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

For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with Grovemade to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win one of the company's wood iPhone cases and a matching dock. All of Grovemade's products, ranging from Apple accessories to desk sets, are made from high quality wood and leather, and everything matches. Grovemade's docks, priced at $79, are made from wood and solid aluminum. Available in Walnut...

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday published an Apple patent application for a "sublimator/vaporizer" invention, leading to sensational headlines suggesting Apple might release a vape or enter the vaping industry. In actuality—and this could go without saying—the invention is completely unrelated. The patent instead relates to a semiconductor device fabrication process...

Apple has formally joined the Partnership on AI as a founding member, confirming an earlier report, the organization announced today.Apple has joined the Partnership on AI as a founding member. The company has been involved and collaborating with the Partnership since before it was first announced and is thrilled to formalize its membership alongside Amazon, Facebook, Google/DeepMind, IBM, and...

The U.K.'s Ministry of Defense has chosen Apple's iPhone 7 over Samsung as the "device of choice" for its military personnel, according to a report by TechRepublic this week. Telecoms company BT is said to be working with the country's MoD to harden the security of the phone so that military officers can discuss and store sensitive information on the device. Steve Bunn, technical business...

Mozilla has added more than 20 new languages to Firefox Focus, its privacy-centric browser that automatically blocks all trackers as users navigate around the web. The latest update to the stripped-down web browser – which features an "Erase" button at the top of the app to erase all browsing history, searches, cookies, and passwords instantly – means users can now browse privately in 27...

Lawmakers in Nebraska, Minnesota, New York, Massachusetts and Kansas have introduced legislation aiming to legalize "Right to Repair" rules for electronic devices, including Apple's iPhone, reports Motherboard. The laws would require manufacturers to sell replacement parts to independent repair shops and customers, and force them to make service and diagnostic manuals public. The bills are...

HBO today updated its HBO GO app for iOS devices and the Apple TV with support for Single sign-on, allowing subscribers to access HBO content more quickly. With Single sign-on, HBO customers will no longer need to enter their cable credentials separately when logging in to the HBO GO app. Instead, the app will use universal credentials that are stored by Apple. HBO GO is also now available in...

Last October, Twitter began testing out an enhanced version of a new "Explore" tab on its iOS app, giving a small group of users access to trending topics, simplified search tools, and "Moments," the news aggregating feature which previously had its own dedicated tab within the app. Beginning today, the "Explore" tab will be available to all users on the iOS Twitter app, giving them one-stop...

Popular freelancing website Upwork today released its quarterly study ranking the fastest-growing skills employers are looking for, and Apple's Swift programming language scored the number two spot, meaning it's one of the most sought after skills for freelance developers. Swift, along with the other top 10 skills that made the list in the fourth quarter of 2016, experienced more than 200...

Dong Nguyen, creator of the popular iOS game Flappy Bird, today launched an all-new game on the iOS App Store and Google Play Store called Ninja Spinki Challenges!! [Direct Link] (via TouchArcade). The game is a collection of six mini-games that task users with completing a set of trials centered around training to become a ninja. TouchArcade went hands-on with the game earlier this week,...

Google Translate recently updated its iOS and Android applications, bringing Japanese-to-English and English-to-Japanese translation support to its augmented reality "Word Lens" feature. Thanks to the added support, English-speaking users can point their smartphone camera at Japanese text and instantly get an English translation on screen. The same can be done for Japanese tourists visiting...

The official Apple Support app for iPhone and iPad launched in additional countries this week, including but not limited to Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The app first launched in the Netherlands in November and expanded to the United States last month. The app mirrors Apple's support website, providing users with a list of their Apple devices, options ...

Facebook has hired Xiaomi executive Hugo Barra to lead its virtual reality business, following the vice president's announcement earlier this week that he would be leaving the Chinese smartphone maker. On Monday, the former Android executive at Google said he would be returning to Silicon Valley next month to reunite with friends and family, and to take some time off before "embarking on a new ...

Google updated its Maps app for iOS today to include the live crowd-tracking feature that's been popular with users of its Maps web service for some time. While the maps app has had day-by-day, hour-by-hour charts that display when a business or retail location tends to be at its busiest, version 4.27 of the app augments that information with live data to tell users how busy the location is...

Facebook today announced that it has begun testing ads in the Messenger app. The test will be limited to users in Australia and Thailand and will allow businesses to place ads on the Messenger home screen below favorite users and most recent conversations. The company says that "no one will see an ad in a conversation without clicking on an ad experience on the Messenger home screen or...

After copying Snapchat inside of Instagram with last year's "Instagram Stories" update, Business Insider today learned that Facebook is gearing up to launch the exact same feature in its mainline Facebook mobile app. Now called "Facebook Stories," the social media company is bringing over the same circular user interface to its main app for users in a small test in Ireland, letting them post...

Verizon customers running the new iOS 10.3 beta have discovered that the carrier has added an option for Integrated Calling (Calls on Other Devices). The feature enables iPhone users to make and receive Wi-Fi calls on other iCloud-connected devices, including the iPad, iPod touch, Apple Watch, and most 2012 or later Macs, even if the iPhone is turned off or not on the same Wi-Fi network. The ...

Apple has updated the App Store in Australia to mark the beginning of celebrations for the country's national holiday Australia Day, which takes place annually on January 26. The landing page for the iOS App Store now sports a collection of apps and categories that highlight Australia's green and gold national colors. The update includes an emphasis on in-game additions with Australia...