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

Apple today seeded the eighth beta of an upcoming watchOS 5 update to developers, one week after releasing the seventh beta and over two months after introducing the software at the Worldwide Developers Conference. To get 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...

Popular iOS and Android weather app Dark Sky has updated with "one of the biggest overhauls" to date, according to a new blog post that the company shared online today. The update introduces a new visual look and the home screen now has a "unified timeline," which combines various aspects of your local forecast onto one page instead of separating them into multiple areas. Now, you can view the ...

Fitbit today announced the "Fitbit Charge 3," its latest fitness tracker that includes improvements to health and workout features, a 7-day battery life, and advanced sleep tracking with an upcoming "Sleep Score" beta. The Charge 3 is completely swimproof and includes a touchscreen display, but is considered a "tracker" and not a "smartwatch," like the Fitbit Versa or Apple Watch. The Charge 3 ...

Mojang's classroom-focused "Minecraft: Education Edition" will launch on the iPad in September, allowing teachers to incorporate the game into their lesson plans for the new school year (via GeekWire). Minecraft: Education Edition first launched in November 2016 on macOS and Windows platforms, and since then teachers have used the game as a tool to teach students science, engineering, math,...

Earlier this month, hip-hop artist Nicki Minaj debuted her latest album "Queen" on her new Beats 1 radio show "Queen Radio," just minutes before its wider release. And, by the sounds of it, that didn't make Spotify very happy. In a series of tweets on Sunday, highlighted by Digital Music News, Minaj said Spotify retaliated by electing not to promote the album on its platform during its first ...

Dutch media is reporting that an Apple Store at Leidseplein in Amsterdam was briefly evacuated today, likely after an iPad battery overheated. At 2:20 p.m. local time on Sunday afternoon, the Amsterdam fire department tweeted that crews were on the scene. The tweet added that there was "no smoke" at the store, but "three people with breathing problems." A spokesperson for the fire...

Facebook is contesting a demand from the U.S. government that it break the encryption of its popular Messenger app so that law enforcement can listen in to a suspect's conversations as part of an ongoing investigation into the MS-13 gang. The U.S. Department of Justice's demand is in relation to a case proceeding in a federal court in California that is currently under seal, so public files...

Child actress Brooklynn Prince has been cast in the lead role of Apple's upcoming drama series that's based on the life of young journalist Hilde Lysiak, reports Deadline. Eight-year-old actress Prince is known for playing Moonee in "The Florida Project," and she is currently working with Angelina Jolie and Sam Rockwell on "The One and Only Ivan." The upcoming TV show, which will be...

Netflix is testing a new feature that adds video promos in between episodes of TV shows, Netflix confirmed to TechCrunch this afternoon. The promos Netflix is showing to some users include full-screen personalized videos with content recommendations similar to Netflix recommendations available elsewhere on Netflix. According to TechCrunch, the promotional videos displace preview...

Logitech often works with Apple to introduce new accessories for Apple devices, and in early August, Logitech announced its latest product designed in collaboration with Apple, the new POWERED wireless charging stand for iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X. POWERED is an upright charging stand able to charge a compatible iPhone in either horizontal or landscape orientation. Made from a...

For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Choetech to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win a 7.5W Wireless Car Charging Mount that can be used to charge an iPhone X, iPhone 8, or iPhone 8 Plus in the car or at home. Priced at $30, Choetech's Wireless Car Charging Mount features a grippy suction cup base that can attach to a car's dashboard or window, holding the iPhone at an ideal...

The developers of the Transit app this week announced the expansion of real-time crowdsourced data for buses, trains, streetcars, ferries, and so forth to 175 cities across the United States, Canada, and Europe. Normally, the locations of public transportation vehicles are pulled from a transit agency's data feed, which can take anywhere from 10 seconds to five minutes to update. This can...

In a new interview today with The Los Angeles Times, Beats 1 host Zane Lowe discussed a few topics related to Apple Music's daily streaming radio show, including the company's rivals. Without directly referencing Spotify, Lowe explained the need for competition among streaming music platforms. “This is a controversial statement: I don't ever want us to be the only streaming service on the...

Sony Legacy announced over the summer that it had obtained the rights to release the "bulk" of Prince's back catalog, namely the albums he debuted after he left Warner Bros. in the mid-nineties. Today, The Prince Estate digitally released 23 total Prince albums that first launched between 1995 and 2010 onto "all major streaming services," including Apple Music and Spotify. As Variety points...

Google entered the smart speaker market in 2016 with the introduction of Google Home, allowing users to speak to Google Assistant and control various smart home products, listen to music, get the news, and more. Eventually, Google added the Home Mini and Home Max to the lineup, introducing products that were direct competitors to the Amazon Echo Dot and Apple HomePod, respectively. Looking...

MoviePass today announced new restrictions for its ever-changing movie service, with the company now limiting its subscribers to a choice of what appears to be six to seven movies per day. On the MoviePass site, MoviePass lists "This Week's Movies," a section described as a "full lineup of movie titles available on MoviePass in the coming days." For this Friday, that includes Mile 22,...

Sony today introduced its new XAV-AX210 receiver, which doubles as an aftermarket CarPlay and Android Auto system. The XAV-AX210 is an update to Sony's year-old XAV-AX200 receiver, with the headline new feature being support for iDatalink Maestro, a car audio system that seamlessly interfaces with steering wheel controls, amplifier functions, on-screen vehicle settings, and more when used...

Toyota has confirmed on its website that CarPlay is a standard feature in all 2019 Sienna models sold in the United States. This is the first model year of the Sienna equipped with Apple's in-car software platform. LE, SE, and XLE trims of the 2019 Sienna all feature a seven-inch touchscreen display on the dashboard with Toyota's custom Entune 3.0 infotainment system, through which CarPlay...