iOS Devices

Earlier this month we reported that Apple Music on iOS 10 is set to receive several visual tweaks and feature enhancements intended to make using the subscription music service easier and attract more customers. Changes expected include a more static black and white user interface in place of today’s album art color-matching UI, lyrics integration, and a tweaked tab bar for navigation. We expect Apple Music to rename the ‘New’ section as ‘Browse’ to further highlight curated content found within. A 9to5Mac reader has since discovered this change in the wild thanks to the tvOS Apple Music app on the new Apple TV.

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Leaks regarding the iPhone 7 have been plentiful so far this year. We’ve seen a handful of schematic drawings, component pictures, and a few purported photos of the device itself. Now, another set of images has appeared on Chinese social media site Weibo claiming to show the upcoming 4.7-inch iPhone 7 variant. As has been reported in the past, the design is largely similar to that of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s, but with a few tweaks. (via LettemSvetemApplem).

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Economic Daily News is reporting that Apple suppliers have begun hiring en-masse this month as they prepare for assembly of Apple’s upcoming flagship iPhone, the iPhone 7. The new iPhones (coming in 4.7 inch and 5.5 inch sizes) are expected to debut in the fall, following tradition. The report comes via CNBC.

Interestingly, the report notes that the surge in hiring at Foxconn and Pegatron is happening earlier than usual (‘at least a month earlier’). Apparently, the new Apple iPhone includes a ‘more complex design’ than previous models meaning suppliers need more time to train staff about the assembly process. This somewhat contradicts previous leaks in the rumor mill which indicated the iPhone 7 would look very similar to the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus …

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This weekend’s discussion of the Sony a6300 got me thinking about the iPhone’s camera, and how great it can be when wielded properly. Our own Ben Lovejoy shared his tips for taking good iPhone photos a few months ago, and now I’d like to share my 10 go-to tips for snapping better iPhone pictures.
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Apple just released iOS 9.3.2 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. The update weighs in at around 80 MB, although there are seemingly no new features. The update, as indicated by the version number, includes various bug fixes and security enhancements for iOS. Check Settings to update now. iOS 9.3.2 includes a critical bug fix for iPhone SE users with Bluetooth accessories; users were reporting audio quality issues. This is fixed with the new update.

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Tim Cook and Prime Minister Modi at their previous meeting in Silicon Valley

Tim Cook, who is currently in Beijing, is headed on to India tomorrow, reports Reuters. Sources say that he is due to meet with Prime Minister Modi, who he last met in September back in the US (above).

Apple chief executive Tim Cook will visit India this week and meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the second leg of his Asian tour, two sources familiar with the matter said, as the company seeks to revive sluggish iPhone sales.

One item on the agenda is likely to be India’s reported rejection of Apple’s request to sell used iPhones in the country …

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iPhone concept: Yasser Farahi/Ovalpicture

With most reports now agreeing that Apple will switch to OLED displays in iPhones in either 2017 or 2018 (but no consensus yet on which of the two years), UBI Research has now added fuel to the idea that not all models will benefit from the new screen technology.

The Korea Herald reports the firm’s president and chief analyst suggesting numbers that indicate a gradual rollout across models.

Lee Choong-hoon predicted an OLED iPhone with a curved screen would debut in 2018, saying OLED models would make up 30 percent or 100 million units of total iPhone shipments in the year and the figure could surge to 80 percent by 2020.

While the 30% figure could be explained by Apple launching its new iPhones late in the year, the ‘80% by 2020’ number would mean Apple continuing to manufacture some new models with the older IPS LCD screen tech for some time to come …

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As reported earlier, Apple CEO Tim Cook is visiting Beijing, China this week. The earlier Reuters report suggested Cook was intending to talk with government officials about company matters amidst increasing tensions between the country and Apple, following trademark disputes and the ban on iTunes Movies and iBooks content.

On Monday, though, Cook met with Chinese app developers at an Apple Store. The talk was hosted by Jean Lui, president of taxi company Didi Chuxing, of which Apple has invested $1 billion dollars. A plethora of Chinese app publishers were in attendance, including a Groupon-esque clone ‘Meituan’,  photo app MeituPic, news provider Toutia.com, cooking app DayDayCook and game developer Tap4Fun (via CNBC).

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In this week’s top stories: iPhone 7 leaks, Apple invests in a Chinese Uber competitor, the UK shows off works to bring driving licenses to Apple Wallet, and we take a look at the state of jailbreaking for May, new apps, & much more. Head below for the usual handy roundup of links to all this week’s most shared stories and video.

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Apple has officially acknowledged community reports of inadvertently deleted music, with users left with missing tracks in their libraries that may never be recovered, in a statement to iMore. The company says that it is pushing an iTunes update next week with ‘safeguards’ to pre-emptively prevent data loss.

However, Apple says it cannot reproduce the issue in internal testing so the forthcoming iTunes update is not guaranteed to work. It also means that the exact cause of the bug is still unknown, although it appears to be a problem with the iTunes desktop app misbehaving rather than the Apple Music streaming service.

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The best-known Unified School District program to provide an iPad to every student may have ended disastrously, but a similar program elsewhere appears to have been rather more successful.

In LA, Apple ended up repaying $4.2M to settle a claim by the LAUSD following a failed program that led to a federal review concluding it had been doomed from the start – and corruption investigations by both the FBI and SEC.

But a $42M program to supply iPads to all 20,000 students in Coachella Valley Unified School District has been declared a success …

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Reuters this evening reports that Apple is investing $1 billion in Chinese ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing. In a statement, CEO Tim Cook explained that the investment will give Apple a chance to learn more about certain segments of the Chinese market, while it will also deliver a strong return.

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A big question up in the air for iPhone 7 is what Apple will do with its bundled headphones. If this is the first year Apple is to remove the headphone jack from the device as rumored, that means one of a few things for the bundled EarPods that usually come with its iPhones…

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Taylor Swift is continuing her partnership with Apple Music, with yet another ad featuring the singer and the streaming service. The new minute-long commercial features Taylor Swift dancing around to ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’ by The Darkness.

Swift demonstrates using the Apple Music discovery features (via the ‘Friday Night Rocks!’ playlist) to find the track. The ad ends with the slogan ‘Dance like no one’s watching’.  Watch the ad after the jump …

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Apple has told the families of two teenage boys lost at sea that it has been unable to recover any data from the iPhone belonging to one of them. The families had hoped that content on the phone might have provided clues as to what happened.

14-year-olds Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen failed to return from a boating trip last July, but their 19-foot boat was boat was found drifting 100 miles from Bermuda back in March, and on it was an iPhone belonging to Stephanos. Apple agreed last month to attempt to recover data from the phone, but the SunSentinel reports that the company’s efforts were unsuccessful …

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Contrary to a previous report, KGI’s Ming-Chi Kuo now believes Apple’s next-generation 5.5-inch iPhone, likely to be called the iPhone 7 Plus, will have a dual back camera across the whole line. Previously, KGI is quoted as saying only the high end configurations of the iPhone would adopt the new camera technology:

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The latest purported iPhone 7 schematics (via uSwitch) surfacing today continue to portray Apple’s next generation iPhones as very similar to the current generation models, save for a few notable changes.

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Back in March Disney announced that it wasn’t planning any future updates to its Disney Infinity 3.0 game for Apple TV, much to the dismay of users who shelled out cash for the game or the $100 “starter pack” sold by Apple. Now, Disney has announced in a post on its blog that it is officially discontinuing production of Disney Infinity across all platforms.

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