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

Astropad, the app designed to turn the iPad or iPhone into a graphics tablet for the Mac, was today updated with support for Apple's 12.9-inch iPad Pro and the Apple Pencil accessory. For those unfamiliar with Astropad, it works alongside an accompanying Mac app to mirror the Mac's display to the iPad, allowing the iPad's touch screen and controls to be used for editing photos and creating art ...

Apple is rumored to begin selling accessibility-related accessories and peripherals in its retail stores sometime in early 2016. The report, from Mac Otakara [Google Translate], states that the new iOS- and OS X-supported devices will go on sale between January and March of next year. No specific hint was given as to what kind of peripherals users can expect to find within an Apple Store...

Apple continues to strengthen its foothold in the Indian smartphone market by now reducing the price of the two-month-old iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus in the country. According to a report by The Times of India, sales for the new iPhones have dived following an upsurge during Diwali festivities in November. As a result, Apple has cut the price of the 6s and 6s Plus by up to 16 percent from...

Zagg's newest Slim Book is its first product designed specifically for the iPad Pro. Following in the footsteps of its previous Slim Books for other iPads, the Slim Book for iPad Pro features a protective case that snaps around the iPad and fits into an accompanying full-sized keyboard. The Slim Book is one of the few keyboard cases available for the iPad Pro, and it essentially turns the iPad ...

The fourth-generation Apple TV has a lot of new features, one of them being the addition of the Apple TV App Store. On the surface, the App Store on Apple TV seems similar to that of the iOS or OS X version. There are, however, some aspects of the tvOS App Store that are are a little different and might need some explaining. For example, some apps, like Lumino City, are available on iOS and...

For this week's giveaway, we've teamed up with iSkelter to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win one of four Canvas Smart Desks we're giving away for Apple's newest tablet, the iPad Pro. For those of you unfamiliar with iSkelter, it's a company that hand makes wood desks, lap desks, stands, and other accessories for Apple products. We've featured their products in the past, including the...

Best Buy today introduced a new deal into its Apple-centric "Holiday Event," giving customers the chance to get $300 off of the entry-level Retina Macbook, along with free two-day shipping for last minute holiday shoppers. Originally priced at $1,299, the deal reduces the new Gold, Silver, and Space Gray MacBook to $999, rivaling that of the entry model 13-inch MacBook Air. College students ...

The original motion picture soundtrack for the brand new film Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been released today on both Apple Music and iTunes. The tracklist includes all of the orchestral highlights from the movie, beginning in what appears to be chronological order with the well-known opening crawl music to the big finale. Composed by John Williams, there are a total of 23 songs on the...

The latest movie in the Star Wars franchise, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, is debuting tonight, and in celebration popular party game Heads Up! is introducing a new Star Wars-themed deck. For those of you unfamiliar with Heads Up!, it's a popular charades-style game where the goal is to hold the iPhone up to your forehead and guess the word displayed on the screen while your friends act it out ...

There are few keyboards available for Apple's iPad Pro right now, but companies are slowing releasing new options for the larger-screened tablet. Brydge, a well-known manufacturer of keyboards for Apple's earlier iPads, has announced the debut of the BrydgePro, a keyboard designed for the iPad Pro. Like prior Brydge keyboards, the BrydgePro is constructed from aluminum to match the aesthetic...

For our latest video review, we went hands-on with the Leather Mag Case and Mag Mount, designed by Knomo. For those unfamiliar with Knomo, it's a site that specializes in high-quality Apple accessories like bags, backpacks, and cases. Knomo's Mag Case is a slim, leather and polycarbonate case that looks much like any other iPhone case, but it has a steel plate embedded in the back. The steel...

Apple has sent an email to its Developer Program members encouraging them to find out how their iOS apps can take advantage of 3D Touch on iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, signaling that the company would like to increase App Store adoption of the all-new pressure-sensitive feature. 3D Touch is a pressure-sensitive display technology that enables iPhone users to make "Peek" and "Pop" gestures...

A couple of popular iOS apps have been getting updates for 3D Touch over the past few days, introducing the new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus feature into experiences like Facebook Messenger, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, and Evernote. Most recently, Facebook Messenger updated its iOS app with 3D Touch, letting users choose from a quick-select menu and jump directly into a message thread with...

IBM today announced that it has released its 100th MobileFirst for iOS app, fulfilling its goal set in partnership with Apple. The made-for-business apps are used by enterprise customers across 14 industries and 65 individual professions, including wealth advisors, flight attendants, first responders, nurses, retail buyers and more. MobileFirst for iOS apps include Advisor Alerts, Asset Care,...

Last month Pandora announced that it acquired "key assets" and employees from Rdio for $75 million. Tonight, Rdio began emailing its users to let them know that it would officially shut down on December 22, 2015 at 5 p.m. PST. Rdio will also let its former subscribers download an archive of their favorite music and playlists in various formats so that they can import them into their new...

As noted by IT professional and writer Tom Bridge on Twitter, public transit information for Los Angeles has started to go live in Apple Maps on both iOS and El Capitan. The rollout adds another major city to a feature that launched as part of iOS 9. Transit information may still be rolling out to users. Support will include train, light rail and bus services in addition to transit...

Two years after being purchased by Apple for $200 million, social analytics firm Topsy today announced the end of its service. On Twitter, the company tweeted that it has "searched [its] last tweet." Additionally, its website redirects to an Apple support page on using Search on iPhone. Topsy partnered with Twitter to maintain an index of tweets going back to 2006. However, the company also...

Now that HomeKit's been available for several months, more and more HomeKit-enabled products are popping up. When HomeKit first launched in June, there was only one smart plug available (the Elgato Eve), but now there are a handful to choose from. ConnectSense is the latest company to develop a HomeKit-enabled plug, debuting its Smart Outlet in October. I went hands-on with the new...