At WWDC in June, Apple said iOS 13 would bring live radio requests to Siri from iHeartRadio, TuneIn, and Radio.com, but it looks like that rollout is already underway ahead of the software's release in the fall.
Macerkopf.de this morning reports that some users in Germany are having success asking Siri to play live national radio stations over HomePods running the latest official software and via Apple Music on devices running iOS 12.
It's not clear how far the company has got in laying the groundwork for live radio Siri requests elsewhere, but Apple says that come the official global rollout in the fall, Apple device owners will have around 100,000 radio stations to choose from.
Other new features destined for HomePod this fall include Handoff for music, podcasts, and phone calls, as well as individual voice recognition for up to six users.
Apple says the latter feature will enable a personalized listening experience and personal access to messages, reminders, lists, and calendars, as well as the ability to make phone calls from the user's contacts.
Wednesday February 5, 2025 7:15 am PST by Joe Rossignol
iOS 18.3 was released last month, so the first iOS 18.4 beta should be coming soon. iOS 18.4 is expected to be a more substantial update for the iPhone, with several new features and changes related to Apple Intelligence and beyond.
Apple's website suggests that iOS 18.4 will be released in April, following beta testing. Below, we outline what to expect from the update so far.
Apple...
Tuesday February 4, 2025 8:00 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today announced the launch of a new app called "Invites," which is designed to allow users to plan events like birthday parties, graduations, vacations, baby showers, and more.
"With Apple Invites, an event comes to life from the moment the invitation is created, and users can share lasting memories even after they get together," said Brent Chiu-Watson, Apple's senior director of...
Monday February 3, 2025 1:15 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple does not approve of the "Hot Tub" pornography app that was released for the iPhone in the EU using alternative app distribution, Apple said in a statement to MacRumors. Further, Apple is concerned about the potential user safety risks with a pornography app, and says that it undermines consumer trust in the Apple ecosystem.
We are deeply concerned about the safety risks that hardcore...
Wednesday February 5, 2025 10:17 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple hasn't refreshed the Apple TV since 2022, but rumors suggest that we're finally going to get an update in 2025. We don't have a full picture of what to expect yet, but we have some hints on what's coming.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
Updated A-Series Chip
The current Apple TV 4K uses the A15 Bionic chip that was in the iPhone 13 lineup, and it's time for...
Thursday February 6, 2025 3:30 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple's next-generation iPhone SE could debut as soon as next week with a launch to follow later in February, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple isn't expected to hold an event for the iPhone SE 4, and will instead unveil the device through a press release.
The iPhone SE 4 is expected to have an iPhone 14-style design, with Apple eliminating the thick bezels and Touch ID Home button of...
Thursday February 6, 2025 11:21 am PST by Joe Rossignol
If you pay for iCloud storage on your iPhone, Apple has a new perk for you, at no additional cost.
iCloud+ is the official name for Apple's paid iCloud storage plans, which range from 50GB for $0.99 per month to 12TB for $59.99 per month in the United States. iCloud+ plans already come with multiple perks for free, such as Hide My Email and HomeKit Secure Video, and now there is another one...
Thursday February 6, 2025 7:31 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple is internally testing iOS 18.3.1 for iPhones, according to our website's analytics logs, which have been a consistently reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. The software update should be released within the next few weeks.
iOS 18.3.1 should be a minor update that addresses software bugs and/or security vulnerabilities. Apple Intelligence notification summaries for news and...
Tuesday February 4, 2025 9:35 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple this week increased the prices for its monthly AppleCare+ subscription prices for the iPhone, raising the cost by 50 cents for all models in the United States.
Standard AppleCare+ for the iPhone 16 models is now priced at $10.49 per month, for example, up from the prior $9.99 per month price. The 50 cent price increase applies to all available AppleCare+ plans for Apple's current...
I would like this on my iPhone natively. If the iPod could do it would love my phone too.. Surely with all the antennas in there it can pick up radio. Just saying, even in emergencies it would be useful, instead of relying on an app and data.
I'd like it too but to clarify it sounds like this is about internet radio. Actually picking up FM/AM stations via radio waves isn't supported, it sounds like, and instead this is live-streaming via wifi or mobile data.
I would like this on my iPhone natively. If the iPod could do it would love my phone too.. Surely with all the antennas in there it can pick up radio. Just saying, even in emergencies it would be useful, instead of relying on an app and data.
Working for me too, but it seems to be hit or miss depending on where the station is being sourced from. A majority of the stations in my area (Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN) are on iHeart, so those all work fine. Recently tested it out with one of the stations in the area (KTCZ/Cities 97.1) and it worked like a charm! Radio.com stations (for the most part) are working too. The only ones I seem to be having trouble with are the TuneIn ones so far.
Asked Siri (English) : "Play live Radio" , got Deutchlandfunk playing.
Non of my local channels seem to work.
Happy that at last we have an easy way to listen to "Normal" Radio, Hardware Radio on the iPhone should have long time ago be enabled, now it needs data, if they just had the (Hardware) radio enabled by default it would not cost people any data.