Earlier this week, Apple executives Phil Schiller and Craig Federighi appeared on a live episode of John Gruber's podcast, The Talk Show, touching on a number of topics and expanding on some of the announcements made the previous day at the Worldwide Developers Conference keynote.
The full video and audio of the interview are now available from Daring Fireball for those interested in seeing exactly what Schiller and Federighi had to say. The executives discussed such topics as the ability to remove stock apps in iOS 10, the opening of several parts of Apple's platforms to third-party developers to allow integration into apps such as Messages and Maps, and more.
The discussion also covered Apple's expanded subscription options for app developers, including some clarification on which types of apps may not be appropriate for such a model, details on the new Photos features and how Apple is approaching privacy with them, and some thoughts on how Apple was able to make such significant improvements in the watchOS user experience.
iOS 10 has been described by Apple as its biggest iOS update ever, with new features like a total overhaul of the Lock screen, a revamped Messages app that includes its own dedicated App Store, among other improvements, a Siri SDK for developers, a more capable Photos app, a redesigned Apple Music app, and hundreds of other changes, big and small.
In the video below, we've rounded up some of the smaller but still significant changes that have gone largely under the radar, like an easy access "Unsubscribe" button for newsletters in the Mail app, side-by-side Safari multitasking on iPads, Notes collaboration, cross device copy and paste, voicemail transcription, and more.
Over the beta testing period, Apple will undoubtedly introduce refinements to many of the previously announced features, along with tweaks to the interface and new minor features to streamline iOS 10 ahead of its release in the fall. We'll have ongoing coverage of iOS 10 and the other operating system updates unveiled at WWDC -- watchOS 3, macOS Sierra, and tvOS 10.
Don't miss out on our previous videos, which have covered iOS 10 and macOS Sierra features:
In celebration of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, Pad & Quill, the maker of premium MacBook, iPhone, and iPad cases and other accessories, is generously offering an 'Everyday Developer Carry Kit' package where one winner can choose a briefcase bag, iPad case, iPhone case, and an Apple Watch band from the company's entire product line-up.
Pad & Quill offers several briefcase bag styles. The Briefcase and Large Briefcase can both accommodate laptops up to 15 inches, with the latter offering 25% more room than the former. Both are made of full-grain American cowhide and waxed canvas, featuring solid nickel hardware, internal dividers and pockets, leather handles, and a 25-year warranty. The Briefcase retails for $295 while the Large Briefcase retails for $365.
For iPads, Pad & Quill offers something for every model. For the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, there's the $139.95 Oxford Leather Folio case (see our review) that's made from a single piece of American full-grain bridle leather with a built-in stand and room for the Apple Pencil. For the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, there's the $89.95 Contega Thin Case with an archival-quality linen cover, built-in stand, and elastic band closure.
For iPhones, Pad & Quill's most popular options are the Luxury Pocket Book for the iPhone 6/6S that features a Baltic birch cradle and saddle leather cover, and the Woodline Case for the iPhone 6/6S Plus that's made of hardwood around an Aramid polymer core. For the Apple Watch, there's the Lowry Cuff band (our review) for 42mm models, and the Classic Leather Band for both 42mm and 38mm models.
One winner will be chosen. The winner can select one briefcase bag, one iPad case, one iPhone case, and one Apple Watch band.
To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter your email address. Your email address will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and provide prize shipping information. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumorsFacebook page. Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years of age or older are eligible to enter.a Rafflecopter giveaway This contest will run from today (June 17) at 12:00 pm Pacific time through 12:00 pm Pacific time on June 24. The winner will be chosen randomly on June 24 and will be contacted by email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address. The prize package will be shipped to the winner for free.
Pad & Quill is also offering $10 off any purchase of $39 or more for MacRumors readers for a limited time. Please enter code Apple10 at checkout to get the discount.
Apple and the World Wildlife Fund this week announced that the recent "Apps for Earth" promotion has raised more than $8 million in proceeds to support the WWF's conservation work.
The Apps for Earth promotion, timed to take place to celebrate Earth Day, ran from April 14 to April 24 and saw dozens of apps offering special in-app purchases with 100 percent of the proceeds going directly to the World Wildlife Fund.
Many of the participating apps, which included titles like VSCO, Trivia Crack, Hearthstone, and Angry Birds 2, heavily promoted the fundraiser, even going so far as to change app icons and graphics during the time that it ran. Apple itself updated the theme of the App Store's front page to highlight the promotion, displaying environmentally conscious messages and themed categories.
Apple has twice partnered with the World Wildlife Fund, and in addition to the app fundraiser, Apple in 2015 began a multi-year project with the WWF designed to protect up to 1 million acres of responsibility managed working forests in China.
The Beijing Intellectual Property Office has ruled that Apple's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus infringe on the patent rights of another smartphone sold within China -- Shenzhen Baili’s 100c device -- leading to the possibility that Apple may have to cease sales of its handset in Beijing completely. Apple is expected to appeal to the Beijing Higher People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Court in attempts to keep its two handsets in circulation within Beijing.
However, as Bloomberg points out, if the case turns out badly for Apple, lawsuits that the company face in the future could potentially look back at the Shenzhen Baili ruling as a precedent. Beijing has a population of 21.7 million people, so it could have a larger-than-expected negative impact on a territory that Apple has already struggled with in the past.
The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus infringe on Shenzhen Baili’s patent rights because of similarities to its 100C phone, the Beijing Intellectual Property Office wrote in its decision.
While the decision covers only Beijing, future lawsuits against Apple could take the case as a precedent, potentially influencing the outcomes of litigation elsewhere in China. Baili is one of scores of smartphone brands trying to cash in on the country’s mobile boom.
Just last month, Apple lost the exclusive rights to the name "iPhone" in China, after a ruling by the Beijing Municipal High People’s Court favored leather goods maker Xintong Tiandi Technology. Apple has stayed headstrong in a retail rollout plan of new stores and locations for its Chinese users to visit and purchase its products, but the company still faces unexpected roadblocks in the country due to its strict internet policies.
Update: In a statement given to CNBC, Apple confirmed that both the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus (along with newer models) are "available for sale today in China," and that the company is already going through the appeal process in Beijing.
"iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus as well as iPhone 6s, iPhone6s Plus and iPhone SE models are all available for sale today in China. We appealed an administrative order from a regional patent tribunal in Beijing last month and as a result the order has been stayed pending review by the Beijing IP Court," Apple told CNBC in a statement.
Microsoft has announced it is acquiring natural language and AI messaging startup Wand Labs as part of a larger strategy to build out "conversation as a platform" (via TechCrunch).
Founded in 2013 by former Google staffer Vishal Sharma, Wand Labs' stated aim is "to tear down app walls, integrate your services in chat, and make them work together so you can do more with less taps".
Previously, Wand apps focused on using conversational interfaces to allow users to perform collaborative tasks, such as enabling a friend to control a Nest thermostat, for example. (All Wand apps have been removed from the App Store since the announcement.)
"I'm proud of the work my team has done and what we've already accomplished in this emerging space," said Sharma in a statement on the Wand Labs website. "I'm delighted to be joining a company that shares our passion and enthusiasm for this new era where conversation is the central focus. Making experiences for customers more seamless by harnessing human language is a powerful vision and one that motivates me and my team."
The terms of the buyout have not been disclosed, but the fledgling Silicon Valley startup has just seven employees – a world away from Microsoft's recent $26.2 billion acquisition of LinkedIn, which has 9,700 full-time employees with offices in 30 cities around the world.
The two deals are likely related, however, as Microsoft appears to be maneuvering significant investment in the direction of conversational chat bot services backed by big data, natural language processing, and predictive analytics.
Wand employees are expected to be integrated into Microsoft's Bing and Cortana teams, as the company follows a larger tech trend towards an era of conversational AI services and virtual messaging assistants.
Introducing chatbots into popular messaging apps are becoming more and more popular, with platforms like Kik and Skype gaining bot features to provide users with interactive chat logs that provide information on the weather, entertainment, or world news.
Facebook recently introduced chatbots to Messenger, and provided developers with toolkits to create third-party customer service chatbots and live chat APIs.
In the smart home sector, similar moves are aiming to make virtual assistants more intelligent at performing tasks and more responsive to specific queries, such as Amazon Echo's recent "skills" upgrade, which enables its Alexa assistant to integrate with over 1,000 third-party apps.
Google recently announced its Echo rival, Home, while Apple is also rumored to be working on a similar, Siri-based device for the home.
Apple has reportedly been working on its rival device since before the Amazon Echo debuted in November 2014. Google Home will be available later this year, but it is not known when Apple will be ready to debut its home accessory or how it will fit into the company's existing product lineup.
In a related move, Apple announced this week that it would open Siri up to third-party developers with a public API, allowing users to summon Apple's personal assistant AI to access third-party services and apps hands-free, opening the door to a potential smart home assistant with enhanced functionality and contextual awareness.
In October 2015, Apple acquired VocalIQ, a UK-based startup that had spent the last 10 years researching natural language, belief tracking, decision making, and message generation, in an attempt to develop a next-generation natural language API.
It's early days, but Apple may introduce the API in its Echo competitor because of its ability to go beyond the "session-based" contextual responses touted by the likes of Viv.
During Apple's opening keynote address at this week's Worldwide Developer's Conference in San Francisco, CEO Tim Cook gave a shout-out to Anvitha Vijay, the youngest ever developer to attend WWDC.
Aged just nine, Vijay applied for and won one of 350 coveted Apple scholarships to attend the conference's coding and programming sessions, which are typically dominated by high school and college students. According to Fortune, the number of women who applied for Apple's scholarship also tripled this year compared to 2015.
Anvitha Vijay, the 9-year-old developer at WWDC 2016 (Image: USA Today)
A resident of Melbourne, Australia, Vijay was selected for a scholarship after she created an iOS app called Smartkins Animals, which lets young users have fun exploring the sights and sounds of over 100 animals. Prior to WWDC, the app had been downloaded "a few hundred times".
"It was like a dream to be here and meet so many people," Vijay said, speaking to USA Today. "I've just touched the tip of the iceberg in coding, there's so much to learn."
Vijay, who has Indian heritage, began teaching herself coding skills at the age of seven by watching YouTube instructional videos and using her mum's iPhone (users have to be aged at least 13 to hold an iTunes account). She said she was motivated to make an app using Xcode to teach her younger sister how to identify the names of animals.
"I want to be an innovator, to build things that people will love and benefit from," said Vijay as she handed WWDC attendees her business card, on which reads the motto: "I want to make a difference in people's lives through technology."
Vijay has now progressed to Apple's more advanced Swift programming language to develop a new app she's calling GoalsHi, which aims to give students more confidence in the classroom.
During Apple's WWDC keynote, the company revealed a new educational app called "Swift Playgrounds", which aims to introduce users to a new way to learn to code with Swift on an iPad.
The free app, due to be released with iOS 10 this fall, features custom "learn to code" lessons that focus on crafting visual cues around numeric coding data to slowly introduce kids into the world of coding.
All iPad Air and iPad Pro models will be compatible with the app, as well as iPad mini 2-and-later devices.
Apple Wallet was designed to allow users to easily place payment options like credit cards, debit cards, and gift cards alongside tickets and passes from companies like Fandango and EventBrite. However, Politico Europe has decided to try to use the app to deliver news to its readers, reportsNiemanLab (viaAppleInsider).
As a part of its coverage of the EU Referendum [next week's nationwide vote in which the U.K. decides whether to leave or stay in the European Union], Politico has started to test Apple Wallet as a news distribution channel via a new tool it calls EU Referendum Tracker. With the tool, which is available only on Apple devices, readers can opt in to receive live polling and results data, as well as breaking news alerts, which appear on the back of the pass.
Although the pass is largely used for the EU Referendum, the news organization has been experimenting with breaking news alerts. Earlier today, it pushed a breaking news alert about the death of British politician Jo Cox.
Kate Day, Politico's editorial director of growth, told NiemanLab that the news site turned to Apple Wallet in an effort to experiment with sending news notifications without developing and maintaining its own app. Currently, Apple only allows websites in Safari to send breaking news alerts on macOS. Politico chose the EU Referendum specifically because they believe users are more open to push notifications if they sign up for the specificity of a topic rather than general news.
Politico considered platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger for its project, but thought WhatsApp had scaling issues for publishers while Facebook announced its bot program after Politico began work on the Apple Wallet project. The experiment is a joint effort with ad agency Digitas LBI, which used Apple Wallet to deliver news about the U.K. general election in 2015.
Day told NiemanLab that although Apple Wallet was an unusual choice for breaking news notifications, the limitations allowed Politico to focus and simplify what they wanted to do and get across with the notifications.
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.
Apple today announced the debut of a selection of new features and resources available to developers to help them test, optimize, and analyze their iOS, watchOS, and tvOS apps.
Apple’s TestFlight beta testing platform has been updated with support for iOS 10, watchOS 3 and tvOS 10, so developers can begin testing apps incorporating new features like SiriKit immediately and providing betas to beta testers.
The update, originally released on June 13, adds features like a 3D Touch Quick Action to all apps so beta testers can get feedback on new features quickly.
Apple has also updated its App Analytics feature with data on App Store Impressions, allowing developers to tell how many times an app’s icon has been viewed in App Store search results, the Featured section of the App Store, the Top Charts, and the App Store product page.
Today’s developer news also highlights a new support page outlining how to optimize for App Store search, with tips like choosing accurate keywords, using a simple and memorable app name, correctly using App Store categories, and more.
iOS 10, watchOS 3, tvOS 10, and macOS Sierra will be released to the public in the fall following an extended beta testing period.
With macOS Sierra, the latest version of the Mac operating system, Siri is available on Macs for the first time. Siri on the Mac can perform many of the same functions available on iOS, like answering simple queries, looking up information, sending messages, opening apps, and more, plus there are Mac-specific functions.
As can be seen in our hands-on video showing off Siri on the Mac, Siri is able to search through files to help you quickly locate content with commands like "Find me the documents I opened last week" or "Where are the files John sent me on Tuesday?"
Siri is accessed through the menu bar, a dock icon, or a keyboard command, and the Siri results, displayed in individual windows, can be pinned to the Today section of the Notification Center or added to documents and files.
Pinned results are kept updated, so it's a great way to keep tabs on a sports game or a particular Twitter search right in the Notification Center, and it can be used to do things like insert a map into an email invitation or search for an image to add to a document.
macOS Sierra and Siri for Mac are are only available to developers right now, but Apple plans to offer a public beta in July. The operating system will be released for free to all Mac users in the fall.
In a wide-ranging commentary piece about WWDC 2016, tech journalist Walt Mossberg included an interesting bit about why Apple has not expanded iMessage to competing software platforms like Android.
When I asked a senior Apple executive why iMessage wasn’t being expanded to other platforms, he gave two answers. First, he said, Apple considers its own user base of 1 billion active devices to provide a large enough data set for any possible AI learning the company is working on. And, second, having a superior messaging platform that only worked on Apple devices would help sales of those devices — the company’s classic (and successful) rationale for years.
Last week, a questionable rumor surfaced claiming that Apple planned to announce iMessage for Android at WWDC 2016, but the keynote passed without any mention. Apple's executive team evidently views iMessage as a big enough selling point to keep it exclusive to Apple devices like the iPhone and Mac for now, despite Android having over 1.4 billion active users worldwide as of September 2015.
As of this week, Apple's online higher education store in the U.K. now offers up to 10 percent off Macs and other qualifying purchases, whereas the discount was previously up to 15 percent off. The base model 13-inch MacBook Pro now costs £898.80 for students and £999 otherwise, amounting to roughly 10 percent off.
Apple also no longer includes three years of complimentary AppleCare with Macs, with one year of phone support, and instead offers students 50 percent off the protection plan. AppleCare for the MacBook, MacBook Air, and 13-inch MacBook Pro, for example, is now £99.63 for students and £199 otherwise.
The changes mean that a student purchasing a new 13-inch MacBook Pro with AppleCare, for example, will now be required to pay £150 or more extra. The free Beats Solo2 Wireless On-Ear Headphones included with a qualifying Mac purchase retail for £269.95, so the difference amounts to around £100 to £120.
Apple's higher education store in the U.K. is now closer in line with the U.S., Canada, and elsewhere, where Apple has offered students up to 10 percent off with no AppleCare included for several years. It remains unclear if the changes are permanent, or only for the duration of the free Beats promotion in Europe.
Update: To clarify, Apple only offered three years of complimentary AppleCare for Mac purchases made through its online higher education store in the U.K. Physical retail stores only offered AppleCare at a discount of up to 75 percent off.
Apple previewed iOS 10 earlier this week with new rich notifications that enable iPhone users to view photos and videos, listen to audio, or respond to messages directly within notification bubbles. If you receive an iMessage, for example, you will be able to reply to the conversation without leaving the Lock screen.
Apple has also provided developers with the ability to update existing notifications with new information, or delete them, which should help declutter the Lock screen and Notification Center. But many apps still generate multiple notifications, such as every photo, video, or message you receive on Snapchat.
The problem with this current system is that notifications become easily cluttered. An active group chat can result in hundreds of individual notifications. For example I'm in a group chat of friends with about 12 active people, and I have to leave it muted anytime I choose not to participate, due to the amount of notifications that collect. In addition, this means that important information can get lost in the sea of notifications.
The solution, as seen in his concept below, could be to follow in Android's footsteps by collapsing notifications on a per-app basis.
The new design would save valuable screen space and allow you to glance at your Lock screen or Notification Center notifications much quicker. But collapsed notifications could inhibit the rich notification experience, so it would work best if collapsed notifications could be toggled on or off on a per-app basis in Settings.
Apple seeded the first beta of iOS 10 to developers earlier this week, and a public beta will be available in July. The free software update will officially be released in the fall for most devices compatible with iOS 9, excluding the iPhone 4s, iPad 2 and 3, original iPad mini, and fifth-generation iPod touch.
Apple could introduce collapsible notifications in a future iOS 10 beta, although changes will more likely be limited to minor tweaks and enhancements.
The University of Cambridge has awarded seven "distinguished individuals" with honorary degrees -- known as the highest honor bestowed by the University -- in fields like law, business, and medical science. One of those honored was Apple's own Jony Ive, who received a doctorate in science for the "elegance, purity and beauty" he brought to personal computers in his time at the company.
The man credited with introducing elegance, purity and beauty to the design of personal computers as Apple's chief designer was also honoured. A doctorate in science was conferred on Sir Jonathan Ive, Chief Design Officer at Apple, in recognition of his impact on the world of computing and in making technology approachable through design.
Cambridge won't be the only esteemed university giving Ive an honorary degree, as Oxford plans to bestow a similar honor onto Apple's chief design officer next week. The Oxford ceremony recognizes ten figures from similar fields as Cambridge, including theology, law, economics and, in Ive's case, science.
At Oxford, Ive will be named a "Doctor of Science," alongside neurobiologist Dr Cornelia Bargmann and physicist Mildred Dresselhaus. The honorary degrees will be given out at the University's annual Encaenia ceremony on June 22.
Despite announcing a handful of new additions to iOS 10 earlier in the week at WWDC, Apple kept silent on whether or not a much-requested "Dark Mode" would be coming to its mobile operating system this year, although it did announce a similar feature would be hitting Apple TV.
Yesterday, developer Andrew Wiik shared a few screenshots of what appears to be an early form of Dark Mode running on the first beta of iOS 10 inside Xcode. Wiik's tweet shows darkened versions of Messages, while a responding user corroborated his finding with pictures of Clock, Safari, and iTunes.
The Clock app is known to have gotten a darkened redesign in iOS 10, and a shot of iBooks is also included, but a reading-enabled "Night Mode" has been around since iOS 8. iTunes also presently uses a darkened scheme in its iOS app but, according to beta tester Mac Aficionados on Twitter, the system wide Dark Mode provides a unified darkened hue across all apps in comparison to what used to be an app-specific colorway with varying levels of black.
In a Reddit post sharing the screenshots, Wiik mentioned that "Apple has implemented the feature it just isn't available for us users yet." He went on to hope that "this won't be an iPhone 7 exclusive."
The potential for Dark Mode's inclusion in iOS has been around for a while now, but picked up steam thanks to speculation in a few concept videos shared earlier in the Spring. Closer to WWDC, possible hints from a few evasive Siri responses -- alongside additional concept images -- fueled more rumors than ever that the feature would be announced by Apple during its keynote.
In the weeks leading up to WWDC 2016, multiple reliable sources indicated the opening keynote would be a no-hardware affair. And as it turned out, the focus of the event was unsurprisingly on software, including iOS 10, macOS Sierra, tvOS 10, and watchOS 3. So, when can we expect new Apple hardware?
Many products were at some point rumored to have a possible connection with WWDC 2016, including the next-generation Apple Watch, MacBook Pro, and Thunderbolt Display. Those that have been following rumors consistently, however, will know that the most of the products are actually expected in the second half of 2016.
The following roundup serves as a refresher of rumors we have heard up until this point.
Macs
Apple last updated the 13-inch MacBook Pro in March 2015, followed by the 15-inch model in May 2015, with Force Touch trackpads, faster flash storage, longer battery life, and improved graphics. As our Mac Buyer's Guide indicates, that was around 400 days ago, leading many to believe that a refresh is overdue.
Prospective buyers were hopeful that Apple would surprise with a new MacBook Pro at WWDC 2016, despite the keynote being billed as a no-hardware affair, but the comapny delivered upon expectations and focused on software announcements only. So, when will the 2016 MacBook Pro be released?
Case designs, drawings, and renders for the "iPhone 7" and "iPhone 7 Plus" have been propagating online for several months now, with most agreeing that the 2016 smartphone will adopt the same design language of the iPhone 6s. Apple is still expected to introduce a few new exclusive features on this year's iPhone, possibly including a Smart Connector, dual-lens camera, redesigned antennae bands, and no 3.5mm headphone jack.
Some of these additions -- mainly the dual-lens camera -- are rumored to be solely found on the iPhone 7 Plus, while the existence of others are still debated as we move closer to September and the expected reveal of each handset. Today, designer Mathijs Schrauwen (via iPhoned) [Google Translate] has imagined these rumors into an iPhone 7 rendering, alongside the newest information coming out of WWDC regarding the feature-packed additions of iOS 10.
Schrauwen's designs show off the expected dual-lens camera system of the new iPhone, housed inside a small pill-shaped enclosure along with a horizontally aligned flash. The back also honors the rumor that Apple will realign the antennae bands from the current design, which cut across the back of the iPhone. The designer went for a Space Gray look, contrasting recent, questionable rumors that Apple might ditch the color in favor of a kind of "Deep Blue."
Thanks to iOS 10's nixing of the "Slide to Unlock" feature, placing more emphasis on Touch ID than ever before, Schrauwen also includes a touch-sensitive Home Button in his renderings. This falls in line with recent sketchy reports that the iPhone 7 could possibly be the first iPhone model without a physical Home Button.
The back of the new design renders double down on the Smart Connector rumor that is one of the more contested reports for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, with the earliest rumors saying it was coming in 2016, and newer ones contradicting that news. iPhoned also alleges that Schrauwen's designs remove the 3.5mm headphone jack, which is one of the more widely believed rumors, but none clearly show the bottom of the device.
Besides the hardware specifics, the renders are interesting insights into what a new generation iPhone might possibly look like running iOS 10. Schrauwen depicts screens running apps like Watch and Messages, and performing basic duties in the new widgets view. Instead of a downward swipe to access widgets in Notification Center, iOS 10 places them on the left-most screen of both the Lock screen and Home screen.
There's been a lot of news surrounding iOS 10 and all of its new features coming out of WWDC this week, with new details on apps like Messages, Photos, and the nuances of the redesigned Lock screen getting heavy attention. You can catch up with all the news you may have missed in the MacRumorsiOS 10 tidbits post, and check out our most recent video, centering around the robust additions to Messages.
Facebook has included a secret soccer game in the latest update to its Messenger app to celebrate Euro 2016 and Copa America.
To play the game, called "Keepy Up", update the iOS Messenger app and send a friend a soccer ball emoji, then tap the emoji in the chat thread to launch the game, the aim of which is to keep the ball in the air.
The game can be started again using the same emoji in the same thread, and high scores are posted in the chat window.
Facebook's previous secret game was basketball-themed to celebrated March Madness and the new NBA season. The game proved a bit hit with users, having since been played over 1 billion times, according to the company.
Earlier this month, Facebook also added 1,500 new emojis to Messenger in order to cater for the diversity of its user base.
Apple today 
In a wide-ranging 
Apple last updated the 13-inch MacBook Pro in 
