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

As reported by 9to5Mac, Apple's iCloud.com Photos app has been experiencing difficulties for the past few days, with many users reporting the icon missing from the web interface entirely and the direct link to the app also producing a "problem loading application" error. In our own testing today, performance has been spotty, with the icon missing at times but present at other times. Even when...

UK retailer Phones4U shut down its online store and closed its retail operations earlier this year when the struggling company entered administration, the UK equivalent of bankruptcy. Now in the middle of the administration process, Phones4U is ready to liquidate its existing stock of products, including its entire inventory of iPhones, iPads and Beats headphones. UK auction house John Pye ...

Felix Paul Kuehne, lead developer for the iOS and OS X version of popular video player app VLC, has confirmed that VLC for iOS should be available again soon in the iOS App Store (via Softpedia). The app will be returning after an almost four-month absence from the iOS platform. VLC for iOS mysteriously disappeared from the iOS App Store following the release of iOS 8 in September of this...

Syfy is bringing the classic 12 Monkeys science fiction thriller to TV in a new series that will provide an immersive lighting experience for iOS device owners with a Philips Hue lighting system. For the first time ever in a TV series, viewers will be able to sync their household lighting to the action within each episode of the Syfy original series. Syfy updated its iOS Sync app earlier...

Apple is updating the terms and conditions governing purchases made by European Union consumers in the Mac App Store, iOS App Store, iBooks Store and iTunes Store. These changes appeared recently in EU countries such as France, Germany and United Kingdom (aia ifun.de). Instituted across EU member states, the new terms provide consumers with 14 days to request a full refund of a purchase...

Thanks to the annual App Store freeze that took place over the holidays last week, a new App of the Week missed its normal Thursday announcement date. As the shutdown lifts, however, the App Store team has now named physics platformer Icycle: On Thin Ice from Damp Gnat as this week's App of the Week, temporarily making the app free for all users. Touted for its visuals and general...

The Chaos Computer Club (CCC) claims that it can reproduce fingerprints to overcome security measures from simple photos of a user's fingers, reports VentureBeat. CCC member Jan "Starbug" Krissler presented his method for recreating a fingerprint at the group's annual convention in Hamburg, Germany over the weekend, as he generated the thumbprint of German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen by ...

Apple today debuted a new campaign on its Japanese website called "Start Something New" (Google Translate) which showcases individuals using its latest products and apps to create art and take photos. Among the products highlighted include the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air 2, and iMac, as apps like Procreate, VSCO Cam, and iDraw are also highlighted. The new section includes entries on...

As the end of the year approaches, Apple today slightly altered its micro site dedicated to Apple Pay to update the status of several of its partnerships. Retailers that teamed up with Apple and plan to implement Apple Pay support in retail stores and apps in the near future are now listed under sections labeled "Coming soon" instead of "Coming later this year." The minor change in language...

Apple yesterday re-opened its Russian online store front with significant price hikes to compensate for changes in the value of the ruble. Apple last week closed the store to review its pricing after a dramatic drop in the ruble, which lost as much as 30 percent of its value. According to Bloomberg, the entry-level 16GB iPhone 6 now costs 53,990 rubles (around $991), a 35 percent increase...

Just a couple days after announcing the app and launching it on Android, Facebook has launched the Messenger companion app Stickered on the App Store. The app allows users to overlay their photos with "stickers", which are Facebook's version of emojis, and send them to their friends via the Messenger app. It's sticker time! Add cute characters, funny faces and more to make your photos pop....

Floppy Cloud is branded as a file management app that allows users to manage their files from a Dropbox account or FTP server. However, MacRumors' sister-site TouchArcade has found that the app allows users to easily emulate Nintendo and Super Nintendo games. Floppy Cloud emulator image via TouchArcade It's masquerading as a file management app, which technically lets you manage your files, but ...

Ticketmaster today announced it has added support for Apple Pay to its iOS app. Available now, version 1.7.1 of the Ticketmaster app allows customers to purchase tickets for music, sporting events, and more with a single touch. "We work hard to deliver simple and secure ways for fans to purchase tickets to the events they love, and offering Apple Pay makes our industry-leading app the most...

Walt Disney World will officially begin accepting Apple Pay starting this Wednesday, December 24, reports WDWMagic (via iMore). The inclusion of Apple Pay will allow users to make purchases at the theme park with an iPhone 6 or an iPhone 6 Plus, and is a part of Disney's initiative to accept more contactless payment methods rolled out with its MyMagic+ program. Leveraging the RFID...

Earlier this year, the United States Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against T-Mobile, accusing the carrier of "cramming" or charging customers for unauthorized SMS subscriptions that delivered information like horoscopes for prices up to $9.99 per month. Though T-Mobile initially called the FTC's complaint "unfounded and without merit," it today reached a settlement [PDF] that will ...

As noted by Dutch website iCulture and reported by iGen.fr, Apple has recently added several new European locations to its Flyover feature for Maps, including Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Malmö in Sweden, Strasbourg and Dijon in France, and Turin in Italy. This expansion follows a similar update earlier this month that added Flyover to cities in France, Sweden and the US. HSB Turning Torso ...

Popular photo editing app Brushstroke has been named Apple's App of the Week, and as a result, it is available to download for free for the first time since its March 2014 launch. Normally, the app is priced at $2.99, prior to today, its lowest price was $0.99. Brushstroke, as the name implies, is designed to transform photographs into paintings using a variety of photo filters. There are...

Bank of America this week released a new advertisement promoting Apple Pay, joining a growing number of financial institutions including Chase and Wells Fargo that are advertising Apple's recently launched mobile payments service. The thirty-second video follows a businesswoman as she shops for her family and herself, buying a shirt, a dog bone, and some lipstick all with her iPhone. She then ...