MacRumors iPhone and iPad Blog: Apps, News, and Rumors

If you've been waiting for eBay's next sitewide coupon, the retailer today launched a 15 percent off code that lets you save on everything across eBay until 10:00 p.m. PT tonight. Of course, exclusions to "everything" include warranties and protection plans, coins and paper money, gift cards and coupons, and real estate. Otherwise, once you shop around on eBay and find a few eligible items...

Anki has revealed its fourth consumer product in the form of a home robot that it's calling "Vector," launching on Kickstarter today. Although the company has debuted a Kickstarter to give backers early access to the robot on October 9, it's promising that Vector will launch wide just a few days later, in stores on October 12, 2018. The new robot looks visually similar to Anki's previous "Coz...

After first launching direct grocery delivery from Whole Foods to its customers' doors earlier this year, Amazon today has begun a rollout of curbside grocery pickup at Whole Foods locations in Sacramento and Virginia Beach. At supported stores, grocery pickup will be available from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time. The company explains that Prime members can now download the "Prime Now" app for...

Bose has released an update for its QuietComfort 35 II wireless headphones that adds Alexa support as a voice assistant feature. Previously, the "Action" button on the popular noise-canceling cans was exclusively for invoking Google Assistant (Siri is accessed by holding down the multifunction play/pause button for two seconds). However, after updating the software through the Bose...

Snapchat's controversial redesign, introduced last November, caused it to lose millions of subscribers according to data shared today in its second quarter earnings results. Snap said it had 188 million daily active Snapchat users during the second quarter of 2018, down from 191 million during the first quarter of the year. In prepared remarks [PDF] on Snapchat's performance, Snap CEO...

The Gmail app for iOS was today updated with an option to turn off the threaded conversation view that some users have been unhappy with. Toggling off "Conversation View" in the Settings menu in the Gmail app will now let users see each of their emails listed individually in their inbox rather than grouped up in an "easier to digest and follow" format, as Google puts it. Gmail on the...

Read-it-later app Instapaper today announced that it is relaunching "Instapaper Premium" as part of the company's new initiative that's looking towards "the next ten years of Instapaper and beyond." Instapaper is hoping to generate revenue after it became an independent company last month through a deal with parent company Pinterest. Instapaper Premium costs $2.99/month or $29.99/year and...

Mazda this week introduced the 2019 CX-9, its second vehicle to be equipped with CarPlay in the United States, alongside the 2018 Mazda6. CarPlay and Android Auto come factory installed in Touring, Touring Premium, Grand Touring, and Signature trims of the 2019 CX-9, as part of the MAZDA CONNECT infotainment system with an eight-inch display. The software platforms do not appear to be an...

Apple Music appears to be rolling out an all-new weekly playlist called "Friends Mix" to a few subscribers today. According to Reddit user Reesyy, the new curated playlist will be filled with songs that your Apple Music friends are listening to. In order to keep track of which friend listened to each song, the playlist will include a profile picture on the songs as well. Friends Mix will...

Apple Pay Cash is the highest-rated mobile peer-to-peer payments service on the market, according to a review by Consumer Reports. In the first comparison of its kind, the Consumer Reports publication looked at the relative pros and cons of Apple Pay Cash, Zelle, Square Cash, Venmo and Facebook Messenger P2P payments. Google Pay's new money-sending feature wasn't included in the group test,...

With Screen Time, Apple has introduced a robust set of parental control options in iOS 12, giving parents a way to monitor and limit the amount of time children are spending on their iOS devices, within specific apps, and more. Screen Time works via Family Sharing, so as long as your children are part of your Family in the Family Sharing settings, you'll be able to view and control their...

The U.S. Department of Justice today filed an appeal with the District of Columbia Appeals Court protesting the June ruling that allowed the merger between AT&T and Time Warner to move forward, reports The Washington Post. In the filing, the DoJ says the district court approved the merger after "erroneously ignoring fundamental principles of economics and common sense" and that it used a...

AirPods have been discounted again this week, with Rakuten seller Altatac selling Apple's wireless headphones for $135.99 when using the sitewide discount code SAVE15. Altatac is a highly-rated seller on the retailer's website, and the AirPods are in new condition. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small...

Apple today seeded the sixth beta of a new tvOS 12 operating system to developers for testing purposes, one week after releasing the fifth beta and two months after introducing the new software at the 2018 Worldwide Developers Conference. Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV, the tvOS 12 developer beta can be downloaded onto the Apple TV using a profile that's installed...

Apple today seeded the sixth beta of an upcoming watchOS 5 update to developers, one week after releasing the fifth beta and two months after introducing the software at the Worldwide Developers Conference. To install the beta, you'll need the proper configuration profile, which can be obtained through the Apple Developer Center. Once the profile is in place, the watchOS 5 beta can be...

MoviePass is restructuring its subscription model once again, today announcing that it will not be raising prices for its subscribers and instead return to its traditional $9.95/month price tag while limiting how often users can go to the movies every month. Effective August 15, subscribers will transition to the new model upon their renewal and from then on be able to see three movies every...

Microsoft today announced that it is joining Disney's expanded Movies Anywhere service, allowing customers who purchase films on Xbox and Windows 10 to link their content to Movies Anywhere (via The Verge). Thanks to the new addition, this means that any supported movie you purchase through Microsoft Movies & TV will now also be available on other linked Movies Anywhere accounts, including...

Apple has removed the entire libraries of five Infowars podcasts from the Apple Podcasts platform, Buzzfeed News reported on Sunday. Among the podcasts removed from Apple's iTunes index are "War Room" and "The Alex Jones Show", hosted by the controversial U.S. radio host and conspiracy theory peddler. Infowars host Alex Jones A sixth show, "Real News With David Knight", was the only Infowa...