

One of Facebook's Snapchat clones is launching worldwide today within Facebook Messenger, after a previous soft launch in countries including Poland and Australia. Called "Messenger Day," the new feature will allow Messenger users to post updates that disappear after 24 hours.

The twist with Messenger Day, according to Facebook, is that the app's filters and features encourage users to create new plans in the moment, instead of revisiting things your friends have already done like on Snapchat.

To facilitate this, Messenger Day includes a collection of photo and video filters -- like the time of day or call-outs asking to grab food -- that will provide appropriate context for friends viewing posts. According to Facebook VP of messaging David Marcus, who spoke with TechCrunch, this will let Facebook Messenger users snap a quick photo, add a frame, and see if any of their friends are up for going grab a coffee or watching a movie, without having to text individual people or post on Facebook itself.

"This is about today. It's not about yesterday. It's not about tomorrow" Marcus tells me. "The 2 key functionalities are 1. I'm going to set context because it's going to make for better conversations if people know where I am and what I'm doing. And 2. It's about where I want to take my day, like 'I'm bored and I want to go out for coffee' or 'I want to go see a movie' so I'm going to use a frame, take a photo, and see which of my friends are going to engage with me to actually make that plan, because planning is one of the core capabilities of a messaging app."

Like Instagram Stories, Messenger Day sits atop Facebook Messenger and shows the days of your friends in a row of horizontal icons that autoplay one after another when viewed. Users can interact with specific posts by sending a message to the poster, and an "Active Now" indicator will let users know who is online and available to meet up with in the moment.

All of the usual doodling options, filters, and stickers of other apps will also be found in Messenger Day. For its plan-making filters, Facebook said that there are over 5,000 of them, including invites to going for a run, grabbing drinks, and other activities. Users can even create custom filters through text.

This is where Messenger Day’s unique slant on Stories for messaging comes in. The searchable, categorized filters include calls to action like “Who’s up for grabbing coffee?”, “Road trip”, “Movie night?”, “Let’s grab drinks”, “Let’s go for a run”, and tons more. These make it easy and fun to invite friends to hang out with you offline.

And unlike posting “who wants to grab dinner?” on Facebook where a lack of responses could make you look unpopular, the posts disappear and all replies in Messenger Day are private so you don’t have to worry about seeming lonely.

Including Messenger Day, Facebook's Snapchat copying has grown to include Instagram Stories, WhatsApp Status, and the yet-to-launch-worldwide Facebook Stories. Within Facebook Messenger, some users noticed recently that a few of the company's "Reactions" have been made available to respond to friends' messages, including a new thumbs-down option.

Photography app VSCO has announced a handful of new features for its users, centering around the addition of its separate GIF creating DSCO app [Direct Link] directly into the main VSCO app. Thanks to the inclusion, users can now create looping images and post them to their VSCO feeds.

Similar to the camera wheel options on Instagram and in the iOS Camera, users can tap DSCO at the bottom of the camera in VSCO to switch over to the video format, record a moment, and upload it to VSCO. The company has shared a collection of DSCO examples on its website for users to check out.

In addition to DSCO, a few new community-side features have been added into the VSCO iOS app, including the ability to block unwanted users from interacting with your content. VSCO images are public so blocked users can still view any image they want, but they can no longer follow users who have blocked them, repost, or favorite their images or DSCO videos.

To further facilitate an environment of positive feedback, VSCO has added the ability to favorite posts between users without the public at large being able to see favorites. VSCO said that this makes favorites "a private acknowledgement between two people," and lets its users take bolder creative risks without the worry of like counts that other platforms have.

VSCO is a place to take creative risks and share what you love, not what you think others will love. This is why VSCO does not publicly show your follower count or how many people reposted your image — it’s where you can be you.

The company said that the newly announced features will be rolling out over the next couple of weeks. In December, VSCO added RAW image capturing and editing on iOS 10 devices.

VSCO is available to download for free on the iOS App Store. [Direct Link]

Uncertainties over Foxconn's manufacturing expansion into the United States have been raised once again, this time following comments made by company chairman Terry Gou, who spoke to reporters at an event celebrating the start of construction on a $8.87 billion display plant in Guangzhou, China (via Nikkei). At the ceremony, Gou told reporters he had just returned from a trip to Washington without confirming if he met with the Trump administration while he was there.

Since the November election, and even before it, the Trump administration has advocated for Apple specifically to make some of its products in the U.S. and not at foreign facilities, leading to multiple reports that Apple suppliers are looking into building large plants stateside. Now, Gou has raised concerns over any of the company's previous U.S. manufacturing plans because he's not sure if the U.S. government can work fast enough to stay ahead of all of the work needed to be done before any company like Foxconn can build a successful, large-scale facility in the states.

"I am concerned as to whether the U.S. can resolve all the investment issues in only a few months' time," Gou said, adding America also lacks the skilled labor and comprehensive supply chain the display industry requires.

"Does the U.S. offer incentive programs for foreign investors? They'll need to pass bills first, and we'll need to wait for American authorities to make a decision first," Gou said.

Ultimately, Gou tried to avoid strictly siding with one country or the other, saying that the best course of action would be to support both once the option became available. "I am not willing to choose between [the U.S. and China]. Why should I give up on any market?" Gou ended the line of questioning from reporters with a pledge for the governments of both countries to avoid a trade war and "get along peacefully."

"It is in the interest of the entire humanity that China and the U.S., the top two economies in the world, can get along peacefully," Gou said. "They are in the process of gambling with each other, and I can foresee that the two will eventually work together to grow [their] economies and deliver beneficial outcome for many. If they don't, then everyone will be losers."

In a separate report from Reuters, Foxconn is now said to have lost ground in its bidding for Toshiba's memory chip business "due to its close ties with China." The Japanese government is worried about "the transference of key technology" if a winning bidder has a close relationship with China, and Toshiba executives are reportedly aware of the government's wishes and "will take into account how close bidders are to China in the selection."

Apple accounts for over 50 percent of Foxconn's total revenue, and because of lukewarm demand for the iPhone 7 in 2016, Foxconn saw its first ever profit decline since the company went public 1991. Optimism has now surrounded the company's 2017 outlook, however, due mostly to excitement for the debut of the "iPhone 8," perhaps called the "iPhone Edition."

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.

Didi Chuxing, the Chinese-hailing company that Apple invested $1 billion in, is opening an artificial intelligence lab in Mountain View, California, reports Recode. The lab will focus on intelligent driving systems and AI-based security for transportation, confirming Didi Chuxing's interest in self-driving vehicles.

The facility, located less than 10 miles from Apple's two Cupertino campuses, is one of Didi Chuxing's first locations outside of China. Its location in Mountain View gives Didi Chuxing a better opportunity to recruit key autonomous driving talent, most of which is concentrated in the Bay Area. Google, Uber, Apple, and hundreds of other startups are nearby.

Didi Chuxing has already poached two high-level employees from Uber and Google. Charlie Miller, the engineer who hacked and stopped a jeep remotely is joining Didi from Uber, while Jia Zhaoyin, a senior software engineer at Waymo, comes from Google.

Apple invested $1 billion in Didi Chuxing back in May 2016, and there has been speculation that the investment could lead to a deeper partnership between Didi Chuxing and Apple in the future as Apple is also working on self-driving technology.

Didi Chuxing is the largest ride-hailing company in China, having purchased Uber's Chinese operations in July 2016.

Rumors originally suggested Apple would develop its own autonomous electric vehicle, but Apple shifted focus last summer and is now said to be aiming to create an autonomous driving system that would perhaps allow it to partner with car manufacturers or ride-hailing companies like Didi Chuxing in the future.

In honor of International Women's Day, Apple today updated its iTunes stores to highlight movies and TV shows created by, starring, and featuring women.

The iTunes store for movies, for example, has a main section highlighting 10 actresses and filmmakers, including Amma Asante, Laia Costa, Tae Ri Kim, Meera Menon, Ruth Negga, and more. There's a separate section focusing on women directors, and multiple movies starring women are highlighted in the app carousel, including Jackie, Arrival, Moana, Fences, and Edge of Seventeen.

Separately, there are also several "Like a Girl" movie categories: Act "Like a Girl," Fight "Like a Girl," Direct "Like a Girl," and Write "Like a Girl," along with categories for specific actors and directors that showcase entire catalogs of work.

Apple's TV section includes a "Bold Women" section, and highlights TV shows with prominent female actresses and creators like Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Insecure, Westworld, Steven Universe, and more. Categories like Women of Comedy, Bold Dramas Created by Women, Bold Girls, and Women of Reality TV are also available.

There's a small section on the iBooks Store featuring "More Hidden Figures," but other than that, the promotion is limited to the TV and Movie stores, with no changes to Apple Music or the App Store.

Update: Apple has added several Apple Music playlists celebrating International Women's Day.

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.

The Twitter app for iOS devices was today updated to version 6.73.1, adding a small but important feature that allows users to have more control over the amount of storage space Twitter uses on an iPhone or iPad.

A new storage setting lets users see how much storage space Twitter is using for cached images and web content, and it offers an option for clearing stored data. Users can choose to clear Media storage or Web storage independently. Some Twitter users appear to have a dedicated "Storage" section, while others are seeing the information listed under "Data usage," so it's not clear what the final storage UI will look like.

Twitter's new cache clearing option will be a welcome addition for users who frequently use the default app. Prior to the introduction of the storage setting, the only way to clear a large Twitter cache that was taking up a lot of space was to delete and reinstall the Twitter app.

The new option brings the official Twitter app in line with third-party Twitter apps like Tweetbot that already offer a cache clearing option.

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

Qardio, known for its line of connected health products, today announced that it is expanding its partnership with Apple, a move that will see Apple Stores around the world offering the QardioArm smart blood pressure monitor.

The QardioArm, which is priced at $99, is an FDA approved blood pressure monitor that's able to interface with an iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch to help users keep an eye on their blood pressure. It was the first medical device available via Apple Health, and it's designed to make it simple for users to share data with health professionals.

"We're thrilled to expand our global retail presence in collaboration with such a visionary retailer," says Alexis Zervoglos, Chief Business Officer at Qardio. "We share with Apple an absolute belief that purity of design coupled with technological innovation drives change, as we focus on creating beautiful, accessible products that lead to a healthier world without compromising lifestyle."

QardioArm is available from Apple's online store and from Apple retail locations starting today. It's priced at $99 in the U.S., £99 in the UK, and €129 in other European countries.