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

With the release of iOS 6.1 this morning, Apple introduced a minor change to Passbook, restoring the former "Welcome" screen to the app. When Passbook was first introduced with iOS 6, it opened with a page that gave users a quick way to locate and download Passbook-enabled apps. Unfortunately, the Welcome screen disappeared after a single Passbook app was downloaded, making it difficult to...

WhatsApp Messenger, a popular cross-platform SMS and group chat replacement, is the subject of a joint report between Canadian and Dutch authorities. The report says the app violates the countries' privacy laws because users are required to give the company access to both users and non-users in its address book, reports Reuters.The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) and the Dutch ...

TouchArcade notes the appearance of an arcade game called Gridlee in the App Store. Gridlee is a 1983 arcade game that was never officially released, but the code was later released for free for non-commercial usage in 2001. The App Store app uses MAME 0.139u1 (MAME4iOS) to provide the emulation engine for the game. MAME is a popular arcade machine emulator that will run thousands of...

iPad Mini ship times have dropped to 3-5 days at a number of Apple Online Stores around the world, including the U.S., Canadian, Australia, New Zealand, Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Japanese outlets. This was first noticed by iPhoneinCanada.ca. The most notable exception to the shipping time improvement is the European stores, which have a 2 week lead time. During its first quarter...

Google yesterday overhauled its news aggregation app Currents for iOS, revamping the design and adding features to make navigation more sleek and simple. What's New in Version 2.0 - Edition sidebar - quickly access your editions within categories such as business, sports, etc. - Fast scan - Vertical swipe to scan an edition, horizontal swipe advances to next edition - Breaking stories -...

Forbes reports that analysts at Detwiler Fenton believe Apple is working on a low-cost iPhone that uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor rather than the Apple-created processors that the company is currently using for the iPhone. “It is likely that the work with QCOM is being driven by AAPL’s concern regarding maintaining gross margins as well as the need to differentiate the product by...

The iPhone app needed to unlock much of the functionality of the Pebble e-paper smart watch is now available for download from the iTunes Store - just in time for the first deliveries of the devices. Pebble had previously suggested that the iPhone app might not be available in time for early deliveries of the watch, which set new records for a Kickstarter project in raising over $10...

Stanford University is again offering the iOS 6 edition of Paul Hegarty's well-regarded iPhone and iPad application development course free on iTunes U. This year, Stanford is running the course on Stanford's Piazza collaboration platform -- the same social learning service that Stanford students use -- as well as iTunes U. This setup allows students to assist each other and get more from the...

Apple is running a Valentine's Day promotion on its online store, drawing attention to its free engraving offer and signature gift-wrapping service. The campaign features the iPad and iPad mini as ideal gifts for the holiday, with the iPod touch and iPod nano also being highlighted. Apple has also posted a specific webpage with ordering deadlines to ensure delivery by Valentine's Day....

Orchestra, Inc. has announced a reservation system for Mailbox, its task-orientated email app which we reported on earlier and which has received many pre-launch accolades from tech sites. Mailbox, which will initially be compatible only with Gmail, aims to keep your inbox clean by allowing you to use swipe gestures to quickly move each email out of your inbox by deleting it, archiving it,...

After its announcement at CES earlier this month, Hippih has begun selling its hipKey smart sensor in the U.S. through the Apple Online Store for $90. It launched on European Apple Online Stores back in December, but quickly sold out. It's now back in stock on both the U.S. and European stores.The hipKey is a high tech way of keeping track of your valuables. Simply attach the device to the item ...

Earlier this week, China Times published a rumor that Apple could release an "iPhone Math", a larger iPhone with a 4.8" screen that could compete with "phablets" like the Samsung Galaxy Note. Though the name is particularly suspect, it's possible that Apple would want to get into that product category. Samsung has had some success in the area, and similar products were popular at CES this year....

MIT Technology Review has dug up a job ad posted by Apple on LinkedIn appealing to writers to help make Siri more conversational.“[S]omeone who combines a love for language, wordplay, and conversation with demonstrated experience in bringing creative content to life within an intense technical environment.”The ad notes that writers who apply will also need "experience in writing character-driven...

Apple and Rovio have paired up to give away Angry Birds Rio for the iPhone and iPad for free this week, as part of Apple's 'Free App of the Week' promotion.The game is normally $0.99 for the iPhone and $2.99 on the iPad.Angry Birds Rio brought more of the same bird-flinging action that we all are quite familiar with by now, but also threw a couple of new very welcome twists into the formula....

Though Square Enix has released quite a few ports of its older titles, like Final Fantasy and The World Ends With You on iOS, Final Fantasy All The Bravest marks its first Final Fantasy app that was designed specifically for Apple's devices. Square Enix calls All The Bravest a "pick-up-and-go RPG," an accurate description for the game, which incorporates the Final Fantasy series' Active Time...

Engadget reports that Sprint will finally begin offering its Total Equipment Protection (TEP) plan for the iPhone beginning January 25. The TEP plan offers coverage not only for device failures that occur outside of Apple's standard warranty but also loss, theft, and damage. The TEP plan consists of two parts, an $11 monthly fee for the service and then a significant $150-$200 deductible...

Imangi Studios' iconic endless runner Temple Run proved to be a huge success, having been downloaded more than 170 million times since it launched in mid–2011, and today, a surprise sequel to the original game hit the App Store. Temple Run 2 features the same danger-filled action-packed experience found in the first Temple Run game, but it includes new power ups, a mine cart, zip lines, and an ...

Apple today added installment payment plans to its online store in China, giving Chinese buyers the option to purchase iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks via credit. Consumers can choose to pay in installments on merchandise that costs between 300 yuan ($48) and 30,000 yuan ($4,800), through a plan from China Merchants Bank Co. As Bloomberg notes, the credit option puts expensive devices like the ...