A new iOS 16 app lets users open any app of their choice directly from their Lock Screen without ever needing to navigate their iPhone.
The app called "Launchify" lets users configure one or more iOS 16 Lock Screen widgets that directly open any app of their choosing. Users can create a widget to quickly open Messages, Twitter, the Phone app, or Apple or Google Maps, for example.
While iOS 16 includes a redesigned Lock Screen with new customization features, Apple does not allow users to replace the flashlight and Camera app shortcuts with custom apps. Users can, however, customize a wide range of visual elements on the Lock Screen, including the font and color of the time, custom wallpapers with a depth effect, and more.
Launchify is available for free on the App Store but features an in-app subscription that enables more advanced features, such as adding more than one app shortcut on the Lock Screen.
Apple today announced the "HomeView," an all-new kind of smart home hub featuring a 7-inch Liquid Retina display and Siri AI.
Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing Greg Joswiak said:
Apple HomeView is designed to be shared by everyone in the home yet feel completely personal to each user. It recognizes your face to shift from a household screen to your own experience,...
Tuesday October 13, 2026 6:08 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple today announced the fourth-generation Apple TV 4K, with key features including an A19 chip, Siri AI support, an updated Siri Remote that has Find My support with Precision Finding, built in far-field microphones, support for surround sound with four HomePods in front and rear pairs, and more.
The A19 chip in the new Apple TV 4K delivers up to 50% faster CPU performance and up to twice...
Tuesday October 13, 2026 9:39 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
MacRumors was first to reveal the name "HomeView" last week, after discovering a trademark filing from a secretive shell company that we correctly suspected was linked to Apple.
Apple was likely behind a "homeOS" trademark filing as well, but the company ultimately decided to stick with generic "HomeView software" naming, just like it refers to the HomePod's operating system as "HomePod...
This is a perfect example of a piece of software offering a subscription where it's entirely not necessary. If you want to use this app and are perfectly happy with the functionality it offers today, there should be an option to purchase it outright.
I understand that developers want to be paid for the ongoing development of their software and that makes sense if there are new features to be added in future. But when you're buying a set of features that are already there and you're happy to live with them perpetually, let's see a standard purchase option.
Yet another app where the AppStore description fails to mention anywhere what the limits of the 'free' downloaded version are and what you get with the in-app subscription.
Surely it should be an AppStore requirement that developers are up-front about what the app offers, its (free) limitations and what in-app subscriptions actually give you? Having to download an app just to find out this basic information is very annoying.
Apple's first foldable iPhone, with a book-style design featuring a 5.4-inch outer display and a 7.6-inch inner display with a minimal crease down the middle.
