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

References to a mysterious "Apple Watch Victory" have shown up on Apple's website in the United Arab Emirates, hinting at an alternate name the company may have considered for the Apple Watch Nike+. An AppleCare+ support page for the United Arab Emirates, shared by 9to5Mac, mentions AppleCare+ options for the "Apple Watch" and "Apple Watch Victory," a product that does not exist. On a simila...

Insurance plans offered on a monthly basis from AT&T will soon cover cracked screens, according to recently updated information on AT&T's website (via AndroidPolice). Starting on November 15, AT&T customers who have an iPhone 6, 6s, 6 Plus, 6s Plus, or SE and an eligible insurance plan will be able to pay $89 to have a broken screen repaired. A limited number of Android phones are also...

Apple today updated several of its international websites with iPhone 7 and 7 Plus launch dates, announcing the expansion of the new devices to Egypt, Colombia, Cameroon, Kenya, Botswana, Moldova, and Mozambique. Apple previously updated its websites in Israel, South Korea, Thailand, Morocco, Madagascar, Uganda, Senegal, and Mauritius, other countries that will see late October launches....

In a new case that echoes Apple's past struggle with the FBI, the Department of Justice has been granted a warrant to search a home in Lancaster, California -- and all the smartphones inside of it -- for all "passwords, encryption keys, and other access devices that may be necessary to access" the various handsets and tablets discovered inside the location. Notably, this includes requiring every...

Apple Music's Beats 1 radio host and creative director Zane Lowe has been announced as a keynote speaker for 2017's South by Southwest music and film festival (via Billboard). Lowe has been tapped to give a presentation for the music portion of SXSW, which runs March 10-19 next year and also includes areas that branch into interactive media technologies. Other than Lowe, speakers at next...

Smart thermostat company Ecobee today announced the launch of a cheaper "Ecobee3 Lite" device that will deliver Ecobee's expected "superior comfort, control and energy savings" at $80 less than similar products from competitors, according to the company. Similar to the flagship Ecobee 3 model, the Ecobee3 Lite has the same touchscreen controls and black aesthetic, and can be controlled from a...

Approximately 18 million iOS users in the United States have turned on Apple's "Limit Ad Tracking" feature in settings, effectively preventing advertisements within apps from being targeted directly at them and their browsing habits. Based on a recent report from Adjust (via Advertising Age), that's now 20 percent of total iOS users in the United States who have LAT turned on. Although it's...

For this week’s giveaway, we’ve teamed up with Sena to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win one of the company’s Snap-On Wallet cases for the iPhone 7 or the iPhone 7 Plus. Priced at $49.95, the Snap-On Wallet is a thin high-quality leather case that’s wrapped around a flexible DuroFlex frame to protect the iPhone while also offering two slots that can house credit cards or a driver’s...

Best Buy is currently holding an Apple Shopping Event, offering significant discounts on a range of Apple products, including the iPhone 7, iPhone SE, iPad Air 2, and select Mac models. Best Buy's best deal is on the iPad Air 2, which is available at a $75 discount, dropping the price on the entry-level 32GB WiFi-only model from $400 to $325. The higher-capacity 128GB WiFi-only model is...

Sony today confirmed that it is working on creating more than five smartphone games for iOS and Android, all expected to launch before March 2018 (via CNBC). The games will be created through Sony's ForwardWorks subsidiary, which it formed earlier in March of this year as a way to craft "full-fledged game titles" for smartphones. At the time of that announcement, the company hadn't detailed...

Facebook yesterday announced an update to its flagship app that lets users stream video from their iOS device directly to an Apple TV. Now, when a video is selected in the app's news feed or from the Saved tab, a small button appears in the top right corner which, when tapped, offers to send the video to an Apple TV on the same wireless network. If you’re streaming a Facebook Live...

Twitter is opening up a new "Explore" tab on iOS and Android to a select group of users of its service. The new section is aimed at "content discovery" and showcases trending topics and simplified search tools in addition to "Moments," which the tab was previously dedicated to (via Mashable). Moments launched a year ago this month with the purpose of showing users stories and conversations...

Thanks to a boost from supplying parts for the increasing demand of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company has raised its forecast for 2016. Specifically, the manufacturer expects a revenue growth of between 11 and 12 percent, whereas it was previously holding out only for an increase of between 5 and 10 percent for the year (via Reuters). Third quarter net...

Samsung is offering $100 bill credit to U.S. customers caught up in its ill-fated Galaxy Note 7 recall if they're willing to stay loyal to the brand (via TechCrunch). Samsung discontinued the Note 7 earlier this week after handsets deemed safe by the company began setting on fire just like the handsets they replaced. Samsung is now offering those who choose to exchange the phone for any other...

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published an invention today that suggests the next Apple Watch could identify its owner simply by checking their heart rate. Apple's patent application is titled "User identification system based on plethysmography" and describes how a pulse oximeter is used to determine the biometric signature of a user's cardio rhythms. This data could then be used to...

Google has announced a few notable updates to its Photos app, with some new features powered by its machine-learning technology. The app can now automatically generate animated GIFs from videos you upload to the service. Google says its technology looks for video segments that capture activity – "a jump into the pool, or even just an adorable smile" – and creates short animations that can ...

Several employees at the Carindale Apple Store in Brisbane, Australia were today fired for stealing personal photos from customers and taking pictures of customers and female staff as part of a lewd rating game, according to Australian news site The Courier Mail. The behavior was discovered by at the Carindale Apple Store after an employee caught a technician looking through a customer's...

Apple today seeded the third beta of watchOS 3.1 to developers for testing purposes, just over one week after seeding the second beta and a month after releasing watchOS 3 to the public. watchOS 3.1 has been in testing since September 21. watchOS 3.1 can be downloaded through the dedicated Apple Watch app on the iPhone by going to General --> Software Update. To install the update, the Apple...