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

Honeywell has introduced the Lyric T5, its latest Wi-Fi-enabled thermostat with support for Apple's HomeKit platform. The Lyric T5 has a square, glossy black design with built-in touchscreen controls for adjusting the temperature and other settings, or the smart thermostat can be controlled at or away from home with an iPhone or iPad using the accompanying Honeywell Lyric app [Direct Link]...

Vehicle accessory start-up Pearl, which was founded by three former Apple engineers, has begun shipping its "RearVision" car camera system to the first round of pre-order customers, while also making the $500 device available to purchase for everyone else on its website. The company announced RearVision back in June, focusing "on the existing install base" of people with older cars by introducing ...

Live radio station service "Dash Radio" recently announced the launch of a new filtering solution for toggling between clean and explicit lyrics in real time, a feature that's "the first of its kind" (via The Verge). DJ Skee, the founder and CEO of Dash Radio, said that "it's a complaint we've gotten since day one," from parents who might want to listen to certain songs without the potentially...

Chinese mobile phone maker Xiaomi has responded to Apple's iPhone 7 with the launch of a pair of new high-end smartphones. The two handsets succeeding the company's flagship Mi 5 phone are called the Mi 5s (5.15-inches) and the Mi 5s Plus (5.7-inches), the latter featuring dual cameras as per Apple's own 5.5-inch Plus device. The 12-megapixel cameras come with an f/2.0 aperture, dual-tone LED...

Google has announced YouTube Go, a new app that lets users save videos for offline viewing and allows sharing of videos with nearby users over Bluetooth (via The Verge). The app includes options for previewing videos before download, and controlling video quality and file size, all of which are intended to benefit users concerned about cellular data limits and those who are located in areas...

Musician Drake today debuted a 23-minute visual companion to his most recent album "Views," exclusively on Apple Music (via Billboard). Titled "Please Forgive Me," the short film follows Drake and his girlfriend in the video (Belgian model Fanny Neguesha) as they attempt to make off with a wealthy man's fortune. From Views, the songs "One Dance," "Controlla," "9," "Views," and more are featured. ...

Google will formally announced its Wi-Fi enabled smart home device, Google Home, at its upcoming October 4 press event, according to a new report by Android Police. The device is rumored to cost $129 and the company will sell different color plates so users can personalize the look of Home. At $129, Google Home would be $50 cheaper than Amazon Echo, which offers a selection of similar services ...

Beddit has announced that its new Beddit 3 sleep tracker will be available at select Apple retail stores, alongside Amazon and Beddit.com, on October 4 for $149. The Beddit 3 Sleep Tracker continuously measures sleep, heart rate, breathing, and snoring in detail when a person lies down in bed, providing personal insights to help users develop improved habits for better sleep. The thin,...

Apple recently updated the iOS and tvOS App Stores with a collection of apps that will be able to live stream tonight's first presidential debate, airing at 9PM eastern at Hofstra University. The debate between presidential nominees Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump marks the beginning of the seven week final stretch between the first debate and election day on November 8. There will be three...

The Messages App Store has grown to more than 1,650 applications and sticker packs in the nine days since iOS 10 launched to the public, according to new data gathered by Sensor Tower (via TechCrunch). Unsurprisingly, the most popular type of Messages app is the sticker pack, which accounts for 1,251 of the total apps on the storefront. The other 402 include entertainment, news, and...

After announcing that it would move to an algorithm-based feed earlier in February, Twitter recently began rolling out a button to users on its iOS app that allows them to provide feedback for tweets on the social network (via BuzzFeed). Through the "I don't like this Tweet" button, Twitter will eventually learn to showcase less tweets related to the content you flag as poor in its algorithmic...

Apple has partnered with e-commerce giant Flipkart to sell the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus in India, where the phones are expected to launch on October 7 (via Mashable). The online retail partnership means Flipkart will source iPhones directly from Apple instead of from third-party suppliers, which it has relied on in the past. The deal will ensure Flipkart earns a higher margin on every sale, but...

Apple recently announced several updates to its Beats line of headphones, debuting new wireless Beats Solo3, PowerBeats3, and BeatsX products, all of which take advantage of the company's new W1 wireless chip for battery life improvements. Missing from the lineup was a new version of the high-end over-ear Studio Wireless headphones, and according to CNET, no updated Studio Wireless products...

Earlier this year, Apple introduced a new Live Tune-In feature for Siri, which allows the personal assistant to go directly to a live channel in a supported app. As of today, Live Tune-In has gained support for ABC News, letting Siri open up live news broadcasts when commanded to do so. Live Tune-In also works with the following apps: CBS, CBS News, CNN Go, Cooking Channel, Disney Channel,...

When watchOS 3 launched alongside iOS 10, it brought a handful of feature additions and speed improvements to the Apple Watch. One of the new social features is a way for users to share their Activity Rings with friends and family through "Activity Sharing." Mainly focused in iOS 10's Activity app, the ability to share workout data nevertheless requires an Apple Watch updated to watchOS 3, and ...

Earlier in August, Hulu announced that the company would be moving to a subscription-only model, gradually phasing out its free tier -- which let users watch the most recent episodes of shows after they aired live on TV -- over the subsequent weeks. Thanks to a partnership with Yahoo, Hulu's free service continues in a website and, recently launched by the company, a free iOS app called "Yahoo...

Facebook has updated its Messenger app to support Apple's CallKit framework, which was introduced earlier this month with iOS 10. The CallKit SDK allows incoming calls from third-party VoIP apps to appear on the iOS lockscreen just like a standard cellular ID does. Incoming Messenger calls show the caller's Messenger profile information alongside controls like mute, keypad, and a...

Although Apple remains conservative regarding the battery life of the Apple Watch, many users have noted that the wearable device makes it through one day with plenty of charge left over in its 18-hour estimated life. Still, third-party power banks and portable chargers have been popular mainstays in the Apple Watch accessory line, and recently Kanex launched its own charging device for the Apple ...